Diversity, Veganism and Homeschooling...Dallas or Houston?

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by talkispoison

Eh, I just meant for Vegan options

all three are good for Vegan options. What Houston and DFW beats Austin on is Diversity.

Austin would be a good answer if the OP was asking for just Vegan options.

[Aquitaine]

Austin is fairly diverse for its size and so can't compete with the likes of Houston or DFW. But it is certainly diverse relative to other cities its size.

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by Aquitaine

Austin is fairly diverse for its size and so can't compete with the likes of Houston or DFW. But it is certainly diverse relative to other cities its size.

Diversity by size is nonsense.

Houston grew up with a diverse population. Many large cities did.

[Aquitaine]

Houston in the mid-1950s was larger than Austin is today. Houston is also a tremendously diverse city even by large city standards, and anyone for whom diversity is a top priority is going to choose a large city over a small one no matter which cities you're looking at.

But if, like most people, your decision is a combination of many factors, then it is certainly worth noting that Austin is more diverse relative to other cities its size such as Portland, Seattle, or Raleigh. Even San Antonio, a good 20% larger than Austin, could be seen as having less diversity on account of a very large Hispanic population and a relatively non-existent Asian or Black population. (San Antonio: 2.8% Asian, 6.8% black, 0.6% other; Austin: 7.1% Asian, 8.2% black, 0.8% other). Another way of looking at it: In Austin, 16.2% of everybody you meet will be neither White nor Hispanic; in San Antonio, that number is 10.2%, while in Houston it is 30.6%, chiefly because Houston has a much, much larger Black population proportional to either Austin or SA.

Source: US2010 -- some interesting stuff.

But absolute numbers do matter, and that's why a small city is never, ever going to capture the same feel of a larger one. That doesn't mean they're not diverse. It means they're smaller cities.

[tebor79]

I saw a vegan food truck on Almeda near midtown Houston.

[ImOnFiya]

Well, Austin is a different kind of town..which for present economic and past cultural reasons (relating to race). The levels of diversity in Austin may never reach Houston. In fact, Austin has become whiter.

The racial demography subject is related to another thread (Gentification of East Austin) that appeared last month. Here is a repost:

To borrow a line from former President Clinton, "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is."

In my previous comment, I note that the city of Austin's demographer does not count other categories of white, simply "White, Alone" [whatever that means]. However, the US Census classifies "White, Alone", "White Hispanic", and numerous other categories all under the category "White Population". When added together in 2010, Austin became the 10th largest white population in the country*. US Census' The White Population 2010, 2010 Census Briefs publication even takes time to highlight Austin's achievement. (Out of everyone, US Census would be the official experts in population counting.) But, we do know that city demographers are also the experts in PR population massaging (Austin and Portland do it to "roll down" its Anglo populous, even as "chocolate cities" like Detroit, Atlanta, and Philadelphia do it to dramatize its white in-migration).

Then, why doesn't the city of Austin recognize the figures? Well they do, and they don't (and it gets complicated). The city does recognize the 562,451 total white pop. number (Austin has to, as its the US Census' official number), BUT, Austin is at liberty officially 'interpret' that count as they will. And in this scenario, in terms of Austin white population proportional percentage, the city has chosen to use the "white, alone" subset population as "white" within that larger number (562,451).

So, why the kabuki dance on white population? You know why!

A growing, diverse city 'meme' sells (Austin, Charlotte). A growing, [insert ethnicity] city may still sell, but marketing it may be problematic (Atlanta, San Antonio). One of the basic duties of a city demographer is to count population and business trends within the city. However, above all, the most important job that he or she has is to market the data. And apparently, the fact of Austin becoming a whiter city has been deemed by the city administration to be not 'marketable'.

These population numbers and Austin's new distinction by the US Census are not a big secret. City officials, affordable housing advocates have seen the census documents, which is why they have been so militant in their advoca[cy] within the City of Austin's Boards and Commissions.

*Reference: The White Population 2010, 2010 Census Briefs - http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/b...c2010br-05.pdf (broken link)

[Aquitaine]

Indeed it has. It's still less white than San Antonio, Portland, Seattle, etc. The picture also changes quite a lot if you look at the whole metro area for both Austin and Houston -- both places become considerably more white.

[ImOnFiya]

Originally Posted by Aquitaine

Indeed it has. It's still less white than San Antonio, Portland, Seattle, etc. The picture also changes quite a lot if you look at the whole metro area for both Austin and Houston -- both places become considerably more white.

With San Antonio, I'd beg to differ. Many hispanics have 'white' on their birth certificates even though they may identify as 'hispanic' to census workers. In Bexar County, the minority population has surpassed 50% according to the 2010 census, this dichotomy in results in San Antonio is in due no large part to the growth of census-reported 'white hispanics', rather than 'white alone' persons.

[Aquitaine]

I think we're splitting hairs. You're talking about 'number of non-white people' and I'm talking about diversity, or overall spread. The only real difference that I can see is that Austin has slightly higher penetration for Asians, so I guess to that extent it is "more diverse" but all of that gets thrown out the window if you look at metro area (for both places).

Personally I don't put a lot of stock in population diversity anyway -- I'd rather ask whether or not whatever place you're looking at is cosmopolitan enough such that it doesn't really matter what your ethnicity is. Seems like there's a critical mass after which folks just get used to seeing people different than they are, whether it's race, religion, or sexuality, and having that critical mass (even if you're still going to have some close-minded types) is more important to me than having the city's stats and tourism brochure look like a college admissions "one of everything" spread.

At any rate, if what you're saying is that there are ways of looking at the data such that San Antonio is just as diverse, or even more diverse than Austin, I'm sure there are. Just as the reverse could be true -- "white" as in "nobody in my family has left the state in 100 years" is worlds apart from from Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Yorkshire, Dublin, Australia, and plenty of other places with "white" people. So I try not to read too much into this stuff, though it would be fascinating to see the geographical heritage one or two generations back in a census. Probably not possible though!

[llmrkc07]

Any city will be fine. Houston & Dallas win in diversity though.