Will everyone please stop saying Austin is diverse! (Houston, Dallas: living, mall)

[camelian]

I think its interesting people are saying that Dallas is ethnically diverse..are we only talking about downtown? In my experience, the burbs of Dallas are very white while the burbs of Houston are a little more mixed, albeit more in the Asian/Indian population. Just going to any random grocery store or mall in Sugar Land I regularly run into many different races. Not the case in Richardson or Plano where I grew up.

In any case, I think Austin is for sure one of the more ethnically diverse cities in Texas, but certainly not the most when you consider places like CA. I think it feels LESS diverse than it is because it's heavily segregated, as mentioned earlier. I agree it's a common occurrence, but I feel like its more severe in Austin..probably because it was previously enforced

I happen to be an Asian American and live in a house in NE Austin off 290 and Springdale. My neighborhood is predominantly African American with a good number of Hispanics as well. There are some Caucasian families and but I think I'm the only Asian there..haha. This drastically changes when I head a couple minutes north on 183 to NW Austin. If you were to mix everybody up randomly, I think Austin would feel a lot more ethnically diverse

[G Grasshopper]

I am concerned that for some people, black vs. white is the only kind of diversity they see. I live in Circle C, and have plenty of diversity around me. Of the 7 houses immediately around ours, we have an East Indian, Turkish, Chinese and Hispanic family. The other 3 are Caucasian. I see lots of diversity when I am out, and there are folks speaking many different languages that walk past my house (walking their dogs) daily, although most minority race people I see are Asians and Hispanics. My church, I have to admit, is mostly white, but we have some black and other minority families who have been members for a long time. I do wish there were more. (When we lived on the West Coast, our church was truly a mix of races and cultures, and we enjoyed that.) It is true that I don't see many AAs, so I believe it when people complain about that, but that doesn't mean that Austin is not diverse. Every city, and even smaller towns, have areas that have higher and lower house values. So I think that there are economic divides here, as there are everywhere, and I think we need to work on decreasing economic injustice. And I don't doubt for a minute that there are racist jerks in Austin, as there are everywhere. I am white, so I know that I will not see racism as others might. But it is something I am prepared to fight against, and I know a lot of folks who are of like mind.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by amy81

Personally, I don't think you can really speak of diversity when I-35 is the dividing line between white middle class and black ghetto. We are talking about a town where the Mexican working class is priced out of their old neighborhoods because more white people keep moving in.

That is a grossly inaccurate description of where African-American's live in Austin. See this demographic map from the City of Austin. Africian American Populations 1990 and 2000 map. As East Austin has gentrified, African Americans have been able to afford to sell their property there and move to better neighborhoods in the suburbs and surrounding communities outside of Austin.

Top Ten Demographic Trends in Austin, Texas | AustinTexas.gov - The Official Website of the City of Austin6. Geography of African Americans, dispersion and flight to the suburbs.
The critical mass and historical heavy concentration of African American households in east Austin began eroding during the 1980s, and by the mid-1990s, had really begun to break apart. Please see Africian American Populations 1990 and 2000 map.
Over the past 25 years, middle-class African American households have left east Austin for the suburbs and other parts of Austin, please see map. The level of residential segregation for African Americans has dropped significantly as their level of spatial concentration has diminished. Many community leaders talk today of how many of these families are still returning to churches in east Austin on Sunday morning. However, many of these same community leaders fear that the newly-suburban African American population will eventual build suburban churches closer to home, leaving the original houses of worship somewhat stranded. The potential impact of the loss of these churches and their community outreach and community care programs on the African American households left in east Austin could be devastating.

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by amy81

Austin's self image as a world city needs to be addressed, in my opinion. It is primarily a white middle class town where almost everyone under 50 has a tattoo and the only place to buy a copy of the Financial Times (you know, the pink paper) is at Barnes & Noble before noon. My friends, that's 60s nostalgia - not diversity.

I'm 45 I don't have a tattoo. Neither do most of my neighbors. What's a "world city"? Do you mean World class city? I don't think most people here claim Austin is a world class city. But in the whole scheme of things, it is a big city. You wouldn't think so if you compare it to Chicago, NYC or LA. But then think of all the thousands of cities in this country that are smaller. It's even bigger than Detroit now.

[centralaustinite]

Still it is only the 4th largest city in Texas! I laugh a little at any one who came to the 4th largest city in a state and expected to find a world class city.

Sure, some PR flak at some magazine trying to sell copies might have said so (once or a hundred times) but exercise a few critical reading skills! Just because some mag or website says that "Saginaw is the 8th best place to raise pugs and poodles in the US" doesn't make it so!

[Big Dirty]

Austin is much more diverse than San Antonio.

[Roadking2003]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

Still it is only the 4th largest city in Texas! I laugh a little at any one who came to the 4th largest city in a state and expected to find a world class city. !

What is a world class city?

[CarnivalGal]

Just because Austin may be more diverse than some other cities, does not mean it's a cultural boondoggle. Even among the white population, there is very little diversity. The is no large Polish population or Italian, etc. etc.

[10scoachrick]

Just to chime in, the only place I've heard that Austin was particularly promoted or thought of as(not) 'diverse' is on this message board. I never gave it any thought when we were looking to move here nor has it been a concern since. I will say; however, that just on our block we have a Canadian family, more than a couple of Indian families, Pakistani, Puerto Rican and American mutts from all over the USA. Incomes range from $50K/year to over a quarter-million. Not interested in religious diversity; but I imagine our neighborhood is pretty diverse in that respect, also.

[Trainwreck20]

Okay, too lazy and not interested enough to read this thread, but the starting point - "Will everyone please stop saying Austin is diverse! " - is kind of ridiculous in of itself. Will everyone also quite saying that the sky is purple and green stripes?