Generally, the term “diversity” is associated with characteristics such as race, culture, and religion, but diversity falls into many different categories, including gender, age, socioeconomic level, and general life experiences. With the help of myregion.org, we can turn the challenge of inclusion into our greatest opportunity.

Minority populations in the United States are flourishing, especially in the South and particularly in Florida. Since the 1930's, at least sixty different ethnic groups, apart from Anglo-Americans and African-Americans, have come to call Florida home. From the sounds of Latin music in Kissimmee to the smells of Asian cooking in downtown Orlando and the sights of the African-American arts festivals in Eatonville, different cultures are weaved into our everyday lives.

The white population is the majority in every county in the region. With the Orlando MSA representing the broadest mix of diversity across the region, it has the largest population of African-Americans (18.3%), followed by Polk County (13.5%) and Osceola County reflecting the smallest percentage, only 7.4%.

While Orange County has the largest concentration of Asian Americans (3.4%), percentages in other counties are slowly on the rise: Lake 0.8%, Brevard 1.5%, Polk 0.9%, Seminole 2.5%, Volusia 1.0% and Osceola 2.2%.

By contrast, in Osceola County, Hispanics constitute the largest percent (29.4%) of the population, while Orange County has the largest population in numbers, with approximately 271,000 Hispanic persons living the Orlando MSA. It is estimated that across the seven-county region, the Hispanic population grew from 144,000 persons in 1990 to 369,000 persons in 2000, an increase of 155.25%. Persons of Puerto Rican origin comprise close to half of the Hispanics in all of the region’s counties, except in Polk and

Lake counties where persons of Mexican descent represent more than half of this population.

As you can see on this map (click map to enlarge), data collected by myregion.org shows that while Florida as a whole saw rapid growth over the past 30 years, there is a pattern of high-growth and low-growth areas. The dividing line extends diagonally from Jacksonville to just north of Tampa. The southern and eastern areas are higher growth, while the northern and western areas saw significantly less growth. This is an interesting pattern, as urban growth typically emanates outward from a central core.

Each of the four Central Florida MSAs (Orlando, Daytona Beach, Melbourne-Titusville and part of Lakeland-Winter Haven) grew at rates that were consistently higher than the state as a whole. In the 1990s Orlando grew the fastest (23.8%), followed by Daytona Beach (17.7%), and Melbourne-Titusville (16.7%). Only Orlando grew at a higher rate than the state average of 23.53%. While Brevard County shows the highest concentrations and projected growth of aging populations, Orange, Seminole and Volusia counties have high concentrations of youth (0-17 age group).

However, high population growth does not guarantee high-income growth. Our region’s per capita income is below the national average and the per capita income rate of growth remains below the national average.

That’s why myregion.org is intended to be the catalyst that will allow our government, business, institutional leaders and citizens of the region, to share a common vision and more clearly see their roles in creating a healthy future for the region as a whole.

“Different cultural backgrounds and expectations deeply enrich our family of communities and, if utilized effectively, have the potential to make our regional community more globally competitive, said Pastor Sylvester Robinson, Executive Committee member and co-chair of Demographics and Diversity. A practice of inclusion, rather than exclusion, is what will get us there,” he concluded.

If you want to learn

more about our region’s Demographics and Diversity composite, its changes in population density or examine related maps and documents, go to www.myregion.org. You may also contact our Executive Committee Co-Chairs Sally Sherman, Seminole County Deputy Manager at ssherman@co.seminole.fl.us or Pastor Sylvester Robinson at sylvesterr@goadinternational.org.