What is with the diversity myth? (Seattle, Vancouver: best, metro area, area)

[MichaelDante]

As a mixed black male I have to say I was leery of moving to Seattle because of some of the statistics I saw from the first post. However, I lived in West Seattle, Lakewood, Tacoma, visited Federal Way, Kent, and many other places and find while there may not be the type of diversity in culture, foods and to an extent people as say NY or even CA I find if you jump online there are EXCELLENT places to try new foods, new experiences and meet new people of various cultures.

I don't live my life as a stereotype so I never had any issues talking with people, having people to laugh and share beers with and great neighbors. Those people in return have gave me tips of new experiences that I never would have known about so it's crucial to get out, even in the rain, to explore and get out to talk with people not only in the burbs but really IN the cities with more diversity who have more knowledge where to search. I mean really would you get more information from people in say Tacoma or a soccer mom in Covington? You just have to be smart about putting yourself out there to explore, not just have everything handed to you. I have to move but my thoughts of the area have changed from before I moved here and understand while it may not have as much diversity as other places you can find it, you just have to drive maybe a little more to find it as oppose to say other cities you can find it on every corner.

[Gentoo]

One thing I've learned to take with a grain of salt is the % of population of yours or another group. A place may have a high percentage of the racial group you belong to for instance but that doesn't necessarily mean it's better for your group.

[RunTheDistance476]

Originally Posted by JL1585

Thanks OP. Whitest metropolitan city in American. Don't care what anyone says. To hell with being politically correct.

Black people and hispanics are in very small numbers, and asians just kind of go about their own and blend in with the white people culture that is not. IDK I can't put my finger on it, don't think anyone can really but those of us who agree all know what we mean at the end of the day.

Girl I'm talking to this morning got upset (like a Seattlelite does) when I said theres diversity issues here. And I said really? There's diversity? Then I brought up Chicago, Houston, New York and she shutup. Thank God.

Do you have any idea how wrong you are? Whitest metro in America?

Let me break it down for you (Metro numbers from selected american cities, percentage of "whites")

You ready for this beatdown...?


Seattle: 71.9% white

St. Louis: 76% white

Little Rock: 70% white

Detroit: 70% white

Oklahoma City: 71% white

Twin Cities: 86% white

Boston: 75% white

Kansas City: 75% white

Milwaukee: 73% white

Portland: 77% white

Charlotte: 65% white

Philadelphia: 65% white

New York: 62% white

Memphis: 60% white

Chicago: 60% white

Mop yourself off the floor when you are done.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by wlw2009

Do you have any idea how wrong you are? Whitest metro in America?

Let me break it down for you (Metro numbers from selected american cities, percentage of "whites")

You ready for this beatdown...?


Seattle: 71.9% white

St. Louis: 76% white

Little Rock: 70% white

Detroit: 70% white

Twin Cities: 86% white

Boston: 75% white

Kansas City: 75% white

Milwaukee: 73% white

Charlotte: 65% white

Philadelphia: 65% white

New York: 62%

Memphis: 60% white

Chicago: 60% white

Mop yourself off the floor when you are done.

I agree with with your post but I'm confused about Detroit:

As of the 2010 Census, the racial composition of the city was:
82.7% Black or African American;
10.6% White (7.8% non-Hispanic whites);
3% from other races;
1.1% Asian;
2.2% from two or more races;
0.4% American Indian;
0.02% Pacific Islander.

Detroit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[RunTheDistance476]

Metro area, dude.

This Lb8348934 guy thinks that Seattle has race issues, are you kidding me? Thats why when you look at metro numbers cities like his beloved Chicago goes from being 30% white to 60% white in the area.

So yeah, look up Detroit's metro numbers and notice the big difference.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Detroit#Demographics

[mkarch]

Originally Posted by wlw2009

Do you have any idea how wrong you are? Whitest metro in America?

Let me break it down for you (Metro numbers from selected american cities, percentage of "whites")

You ready for this beatdown...?


