do you live in a diverse neighboorhood?

[italianaxo]

i live in a really diverse part of nyc, but since going to college i have met many people who lived in very homogenous areas(mostly all white). this seems very strange to me, i am used to being around people of many backgrounds with caucasions as the minority. i have begun to think about this because i know i want to live and especially raise children in a diverse area, but also hopefully one that is a little nicer and safer than where i live now.
what are the areas you live in like? how do you think this has affected who you are? also what is your sorority like in terms of race? one thing that helped me choose axo was the amazing diverse group of girls.

i am new to greek chat but think its great to read peoples opinions from all over.

[Peaches-n-Cream]

Hi New York neighbor! I am also from a diverse community. My college was diverse also. Many of my classmates however grew up in homogenous suburbs. My sorority was pretty diverse, not as much as my home, but more than other sororities.

I think that growing up in a diverse neighborhood has enabled me to feel comfortable in any type of group and neighborhood. I also don't make snap judgements about people. I have an open mind.

[SATX*APhi]

Up until 5th grade, I lived in a mostly Hispanic neighborhood. At the end of my 5th grade year we bought a house on the opposite, nicer side of town. Most of the houses on my street when we moved here 9 years ago were Anglo households, except for mine (we are Hispanic) and my next door neighbor is a Hispanic woman, but is married to an Anglo. The house is on a cul-de-sac so we all know each other pretty well.

Well, when I moved back home in May from school, my 8 yr old brother would always have the kids from the neighborhood inside playing. Well, I noticed that there was a diverse group of kids in this neighborhood now, nothing like when I was younger. There is an Indian family, African American family, a Mexican family, a Jamaican family, many Anglo families, and us (a Hispanic family).


As for my sorority, about 80% of my sorority is Hispanic, with 20% being Anglo. I go to a small, private, Catholic university in San Antonio with the majority of the student population being Hispanic.

[jonsagara]

Here is a breakdown of my city by race:

Black or African American: 644
American Indian and Alaska Native: 287
Asian: 2,331
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 58
Some other race: 2,130
Two or more races: 1,569
White: 37,155

[PM_Mama00]

My old neighborhood that I grew up in was all white. Mostly Italians and Polish and Greek. Where I live now it's Italians, Indians, one Arabic house, and mostly caucasians. School, however, is mostly Arabic. Blacks and white are minority. That could be cuz Dearborn is the most populated Arabic city in the nation.

[chopper816]

I live in west omaha, so its not really diverse. my neigborhood is all white and mostly catholic or protestant.

[newbie]

Originally posted by italianaxo
i live in a really diverse part of nyc, but since going to college i have met many people who lived in very homogenous areas(mostly all white). this seems very strange to me, i am used to being around people of many backgrounds with caucasions as the minority. i have begun to think about this because i know i want to live and especially raise children in a diverse area, but also hopefully one that is a little nicer and safer than where i live now.
what are the areas you live in like? how do you think this has affected who you are? also what is your sorority like in terms of race? one thing that helped me choose axo was the amazing diverse group of girls.

i am new to greek chat but think its great to read peoples opinions from all over.

Interesting thread!

My neighborhood is mostly homogenously white, with a few Asians mixed in. Recently, an African-American family moved in next-door, but other than that, my neighborhood is primarily white with some Asians.

I'm not sure how this makeup has affected me growing up, but as a whole, my city is extremely diverse so that has probably made up for it. Nevertheless, the elementary and high school I attended were almost so homogenous that it didn't reflect the diversity of San Francisco.

One thing though that I'm sure of is that I've probably been very sheltered in terms of being protected from gang violence, conflict and discord, etc. that are more prominent in other neighborhoods. Also, if I had attended other high schools in the City, I'm sure that I would be a different person today.

Thanks for this thread...it really made me think hard for the first time this summer!

[lovelyivy84]

My neighborhood is ethnically, but not rracially diverse- mostly black and hispanic, but ALL KINDS of black and hispanic.

We have people from all of the islands (thank the Lord! What would I do without my haitian callaloo, Puerto Rican rice and beans and my Trinidadian roti I don't know), a growing number of Africans, and a fair amount of Black Americans too. I think the fastest growing pop. is probably Chicanos though, which is adding an interesting dynamic. There are a couple of whites, and a growing number of Asians as well.

I love my neighborhood- it can get dicey sometimes, but its really just a diverse, blue collar suburb of sorts, lol. As suburban as you get in NYC anyway, without going to Queens!

[justamom]

My neighborhood???????? Not much diversity in terms of race. BUT if you look at other issues like education level, religion and occupation, yes there is some diversity. We have Doctors, lawyers. insurance salesmen, owners of construction company, air conditioner business an author, dentists and a stock broker just moved in next door. Most are highly educated, but there are a few who didn't graduate from college.

We are getting new neighbors.
The Hubby is from India. (This is big stuff on the block! LOL)
I'm really excited and hope to get to know them. We need to shake things up around here.

Most are Catholic Christian, but we have a Jewish/Episcopalian(sp?) family, Baptist and Methodist. I wonder what the new family is.

[AOX81]

The neighborhood that I lived in when I was born had a very mixed population.

The next two houses that I lived in were in predominantly white neighborhoods. I think that there were a couple of Indian families and a couple of black families.

When I moved out on my own I lived in two places that were in predominantly black neighborhoods. My neighbors used to tease me and my roommates about being the only white girls in the "ghetto". We liked living there but we could have done without the 5 a.m. drug busts and the FBI and police banging down the doors a couple houses down from us.

[aephi alum]

The neighborhood I grew up in is about 90% Jewish. Very not diverse. The schools shut down for the High Holy Days because there just was no point in being open those days.

My current neighborhood is mostly white and Christian.

[AOX81]

Here is what I found about Flint, Michigan (2000)

Race / Percent of Total Population

White / 24.7
Black / 72.9
American Indian, Eskimo or Aleut / 0.29
Asian or Pacific Islander / 0.58
Other Race / 0.15

[juniorgrrl]

I live smack dab in the middle of white-bread USA. I live in one of those gated country club subdivisions. Its huge - something like 17 miles of streets. Mostly professionals. Lots of nouveau riche white trash that think their new Escalade makes them better than you.

If I had to guess, I'd say its probably 95%+ white back here. As for the suburb I live in, probably about 75%. Because this is a suburb of New Orleans ( a predominantly Catholic city) I'd guess that most people are Catholic here as well. I know at least 5 houses on my street are, including my own.

[bcdphie]

Vancouver is one of the most ethnically diverse places in Canada - where I grew up there were mostly caucasians and asians - but across the city you can find people from pretty much every ethnic background you can think of...

[lifesaver]

Originally posted by PM_Mama00
My old neighborhood that I grew up in was all white. Mostly Italians and Polish and Greek. Where I live now it's Italians, Indians, one Arabic house, and mostly caucasians. School, however, is mostly Arabic. Blacks and white are minority. That could be cuz Dearborn is the most populated Arabic city in the nation.

Kind of interesting, but in the south, especially in Texas, no one ever identifys themselvs as italian, Russian, etc. Yore either white, black, asian, hispanic, etc. You'll never hear, so whats your race? "Oh Im irish." I did hear that tho a few times when I was in NYC.