COUNTY A LEADER IN GET-UP-AND-GO.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

If you live in the San Fernando Valley or elsewhere in Los Angeles County, the odds are you moved between 1995 and 2000.

According to a U.S. Census Bureau report released Tuesday and other demographic data, Los Angeles area residents are among the nation's most mobile although far more likely to make relatively short moves within the county than people elsewhere in the nation.

In the city, 50.4 percent of residents 5 years and older moved between 1995 and 2000; 50.1 percent in the Valley changed homes, and 48.1 percent of county residents did - all higher rates than the 46 percent U.S. figure.

The West led the nation in mobility, with 51.2 percent of its population changing residence, led by Nevada, with a 62.6 percent rate. One in two Californians changed homes between 1995 and 2000.

But L.A. residents tended to move closer by, with nearly three-quarters of all moves taking place within the county - compared with the nation, in which only 62 percent of moves were within the same county.

Los Angeles' churn in new residences - for homeowners and apartment dwellers - reflects the dynamics of Southern California's super-charged housing market, high ratio of renters, upward mobility and influx of immigrants, local experts said.

``It reflects the nature of this economy,'' said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

``You have multiple business centers, and people might want to move to be closer to their place of work; there are multiple people working in households and they might move to a place that's better for both, or all, working parties. There are a lot of entrepreneurs who work out of homes and might try to get a home with the capability for a home office.''

Upward mobility is another factor, made more attractive for those who owned a home in the past decade and were able to use equity gains to move into a bigger home or better neighborhood.

Immigrants also contributed to the turnover in residences, with 12.4 percent of the county's new homeowners and renters, and 14.8 percent of the city's coming from another country between 1995 and 2000 - more than double the national rate of 6.3 percent.

The high turnover rate in the county's housing stock is a mixed blessing, Kyser said.

Economically, virtually every change of residence involves an infusion of money into the economy, as new homeowners and renters invest in improvements, buy furniture or other supplies.

The effect on civic life of neighborhoods, however, might be less positive.

``In some cases it can be bad for the social mix of the community,'' Kyser said. ``If there is a somewhat disadvantaged community and the people with good jobs move up and out of the community, you lose someone who could potentially be a community leader.''

Daniel Blake, director of the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center at California State University, Northridge, said the Valley is somewhat different from the rest of the city, with homeowners and renters about evenly split, compared with just 39 percent homeownership in the city as a whole.

At the same time, the Valley continues to be upwardly mobile, and new housing starts add to the mix.

``Some of it is that people mature and move into bigger houses as they start a family, and then maybe into smaller houses as the family leaves,'' Blake said. ``Some people are getting equity appreciation in their homes and they can realize that by moving.''

Immigrants, too, move from ``port of entry'' communities to better neighborhoods as they become settled and gain financially, he added.

Hispanic and Asian families - the groups growing fastest in Los Angeles - were most likely to have moved between 1995 and 2000, according to the Census report.

Other findings of the report were that the largest migration of people within the United States was to the South, with more than 5 million, for a net gain of about 1.8 million residents.

The West had more than 2.6 million people move in, but almost an equal number moved away. Just over 2.2 million people moved to the West from abroad, second-highest to the South, which had 2.6 million.

Beth Barrett, [phone]

beth.barrett(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

chart

Chart:

Mobile Americans

SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau

Associated Press