TAMPA - Climate and opportunities make the Tampa area attractive to immigrants.

We're a little bit older, a little more crowded and increasingly international.

Tampa Bay's growth during the 1990s saw new ethnic communities take root and help slow the overall aging of the populace, newly released U.S. Census Bureau data show.

Earlier census data showed dramatic growth in Florida's Hispanic population, which increased 70 percent during the past decade. Hispanics eclipsed blacks as Florida's largest minority group.

Starting from smaller numbers but growing equally in scale is the area's Asian population. It nearly doubled in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties and grew 120 percent in Pasco County.

Each ethnic case follows the classic American immigrant success story. First-generation immigrants settled near their ports of entry - Asians in California, Hispanics in South Florida and New York. They struggled to make a living and educate their children.

The next generation had more options and looked for a better quality of life. In these cases, many chose Florida.

Vijay Patel, a St. Petersburg physician, came to Florida with his parents on vacation. The family had settled in New York, but Patel, 43, fell in love with the climate. It mirrored his native Cambay, India, and as a geriatric doctor, life in another bay area made sense.

Likewise, Jose Ramos chose life in Florida after vacations to Disney World and Busch Gardens. He lived in New York before returning to his native Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

To him, Tampa felt like home.

``Ybor City reminds me of old San Juan,'' he said.

An accountant, Ramos works in Temple Terrace and lives in Bloomingdale. The suburbs also remind him of Puerto Rico's rural areas.

Bloomingdale's Puerto Rican population more than doubled during the 1990s, along with Brandon, Town 'N Country and Plant City, census records show.

Similar growth registered among Mexicans and the all-encompassing ``Hispanic-other'' category, covering Central and South Americans not specified on census forms.

Gains of a similar scale took place in Pasco and Pinellas counties.

The Mexican population grew more than 80 percent in Hillsborough County to 35,321 people, with concentrations in Brandon, Plant City and Ruskin.

Pasco County's Mexican population nearly doubled, and Pinellas County saw a 254 percent increase.

The next wave of immigration comes from across the globe. Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties now have 22,649 residents of Asian descent. Florida's overall Asian population increased by almost 78 percent.

Asian Indians like Patel are the fastest growing segment of the immigrant wave, census figures show.

The Hindu Temple of Florida serves about 2,500 Asian Indians at a temple and community center in northwest Hillsborough County, said President G.M. Ramappa, a neonatologist.

``When we came [in 1979], there were not many Indians here,'' Ramappa said. Now, the temple and community center host a variety of Indian cultural events, including performances by musicians, artists and actors from India.

They've started a Sunday school offering religious education and tutoring for college entrance exams. Education often trumps religion in Asian Indian families, Ramappa said.

The community's early immigrants to West Central Florida were doctors, Ramappa said. Hotel and store owners followed. The growth of high technology businesses in Florida fueled the 1990s boom.

The temple continues to grow. Members are adding Indian statues and a 74-foot-tall Raja Gopuram, or a decorated tower over the temple entrance.

In both Asian and Latin population growth, the Tampa Bay area may be experiencing a historic pattern among immigrant groups, say county planner Jim Hosler and Kimi Springsteen, Hillsborough County's Asian community liaison. It is being ``discovered'' by a second generation of immigrants frustrated by the fast pace and expensive lifestyle in traditional urban centers.

Tampa's existing Hispanic community makes it inviting to Puerto Ricans, Hosler said. He's not surprised to see concentrations in Town 'N Country and Brandon, areas offering new and affordable housing.

When Springsteen, a Korean native, moved to Hillsborough County 20 years ago, she didn't find many people like herself. ``It was like a redneck town,'' she said. The fledgling Asian communities bonded together, forging a business and social network that helped create the county liaison office where she now works.

Over time Asians discovered the affordable cost of living and slower, friendlier pace and found it attractive, Springsteen said.

``Florida had been viewed as a retiree state,'' she said. ``They [Asians] never dreamed of Florida being industrial. Labor is cheaper here. People are nicer.''

The growth and immigration patterns all are aided by the strong 1990s economy and the good job market that created. The transplants tend to be younger and bring families with them. That, Hosler said, helped keep Florida's median age from increasing more than the 2.4 years it did elsewhere as the baby boom generation grows older and more people live longer.

The only age group to shrink in Florida was the 25- to 34-year-olds. As the youngest segment of the baby boom generation reaches its upper 30s, the drop in the 25- to 34-year-old demographic was a national phenomenon. The state's 1.5 percent decline, or 32,144 people, was far smaller than the nation, which saw a 7.6 percent drop in people 25-34 years old.

``It's amazing how that shows up, isn't it?'' said Hosler, the research director for the Hillsborough's City-County Planning Commission. ``The culture is totally dominated by the baby boomers and the baby boomers' kids. They'll have nothing of their own.''

One exception is Holiday, a community of 22,000 people in southwestern Pasco County. It underwent a dramatic transition in the 1990s. Young families moved into homes originally built for retirees in the 1970s, sending the median age plummeting to 48.5, from 63 in 1990.

In other census figures released today, more women are raising children alone. In Florida, the number of households run by women with children increased 46 percent. The national rate grew 25 percent.

It's not clear why.

The state has 1.2 million more housing units than it had in 1990, but there are 375 fewer vacant units, meaning just about all the new development has been filled.

(CHART) (C) Florida through the ages

Echoing a national trend, there are fewer 25- to 34-year-olds in Florida than there were in 1990, a result of the baby bust often referred to as Generation X. The number of people in every other age group increased between 1990 and 2000, led by the aging baby boom population.

(See microfilm for details)

Source: U.S. Census

VAUGHN HUGHES/Tribune chart

(CHART) The latest 2000 census figures show Hispanic and Asian population growth

The census offers details on the origin of Hispanic and Asian residents of the Tampa Bay area, with Puerto Rican and Mexican increases exceeding Cuban growth.

(See microfilm for details)

(CHART) (C) Thick in the middle

Two of every 5 Floridans were between the ages of 25 and 44 in 2000. The state's median age in 2000 was 38.7, and the U.S. median age was 35.3.

Percentage of population by age group

(See microfilm for details)

Source: U.S. Census

VAUGHN HUGHES/Tribune chart