Public Essays

Interpretations of research for the benefit of policy makers and mainstream audiences, these essays are relatively short “demographic narratives” that build off detailed studies available on the PopDynamics website.

Rebuilding Common Purpose for the 21st Century with New Civic Infrastructure  > Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy, 5(1)
by Dowell Myers and Karen Trapenberg Frick, May 6, 2022

Housing Shortages and the New Downturn of Residential Mobility in the U.S.
by Dowell Myers, JungHo Park, and Seongmoon Cho, June 2021
> Housing Studies   > Public Release Supplement (pdf)   > Twitter Thread

The Truth about White America  > The Atlantic IDEAS
by Morris Levy, Richard Alba, and Dowell Myers, October 25, 2021
Explains the twists and turns in racial trends derived from changes in the 2020 census.

The Myth of a Majority-Minority America  > The Atlantic IDEAS
by Richard Alba, Morris Levy, and Dowell Myers, June 13, 2021
Explains how growing multiracialism is impacting interpretations of traditional binary racial categories.

Experts Sound the Alarm on Declining Birth Rates among Younger Generations: “It’s a Crisis”  > CBS News
by Dowell Myers, March 3, 2021
A serious but animated 5-minute multimedia production of unusually high quality. Includes Dowell Myers’s most exceptional contribution of the pandemic years (blues harmonica included).

An Open Letter to Demographers of Racial Change  > Open Letter (pdf)
by Dowell Myers, July 4, 2018

The Demise of the White Majority is a Myth  > Washington Post op-ed
Washington Post (featuring biracial Meghan Markel, published by the Post on her wedding day)
by Dowell Myers and Morris Levy, May 18, 2018

Why California Needs the Young if It’s to Thrive: Age, not race or ethnicity, matters most for the state’s future prosperity  > LA Times op-ed
by Dowell Myers, February 25, 2014

California’s Demographic Challenge: As the state ages, nurturing a new generation is crucial  > LA Time op-ed
by Dowell Myers, July 22, 2012

California Futures: New Narratives for a Changing Society
> Boom: A Journal of California (pdf)
by Dowell Myers, July 2012

Is Prop 13 Behind the Times? The Housing Market Assumptions of 1978 Don’t Work in 2012  > Planetizen Article about Sacramento Bee op-ed
by Dowell Myers, July 15, 2012

We’re Still Here, Still Golden: Don’t Believe the Tales of Gloom. Californians aren’t Fleeing.  > Zocalo Public Square essay
by Dowell Myers, May 2012

The Next Immigration Challenge  > NY Times op-ed
by Dowell Myers, January 11, 2012

Housing Market Links Older Whites, Young Latinos  > Sacramento Bee op-ed (pdf)
by Dowell Myers, July 31, 2011