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Old 05-18-2010, 10:12 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia, PA
615 posts, read 541,875 times
Reputation: 168

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Quote:
Originally Posted by samyn on the green View Post
This is the irony of diversity; it supposedly celebrates different cultures but it does nothing but foster alienation and cultural homogeneity. With that in mind Whitestone is a semi-urban ethnic neighboorhood and diversity is not clebrated there. Mostly Greeks and Italians with a growing group of Koreans moving in. The correct description here would be cultural pluralism. Whitestone is a stronghold of ethnic New York; the way New York was before it was flipped into a bohemian-trustfunder playground. Whitestone may look like a middle class area but it really is a working class area with its traditional families, blue color workers and strong morality. Not a good place for someone just moving to the area looking to meet transient hipsters or yuppies.
I'm from Philadelphia, so I have an outsiders view of NYC. I was in NYC in April for a weekend visiting a friend, I was shocked how few neighborhoods seem to be left in NYC ( I spent my time in Queens and Brooklyn). The city seemed to be chock full of white yuppie/hipster types and newer immigrants, I didn't notice any old ethnic neighborhoods that gave NYC its personality in the past. A lot of the apologist will claim it is just one group replacing another, which is true, but the newer immigrants are just in NYC to make money. They aren't going to put down roots there for decades like the Italians and Irish did in the past, once the newer immigrants make some money they move off to another place. The apologist will say ethnic neighborhoods were always like that, but it is not one bit true. The immigration of today is nothing like the immigration of 50+ years ago. Back then an immigrant couldn't keep close tabs on the old country because technology didn't allow them to, and they couldn't jump on a plane and go back whenever they wanted then. The immigrants of today are just here for the money, they don't put down roots or leave their cultural foot print on the city. It seems to me the NYC of today is not much different then suburbia in a soical sense, it's just a bunch of working and making money. They spend little if any time building communities or foring ties with their neighbors, hell most of them probably don't even know their neighbors name.....
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Old 05-19-2010, 09:01 PM
 
Location: NYC
2,223 posts, read 5,334,199 times
Reputation: 1101
Quote:
Originally Posted by noladarling View Post
I'm from ATL, black and I live in Queens... and I've noticed that there aren't many black people in NYC in general. I have yet to visit Harlem or The Bronx. This may be a generalization but it seems that most of the educated blacks have moved back to the south for economic oppurtunity.
There are plenty of black people here, especially in SEQueens (St. Albans, Cambria Heights, Laurelton, Springfield Gardens, Hollis) but we're scattered all over the place. I suggest you visit Harlem, at least to get the historical perspective of blacks in NYC. Also Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Bed Stuy in Brooklyn. Explore a bit ... You're really missing a lot
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Old 05-20-2010, 08:05 AM
 
38 posts, read 103,573 times
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"I've always been against living in diverse areas, because it causes people to lose their identity. People in diverse areas are less likely to associate with their neighbors and have a strong community. The increase in diverse neighborhoods has been destructive, and created a generation of lemmings. You can be friendly with people of other cultures, races, and religions without having them as a neighbor, these kind of relationships can only flourish when everyone has their own space."

I don't really understand this mentality. It seems like a throwback to a different era. What is great about Queens is the diversity; it make for a more vibrant interesting life.
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Old 05-20-2010, 10:51 AM
 
Location: Philadelphia, PA
615 posts, read 541,875 times
Reputation: 168
Quote:
Originally Posted by queensgal123 View Post
"I've always been against living in diverse areas, because it causes people to lose their identity. People in diverse areas are less likely to associate with their neighbors and have a strong community. The increase in diverse neighborhoods has been destructive, and created a generation of lemmings. You can be friendly with people of other cultures, races, and religions without having them as a neighbor, these kind of relationships can only flourish when everyone has their own space."

I don't really understand this mentality. It seems like a throwback to a different era. What is great about Queens is the diversity; it make for a more vibrant interesting life.
No, relationships in diverse areas are superficial. People who grow up in neighborhoods where they shared a common ethnicity with most of the others have very strong relationships. I have friends who were just like me from my neighborhood who I went to school with, stayed over their houses, went on vacation together, etc.; and we continue to be friends 10 years after we don't live in that neighborhood anymore. There is no way I could have that kind of life in a diverse neighborhood. In diverse neighborhoods you have to worry about unknowingly offending people because their religion isn't yours, cultural customs, etc. There have been studies done in the US on this subject, people in diverse neighborhoods are less likely to know their neighbor, volunteer in the community, trust people in the neighborhood. Diverse neighborhoods are the lamest most superficial thing around too me, the fake smiles, the lack of trust, etc. Say for example you have a street with some Christians and Muslims, do you think they are going to have a stronger relationship then a Christian/Christian or Muslim/Muslim? Hell no, each people have their own customs, you aren't going to go in ones home and act like you do when you're with your own kind. If you say different you're not being honest, or never experienced a diverse hood.
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Old 05-20-2010, 11:25 AM
 
