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During the 1990s, Florida replaced New York as the top destination for Puerto Rican migration on the mainland, according to a new study released Thursday. A combination of proximity to the island, warm weather, Florida's reputation as a retirement haven and declines in manufacturing jobs in New York caused the change in migration patterns, according to the study by Jorge Duany of the University of Puerto Rico and Felix Matos-Rodriguez of Hunter College. They released the study at a Hispanic Summit sponsored by the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce. "Puerto Ricans are still concentrated in New York City ... but over the last four decades, the proportion of Puerto Ricans living in New York has declined drastically," Duany said. The proportion of mainland Puerto Ricans living in New York declined from almost 75 percent in 1960 to less than a third in 2000. About 1.05 million Puerto Ricans now live in New York State. By contrast, the proportion of mainland Puerto Ricans living in Florida has grown from more than 2 percent in 1960 to 14 percent in 2000, giving the Sunshine State the second-largest concentration of Puerto Ricans in the U.S. mainland behind New York. About 571,000 Puerto Ricans now live in Florida. In Florida, Puerto Ricans have settled in three main areas: the Orlando area (206,000 people), Miami-Dade and Broward counties (155,000 people) and the Tampa area (68,000). Orlando now has the fourth largest Puerto Rican population in the United States, trailing only New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. [more]