International Courant
Extra individuals moved to a county wealthy with citrus groves situated between two of Florida’s most populous metro areas than to some other county within the U.S. final yr, in accordance with estimates launched Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Greater than 29,300 individuals moved final yr to the county between Tampa and Orlando, two metro areas the place housing has grown more and more expensive and the county is taken into account a less expensive various. In brief order, Polk County has come to have fewer orange groves alongside Interstate 4 and extra subdivisions for native service staff in addition to distribution warehouses for on-demand deliveries for residents in each metropolitan areas.
Virtually all the expansion in Polk County — 88% — consisted of individuals shifting from one other a part of the U.S. reasonably than from overseas, in accordance with the 2023 inhabitants estimates.r
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“Subdivision progress has been bobbing up and it occurs in such a fashion that you simply don’t all the time discover it. However when you’re caught in site visitors, that’s once you actually listen that it’s occurring,” Matt Joyner, a seventh-generation Polk County resident, mentioned concerning the inflow of latest residents.
Solely 4 different counties — Harris and Montgomery counties in metro Houston; Collin County in metro Dallas; and Maricopa County, house to Phoenix — grew by extra individuals, because of their increased numbers of pure enhance, or births outnumbering deaths.
Harris County, which is house to Houston, grew by nearly 54,000 individuals, probably the most of any county final yr, with about two-thirds of the expansion coming from births outpacing deaths. That pure enhance of just about 34,700 individuals was the best within the nation.
A “on the market” signal sits amongst orange timber in Bartow, Fla. Extra individuals moved to a county wealthy with citrus groves situated between two of Florida’s most populous metros than in some other county within the U.S. final yr, in accordance with estimates launched on March 14, 2024, by the U.S. Census Bureau. (AP Picture/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)
Regardless of having an inflow of hundreds of latest residents from overseas, and births outpacing deaths, a number of the most populous U.S. counties additionally misplaced probably the most residents because of their shifting to different counties final yr, a development that accelerated in the beginning of the last decade with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Main the best way was Los Angeles County, with 56,000 fewer residents. Three counties representing the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx in New York Metropolis adopted, with inhabitants losses of 28,300 individuals, 26,300 individuals and 25,300 individuals, respectively. Nevertheless, the outflows from these massive counties final yr have been considerably smaller than they have been in 2022.
New York Metropolis officers, although, consider the Census Bureau’s estimates do not account for the inflow of tens of hundreds of asylum seekers final yr. Town rented out total inns to accommodate migrants and in addition put cots in colleges and briefly housed individuals in tents, a cruise ship terminal and a former police academy constructing.
As many as 50,000 individuals have been missed within the metropolis’s shelters, in accordance with metropolis officers, who plan to problem the estimates to the Census Bureau.
“We needed to flag it,” mentioned Casey Berkovitz, press secretary for New York’s Division of Metropolis Planning. “When you account for this underestimate … the yr marked a return to pre-pandemic ranges.”
In the preferred locations for immigrants — counties in South Florida and counties which can be house to Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Jose — worldwide migration grew by double digits year-over-year.
The estimates don’t distinguish between authorized immigration and unlawful immigration, so it’s inconceivable to know if any of the expansion got here from illegal border crossings. Arrests for unlawful crossings hit a file excessive in December however fell by half in January.
In Miami-Dade County, there have been nearly 54,500 new residents from outdoors the U.S., the best within the nation final yr and an nearly 40% enhance over the earlier yr. The worldwide migration offset the departure of greater than 47,000 residents who left Miami-Dade County for different U.S. counties.
Amongst metro areas, which mix counties having social and financial connections, the Dallas metro space had the largest progress final yr — greater than 152,000 residents — and surpassed 8 million residents for the primary time. That progress was adopted by metro Houston, with nearly a further 140,000 residents, and metro Atlanta, with a rise of greater than 68,000 individuals.
Metro Atlanta jumped two spots from final yr to turn into the sixth most populous metro space, with 6.3 million residents. It’s surpassed solely by metro New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Houston.
With greater than 62,000 acres of citrus groves, Polk County is likely one of the main producers of oranges in Florida. The state’s citrus trade in recent times has been squeezed between a fast-spreading micro organism that has attacked the well being of timber everywhere in the state and relentless progress that has spilled over as its metro areas have expanded.
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Regardless of that, Polk County has held onto its citrus heritage. A lot of the progress has been concentrated within the northeastern a part of the county, just some miles from Walt Disney World in metro Orlando. However most of the citrus growers there who bought their land to subdivision builders have simply moved to the southern a part of the county, the place citrus groves are nonetheless plentiful, mentioned Joyner, CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual, a growers’ advocacy group.
New residents to Polk County have one thing picturesque to see in the event that they drive across the county’s groves proper now — white flowers on citrus timber and a candy aroma within the air.
“In every single place you go proper now, the groves are snow white and the scent is good,” Joyner mentioned. “It reminds you of the previous days.”
Most moved-to US county final yr was Florida citrus capital as People go away most populous areas
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