Will everyone please stop saying Austin is diverse! (food, Vietnamese)

[tfresca]

Hmmm okay. My thoughts are that DOWNTOWN Austin is diverse. Go to a concert downtown or any event and it's all hands across America. Get outside of downtown and you are like any other neighborhood in the country. Not that this is conclusive proof of anything but I drive past a middle school bus stop and and the four corners of the street are broken down by race. It's kinda wild to see it's diverse by numbers but not by action.

[Franko]

Before saying some place is diverse or not please let others know in what way you consider a place diverse. This could be race, language, ideas, economic class, education level, ethnic, urban or rural, tall or short.

I would consider Austin diverse beacuse it is centrally located in a big, generally diverse state. It is home to the state capital and the University of Texas, a rather large university. It is home to a number of large, cutting edge businesses like Dell, 3M, and TX Instruments. Although being centarally located in a big state could contribute to it not being diverse because it is about a day's drive away from another state, or country, where a non Texas perspective could be obtained.

[G Grasshopper]

I agree with the last two posters. The OP seemed to be saying that there is only one kind of diversity: black vs. white, and that Austin is short on that. This may be somewhat true, as there seems to be a smaller AA community than in many cities. But there is so much more to diversity that that. How one defines "diversity" will answer the question as to whether Austin has it.

[sxrckr]

Austin has more racial diversity (fewer whites) than a lot of people realize.

As far as economic diversity, not as much, especially compared to biggies like Houston and Dallas that have more very wealthy but also more poverty.

[OpenD]

It's not just population counts and percentages. One dimension of diversity is tolerance. On that axis, I rate Austin highly. When I hit the neighborhood supermarket and see cowboy hats and yarmulkes and hajibs and turbans and trucker hats and scarfs and newsboy caps, etc., all side by side, interacting, talking to each other, all comfortable, that says a lot to me about the diversity of the community.

[G Grasshopper]

Originally Posted by OpenD

It's not just population counts and percentages. One dimension of diversity is tolerance. On that axis, I rate Austin highly. When I hit the neighborhood supermarket and see cowboy hats and yarmulkes and hajibs and turbans and trucker hats and scarfs and newsboy caps, etc., all side by side, interacting, talking to each other, all comfortable, that says a lot to me about the diversity of the community.

Exactly. There is more to diversity than numbers.

[Aquitaine]

I think I can wrap up this thread.

OP: Will everyone please stop saying Austin is diverse!

Thread: ...no?

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by OpenD

It's not just population counts and percentages. One dimension of diversity is tolerance. On that axis, I rate Austin highly. When I hit the neighborhood supermarket and see cowboy hats and yarmulkes and hajibs and turbans and trucker hats and scarfs and newsboy caps, etc., all side by side, interacting, talking to each other, all comfortable, that says a lot to me about the diversity of the community.

This right here. (I'm not allowed to give you more rep until I spread it around more, so this is the best I can do - consider yourself repped.)

[redvelvet709]

Originally Posted by man.hold.up.

Really y'all, it's not.

I mean seriously, Austin is by far the least diverse big city in Texas(fact). It just has great P.R., but can we please be real about this.

I lived in Austin for over a year(I loved it!) but it is very far from being diverse unless you compare it to Midland, Amarillo, Salt Lake, Portland, or Seattle.

It is very layed back yes, racially and culturally diverse NO!

I know some people will take offense to this but its the HONEST truth.

All I can say is this: You were only here a year. I have been here 26 years. You really cannot tell based on that short amount of time as it takes awhile to see the patterns of a city and its' culture.

[G Grasshopper]

I think this thread should be closed. The OP asked us all to stop saying (or thinking?) that Austin is diverse. The folks said "No, we won't stop saying that because we think it is. There is also freedom of speech here - we can say what we wish." End of story.