Census 2010 - A Changing City of Fairfax

The numbers from the 2010 U.S. Census are in for Virginia and the City of Fairfax. As The Washington Post so aptly put: it's a different Virginia. Indeed it is. The Commonwealth is much more diverse than it was just ten years ago with population growth driven by those people identifying themselves as Asians and Hispanics. And much of the growth is in, no surprise here, Northern Virginia.

The City of Fairfax reflects this trend. According to data provided by the Census, the City's overall population has increased by 5% percent from 2000 to 2010. We now have 22,565 residents living within our 6.3 square miles. There was a 30% growth in the number of Asians, a 21.3% increase in the number of Hispanics while there was a decline in the Black population of .5% and a decline in the White population by 3.7%.

An interactive map constructed by The Post finds even more revealing data about our City. What it shows is that much of the growth can be found in pockets of the City or what the Census identify as "block groups". For example the Little River Hills area saw a 52% increase in population, while the Ardmore area saw a decrease of 10.8% in its population.

Now when you go just outside the City and onto Mason's campus you clearly see the growth of the university, which has an impact on us. The number of people who took the Census from campus shows an 86% growth in population. That is just astounding.

There is obviously a lot more data coming and we will certainly be having discussions as a community about what all of this means for the short- and long-term. But it's pretty obvious that the Commonwealth of today is not the Old Dominion of even 20 or 30 years ago. We are a much more diverse state, region and City. That's a good thing as I believe this country continues to provide the best opportunity in the world for people to succeed. We should not be afraid of this change, but embrace it because of those opportunities that our new neighbors have to contribute to - and improve - our society.

One thing we will need to do though is ensure that new Americans are both represented - and perhaps even more important - engaged in the political process. If they don't raise their voice, they won't be heard.

We'll soon be in the middle of the resdistricting process where political boundaries are changed every ten years to account for shifting populations. In addition to keeping the City of Fairfax whole and in one Congressional, Delegate and state Senate district, I also hope that we will see a process that is fair and inclusive, responding to these new populations changes.