Location: Bay Ridge, NY
1,915 posts, read 7,964,296 times
Reputation: 559
Quote:
Originally Posted by Young Herman View Post
No, relationships in diverse areas are superficial. People who grow up in neighborhoods where they shared a common ethnicity with most of the others have very strong relationships. I have friends who were just like me from my neighborhood who I went to school with, stayed over their houses, went on vacation together, etc.; and we continue to be friends 10 years after we don't live in that neighborhood anymore. There is no way I could have that kind of life in a diverse neighborhood. In diverse neighborhoods you have to worry about unknowingly offending people because their religion isn't yours, cultural customs, etc. There have been studies done in the US on this subject, people in diverse neighborhoods are less likely to know their neighbor, volunteer in the community, trust people in the neighborhood. Diverse neighborhoods are the lamest most superficial thing around too me, the fake smiles, the lack of trust, etc. Say for example you have a street with some Christians and Muslims, do you think they are going to have a stronger relationship then a Christian/Christian or Muslim/Muslim? Hell no, each people have their own customs, you aren't going to go in ones home and act like you do when you're with your own kind. If you say different you're not being honest, or never experienced a diverse hood.
Um, no, this post is just a complete lie, or you just have really bad experiences with diversity. None of my good friends are the same ethnicity, religion, or anything with me. I live in a neighborhood where the majority of the people here aren't even the same color as me, yet I know my neighbors, and talk to a lot of people here, and have been through a lot with them. If this is what you really think, then you haven't tried hard enough to build bonds with people who aren't the same as you. I live in Queens, the most diverse place apparently in the country according to some study.. so yes, I have lived in and been to many diverse hoods, and I am being completely honest with my experience. Yours isn't the end-all be-all, thanks.
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Old 05-20-2010, 12:00 PM
 
Location: NYC
2,223 posts, read 5,334,199 times
Reputation: 1101
Quote:
Originally Posted by Young Herman View Post
I'm from Philadelphia, so I have an outsiders view of NYC. I was in NYC in April for a weekend visiting a friend, I was shocked how few neighborhoods seem to be left in NYC ( I spent my time in Queens and Brooklyn). The city seemed to be chock full of white yuppie/hipster types and newer immigrants, I didn't notice any old ethnic neighborhoods that gave NYC its personality in the past.
It seems to me the NYC of today is not much different then suburbia in a soical sense, it's just a bunch of working and making money. They spend little if any time building communities or foring ties with their neighbors, hell most of them probably don't even know their neighbors name.....
What parts of NYC did you visit? There are many neighborhoods that the young transplants wouldn't even be aware of. Peek around on this board and see the limited areas that people ask about as potential places to live. There is much more beyond those places.

I live in Queens and I would describe our neighborhoods as very diverse in terms of age, ethnicity, income levels and duration in the U.S. We have new immigrants and people (like me) whose family has been here since the early 1900s. I think most Queens people want to live a decent life. Not that we don't want to "make money" (who doesn't) but the goal isn't to live a "trendy" life. In the past people would live in their ethnic enclaves, work hard and move to the suburbs and new folks would move in. It will be interesting to see what the migration of the hipsters will be over the next 10 - 20 years. My guess is that everything will be different and what is trendy will no longer be, but neighborhoods like some of the ones in the link below will still retain some of their old character.

Walking Around - New York City's Ethnic Neighborhoods
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Old 05-20-2010, 12:03 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia, PA
615 posts, read 541,875 times
Reputation: 168
Quote:
Originally Posted by analyticalkeys View Post
Um, no, this post is just a complete lie, or you just have really bad experiences with diversity. None of my good friends are the same ethnicity, religion, or anything with me. I live in a neighborhood where the majority of the people here aren't even the same color as me, yet I know my neighbors, and talk to a lot of people here, and have been through a lot with them. If this is what you really think, then you haven't tried hard enough to build bonds with people who aren't the same as you. I live in Queens, the most diverse place apparently in the country according to some study.. so yes, I have lived in and been to many diverse hoods, and I am being completely honest with my experience. Yours isn't the end-all be-all, thanks.
There have been studies done that prove diverse neighborhoods are less cohesive, friendly, trustworthy, etc. If you have a neighborhood where the majority of people are say Italian American they are going to have stronger ties and community then say a neighborhood that is half Italian American and half Somali. Is an Italian granny going to invite her grand sons Muslim friend in for a lunch of prosciutto and mozzarella sandwiches? Is the Somali going to bring a non Muslim into his house with his mother and sister, who can't be her normal self in the presence of non Muslims? People can't be their normal self in many diverse settings, they have to strip down their culture so it doesn't offend others, they have to adopt what I would call a gentrified "culturally sensitive" way of life.

