Diversity (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, York: 2009, chapel, neighborhood)

[kpoeppel]

Remember that D.C. will have far more "diversity" than most cities due to all of the international embassies, etc.

[movingtolou]

Originally Posted by montanamom

If the situation is so great in Northern Virginia with all that great "diversity", why would you want to move to Pittsburgh?

I agree. I don't know enough about Pittsburgh to answer; but I do know that DC/ NOVA is very unique in that it draws a very diverse crowd. I know that there are so many diplomats/ and children of diplomats/ international students in that region...it will be hard to find a comprable area. Hopefully you'll be able to find a good mix in Pitt...

[guylocke]

Hopefully you'll be able to find a good mix in Pitt...

If your biggest concern is diversity I would strike Pittsburgh off the list, which I encourage you to do anyway, Beth Ann. I always have. Pittsburgh is preyyu much a white, European descent city, to some peoples delight and to some peoples dismay. I mean there is diversity, but not nearly as strong as many other places, especially places that have a heavy in-population of immigrants, which Pittsburgh doesn't. And to compare DC to Pittsburgh? Forget about it!

[beth ann]

Originally Posted by montanamom

If the situation is so great in Northern Virginia with all that great "diversity", why would you want to move to Pittsburgh?

My husband grew up in S. Hills (Dormont) and my parents have since relocated to Cranberry. Dh has been approached re a potential job position. After living here for almost 20 years, we are contemplating a move to Pgh w/ our three kids.

That's what brought me to this forum and that's why I'm researching as much as I can about Pgh (economy, jobs, schools, amenities, culure, weather, cost and standard of living and diversity) to see how it would suit us living in Pgh.

[Maaz]

Well, at least I understand now why Beth Ann is so interested in Pittsburgh, despite all the negativity she has posted in various threads.

As for boylocke's definition of diversity, you really have to spend some time here to understand. There really is a Little Italy (Bloomfield), a Polish Hill, Squirrel Hill (Jewish), parts of North Side (German) and unlike other cities that group whites together, the culture has been maintainted in these neighborhoods for several decades.

However, I understand where you're coming from. The Washington D.C. metro area is considered one of the most if not the most diverse area in the country. I lived in Northern Virginia for about a year and a half and I have the following observations.

First, I thought I should mentioned that I am neither white nor black. My parents are originally from Pakistan. I was born and grew up here in Western Pennsylvania, though I was gone for 10 years (8 1/2 in Florida and 1 1/2 in Northern Virginia).

The issue I have with so-called diversity in Northern Virginia is that everyone seems to group people by race or ethnicity. When I lived there, I would great weird looks from Pakistani or Indian people if I was with a white person. In addition, I never really saw whites and blacks hanging out together too much. In fact, I've found it more common to have 1 or 2 blacks in a group of whites over here than over there.

Perhaps the worst part is that people there treated me like an immigrant. It seemed as if I was expected to hang out with people who had just recently migrated to the country, whether legally or illegally. Over here, it seems as if Pakistani and Indian people are highly educated and lookup upon. Over there in Northern Virginia, it seemed as if we were looked down upon and classified at the same level as they classify Hispanic people over there.

I really like to think of everyone the same, regardless of race or ethnicity. That said, I recently attended business school at University of Pittsburgh and graduated with an MBA. There were students of pretty much every race, color, and ethnicity. I found it pretty interesting and would welcome more of it in the city on the condition that races other than white are not looked down upon.

Maybe the situation is different in elementary, middle, and high schools. Maybe the students are not judgemental and find each other interesting. Maybe when they are adults, they won't look down upon other races. I really don't know. Since the schools I attended were over 99% white, I really don't know, and even if I did, the situation would have changed by now as I've been out of high school for 14 years now.

Maaz

[guylocke]

There really is a Little Italy (Bloomfield), a Polish Hill, Squirrel Hill (Jewish), parts of North Side (German) and unlike other cities that group whites together, the culture has been maintainted in these neighborhoods for several decades.

Oh definitely. There is a HUGELY diverse European aspect. But it's all European. I thought she meant diversity in another way, maybe I was wrong.

[Katiana]

Maybe the situation is different in elementary, middle, and high schools. Maybe the students are not judgemental and find each other interesting.

Actually, despite all the hoo-ha about kids being more "genuine", etc, I think it is worse in those years, everywhere. Granted, racism is taught, but I think most rational adults learn to at least tolerate people of different races. Kids have a natural tendency to fear the unknown.

As for the type of diversity guylocke is talking about, I don't really like the pigeon-holing that went on in Pittsburgh when I was a kid, and still apparently goes on there today. I can tell you it's pretty much non-existent here. My kids were never concerned about someone being "Italian" or "Irish" or "Polish" or whatever. I personally think that's good. I don't think you have to disavow your heritage, it just shouldn't be such a big part of life as it is there, IMO.

[Maaz]

Originally Posted by guylocke

Oh definitely. There is a HUGELY diverse European aspect. But it's all European. I thought she meant diversity in another way, maybe I was wrong.

Yeah, it's all European. Personally, I don't feel the neccesity to seperate anyone, let alone people whose ancestors are from different European countries. However, I do find the culture from the discussed neighborhoods to be quite interesting.

Here's some things to think about, though. Why are orientals generally grouped together, whether they are from China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, or one of the other oriental countries?

Why are Pakistanis and Indians grouped together despite major differences between religion and culture?

How about Hispanics? Are people from Mexico the same as people from Puerto Rico, Colombia, or Nicaragua? What about the people from Spain? Should they be classified with the Hispanics or the Europeans?

What makes diversity superior to the melting pot approach? I personally favor the melting pot approach. It worked for so many years; why does it have to be different now?

Maaz

[guylocke]

Yeah, it's all European. Personally, I don't feel the neccesity to seperate anyone, let alone people whose ancestors are from different European countries. However, I do find the culture from the discussed neighborhoods to be quite interesting.

Yeah totally.

Why are orientals generally grouped together

Actually it's Asians. I'm not trying to be a know-it-all, but only inanimate objects are oriental, like rugs and chicken wraps, not people.

LOL.

I only say that because I learned that the hard way, by insulting someone.

What makes diversity superior to the melting pot approach?

This seems to be an odd statement to me. What are you defining as "diversity" and "melting pot" approaches? I may completely agree with you, I'm just not following.

[Maaz]

Originally Posted by guylocke

Yeah totally.

Actually it's Asians. I'm not trying to be a know-it-all, but only inanimate objects are oriental, like rugs and chicken wraps, not people.

LOL.

I only say that because I learned that the hard way, by insulting someone.

This seems to be an odd statement to me. What are you defining as "diversity" and "melting pot" approaches? I may completely agree with you, I'm just not following.

The reason why I said "orientals" instead of "Asians" is because, at least from what I understand, Asians can be from anywhere in the continent of Asia including countries like Saudi Arabia, Russia, India, and Iraq, many of which are considered Arabs or East Indian.

My understanding of diversity is just recognizing the fact that people who come from other countries and cultures are different and basically just let them be different. They generally form their own social groups and do not correspond with people outside their race or ethnicity with exception of at work or for work-related reasons.

Melting pot is when people from all the different European countries came to the United States and there was no real seperation of the people other than by race. The race part is unfortunate, but whether you were from England, Italy, or Germany, you're just considered equal. The differences are generally not recognized with the exception of some people who live in the old ethnic neighborhoods we were talking about. Aside from that, the culture has been adopted by all Europeans, but why can't people of other races or ethnicities adopt the culture?

Maaz