Between 1990-1995, more than 180,000 immigrants settled in Chicago and its outlying suburbs, according to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Outside the city, the greatest influx of immigrants took place in northwest Cook, north Cook and DuPage counties, with west and southwest Cook trailing fourth and fifth.

Poland, Mexico, India, the Philippines, the former Soviet Union, China, Korea, Vietnam, Pakistan and Ireland rank among the top 10 of the top 50 sending countries to our region.

As a whole, the immigrant and minority population is younger than the native born and there are more children per family. As a result, in the next 20 years our region will diversify even more, as Latino, black and Asian populations rise and white numbers decrease. On the surface, it may seem that we champion and embrace this diversity as we pay homage to it with platitudes, but statistics tell a different story.

Cultural diversity has already posed a challenge for people uncomfortable living together. By 2002 nearly 140,000 whites will have left suburban Cook County since the 1990 census, according to the Chicago Reporter.

A racially, ethnically and culturally diverse population has complex needs that impact regional planning and public policy. Municipalities will be hard-pressed not to work collaboratively and proactively, so that people are connected to jobs, housing and transportation and, ultimately, to each other if the great American experiment of diversity is to succeed.

If we don't have adequate housing, good schools, and other resources, embracing diversity will be an empty phrase. We will have no choice but to learn how to manage differences and live together across racial, cultural and ethnic lines. There are only so many places to run, and how many gated communities are needed before the landscape becomes a fortress?

The winners in the next millennium will care enough to know something about the populations they serve. Today, smart businesses are getting ahead of the changing demographics by offering multi-lingual services and marketing directly to groups via the ethnic press, cable television and the Internet. They also sponsor ethnic festivals and job and housing fairs.

The mortgage lender Fannie Mae knows that immigrants and minorities compose the majority of first-time home buyers. Their foundation publishes a guide for English teachers to help immigrants buy a home in the United States.

Politics are also impacted as candidates from school boards to congressional hopefuls learn they must appeal to a much broader constituency than ever before to successfully lead. And once elected, they must be responsive to that diverse constituency and know how to balance competing interests.

It is one thing to celebrate cultural diversity in the public arena. Heritage months and ethnic pride festivals all have their place as tools for understanding in the American milieu.

But in the long run, what will matter most is not a nod to ethnic or cultural chauvinism, but how well we plan for the needs and future of all Americans, immigrants and the native born alike, so that culture does not divide and separate us but unites us in the American dream.

Jeryl Levin is director of the Illinois Ethnic Coalition, a not-for-profit organization that works to improve race and ethnic relations through training, publications and resources and special projects. She is also director of alumni Relations at Columbia College Chicago.

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