Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Our Changing Population: Utica's Cornhill - 1980 Versus 2010

Recently I did a comparative of Utica's Center City neighborhhood, 1980 versus 2010. The area lent itself to a relatively easy comparison given the stability of the census tracts used to define it over the years. Utica's Cornhill neighborhood is similar in that the tracts that largely comprise it are similar now to what they were back 30 years ago. It's not perfect, but certainly it's close enough to make some general observations about the nature of any changes that have occurred over that time period in Cornhill.

So where is Cornhill in Utica? The tract map below shows you the outline (in red) of this neighborhood, with the Parkway serving as its southern border, Genesee Street to the west, South Street to the north, and the eastern boundary running mainly along St. Vincent and Mohawk Streets.


This area is more than 50% apartments, with the remainder of housing being split roughly with 20% abandoned properties and 30% owner occupied homes. Between 1980 and 2010, the area saw a substantial drop in population - it lost about 30% of its population. It dropped from more than 16,500 to around 11,700. These people were part of about 4,100 households in 2010, as compared to in 1980 when the 16,500 residents were spread across about 6,600 households.

Below is an infographic that compares the age, sex, race, nativity, employment, education, income and poverty levels of those who have found Utica's Cornhill neighborhood to be their home, in 1980 and in 2010. There are substantial changes in who lives there now as opposed to 30 years ago. Click to enlarge the graphic for easier viewing !

Click to Enlarge