Sun Belt cities growing again

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WASHINGTON, March 14 (UPI) -- Sun Belt cities that were hit hard by the bust in the U.S. housing market are beginning to show signs of a revival, a Brookings Institute demographer said.

In an analysis of recently released data from the Census Bureau, demographer William Frey found that Phoenix, Las Vegas and some hot spots in Florida led the country in population growth last year, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

The data that covers July 2011 to July 2012 showed that Phoenix grew by 37,025 residents over the course of the year, about 10 times its growth for the previous year.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas grew by 11,827 residents.

Growth was also reported in Miami, Houston, Dallas and Atlanta.

"We're seeing a real glimmer for parts of the Sun Belt that were pretty much dead in the water during the recession," Frey said.

San Francisco, Denver and Seattle also experienced net positive domestic migration in the year.

New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland and Youngstown in Ohio, and Buffalo and Syracuse in New York all saw declines, however.

The net domestic migration loss from New York was 127,842, a 28 percent increase from the previous year. In Chicago, the net loss was 54,274, slightly less than 2011. In Los Angeles, the net outflow of domestic migration came to 38,532, the newspaper said.