Census: Three suburbs see big decline in white population
Buffalo Grove, Hanover Park and Schaumburg are distinctly different Northwest suburbs.
But they're now linked by sharing the experience of double-digit percentage declines in their white populations during the first decade of the 21st century.
In all three cases, the change was accompanied by only very slight decreases in the overall population, according to new U.S. Census data.
Hoffman Estates came close to the same distinction with a 9.7 percent decrease in its white population over the last 10 years — albeit with a 4.8 percent increase in its overall population.
James Lewis, senior program officer at The Chicago Community Trust and former director of the Institute for Metropolitan Affairs at Roosevelt University, said there are two strong possibilities to explain the decline.
The first, he said, is the increase of minorities in the middle-income housing market.
“These people are in the housing market in a way they weren't 10 years ago,” Lewis said.
The second factor — which he said he still needs further data to verify — is the empty-nester phenomenon.
As was the case with Oak Brook a decade ago, once young couples who settled in the communities about the same time have seen their children grow into adulthood and are now moving out and moving on, Lewis said.
That's a theory to which Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson subscribes. Schaumburg's white population dropped by 12 percent, though its overall population fell by only 1.5 percent.
Larson believes many longtime residents are retiring to places as far away as the West Coast or as near as Sun City in Huntley. But the people who are buying their homes include a burgeoning South Asian population of doctors, lawyers and entrepreneurs, Larson said.
“We realize how significant that population is,” Larson said.
The village won a three-year grant from The Chicago Community Trust to reach out to new immigrants from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh to ensure they felt welcome joining local civic organizations and investing in their new community.
While Buffalo Grove is becoming more diverse, Village President Elliott Hartstein said the town always had diversity, making it attractive to new populations.
“I think we need to be cognizant of it,” Hartstein said. “All of our schools have done a good job of cultural awareness.”
There can be no doubt of the role the empty-nester phenomenon has had on the village's white population, Hartstein added. Even in his own household, there are three fewer people than there used to be, he said.
The combination of a poor economy and the village's dwindling undeveloped land may explain why that population hasn't been replaced, Hartstein said.
The mayors of Hanover Park and Hoffman Estates said there are rewards for embracing the changes their villages are seeing.
Hanover Park's white population fell by 14.8 percent, while its overall population dropped by only 0.8 percent.
“I haven't seen those figures, but I'm not surprised by them because we've been pretty active reaching out within the community,” Hanover Park Mayor Rodney Craig said. “When I visit the schools and read to the children — or they read to me — it seems like the white people are the minority.”
Craig said the village has set up a diversity committee which encourages new residents to reach out to their neighbors and not be afraid of local government or police.
After hearing some complaints from resident Shawqi Mustafa, a native of Jordan, Craig encouraged him to run for the Hanover Park Park District.
“He's going to represent a part of the community that's underrepresented,” Craig said. “His interest is sports for young people. I'm excited about that. Of course, he's got to work to do what he needs to do to get elected. There are no rubber stamps.”
Hoffman Estates Mayor William McLeod agreed that a certain amount of outreach is needed to make the involvement of minorities in local affairs self-sustaining.
“I think you have to reach out initially,” McLeod said. “You get credibility if you get the leadership involved and identify people who are leaders in their community.”