Seattle: 71.9% white

St. Louis: 76% white

Little Rock: 70% white

Detroit: 70% white

Twin Cities: 86% white

Boston: 75% white

Kansas City: 75% white

Milwaukee: 73% white

Portland: 77% white

Charlotte: 65% white

Philadelphia: 65% white

New York: 62%

Memphis: 60% white

Chicago: 60% white

Mop yourself off the floor when you are done.

I took "metropolitan city" to mean a city within a major metro area - not the metro area as a whole. Difference being it's pretty easy to find a smaller city with a homogeneous population in the middle of nowhere.

[RunTheDistance476]

But the issue lies with this:

If you go to Detroit right now, downtown, you're not going to see 90% black and 10% white, you'll more than likely see 50/50 ish.

So by that logic, Detroit is the blackest metro city in America, so maybe there is a diversity myth that exists in Detroit, too then? And also in Chicago, where nearly half of the residents are black with just 20-30% whites sprinkled in. Is that diversity? Segregation? More than 80& of the Chicago suburban area are whites and only 30% of the city is white. What does that tell you?

The thing about Seattle is, 70% of the metro is white and so is 70% of the city, meaning there isn't the large segregation and cultural issues as there are in cities like Detroit or Chicago. The city represents the metro as a whole.

If the whole purpose of this thread is to discuss how Seattle isn't an open community then clearly these numbers show that is wrong.


EDIT: and just to add on, the 5 guys that I would consider my closest friends here are all different colors of skin AND religion. We have ZERO issue with race, zero. There is never any tension, hate, or awkward moments of any kind. We are talking about a mixed group that includes 2 Japanese, Hispanic, and 2 middle-easterners.

Good luck finding that somewhere like a Detroit or Chicago.

I think in these rants its only one particular race that always seems to be beneath it. Read the stories about these types of issues here and in the PNW and it wont take long to figure out what the issue is. I call it as I see it, another form of racism. This city could be 30% Asian and people would still say the same things. Why?

Even our hated, elitist suburb Bellevue is nearly 30% Asian. How can that be?! Oh, I know, Seattle doesn't have nearly as many race issues like most major cities.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by wlw2009

Metro area, dude.

This Lb8348934 guy thinks that Seattle has race issues, are you kidding me? Thats why when you look at metro numbers cities like his beloved Chicago goes from being 30% white to 60% white in the area.

So yeah, look up Detroit's metro numbers and notice the big difference.

Metro Detroit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cool beans dude, thanks

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by wlw2009

But the issue lies with this:

If you go to Detroit right now, downtown, you're not going to see 90% black and 10% white, you'll more than likely see 50/50 ish.

So by that logic, Detroit is the blackest metro city in America, so maybe there is a diversity myth that exists in Detroit, too then? And also in Chicago, where nearly half of the residents are black with just 20-30% whites sprinkled in. Is that diversity? Segregation? More than 80& of the Chicago suburban area are whites and only 30% of the city is white. What does that tell you?

The thing about Seattle is, 70% of the metro is white and so is 70% of the city, meaning there isn't the large segregation and cultural issues as there are in cities like Detroit or Chicago. The city represents the metro as a whole.

If the whole purpose of this thread is to discuss how Seattle isn't an open community then clearly these numbers show that is wrong.


EDIT: and just to add on, the 5 guys that I would consider my closest friends here are all different colors of skin AND religion. We have ZERO issue with race, zero. There is never any tension, hate, or awkward moments of any kind. We are talking about a mixed group that includes 2 Japanese, Hispanic, and 2 middle-easterners.

Good luck finding that somewhere like a Detroit or Chicago.

I think in these rants its only one particular race that always seems to be beneath it. Read the stories about these types of issues here and in the PNW and it wont take long to figure out what the issue is. I call it as I see it, another form of racism. This city could be 30% Asian and people would still say the same things. Why?

Even our hated, elitist suburb Bellevue is nearly 30% Asian. How can that be?! Oh, I know, Seattle doesn't have nearly as many race issues like most major cities.

You make good points as much as it pains me to compliment you but you're right.

[RunTheDistance476]

Hey man, I thought we were friends.