More Asian Americans, Fewer Latinos in Eagle Rock

Asian Americans—Eagle Rock’s third-largest population group—increased their presence in the neighborhood more significantly than any other ethnic community over the past decade, more or less matching a corresponding decline in the number of Latinos, according to a data map based on the 2010 U.S. Census and recently published by The New York Times.

Eagle Rock’s white population, meanwhile, decreased in certain parts of the neighborhood—most notably in the area immediately south of Colorado Boulevard, roughly bordering the 2 freeway, Eagle Rock Boulevard and Ridgeview Avenue. Here, the number of whites (32 percent) is neck and neck with Latinos (33 percent) but 8 percentage points less than in 2000.

The Times’ data map—broken down by census tracts and presented under such categories as population density and vacant housing units—offers some other sharp insights into trends not readily discernible in the 2010 U.S. Census, which was released in March and is not yet searchable by Zip Code.

Although some of the census tracts are shared by neighborhoods such as Highland Park and Glassell Park, they offer a valuable snapshot of what might be called Greater Eagle Rock.

In what’s probably the most intriguing statistic, in Census Tract 183221—roughly sandwiched between North Figueroa Street and Avenue 53, well below Yosemite Drive—the population of every major ethnic group, including the “multiracial” category, has declined since the 2000 census.

Currently at just 8 percent, the Asian American population in this tract of 3,118 people decreased 22 percent—just 2 percent less than that of African-Americans.

Another revealing marker of neighborhood changes is the dramatic increase in the number of vacant housing units across Eagle Rock.

The largest number of vacant homes—99—was in Census Tract 181, the upscale “Hill Drive” region that lies roughly between the 2 freeway and the , near the 134.

The lowest number of vacant homes—51—was in Census Tract 1815, roughly bordering the area south of Colorado Boulevard between Yosemite Drive, Townsend and North Figueroa Street.