Non-Hispanic White Elderly in Southern Florida 1950-1980

Abstract

Between 1950 and 1980 the southeastern Florida counties of Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach expanded in population from 693,705 to 3,213,147. During the period, vast social change occurred, some of it reflected in upheavals like the riots in the black ghettos of Miami or in the aftermath of the arrival of Cuban exiles. Many of these events attracted countrywide attention. But the radical spatial rearrangements of the diverse demographic groups in the three counties have received less notice, although the new settlement patterns are quite unique among U.S. metropolitan regions. This article focuses on one demographic group in the three counties: the non-Hispanic white elderly who are 65 or more years old. In 1980 this group numbered approximately one-half million. The non-Hispanic white elderly were selected for study because of their geographical isolation from younger nonHispanic white counterparts, a striking contrast with black or Hispanic elderly who remain integrated with their younger equivalents. Most of the non-Hispanic white elderly migrated to southern Florida from other parts of the United States. The majority came with sufficient economic means to exercise a wide range of choice about where they would live and in what manner. That choice was greatly influenced by the influx of other groups to the three-county area and by the white elderly's perception of local areas and neighborhoods in terms of desired physical, economic, and social amenities as well as safety from crime. The last factor weighed heavily because of the countrywide reputation of Miami as a center of drug-related crime. The relative importance of Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties as the concentration of non-Hispanic white elderly in Florida increased between 1950 and 1980, in spite of the arrival of large numbers of other immigrant groups. In 1950, 20 percent of this elderly group in Florida was concentrated in these three counties; by 1980 the proportion had risen to 34 percent. Initially this elderly group was concentrated in Dade County. With the influx of Hispanics that followed the Cuban revolution of 1959, the non-Hispanic white elderly began to move to Broward and Palm Beach counties. The proportion of this group in Dade County dropped from 71 percent in 1950 to 33 percent in 1980. In contrast, the group increased from 11 percent to 42 percent in Broward County and from 18 percent to 25 percent in Palm Beach County during those three decades. The group expanded most rapidly in Palm Beach County during the 1970s.