Tariq Nelson

This article in the Washington Post states that Demographer William Frey states that the demographics in the United States are changing a little faster than once thought. In just 20 years.

Still, it is the accuracy of his predictions in the early 1990s about age and race that have made him a go-to guy for the media. Frey’s “map of America” turned into reality in the 2000 Census. His research about the shifting population of the United States, documented in more than 100 publications and several books, has made headlines in the Economist, the New Yorker, Forbes and numerous newspapers.

Frey, 59, has a remarkably detailed knowledge of where people live, who their friends are, how they are likely to vote and what they desire from life.

[...]

Looking to 2026, Frey imagines a country that is even more diverse — where many more people are bilingual and more road signs and products are labeled in English and Spanish. He imagines a country split by age, with older and younger states driven by different political interests.

He hints at what others have referred to as the “Balkanization” of America:

“I like to tweak conventional wisdom,” Frey says from his office, where reports and political magazines are sprawled across his desk. “People think of America as a melting pot, but that is a generalization. Some areas are, and others are not too different than they were 20 years ago.” In fact, Frey has pinpointed three Americas — the multicultural “melting pot” states, the predominantly white heartlands and the “New Sunbelt” — that are pulling in young suburbanites.

I was listening

Filed under: Changing World, Race