Arrivals keep Long Island from decline

Isn't it wonderful to live in a place people want to move to?

Recently released 2010 Census data tell us that Nassau and Suffolk counties are attracting new residents, many of them fairly recent arrivals to our nation. Without them, Long Island's population would have declined by 150,000 people over the past decade. With them, it grew by 79,000.

These trends are bringing Long Island into alignment with the rest of the nation. Minorities now make up 31 percent of Long Island's population and 33 percent of the country as a whole. Nationally and on Long Island, 16 percent of the population is Hispanic.

Top schools, beaches and parks, good wages, and proximity to one of the world's great cities draws people here. Bad weather, the high cost of living and a frenzied pace persuade others, often retirees, to leave. But the Northeast has seen residents stream south and west for decades, and there are regions experiencing this exodus far faster than Long Island.

What's keeping us from decline is the people flowing in. Without them, we'd likely lose a congressional seat. Without them, our population would be aging at an even more alarming rate. And without them, much of the vitality and energy, the striving, that has come to define Long Island would wane.

Shifting demographics create challenges, of language, culture and adjustment. But the fact that people are coming, that our Island is desirable enough to attract them, is good news indeed.