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Good gawd, this opinion piece is full of racial bias. Not sure what the authors real point was, but the general thought seems to be Portland and other NW cities are thought of more highly because they are more white. Wow. I thought we were beyond that.
Ugh...Echo your comments PW72...what a ridiculous article.
PS, has the author of this article, let alone anyone in general, ever come to the conclusion that Portland and Seattle are about as far away as you can get in the US from the part of the country that embraced slavery of the African Americans. What if even in freedom they chose to stay close to their families?? Just a thought.....yes a lot of time has passed, but my family has been in Washington since they left Germany in the 1800s; what is so far fetched to think African families didn't stay in the Southeast?
I'll probably be labeled a racist for some reason for saying that.
Last edited by DJKirkland; 12-01-2009 at 09:18 PM..
Why would it be better for cities as diverse and racially tolerant as Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta to become more white? Or am I completely missing the point of this thread? Not to mention, Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta are bigger and more international than Portland and Seattle and I believe they are also older than the Northwestern cities.
I read the article and if you read the end, the whole point of the article was that Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta are just as progressive as Portland, Seattle, Denver, and Austin, but in a different way. Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta are all three extremely diverse very favorable and rapidly growing among "minority" (although whites are already the minority in Houston) as well as emerging international cities. So there's no reason for cities like Portland, Seattle, Denver, and Austin to be smug toward the Sunbelt Cities for not being "progressive," because in many ways, Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta are more progressive than those cities. At least, that was my impression of the article.
This article was from the Dallas Morning News, so I'm sure the purpose of the article wasn't to belittle minority groups or the Sunbelt Cities. That would isolate a lot of their readers after all.
Why would it be better for cities as diverse and racially tolerant as Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta to become more white? Or am I completely missing the point of this thread? Not to mention, Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta are bigger and more international than Portland and Seattle and I believe they are also older than the Northwestern cities.
I read the article and if you read the end, the whole point of the article was that Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta are just as progressive as Portland, Seattle, Denver, and Austin, but in a different way. Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta are all three extremely diverse very favorable and rapidly growing among "minority" (although whites are already the minority in Houston) as well as emerging international cities. So there's no reason for cities like Portland, Seattle, Denver, and Austin to be smug toward the Sunbelt Cities for not being "progressive," because in many ways, Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta are more progressive than those cities. At least, that was my impression of the article.
This article was from the Dallas Morning News, so I'm sure the purpose of the article wasn't to belittle minority groups or the Sunbelt Cities. That would isolate a lot of their readers after all.
I don't think the author was saying that these NW cities were "smug" about their southern counterparts not being progressive. I think his point was that Portland/Seattle, etc. are recognized as being highly progressive because they are mostly white. That is simply borderline racial insensitivity, not only toward residents of the NW, but back-handedly, toward the big southern cities he was referring to. I think the piece offends on many levels.
Great article, pretty much confirms what I already suspected. "Progressive" cities like Portland, Seattle, Austin, Minneapolis, and Denver are actually less diverse than the majority of major cities, and not merely just less racially diverse but there also seems to be less diversity of thought in those places too.
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
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I agree with what has been said so far that the writer of this article appears to have been smoking a crack like substance whilst composing that piece of crud.
Aside from that, the real deal with why places like Portland and Seattle are held up as "examples for Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta to live up to" is that it's the chic thing to say.
None of those supposedly better planned and operated cities come even close to the big Southern 3 in economic and international importance. Not to mention they do not hold a special seat at the smart growth table.
Atlanta's core city population has risen 150,000 people in the last 15 years without annexation and it's population jumped from 3000 to 4200 and will inch closer to 5000 after the next census. It has also converted two former industrial plants in to two massive high density urban neighborhoods (Atlantic Station and Glenwood Park) and is in the process of converting a former quarry in to one of the largest urban parks in the country along with adding a new lake in the former mine (Westside Park). All recent development in the city (last decade or so0 has been high density highrises and townhouses. In fact, Atlanta should more of a role model for smart growth than taking lessons from smaller towns. I don't know of anything specific, but I'm sure Dallas and Houston are making similar moves.
Portland, supposedly a bastion of pubic transportation (which it is and i give them props for) that the big Southern 3 should look up to doesn't even come close to the ridership numbers for Atlanta's MARTA.
Atlanta average daily unique boardings for both bus and subway combined (page 17): 488,000 people
Portland average daily unique boardings for bus, light rail, commuter rail and streetcar combined (page 26): 326,000
Atlanta completely lacks commuter rail, and the subway only serves the city and inner suburbs, yet it still has more than a quarter more daily boardings than the supposedly more "transit friendly" Portland. Both city centers are the nearly identical in physical size and population.
Dallas is currently building the largest LRT in the country, and Houston has designs to follow suit.
So really, I don't get what it is we're supposed to be following here.
Oh, I almost forgot, queue 80 pages of calling the big Southern 3 massive sprawlvilles with no redeeming qualities.
I don't think the author was saying that these NW cities were "smug" about their southern counterparts not being progressive. I think his point was that Portland/Seattle, etc. are recognized as being highly progressive because they are mostly white. That is simply borderline racial insensitivity, not only toward residents of the NW, but back-handedly, toward the big southern cities he was referring to. I think the piece offends on many levels.
No I think the article was meant to back-hand the superiority complex (or the posseption of a superiority complex) of the Northwest cities by rubbing in thier face the diversity that Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta are way more diverse. concidering your from Seattle, I can see why your offended.
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