American West -- Demographics

(Source: http://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/)

The Rocky Mountain West was, at century's end, the fastest growing region in the U.S. Eight Rocky Mountain states were in the top ten fastest growing states in the nation, and the region attracted net population gain from every region of the country.

Source: www.learner.org/.../feature/index_text.html

(Source: U.S. Census reports, 2000)

(The above maps from: http://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/west/awfact.htm show the West is an oasis culture--population is concentrated where there is water.)

Walter Nugent (Into the West, 2000) lists the following motivations for migration to the West:

• homesteaders' hunger for land (the agrarian myth);
• miners' eagerness to exploit natural resources (the gold rush);
• hopes for a better quality of life (the California dream of retirees, entrepreneurs, health seekers, and hedonists);
• simple nostalgia (the mythology of the golden West)
• the universal and very ordinary desire of immigrants to improve their material and spiritual circumstances.

Readings:

• Pamela S. Perlich. "Utah's Place in the Macro-Demographics of the U.S. in the 20th Century," Utah Economic and Business Review, March/April 2006. 
• "Changing America: The United States Population in Transition"