More than 40,000 Hispanics moved to Michigan last year, said Salvador Monroy, consul of Mexico in Detroit. Most of the new arrivals, who come primarily from Mexico, south Texas and Chicago, select the bustling Mexicantown district to live, Monroy noted. The rising Hispanic population drew the attention of Texas Gov. George W. Bush, who visited Mexicantown last month as part of his drive to become the nation's next president. Other areas of Michigan with large concentrations of Hispanics include Pontiac, Holland, Grand Rapids and Saginaw. The U.S. Census shows there were close to 190,000 Hispanics living in the state in 1990, but next year that number is projected to rise to 261,000, according to the census.
Local officials say the numbers are higher.
But not everyone trusts the government, so Hispanics don't always fill out census forms. The numbers are way up. We have three tortilla factories now, where before there was one, and the Mexican baseball league here has 13 teams, where before there was just one. Incentives to invest Over the past four years, the auto industry has set its sights on reviving southwest Detroit. The effort is being fueled in part by such public incentives as renaissance zones, where most taxes in a given area are waived for a period of 10 to 15 years.