Racial Diversity (Portland, Eugene, Salem: fit in, to rent, neighborhood)

[ChrissyR]

Hi all. I've been posting on the Colorado site also. My husband has a chance at a job in Colorado and in Oregon. We are waiting to see which one pans out. He has not interviewed for either yet. So I'm reading up on both states. We are a mixed family. My husband and I (caucasian) have two adopted sons, one is African American (age 12) the other is Bi-racial (AA and Caucasian. Age 17) Would we fit in in Oregon? I'm not sure what part of Oregon the job is in yet.

What I've read in the Colorado site sounds great. How about you guys? Thanks so much for any responses.

[Imperial1904]

Having lived in both states, Colorado (specifically the Denver area) is more racially diverse than Oregon. Portland may have a little diversity but not like Denver.

I'm starting to see more blacks and Mexicans coming into Oregon from California so some places will have a small increase in diversity. Not sure if your kids will fit in or not. It all depends on how they are with making friends and things like that. From personal experience, it's really hard to meet people here unless you find other people that are like you i.e. ethnicity, lifestyle, or from the same hometown. In Denver however, it was a different story, complete opposite of Oregon. I'm racially mixed as well by the way.

[ChrissyR]

Thanks Imperial. I appreciate your response. We are hoping for the Colorado job as it pays more. My oldest makes friends quite easily but he is tired of people making assumptions about him because of his ethnicity. Here in Tucson there is around a 3-4% black population. My youngest is shyer but still has some really good friends. Our neighborhood where we are now is a good mix of white, black and Mexican. I like it like that. Where in your experience would be a good area for something like that? I'm not sure what part of Oregon we would be in as the job stated "various locations throughout Oregon" We plan to rent first before we buy. Thanks again for your response.

[oregon_mom7]

oregon has way more mexicans then black i just moved here from az and theres more mexicans here then az plus there more farm etc for them

[tdekany]

I agree, colorado is a better state if you are not white. While in Oregon I hardly saw anyone who wasn't white. Colorado Spring is still very white as far as I can tell. Denver looked ok. If husband takes a job in oregon, it better be in Portland - maybe Eugene. The rest is as white as Iceland.

[Waterlily]

Going by the stats from the U.S. Census Oregon is 90.8% white.

[oregon_mom7]

Originally Posted by Waterlily

Going by the stats from the U.S. Census Oregon is 90.8% white.

if thats true then why are there more mexicans here then whites????

salem is full of them

[Waterlily]

Well I just finished looking it up so if I'm wrong then so is the US Census. You can find out more info here http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/index.html Anyway if you want to discuss immigration please do that on this forum.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/immigration/

I have not been in Salem lately. It's possible there are a lot of Mexicans there.

[Imperial1904]

Originally Posted by oregon_mom7

in salem there are 20.9% mexicans in marion country plus this topic should have been moed to immigration it has nothing to do with oregon and your the person in charge of the or post

According to City Data, there are 14.6% Mexicans in Salem with a population of around 150,000.

[oregon_mom7]

Originally Posted by Imperial1904

According to City Data, there are 14.6% Mexicans in Salem with a population of around 150,000.

i just look at it it says 20.9 if you live in salem which i do there are more mexicans then whites i lived in az and there are move here then there