In Whitehall, the area near South Hills Country Club is far more diverse than two decades ago. Recent immigrants from Nepal and Bhutan are buying homes in what was once a mostly White community.
“A lot of them are buying up homes left and right,” borough manager Jim Leventry said. “Our property values are going crazy because of them.”
But the stretch of the township surrounding PA 51 saw a population drop of about 1,300 White residents from 2000 to 2016, according to census data. The area has seen an increase in Black, Hispanic and, most prominently, Asian populations, including recent immigrants from Bhutan and Nepal. Meanwhile, census data shows that the area is less affluent than in 2000.
Why demographics have shifted in this census tract of about 6,200 residents is hard to say. But the ongoing separation of White, middle-income residents from lower-income, non-White residents is a prevailing trend in metropolitan areas across the country, including in Pittsburgh.
READ ENTIRE ARTICLE AT:
https://www.publicsource.org/new-white-flight-and-suburban-displacement-study-looks-beyond-gentrification-in-the-pittsburgh-region/