Pittsburgh's Diversity (Portland: house, neighborhoods, school district)

[mikelcu]

Can anyone local comment on Pittsburgh's cultural/ethnic diversity? I've seen the census numbers and other demographics, but I've often found that those numbers are not representative of a groups actual impact on an area. For example, Portland OR, where I am now, is painfully white but the minorities here have a great presence. There are big Asian, Russian and Middle Eastern groceries and shops, lots of restaurants owned and frequented by people from everywhere from Thailand to Greece to Eritrea, just to mention a few things. How does Pittsburgh stack up? Are there any big Asian or international groceries? Visible ethnic areas? (sorry, Irish/German/Italian/Polish doesn't count, I've got enough of that in my own house :P) Are your neighborhoods diverse or do they tend to be ... monochromatic?

Cheers,

-Mike

EDIT:

Looks like this thread answers most of what I was asking: http://www.city-data.com/forum/pitts...diversity.html
But additional insight is always appreciated.

[highway29south]

I read the Diversity thread you added to the bottom of your post, and I have to agree with most of the comments. Pittsburgh has a lot of diversity, it's just very segregated. I live on the west side of town and most of it is very white. My children go to school with only a handful of children of other races. On the east side of Pittsburgh, there is more cultural diversity. Visiting the "Strip" on a weekend, you will hear many different languages and see much diversity. But it seems, to me, that most neighborhoods are still segregated. For example, Squirrel Hill is mostly Jewish. "The Hill" neighborhood near downtown is mostly African American. The suburbs west and north seem to be mostly white. There may be pockets of Hispanics in the area, but not nearly as many as the southern states have. I grew up in the south and I was used to much more of a blended neighborhood and school district, so I found the differences in Pittsburgh hard to adjust to. And most people here identify with where their grandparents/relatives came from in Europe- be it Poland, Russia, Italy, etc. So even the whites separate themselves into diverse groups Hope this helps!

[juliempdx]

I recently moved here from Portland, OR. I don't really think the diversity mix is that much different here than Portland. I have only met one hispanic person since I moved here. There is a larger african-american population here but I really haven't seen many asian people except for college students. There is a small asian grocery store in Shadyside and as stated before there is a large jewish population in Squirrel Hill. I have noticed some middle eastern restaurants scattered through the city. I personally get a blue collar america vibe from Pittsburgh, my mix of co-workers in Portland was way more diverse than it is here.