Nashville's ethnic diversity. (Nashville-Davidson, Murfreesboro, Germantown: neighborhoods, university, live)

[0'Farrell]

Out of pure curiosity, is Nashville still becoming more diverse? When I left in the late 2000's I saw my East Nashville neighborhood go from primarily black to a mix of black and whites. And the trinity lane area saw a spike in hispanics. Not to mention, South Nashville and Antioch seemed to be 1/3 black, white, and hispanic. Has this trend continued? What about asian and middle eastern migration? I have heard Germantown and Salemtown have become integrated as well. Is this true?

[Spikett]

I've been back in Nashville for the past year after 18 years in Los Angeles and it is definitely more diverse than when I left. There are a lot of Hispanics as well as people from the Middle East. I haven't noticed as many Asians but I may be in the wrong area of town for that. I will say that I've had a very difficult time finding good Asian food.

[FitJoce]

We are moving there this summer and I am interested to know if there are any ethnic markets around? I love to cook and whenever possible love going into the big asian and hispanic markets to stock my pantry.

[Spikett]

Originally Posted by FitJoce

We are moving there this summer and I am interested to know if there are any ethnic markets around? I love to cook and whenever possible love going into the big asian and hispanic markets to stock my pantry.

Yes, there are a lot of ethnic markets - from big to small. There is a very good on in the Farmer's Market where I like to get tea. I don't think you'll have trouble finding one.

[BirdieBelle]

According to the 2010 Census figures on Nashville/Davidson County, Latinos, which are categorized as white, increased their population by 134%.

The Black population grew by 16.87%.

Asian population grew by 43%.

You can see the numbers for yourself here:

Nashville-Davidson (Remainder, TN Population - Census 2010 and 2000 Interactive Map, Demographics, Statistics, Quick Facts - CensusViewer)

The "some other race alone" category grew by 122%, which apparently is a stubborn group of folks who don't want to identify with the standard categories.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by 0'Farrell

Out of pure curiosity, is Nashville still becoming more diverse? When I left in the late 2000's I saw my East Nashville neighborhood go from primarily black to a mix of black and whites. And the trinity lane area saw a spike in hispanics. Not to mention, South Nashville and Antioch seemed to be 1/3 black, white, and hispanic. Has this trend continued? What about asian and middle eastern migration? I have heard Germantown and Salemtown have become integrated as well. Is this true?

The simple answer would be yes, the Nashville area (suburbs included) are becoming more diverse.

I have broken down the data before for some of the areas you've listed (buried somewhere on this site). The white population in Nashville proper saw a slight decline (3%, I believe), but the rest of the ethnic groups had between modest and substantial gains (especially Hispanics) over the last decade.

Wmsn shared a good link, but there are also tons of other resources out there if you are looking to find more specific data broken down by Census tracts, voting districts, and in some cases zip codes and block groups.

Two resources I've used are Dave's Redistricting which primarily focuses on tracts and voting information (good for racial breakdowns as well as compiling overall population running totals for different neighborhoods, as well as how they voted in the 2008 election) and the Washington Post's interactive Census map which primarily focuses on tracts and block groups (good for racial/ethnic data, population density, and comparative data from past Censuses -- though be warned that the boundaries have changed on a lot of tracts, making accurate comparisons difficult).

These are great resources, but can be tough to use. Fiddle around with them a bit, and if you still can't find out how to use them, or can't seem to get the information you want, then send me a message and I'll try to help you out the best I can.

Warning: it can take a lot of time to compile this information, so I wouldn't advise getting into it unless you have a few hours to kill.

If I feel up to it, I'll go back through and see if I can't come up with some breakdowns of the data you are looking for.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by Spikett

I've been back in Nashville for the past year after 18 years in Los Angeles and it is definitely more diverse than when I left. There are a lot of Hispanics as well as people from the Middle East. I haven't noticed as many Asians but I may be in the wrong area of town for that. I will say that I've had a very difficult time finding good Asian food.

Asian, as per the Census definition, is a very broad term and includes east Asians (Chinese, Japanese, Korean), Indians, and Middle Easterners. Typically, these groups seem to congregate in certain neighborhoods, and not necessarily the same ones (for each different group)...so it's hard to say via the data where to find concentrations of Indians, Chinese, Middle Easterners, etc. The Hispanic population definitely has their concentrations, but have effectively spread out to a lot of different areas.

The primary Asian areas tend to be near Vanderbilt University, and along Nolensville Road, as well as a higher than normal (for the area) percentage in Williamson County on the east side of Cool Springs (if I had to guess, this would be where the more wealthy Asians of all descents live -- professionals and businesspeople). There are also quite a few in Murfreesboro near the MTSU campus.

The Kurdish population in particular tends to be around the Nolensville Road area. There are plenty of different ethnic restaurants around there of all varieties.

Finding good Asian food is hit or miss as far as I'm concerned (I'm not a huge fan of it, so I can't really speak of specifically where to go -- I don't seek it out). They seem to be pretty well spread around town.

[Spikett]

Originally Posted by nashvols

Asian, as per the Census definition, is a very broad term and includes east Asians (Chinese, Japanese, Korean), Indians, and Middle Easterners. Typically, these groups seem to congregate in certain neighborhoods, and not necessarily the same ones (for each different group)...so it's hard to say via the data where to find concentrations of Indians, Chinese, Middle Easterners, etc. The Hispanic population definitely has their concentrations, but have effectively spread out to a lot of different areas.

The primary Asian areas tend to be near Vanderbilt University, and along Nolensville Road, as well as a higher than normal (for the area) percentage in Williamson County on the east side of Cool Springs (if I had to guess, this would be where the more wealthy Asians of all descents live -- professionals and businesspeople). There are also quite a few in Murfreesboro near the MTSU campus.

The Kurdish population in particular tends to be around the Nolensville Road area. There are plenty of different ethnic restaurants around there of all varieties.

Finding good Asian food is hit or miss as far as I'm concerned (I'm not a huge fan of it, so I can't really speak of specifically where to go -- I don't seek it out). They seem to be pretty well spread around town.

I wasn't very specific but was speaking mainly of Chinese, Korean, Thai, Viet, Japanese, etc... I've seen several small Chinese restaurants and a couple of Thai but the ones I've tried haven't been very good (but it's hit or miss most anywhere - not just Nashville). On the other hand, I've had some great Mexican food here.

[vivelafrance]

Originally Posted by 0'Farrell

Out of pure curiosity, is Nashville still becoming more diverse? When I left in the late 2000's I saw my East Nashville neighborhood go from primarily black to a mix of black and whites. And the trinity lane area saw a spike in hispanics. Not to mention, South Nashville and Antioch seemed to be 1/3 black, white, and hispanic. Has this trend continued? What about asian and middle eastern migration? I have heard Germantown and Salemtown have become integrated as well. Is this true?

Germantown and Salemtown (they comprise one census district) saw their white population increase by around 170% and the Asian population ballooned by 700% (likely because it was pretty small to begin with)

[Mo-Rich]

Nashville is extremely diverse, but there is still a lot of racism. My husband and I are an interracial couple and people aren't afraid to approach us in the grocery store and let us know how they feel about it.