2000 Census

FOR POLITICIANS, it's never too early to worry about the next election. But these days, the fretting is more intense than usual, thanks to once-a-decade redistricting. Incumbent legislators -- and their would-be challengers -- can only make educated guesses as to what their districts are going to look like when the governor and General Assembly draw new legislative maps in 2002. Those decisions will be based on figures from the 2000 census, which are due to be delivered to the state next spring.

Fueled by nearly a decade of prosperity and low interest rates, Marylanders "upsized" their homes during the 1990s. New data released yesterday from the 2000 census show that they moved into larger houses, took out bigger mortgages and paid more every month for the privilege of living large. Bill and Mary Brown embodied that expansiveness. They bought a small, three-bedroom house in Elkridge five years ago and within a year began to add on, doubling the size of the place and adding three rooms.

WASHINGTON - The Maryland Hispanic population has increased by at least 65 percent since the 2000 Census, contributing to increasing ethnic diversity nationally, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau report. There are 375,830 Hispanics living in Maryland as of 2007, an increase from 227,916 in 2000, according to Census Bureau data analyzed by the Maryland Department of Planning and released Wednesday. After Hispanics, Asian immigration ranks second with a 29 percent increase. The Census Bureau American Community Survey reported that the massive increase in immigration from Latin American and Asian countries over the last 40 years "has been the major force changing the racial and ethnic composition of the American population."

Before moving with her boyfriend of three years to a Hampden home this September, Brandy Washington lived with two other women, both young professionals in their 20s, just like her. Delaying marriage is a lifestyle that has suited the 27-year-old. She and her boyfriend wanted to "try things out" and live together before becoming more serious — a far cry from her high-school-sweetheart parents, who married right out of college. Almost all of her peers, Washington said, are living the same way, either with friends or a long-term partner.

WHILE THE 2000 census has focused attention on Baltimore's sharp decline in population in the 1990s, another telling statistic speaks to the city's distress over the last decade: 42,481 vacant housing units. That equals 14.1 percent of the city's 300,477 units -- or one in every seven homes or apartments. In 1990, the number of vacant housing units was 27,222, or 9 percent of a slightly greater housing stock of 303,706 units. Census figures on homeownership in the city are more of a mixed bag. The number of owner-occupied units declined by nearly 5,000 in the last decade -- from 134,424 to 129,869.

The line separating Baltimore and Washington is drawn through Howard County. Thirty percent of county residents commuted to jobs elsewhere in the Baltimore region in 2000, according to the numbers released today, and 30 percent commuted to jobs around the nation's capital. That is about 40,000 people commuting to each metropolitan area. The percentage breakdown has changed only slightly since 1990, despite job growth and a population boom in the county since then. In a place squeezed between two job magnets - defining Howard in ways from traffic to salaries to the football team people root for - the pull of each is holding steady.

The Maryland State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will hold its annual convention today and tomorrow at the Holiday Inn at Solomons Island. Participants will discuss the 2000 census, technology, police brutality and elect officers. Information: 410-820-8350.

On most days, Pimlico Good Neighbors is a quiet community of brick rowhouses and free-standing bungalows nestled along tree-lined streets. But on Preakness Day this tiny neighborhood - tucked behind the northwest corner of historic Pimlico Race Course - is transformed into a bustling hub of commercial activity. Lawns become parking lots, back yards double as concession stands, and kids work as porters hauling coolers and other spectator paraphernalia for race fans. On Saturday, more than 100,000 people are expected to watch the Preakness, the second jewel of horse racing's Triple Crown.

The Anne Arundel County Charter Revision Commission, which is in the process of setting new voting districts based on 2000 Census data, will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. today at the Arundel Center in Annapolis. The commission presented an interim report to the County Council last week. Any changes the commission proposes to the county's voting districts must receive the support of five council members. One proposal not included in the interim report was a request by South County residents that would include Crofton, which is now in the mostly rural 7th District, with other "suburban centers" in the 4th District.

Maryland grew a little more crowded last year as births, plus new arrivals from other states and countries, bumped up the state's population by about 79,000, to more than 5,375,000. That's more than enough new Marylanders in the 15 months between the 2000 Census and July 1, 2001, to populate another Annapolis. Twice. The Census Bureau's new state population estimates for last year, released last week, found that Maryland remained the nation's 19th-largest state. It was the 16th-fastest-growing state during the study period, with the 11th-largest numerical gain.