This paper applies Census microdata from 1980 and 1990 to assess the determinants of housing tenure choice among racial and ethnic groups in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Like previous research, our results indicate that endowment differences (income, education, and immigrant status) largely explain the homeownership gap between Latinos and whites. In contrast to previous work, we find that Asians are as likely to choose homeownership as are whites, and that status as an immigrant did not portend lower homeownership rates among Asians. However, the endowment-adjusted homeownership choice differential between whites and blacks remains sizable; further, that gap more than doubled between 1980 and 1990, to a full 11 percentage points.

"This study explores the rate of advancement into homeownership of immigrants, relative to native borns, in Southern California, a principal region of immigrant settlement.... Recent immigrants as well as young native borns are newcomers to the housing market and have lower attainment levels than earlier arrivals or older cohorts. Cohort trajectories are tracked from 1980 to 1990, adjusting for the influence of income, education, English proficiency, and marital status. Asian immigrants achieved extraordinarily high levels of homeownership soon after arrival, whereas Hispanic immigrants demonstrated sustained advancement into homeownership from initially very low levels."

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To what degree do immigrants reduce their high rates of residential overcrowding with increasing length of residence in the United States? This question is addressed through the application of a "double cohort" method that nests birth cohorts within immigration cohorts. This method enables duration of immigration effects to be separated from aging effects as cohorts pass through life course phases, when family sizes may be growing or shrinking. The analysis finds that cohort trends differ sharply from the cross-sectional pattern observed at a single point in time. Cohorts' growth in income is found to contribute substantially to the decline in overcrowding over time. Cohort trends among Hispanic immigrants, however, diverge from those among others, indicating much less decrease in overcrowding and even increases over certain age spans.

The fuItLu-e is a long-recognized focus of thie uirban planning profession, but it has been nieglected of late particuLlarly in the academiiic COmmLullity. This article reviews concepts, theories, and tools useful for strengthening a ftttLire focus in planning. Core analytical coIncepts InCItide distinctions among projections forecasts and plans, and continiuities of past, present, anid future. Ethical issues center oni the tension betweeni an activist shaping of the future and the maniptLilation of forecasts to support desired plans. Emphasizing representation of the future as an essential means for gaining agreement, the article surveys the practices of visioning, scenario-building, and persuasive storytelling. The conclusion outlines .r reinvigorated appi-oach to plaiinrng the futtire that draws tLipon theories presented.

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A young age at arrival is believed to be an important predictor of adult immigrant achievement, but there is no consensus on what age(s) at arrival is pivotal/crucial/critical. The 2000 census reports exact years of arrival and age providing us the opportunity to test different formulations for age-atarrival effects for several different socioeconomic outcomes. We focus on the experiences of Mexican immigrants to the U.S. in this study.Our results indicate that the effect of early arrival is much greater for English proficiency than other outcomes and bears significantly on most, not all, attainments. There is little evidence at any age of a sharp discontinuity demarcating a 1.5 generation from older immigrants and, in fact, a series of classifications or a continuous measurement of age at arrival may be preferred in some cases. Guidelines are offered for the most appropriate formulation of age at arrival under different contexts.Age at arrival has been recognized as an important factor determining the outcomes of immigrant adaptation, in addition to generation and duration of U.S. residence; it identifies the stage of the life cycle at which an immigrant is beginning life in a new country (Piore, 1979). The age or stage at arrival can effectively determine the extent of acculturation, language acquisition, and schooling, so much so that Rumbaut (1991) was compelled to dub immigrants who arrived as young children the "1.5 generation." Their experiences and outcomes differ so dramatically from adult immigrants that "first generation" is not an entirely appropriate label for them.Many immigration researchers have adopted a simple dichotomous definition of the 1.5 generation as immigrants who arrived prior to the age of twelve.

This research highlights the need to disaggregate health statistics by race/ethnicity, sex, immigrant status, and, among immigrants, country of birth. Data on immigrants' health behaviors enhance the development of targeted and culturally sensitive public health smoking prevention programs.