Diverse, progressive, upscale, AND "low-key" places in the U.S.? (neighborhoods, public schools)

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by TarHeelTerritory

Thanks for the thorough and detailed answer, ck. I must admit, I've never previously researched much into some of the more northerly areas of the country like upstate NY or the Midwest, being somewhat biased to warmer climes, but this area seems like a great nomination.

On the flip side, what would be your "East side of Syracuse" for the lower half of the country?

Good question, as it may take thorough knowledge of such an area. I'm thinking perhaps an area of a very diverse city such as Virginia Beach VA.

[MrJester]

Originally Posted by TarHeelTerritory

I think you may have a good answer here. I've never been myself, but it definitely seems to be underrated and under the radar as far as California cities go, while seeming to meet the other requirements.

I grew up in Irvine, widely bashed as a very boring suburban town. Then I lived in the Sacramento suburbs (Davis) for college, 2017-2019.

I found Sacramento to be very underwhelming for a city of its size. I now live in Oklahoma City, with a metro population of only 1.3 million vs. Sacramento's 2.3 million, but even Downtown OKC feels much more vibrant, pre Covid, than Downtown Sacramento.

Sure, Sacramento is fairly progressive, but it is a sleepy, heavily government dependent town. As in much more dependent on the public sector than other state capitols like Boston, Austin, and Denver are. Even Washington DC has a far larger private sector than Sacramento.

So sure, Sacramento might check most of your boxes, but no one moves to Sacramento for the urban amenities and vibrancy. The main sell of Sacramento is either a stable government job and being within a couple hours of Tahoe and SF. And for being in California, of course, because being in California automatically adds reputation to your city.

Sacramento is low key because...Ha ha, well, there just aren't a lot of ultra wealthy people because the private sector/entrepreneur class is so small. Although you will find a lot of very posh homes in El Dorado Hills, Granite Bay, and Eastern Folsom, where lots of the Intel Employees live.

As for any vast swathes of mega mansions like you have in Los Gatos, Atherton, etc in Sacramento? Nope.

I think Portland, OR and Asheville is your best bet. You already live in NC, so I guess you know more about Asheville, which I have only been to. Although Asheville seems to want to reinvent itself as some sort of Napa Valley of North Carolina.

[TheTimidBlueBars]

Parts of western WA could work:

- Oak Harbor and the San Juans (though they're not diverse)
- Olympia and Bellingham (though they're not consistently upscale, especially Olympia, and are college towns)

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by MrJester

I think Portland, OR and Asheville is your best bet. You already live in NC, so I guess you know more about Asheville, which I have only been to. Although Asheville seems to want to reinvent itself as some sort of Napa Valley of North Carolina.

Portland isn't all that diverse.

[18Montclair]

There's a lot of that in the Bay Area and Northern California.

In fact, Ive been working on data for high income racial minorities and here is 1 finding:

2019 Households Earning $200,000+ CSA
Total
$200K+ HHs...CSA...............White $200K+ HHs......( $200K+ MINORITY HOUSEHOLDS)
1,317,890 New York............. 938,969....................(378,921)
753,465 San Francisco..........417,197....................(336 ,227)
691,442 Los Angeles.............409,362....................(28 2,020)
613,086 Washington.............424,468.................... (188,618)
444,906 Boston....................379,639................. ...(65,267)
389,047 Chicago..................304,190.................. ...(84,887)
291,734 Philadephia..............240,095.................. ..(51,642)
275,150 Seattle....................200,970................ ....(74,180)
268,084 Dallas......................198,584............... ....(69,500)
252,207 Houston...................171,831................. ..(80,376)
228,066 Altanta.....................168,605............... .....(59,461)
198,739 Miami.......................125,193............... ....(73,546)
170,922 Denver.....................144,433................ ...(26,489)
162,187 Minneapolis..............144,850.................. .(17,337)
151,572 Detroit.....................124,353............... ....(28,219)
139,793 Phoenix....................110,043................ ...(29,750)
107,125 Portland.....................89,248............... ...(17,877)

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

There's a lot of that in the Bay Area and Northern California.

In fact, Ive been working on data for high income racial minorities and here is 1 finding:

2019 Households Earning $200,000+ CSA
Total
$200K+ HHs...CSA...............White $200K+ HHs......( $200K+ MINORITY HOUSEHOLDS)
1,317,890 New York............. 938,969....................(378,921)
753,465 San Francisco..........417,197....................(336 ,227)
691,442 Los Angeles.............409,362....................(28 2,020)
613,086 Washington.............424,468.................... (188,618)
444,906 Boston....................379,639................. ...(65,267)
389,047 Chicago..................304,190.................. ...(84,887)
291,734 Philadephia..............240,095.................. ..(51,642)
275,150 Seattle....................200,970................ ....(74,180)
268,084 Dallas......................198,584............... ....(69,500)
252,207 Houston...................171,831................. ..(80,376)
228,066 Altanta.....................168,605............... .....(59,461)
198,739 Miami.......................125,193............... ....(73,546)
170,922 Denver.....................144,433................ ...(26,489)
162,187 Minneapolis..............144,850.................. .(17,337)
151,572 Detroit.....................124,353............... ....(28,219)
139,793 Phoenix....................110,043................ ...(29,750)
107,125 Portland.....................89,248............... ...(17,877)

Would you say the East and North Bay in particular?

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

Would you say the East and North Bay in particular?

Yeah, even on the Peninsula tho, people here tend to be way more inconspicuous about wealth, even boring imo.

[ccm123]

South Pasadena, California. Liberal, diverse, educated, upper-middle class, relatively low key city. Small town “Mayberry” type of feel and neighborly. I lived there years ago and really enjoyed it. Great schools and safe area also.

[NW Crow]

If 20-30% minorities is enough diversity and / or all the groups don't have to be at least be moderately large, then you have lots of choices. If you desire 40-50 plus % minorities and / or you would not be satisified if the minority representation is predominantly hispanic or black or asian and the representation of at least one others group is pretty to very low, then the list is shorter and mainly in CA and big city northeast (with possibly a few exceptions- say very select parts of Seattle / east side or Houston, or parts of Austin, Chicago, Atlanta metros). I count DC as on edge of northeast.

Housing budget vs market averages would eliminate places for some.

Olympia has modest diversity overall but some of that diversity is related to nearby military bases and student. Among upper incomes, not that diverse.

Meaningful diversity may be dependent on what age group / income class you and they are in and whether both would commonly actually interact with each other. Then again if diverse faces down the street or in the stores that you don't often talk to still matters somewhat to you, then maybe it doesn't have to be a full match on other criteria.

[MrJester]

Irvine, CA is very left wing (for an affluent, new suburb, which, OK, is still very conservative compared to Berkeley), and it is plurality Asian with a sizeable Hispanic population, but it isn't exactly low key. It's a very fast paced, flashy city. Fleets of Teslas roam the streets of Irvine.