For the Oral History project, my partner Amanda and I focused all of our interviews in Brooklyn, in particular, the Bay Parkway and 86th Street area. Playing with the Social Explorer, I set the the time scale all the way back to 1900. The population density was very low and the area was almost 100% white (349,726 white people and 4828 black people). By 1960, the percentage of white people decreased to 85% with a very small population of Asians (Chinese, Japanese, and Indian) making their way to Brooklyn and the percentage of Blacks increasing to 14%. From 1990 to 2000, there was a huge increase in the Asian population. In 1990 they made up around 2 or 3% of the population in the area, but by 2000 they made up around 16% of the people in the area. The latest census of race was collected for 2015 and upwards of 36% of the population is Asian, but the Black population dropped all the way to >= 1%. It also very interesting that south of Bay Parkway there seems to be a greater Asian population than north of Bay Parkway (36% vs. 24%).
Ali, the manager of Istanbul, spoke about how they also started getting more Asian customers, which seems to be a direct reflection of the increased Asian population in the area (darker patches of orange). The manager has worked at Istanbul for 7 years, so he started working there around 2010/2009. Here are photos comparing the Asian population from 2009 vs. 2015.
I also found it very interesting that according to 2000 income census the average household income was $43,715 compared to $60,455 in 2015. This indicates a general increase in average income; however, the $43,715 was the amount in 1999 dollars. Using an inflation calculator, I was able to determine the 2015 value of $43,715, which ended up being $62,628. Therefore, in the past 15 years, it seems that the average house hold income’s buying power has remained relatively the same.
I was very surprised to find that in the area, Educational Services, Health Care, and Social Services takes up the largest sector in terms of category of occupation at around 30% and this number has remained relatively unchanged since 2009. I personally thought that Art, Entertainment, and Recreation, and Accommodation and Food Service would make up the largest sector since there are so many restaurants in the area. However, this may be due to my biased selective vision. When I go to Brooklyn, especially 86th St. I am usually only interested in the restaurants because I love food.
