Category: Demographics
-
Big Lessons from Government Data on Virginia’s 286 Nursing Facilities
by James C. Sherlock Nursing facilities in Virginia offer an incredible mixed bag. There are heroes and villains. Much to see here. This column will offer expansive views of government data on each of the 286 nursing facilities in this state. I found out a lot things that really matter to the quality of…
-
2020 Virginia Population Projections Were Close to the Mark
The Weldon Cooper for Public Service at the University of Virginia, in charge of the state’s demographic count, has given itself a pat on the back for its ten-year projection of 2020 Virginia population. The self congratulations are probably deserved. Weldon Cooper’s projection was only 0.27% higher than the Census Count. The actual population increase…
-
Virginia Job Growth Trails U.S. Averages
by A. Fletcher Mangum Virginia’s employment growth has been underperforming the national economy for quite some time. As shown in Figure 1, soon after the recovery from the Great Recession began in earnest in 2011 Virginia’s year-over-year growth in total employment uncharacteristically fell behind the national economy and even briefly went negative in 2014. Then…
-
Map of the Day: College Acceptance Rates
If you’re applying to one of Virginia’s four-year colleges, you stand the best chance of being admitted if you come from a non-metropolitan area, judging by this map compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project on the basis of recently published State Council of Higher Education for Virginia data. The odds are best of all…
-
Time for Amputation: NoVa Merging with “New D.C.”
D.C. Statehood. There has been a long running chorus of cries for D.C. residents to have full representation in Congress. From “Taxation Without Representation” slogans on D.C. license plates to the Biden Administration’s calls for DC to become the 51st state … this debate has gone on for a while. Most discussion devolves into pure…
-
Are Poor Rural White Wise County Evangelicals More Antiracist than the Wealthy, Urbane Citizens of Loudoun?
by James C. Sherlock Many are fascinated with the nationally infamous Loudoun County School Board. Board members seem preoccupied with driving social change without pausing to look at data. I have thought someone ought to check how the Loudoun students have been faring in SOLs to see if there are academic issues…
-
The One-Sided Decision in the Reversion of Martinsville – the Start of a Trend?
by James C. Sherlock The Martinsville Bulletin, perhaps the best remaining newspaper in the state for local coverage, published a must-read article on the reversion of Martinsville from city to town and joining Henry County. Overview Martinsville’s current city logo, above, was perhaps prescient. Martinsville has been hemorrhaging population, losing more than 18% in the…
-
Should Northern Virginia Join D.C. in the 51st State?
By Don Rippert Taxation without representation. The Democratic Party’s control of Congress and the White House has reopened the question of statehood for Washington, DC. This is not a new issue. The question of statehood for D.C. has been actively debated since 1980. Since the 98th Congress, more than a dozen statehood bills have been…
-
Who Hit the Brakes on NoVa Growth?
by James A. Bacon Northern Virginia’s population is growing, but not nearly as fast as before. According to a new study by University of Virginia demographer Hamilton Lombard, Northern Virginia accounted for 66.5% of the state’s population growth between 2010 and 2019, but slipped to 33.7% in the last year. “While Northern Virginia is still…
-
In 2019, 34% of Virginia’s Black 4th graders Could Not Read – Mississippi Offers Hope
by James C. Sherlock Since 2013, Mississippi has made unprecedented, best-in-the-nation improvement in the academic achievements of its children starting as measured in nationwide testing. The improvements were especially pronounced in 4th graders who benefited directly from its 2013 literacy law. I have done a deep dive into those results and traced them back to…
-
Podcast: How the General Assembly Has Changed
—
by
in Agriculture & forestry, Blogs and Blog Administration, Business and Economy, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Consumer Protection, Courts and law, Demographics, Economic development, Energy, Entrepreneurs and Innovation, Environment, General Assembly, Government Finance, Health Care, Housing, Immigration, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race RelationsBy Peter Galuszka I haven’t contributed much to BR lately since I am slammed with non-Virginia work. I did manage to help out on a Podcast about how the General Assembly has changed the state over the last two years as Democrats have gained power. This Podcast is produced by WTJU, the University of Virginia…
-
A Tale of Three Virginias
by Shaun Kenney For those who have taken the opportunity to get to know the Old Dominion, one would be well served to drive the Colonial Parkway. Built by the Rockefeller family in the 1930s, the road is designed in such a way that you could travel the length from Jamestown through Williamsburg and to…
-
Is Virginia a Low Tax State? It Depends on What You Measure.
by James A. Bacon The Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission has updated its scoreboard comparing Virginia on key metrics to other states — a project championed by Sen. Tim Kaine when he was governor. The idea was to allow Virginians to track the progress of the commonwealth in comparison to peer states on the…
-
The Nonsensical Narrative of an Impending White Minority
by James A. Bacon America’s media and cultural elites are increasingly obsessed with race and ethnicity, viewing every public policy issue through a racial prism. But the American people aren’t cooperating. In their real-world behavior, race and ethnicity are becoming less important. The distinction between “whites” and “Hispanics,” never clear to begin with, is steadily…
-
Prioritize Vaccine by Age, Not Race
by Carol J. Bova The last thing the government needs to do is polarize citizens by prioritizing COVID-19 vaccination for favored races and ethnicities. Statements like those of Harald Schmidt, assistant professor in the University of Pennsylvania Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, amount to reverse racism. “Older populations are whiter,” said Schmidt, as…