Quote:
But a massive new study, based on detailed interviews of nearly 30,000 people across America, has concluded just the opposite. Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam -- famous for "Bowling Alone," his 2000 book on declining civic engagement -- has found that the greater the diversity in a community, the fewer people vote and the less they volunteer, the less they give to charity and work on community projects. In the most diverse communities, neighbors trust one another about half as much as they do in the most homogenous settings. The study, the largest ever on civic engagement in America, found that virtually all measures of civic health are lower in more diverse settings.
Read this article, it smashes the diversity is grand belief...

The downside of diversity - The Boston Globe
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Old 05-20-2010, 12:34 PM
 
Location: NYC
2,223 posts, read 5,334,199 times
Reputation: 1101
Quote:
Originally Posted by Young Herman View Post
No, relationships in diverse areas are superficial. People who grow up in neighborhoods where they shared a common ethnicity with most of the others have very strong relationships. I have friends who were just like me from my neighborhood who I went to school with, stayed over their houses, went on vacation together, etc.; and we continue to be friends 10 years after we don't live in that neighborhood anymore. There is no way I could have that kind of life in a diverse neighborhood. In diverse neighborhoods you have to worry about unknowingly offending people because their religion isn't yours, cultural customs, etc. There have been studies done in the US on this subject, people in diverse neighborhoods are less likely to know their neighbor, volunteer in the community, trust people in the neighborhood. Diverse neighborhoods are the lamest most superficial thing around too me, the fake smiles, the lack of trust, etc.
I can understand Young Herman's perspective to some extent. I live in a very diverse neighborhood and I'm not aware of any tension here but if you walk around, you will see obvious subgroups of people clustering. The stroller moms & dads, the latinos, the gays, the east indians, the middle aged and older white folks. Although I don't see much crossover, I'm also not saying that it doesn't happen. In these cases someone has to make the first move to "cross the aisle" so to speak or it probably won't happen. It has been discovered in research that outside or ethnic and cultural differences that people forge relationships when they have similar educational and income levels.
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Old 05-20-2010, 12:36 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia, PA
615 posts, read 541,875 times
Reputation: 168
Quote:
Originally Posted by queensgrl View Post
What parts of NYC did you visit? There are many neighborhoods that the young transplants wouldn't even be aware of. Peek around on this board and see the limited areas that people ask about as potential places to live. There is much more beyond those places.

I live in Queens and I would describe our neighborhoods as very diverse in terms of age, ethnicity, income levels and duration in the U.S. We have new immigrants and people (like me) whose family has been here since the early 1900s. I think most Queens people want to live a decent life. Not that we don't want to "make money" (who doesn't) but the goal isn't to live a "trendy" life. In the past people would live in their ethnic enclaves, work hard and move to the suburbs and new folks would move in. It will be interesting to see what the migration of the hipsters will be over the next 10 - 20 years. My guess is that everything will be different and what is trendy will no longer be, but neighborhoods like some of the ones in the link below will still retain some of their old character.

Walking Around - New York City's Ethnic Neighborhoods
You have to be kidding me, do you think the Chinese, Arabs, and Mexicans for example are coming here for our gay pride parades, vaunted health care system, terrible public education system, and large swaths of ghettoes? Nope, they are coming here to make money and send it back home, they don't consider themselves Americans. The parts of Queens I was in are Astoria, Sunnyside, Woodside, and Glendale. I spent last time in Brooklyn, where I was in Flatbush, DUMBO, and another spot I can remember.
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Old 05-20-2010, 12:45 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia, PA
615 posts, read 541,875 times
Reputation: 168
I'm not going to say every single diverse neighborhood is bad, but there is nothing like living amongst your own kind. I've been in plenty of diverse situations in my life, and the majority of relationships forged in them type situations are superficial. The smiles are forced, the conversations aren't very in-depth, the laughs aren't from the belly, the connection just isn't there in most cases. Say you're of Euro American descent who likes a beer here and there, sprinkles in a cuss word or makes a remark about a young woman's voluptuous knockers when you're with the boys, are you going to connect with a religiously conservative Jew or Muslim? Not likely, your interaction with them is fake and uneasy, that's just a fact!
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