ABSTRACT
Los Angeles is undergoing dramatic demographic changes with major consequences for planning. The overarching goal of planning is to promote public well-being, so it is important for planners to understand their local and regional constituents and engage them in the planning process. To help planners see the extent of these changes, this chapter focuses on four demographic trends revealed by the 2010 census—in race, immigration, age, and housing. It explores differences in household formation that are generated by population growth. Planners could usefully adopt the perspective of "integrated demography," applying demographic trends, as well as demographic perspectives and tools, to the solution of broader problems. Changing demographics are directly expressed in changing residential patterns. Planners use three principal indicators to understand housing: household formation, multifamily versus single-family stock, and tenure. Racial and ethnic changes have culminated in a majority-minority demography, and this pattern of ethnic diversity is dispersed nearly equally between the city and suburban region.
