Immigrants are drawn to midsize metro areas, study shows

LOS ANGELES — Recently arrived immigrants flocked to smaller U.S. metropolitan areas during the first half of the 1990s, lured by less job competition and cheaper housing, but they were not as likely to buy homes in such places, according to a study expected to be released Monday.

The population of immigrants living in the U.S. for a decade or less jumped 27 percent in cities such as Nashville, Tenn.; El Paso, Texas; Bakersfield, Calif.; and Stockton, Calif., during the first five years of the century, the University of Southern California's Lusk Center for Real Estate reported.

More traditional "gateway" areas such as Los Angeles and New York saw a 6 percent decline in the number of these newcomers over that same period.

"There has been tremendous growth in the population of immigrants in these smaller metropolitan areas," said Gary Painter, director of research at the center and co-author of the study. "A lot of immigrants weren't even going to the gateways first."

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