Off to Eastern WA

Hello, All - I'm off to Eastern Washington this weekend. Spokane, to be specific.

There are lots of people right now thinking, "Ah, so devoted to her work!" You know, because Eastern Washington in itself is a Hispanic market.

Not so fast. Yes, there are several very concentrated groups of Latinos throughout Eastern WA - namely in Yakima and the Tri-Cities - but Spokane is like an oasis in that landscape. It's very white. Or as they say in Censusese, "white non-Hispanic."

Also, this might be an opportune time to point out that there are actually MORE LATINOS IN WESTERN WA than east of the mountains. This is true! The difference is, they're less concentrated, more integrated in the Puget Sound region.

For example, Census figures from 2006 show 285,600 Hispanics (with buying power of $3.7 Billion) in the Seattle-Tacoma market. At the same time, they show 168,000 (with buying power of $2.3 Billion) for the Yakima-Tricities market. While we know the Census doesn't get a complete count, not here nor in eastern Washington, we have enough evidence to say that the Puget Sound Hispanic market is simply bigger,

This might also be a good time to mention that the markets east vs. west are entirely different. As examples, generally Latinos in the Seattle area are better educated, have smaller households, and be more likely to be bilingual. They are also more likely to be from South America or Spain their their east-of-the-mountains counterparts, who are mostly Mexican, with some Central Americans.

We'll talk about Central WA some other time.

Enough preaching! Enjoy the weekend. The CASA Latina Gala. The Latino Entrepreneur Fair. The Two Vaults Gallery exhibit. etc. etc.

Or maybe just a nice relaxing weekend at home.