Karl Eschbach, a former demographer for the state of Texas, said that many people moved from Houston neighborhoods and communities with distinct racial and socioeconomic identities, like the East End, Sunnyside, and the Third Ward, to areas too new to have racial identities. Eschbach explained that "as a large minority middle class started to emerge, Fort Bend was virgin territory that all groups could move to." When explaining why many of the new residents were of minority groups rather than white Americans, Eschbach added, "Many minorities are looking for mixed communities, where whites might feel it's more optimal to live in a subdivision that's more homogeneous with their own group."