Linking baby boomer and Hispanic migration streams into rural America – a multi‐scaled approach

Abstract

these increasingly diverse non-metropolitan destinations.ABSTRACT Dramatic transformations in the nature of urban economies across the globe have led to the arrival of linked migration streams into destination 'global cities'. This paper extends these theorisations of linked migration streams into the rural context by examining the overlap between baby boomer and Hispanic migration streams into nonmetropolitan counties and across spatial scales. We argue that boomers arriving in non-metropolitan destinations are likely to stimulate demand in personal and household services, construction, restaurants, and other service sectors, and such demands are akin to those precipitated by economic restructuring in global cities. Just as immigrants fl ock to global cities to fi ll labour demand in burgeoning service sectors, we argue Latinos are arriving in certain non-metropolitan destinations in response to growing service demands brought about by recently arriving boomers. Our exploratory analysis documents the extent to which these migration streams converge in rural America, and describes the residential geographies that emerge in the wake of such migration. The analysis identifi es 75 counties in which these migration streams overlap, and these counties are distinct in terms of geographical distribution and economic structure. Within these counties, however, there is considerable residential separation between these two populations, leading to new questions concerning community integration and fragmentation in

New Faces in Rural Places: Patterns and Sources of Nonmetropolitan Ethnoracial Diversity since 1990

“…In small towns, large proportions of older whites aging in place—most of whom prefer racially homogeneous environments—could discourage settlement by people of color or at least signal a moribund economy with poor employment prospects. Ironically, rural retirement destinations are now attracting not only affluent baby boomers but Hispanics, the latter to fill the construction‐ and service‐sector jobs generated by the retirees (Johnson and Lichter ; Nelson, Lee, and Nelson ). Yet the cost of living typical of these high‐amenity destinations separates the two groups in residential space, with Hispanics often commuting to work from more affordable locations nearby.…”

Impacts of Return Migration on Rural U.S. Communities

“…Results reported here focus on age‐related and human capital impacts, not on gender, race‐ethnicity, and other demographic impacts prevalent in other rural migration studies (Bailey ; Nelson et al. ; Wilson et al. ).…”

“…Research on return migration within the United States waned in the past two decades as attention turned toward other groups dominating nonmetro population change, notably immigrants, Hispanics, baby boomers, retirees, amenity seekers, and the poor (Brown et al. ; Lichter and Johnson , ; Nelson, Lee, and Nelson ). This rich literature documents myriad demographic, economic, and social changes resulting from new U.S. migration trends, and provides critical conceptual and empirical background for this study of the impacts of return migration.…”

Migration Flows: Measurement, Analysis and Modeling

“…Native-born workers can respond to these pressures by migrating from sites of immigrant settlement leading to a suggestion that internal and international migration streams are linked through competition in the labor market. Complementary migration streams are also a possibility with highly skilled professional migrants moving to the same locations as relatively unskilled immigrants; the latter providing service labor for the former (Nelson et al 2009;Nelson and Nelson 2011). The evidence on these linkages is disputed with some studies finding more support (Borjas 2001) than others (Walker et al 1992;.…”