San Francisco, most diverse city in the USA?

[LexusNexus]

Any city with such a plummeting black population is not diverse. A city comprised primarily of whites and Asians is not diverse in the traditional sense.

[nmnita]

Heavens, I can think of a dozen cities as diverse as San Francisco and I know a few people in the bay area that are not from any other place. There is really no way to know what area is the most diverse, certainly Los Angeles, Chicago and NYC are more culturally diverse than San Francisco. Washington DC metro area is very diverse. Boston, Miami and even Dallas are homes of many cultures, and ethic backgrounds. I would venture to say, San Francisco is not all that diverse. It is an interesting topic though and fun to see how others view diversity. Now if you are thinking liberal and accepting of other cultures maybe the bay area, particularly San Francisco falls close to the top.

[ohhwanderlust]

Originally Posted by CyanideThistles

When I'm in SF, I barely hear any Mandarin in Chinatown or any Chinese/Asian populated part of SF. Some, but not a lot. Predominately Cantonese. When I looked at statistics of what languages do many English-as-a-second-language students in SF public schools speak, and it was mainly Cantonese, Spanish, and Vietnamese. Not many Mandarin ESL students.

So I agree that it's surprising and I don't believe that Mandarin is the #2 most spoken language of SF.

Yes. I learned quickly that this is the wrong place to try and learn Mandarin by immersion, because people here actually speak Cantonese. Confusing! Which I didn't realize initially, since in China itself, the default is Mandarin, with Cantonese only being spoken by relatively few in a small region.

[Chava61]

Originally Posted by MikeNigh

Almost everyone I've met is either not originally from the USA or has lived abroad (not exactly normal for an american). Plus there are so many Asians here the whole area is nearly a china town. Lots of Mexicans who are regulars and speak spanish. Almost entirely spanish and japanese(?) radio stations.

As someone who has lived abroad I keep track of when I come across real immigrants or people who have really lived abroad (especially not just Europe). In the office I work at there is about 20 people and only 2 are american. Of those 2 they both have lived abroad. Is San Francisco the most diverse city in the USA?

Having lived and worked in SF several years ago, I would say it isn't more diverse than NYC.