Tom Troy, Toledo Blade, March 11, 2011

Toledo and its suburban neighbors became more ethnically diverse as the numbers of Hispanics and African-Americans increased and the white population declined, a review of new numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau shows.

Toledo’s white population fell by 36,190 people between 2000 and 2010, or 17 percent, while the black population grew by 3,686, or 5 percent, and the Hispanic population grew by 4,090, or 23.9 percent. Toledo’s official census fell from 313,619 in 2000 to 287,208 in 2010.

“It’s that old white flight still going on,” said Neil Reid, director of the Urban Affairs Center at the University of Toledo. “I suspect it’s the old story of people who can get out are getting out, and there’s a race component to that with the white people leaving.”

Virtually all the municipalities and townships in the area became slightly more racially balanced during the decade.

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Ohio’s white population fell 2 percent, from 84 percent to 81.1 percent, not including Hispanics. The population of blacks increased 8 percent and Hispanics increased 63 percent. The Asian population grew by 45 percent and the American Indian population declined by 2 percent.

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As to the trend toward fewer whites and more African-Americans and Hispanics, he [Rob Ludeman, a longtime city councilman and area real estate agent] said, “I think that’s predictable. African-Americans and Hispanic families might have more children. I don’t want to stereotype but that might be a possibility.”

The white population of all Ohio cities with more than 50,000 people dropped 12.8 percent, from 1,758,028 to 1,532,894. The black population held virtually steady, dropping less than 1 percent, from 851,488 to 845,770. The Hispanic populations in those cities increased 52.4 percent, from 105,556 in 2000 to 160,844 in 2010.

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