Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
11,974 posts, read 25,462,489 times
Reputation: 12187
Advertisements
Quote:
Originally Posted by l1995
Dalton, Georgia comes to mind
And is the Hispanic (mainly Mexican) population growing in Kentucky?
Several towns in Central Kentucky are up to 10%, but most live in Louisville or Lexington. West part of Lexington is plurality Hispanic, in Louisville the population is pretty scattered throughout the city. Clarksville Indiana (across from Louisville) has a handful of census tracts that are majority Hispanic.
I am in one of the places the OP listed. If illegals are counted I would guess Yakima is easily over 50% Hispanic. The major agriculture industry around here is the obvious draw. Still, I find it interesting that the Mexicans here chose to move to a place so far North, to a state so far from Mexico that it borders Canada. They could have found agriculture work closer to home but they chose to come here instead.
What I have found is that a lot of Mexicans that live here, especially the newer immigrants, have a high regard for Central Washington. They think it's nice and a good place to raise children. They think the quality of life is better than a place with similar work such as the Central Valley of California. They went of their way to come here because they like it.
I have found than non-Hispanic whites that live here (and whites that live in other areas of the state) have a much more negative perception of Yakima than Mexicans do. They think it's a crime infested ghetto. Whites that have lived here for years will often go on and on about how nice Yakima used to be back in the day. They don't mention ethnicity but their comments have very obvious racial overtones. Still they are entitled to their beliefs and they seem sincere that Yakima used to be such a great city. They make it sound like it was Leave It To Beaver.
Personally, I like living in a city with a high concentration of Mexicans. I think they are mostly nice, down to earth people plus I find Hispanic women very attractive. I also think it makes this city more interesting than it would be otherwise.
Several towns in Central Kentucky are up to 10%, but most live in Louisville or Lexington. West part of Lexington is plurality Hispanic, in Louisville the population is pretty scattered throughout the city. Clarksville Indiana (across from Louisville) has a handful of census tracts that are majority Hispanic.
So it doesn't seem like there any huge Hispanic enclaves in Kentucky yet, but maybe one day there will be.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay F
I am in one of the places the OP listed. If illegals are counted I would guess Yakima is easily over 50% Hispanic. The major agriculture industry around here is the obvious draw. Still, I find it interesting that the Mexicans here chose to move to a place so far North, to a state so far from Mexico that it borders Canada. They could have found agriculture work closer to home but they chose to come here instead.
What I have found is that a lot of Mexicans that live here, especially the newer immigrants, have a high regard for Central Washington. They think it's nice and a good place to raise children. They think the quality of life is better than a place with similar work such as the Central Valley of California. They went of their way to come here because they like it.
I have found than non-Hispanic whites that live here (and whites that live in other areas of the state) have a much more negative perception of Yakima than Mexicans do. They think it's a crime infested ghetto. Whites that have lived here for years will often go on and on about how nice Yakima used to be back in the day. They don't mention ethnicity but their comments have very obvious racial overtones. Still they are entitled to their beliefs and they seem sincere that Yakima used to be such a great city. They make it sound like it was Leave It To Beaver.
Personally, I like living in a city with a high concentration of Mexicans. I think they are mostly nice, down to earth people plus I find Hispanic women very attractive. I also think it makes this city more interesting than it would be otherwise.
There are lots of Mexican enclaves nowhere near the Mexican border, and it makes sense because these they've been finding new areas to live in over the years, which aren't oversaturated with Mexican labor and Mexican restaurants like
A city doesn't have to decline in any metric for some people to say things like that. Yakima's crime rate doesn't seem to be exactly low, but it doesn't seem notably bad either.
Most of the safest big cities in the US actually have big Hispanic populations, for what it's worth.
The connection is remote and hundred years in the past.
No its not. NM is one of the most Hispanic (Mexican) states in the country. Its not like Florida which before Cuban immigration, was only really "Hispanic" in its history with Ponce de Leon and the Spanish settlements. New Mexico has been Hispanic since the Spanish landed there and has never lost it. Albuquerque is one of the oldest Spanish settlements in the US.
I wanted to open a thread about places that are in regions that have little or no cultural ties to Mexico or Latin American countries, yet have huge Hispanic populations (in number or concentration). For the sake of this conversation, lets define significant as 40% or greater in concentration or over 500,000 in number by either city or metro area.
I got the idea for this thread as I was going through Western Kansas a couple of weeks ago. I went through the towns of Liberal and Dodge City. In both cities it is obvious that Mexican culture is dominant. In the Wal Mart in Liberal the signs are in Spanish first in some cases and English second. Most of the people that I came into contact with were also Hispanic. Im not as familiar with Kansas state history, but I know that most of the state has a fairly low Hispanic concentration.
Being a stickler for data, I looked up the population statistics and my observations seemed right. Below are some examples of what Im talking about. First by city:
Dallas, TX 1,752,171 Hispanic residents: (this one is debatable, but North Texas hasnt had many ties to Latin America historically): US2010
What are your thoughts?
You mentioned Yakima, WA, and that is true. But you can add Pasco, WA at 55.7%, even greater than Yakima. And the Tri-Cities, WA is in general is about 23% hispanic, when adding Kennewick and Richland to Pasco.
No its not. NM is one of the most Hispanic (Mexican) states in the country. Its not like Florida which before Cuban immigration, was only really "Hispanic" in its history with Ponce de Leon and the Spanish settlements. New Mexico has been Hispanic since the Spanish landed there and has never lost it. Albuquerque is one of the oldest Spanish settlements in the US.
Yea but he meant most Hispanics there have no direct ties to Mexico or Latin America, similar to San Antonio. But of course that wasn't really what the OP meant, but if taken literally technically these would also be included.
Doesn't having a large Hispanic community essentially make a cultural connection to Latin American countries? A city need not be founded by Spain or have "Spanish" architecture or construction to have a Hispanic culture. This thread doesn't make sense to me.
Yea but he meant most Hispanics there have no direct ties to Mexico or Latin America, similar to San Antonio. But of course that wasn't really what the OP meant, but if taken literally technically these would also be included.
Except New Mexico still has plenty of first generation immigrants. My boyfriend's Mexican American his family's been in Texas for many generations, maybe even before 1900, but that doesn't mean they lost their Mexican cultural roots. Many of them may have strong southern accents but they're still proud of their Mexican heritage.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
