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Even though the modern society and news media tell us we have to celebrate diversity, human nature disagrees. We are more comfortable with people like ourselves and most people will make an effort to surround themselves with like-minded and acting people. (if we admit it to ourselves or not)
I have friends who live in West Virginia and commute into the DC area because they grew up in a southern rural (mostly white) community and feel like this is best for themselves and their children. (they commute to a place where a good percentage of people are not like them so they can earn good money. They feel more comfortable there because a higher percentage of people are like them.
I know when I go back to Northern Minnesota for the summer, (I live in the DC area for most of the year), I feel more at home because the people are more like me. Its not just racial, but more like me in personality, walk, talk, accent, philosophy, religion, values, morals and politcal philosophy.
So where are people like you and would it make a difference to you for relocation?
Yeah...I might agree with this thesus. I miss So.Cal. and the diversity of cultures (not necessarily a racial issue). In Cali. , I spent half of my life in the suburbs and half in the hood. Even when I was in the hood, I knew that that lifestyle wasn't one that I wanted to emulate or celebrate.
The thing about the 'burbs at that time was that they were mostly defined by socio-economic standards and not racial. Being Black didn't seem to limit someone to any given set of standards. While I can't snowboard, surf the Wedge or water ski - I can fall without getting hurt on my FatBob190, I can ride a long board on the small waves of Honolulu and I can swim the 400Im better than probably 90% of the country. So, being used to a large group of people who don't limit themselves to race or stereotypes fits me better than the somewhat segregated South.
The last thing I want is to be surrounded by a bunch of people that all walk, talk, think, look, dress and act just like me. I like to be around a good cross section of people that possess qualities that differ from my own, especially in the work place. But when I am choosing close, personal friends then I do want people that share similar values, tastes and especially hobbies and interests.
I think this is a factor for many people. Not being around carbon copies, necessarily - just people that feel like family. It's hard to explain.
That's why the American trend of constant relocation kind of bothers me. The more people move to new places, the more those places begin to lose their original identity. Then the people who were there before lose their sense of home.
Even though the modern society and news media tell us we have to celebrate diversity, human nature disagrees. We are more comfortable with people like ourselves and most people will make an effort to surround themselves with like-minded and acting people. (if we admit it to ourselves or not)
I have friends who live in West Virginia and commute into the DC area because they grew up in a southern rural (mostly white) community and feel like this is best for themselves and their children. (they commute to a place where a good percentage of people are not like them so they can earn good money. They feel more comfortable there because a higher percentage of people are like them.
I know when I go back to Northern Minnesota for the summer, (I live in the DC area for most of the year), I feel more at home because the people are more like me. Its not just racial, but more like me in personality, walk, talk, accent, philosophy, religion, values, morals and politcal philosophy.
So where are people like you and would it make a difference to you for relocation?
Racially.....I'd say the San Francisco area.
But in terms of politics, values, lifestyles, tastes, outlook, worldview, interests....I'm have to say North Carolina, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, and Texas (excluding the Mexican border areas). I'm basically conservative, middle-class, down to Earth. I've lived most of my life near DC too.....and I'm not really comfortable in either a ghetto/urban setting or in a elitist, pretentious, snobby, yuppie setting, which seem to be the only options here.
I'm from San Diego, have moved to Missouri and live in Ga now. I have fit in well with people from all the places I have lived. But then I tend to find and hang out with people who have the same belief system, morals, etc, that I do more or less. I could go to certain areas, unlike the area I live in, in all these places and I probably wouldn't fit in real well.
I think it's true, we do tend to gravitate towards those that are similar to us.
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