"Diverse" Suburbs (Minneapolis, Bloomington: fit in, roughest, home)

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

Who considers 90% black to be more diverse than 90% white? No one on this thread has suggested that. I, for one, don't consider 90% of ANY one race to be anything near "diverse." But given that there are no Twin Cities suburbs that come anywhere near those numbers, that's sort of a moot point. (Brooklyn Center is still majority white! Just barely, but still majority white -- NOT anywhere near 90% black. And of the 49% of minority residents, they're not all black. There's more to diversity than just black and white people.) And for what it's worth, doesn't Min-Chi-Cbus live in Edina? I think it's time to question the assumptions here!!

On the suburb question: SOME suburbs have become very diverse. MOST suburbs have probably become more diverse than they were ten years ago, but that doesn't mean they're all big melting pots now; for some suburbs that still means they're only 93% white now, compared to 97%. And yes, as many of us have recognized on other threads (and is common knowledge) many city neighborhoods aren't all that diverse either. This thread is looking at overall city boundaries rather than neighborhoods, though, and in this case the topic is suburbs.

What was that for? We went to the same elementary school, remember? If you have a problem with me because my current residence in is Edina why don't you PM me and discuss it in person? You have no idea what you're talking about, as usual.

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by Min-Chi-Cbus

What was that for? We went to the same elementary school, remember? If you have a problem with me because my current residence in is Edina why don't you PM me and discuss it in person? You have no idea what you're talking about, as usual.

Hey, calm down. I thought Golfgal was the one criticizing you. I know you're FROM the city, but don't you live in Edina currently? Or recently in the past? My point wasn't to criticize you -- or anyone else -- for living in Edina or any other suburb (and I like parts of Edina just fine!), but rather to protest against the allegations that the only people on this thread were people living in the city, people who (in the eyes of some) apparently never step foot in a suburb. Obviously you've spent time in the suburbs (as have I). But what do I know? I have no idea what I'm talking about, "as usual."

I certainly did not intend the reference to living in Edina to be taken as an insult (what's wrong with living in Edina??); just a statement of fact. It was simply a response to Golfgal. My problem was with her post, not with yours! (the "assumptions" comment was aimed at her, not at you -- HER assumptions, not yours, as she seemed to assume that you are a city resident who doesn't get out much, and therefore should or could not possibly comment on diversity in the suburbs.)

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

Hey, calm down. I thought Golfgal was the one criticizing you. I know you're FROM the city, but don't you live in Edina currently? Or recently in the past? My point wasn't to criticize you -- or anyone else -- for living in Edina or any other suburb (and I like parts of Edina just fine!), but rather to protest against the allegations that the only people on this thread were people living in the city, people who (in the eyes of some) apparently never step foot in a suburb. Obviously you've spent time in the suburbs (as have I).

I certainly did not intend the reference to living in Edina to be taken as an insult; just a statement of fact. It was simply a response to Golfgal. My problem was with her post, not with yours! (the "assumptions" comment was aimed at her, not at you -- HER assumptions, not yours, as she seemed to assume that you are a city resident who doesn't get out much, and therefore should or could not possibly comment on diversity in the suburbs.)

Actually I was criticizing audadvnc and his North Minneapolis neighborhood considering he is the one that keeps throwing out comments about the suburbs.

[uptown_urbanist]

I'm sorry about all the misunderstandings here. I'll let it go, and try to get back to the original question:

No, I don't think there's any magic number or equation that correlates diversity levels with a "better" neighborhood, but generally speaking, I do think it is an undesirable thing if a neighborhood in today's Twin Cities is well into the 90% points white. Those numbers should be dropping as the Twin Cities continues to grow more diverse, and I do think that's a good thing. I don't think it's healthy for a community in today's world to have such a high percentage of people from any one race/ethnicity that the odd person out who doesn't fit that profile will feel like the token [insert race here] resident. I don't ever envision that everyone will be spread out in equal numbers across every neighborhood, and I think that's okay, too. I think economic diversity is more important to a neighborhood's health and livability than is racial or ethnic diversity.

[uptown_urbanist]

Another thought on the topic: I think this also varies heavily by age. We've been spending a lot of time in Southdale lately (got to get out of the house and walk around somewhere warm!) and I've noticed that a LOT of the other families with younger kids are not white. Granted, not all the people at Southdale live in Edina (we don't), but while I don't know demographic break-down of some of these areas by age, my assumption is that Edina's older population (and Richfield's, and Bloomington's, and Southwest Minneapolis's) are heavily white, while the racial/ethnic demographics of the younger crowd is very different. I don't think anyone walking around Southdale lately would say that the Twin Cities are "lily white."

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

Not only are suburbs getting a lot more diverse - but I think in the not-so-distant future (like, less than 100 years) a lot of the suburbs are going to be primarily minorities and other "underclasses".

I don't think people actually dislike suburbs because they're white (at least white people don't dislike them because of that...speaking as a white person myself). I don't know that I've ever lived in any neighborhood, in any city, where there wasn't at least a plurality of white people. I think, taking the entire city, Philly may have slightly more black people then white. But there has been a large segment of black people here going back a long, long time. More than anything, I think it's sort of just a fun little stereotype that supporters of cities throw at the suburbs. Perhaps its not fair...but cities have enough stereotypes about them that it probably is fair, for the sake of fun anyway.

[northstar22]

Plus, a 90% white city is very diverse by outstate Minnesota standards. If a non-Twin Cities-area town is 10% or greater minority (Mankato, Marshall, St. Cloud, Rochester to name them all), it's definitely considered to be a bastion of diversity and multiculturalism compared to the surrounding area. There are many towns in southern Minnesota that are literally 100% white, and others that are more than 99% white. Compared to the outstate, places like Burnsville and Eagan seem very, very diverse, let alone Brooklyn Center.

[1stpontiac]

Originally Posted by FamousBlueRaincoat

Not only are suburbs getting a lot more diverse - but I think in the not-so-distant future (like, less than 100 years) a lot of the suburbs are going to be primarily minorities and other "underclasses".

I don't think people actually dislike suburbs because they're white (at least white people don't dislike them because of that...speaking as a white person myself). I don't know that I've ever lived in any neighborhood, in any city, where there wasn't at least a plurality of white people. I think, taking the entire city, Philly may have slightly more black people then white. But there has been a large segment of black people here going back a long, long time. More than anything, I think it's sort of just a fun little stereotype that supporters of cities throw at the suburbs. Perhaps its not fair...but cities have enough stereotypes about them that it probably is fair, for the sake of fun anyway.

I dunno, potlucks get a lot more interesting when you have at least 4 continents represented at your table. That alone might be enough to swing me against non-diverse suburbs.


(I'm mixing race, ethnicity, and geography here, which isn't totally fair...just playing, though)

[Radical_Car]

Originally Posted by Min-Chi-Cbus

What was that for? We went to the same elementary school, remember? If you have a problem with me because my current residence in is Edina why don't you PM me and discuss it in person? You have no idea what you're talking about, as usual.

Uptown_Urbanist wasn't insulting Edina. Golfgal was accusing you of never leaving your house in Minneapolis and never ever setting foot in a suburb in your entire life, and Uptown_Urbanist was pretty much saying that since you live in Edina it's kind of hard to always be in Minneapolis and never step foot in a suburb when you live in one. Golfgal was the one who didn't know what she was talking about, since you live in Edina and not Minneapolis.

[Radical_Car]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Sitting in your home in Minneapolis assuming the suburbs are "lily white" is a different story.

You sound like my father with all of these incredibly ignorant and closed minded assumptions.