Austin: Good Place for Asian Family to raise kids? (Houston: lawyers, homes)

[Mrs.JT]

I am half Japanese, and I've experienced a bit of racism since moving to Austin in '93, but I don't think it was any more or less than I experienced while living in Georgia. As an example, I've been called "Chinese B*" and "Korean B*" a few times...which is hilarious, because my mother is Japanese. This was back in the 90's, of course, so I was much younger and received those racist comments by boys who were upset when I wasn't receptive of their advances or girls who felt I was trying to "take their man." Silly kids.


I feel like I've experienced more subtle forms of racism throughout the years, but once I matured and realized the problem is always the racist and not me, I generally let it roll off my back; nonetheless, it exists.


Before I moved to Round Rock almost a decade ago, I lived in North Austin, and there was a decent (not huge) Asian population. I wouldn't call Austin diverse, though. As someone else mentioned, Houston is much more culturally diverse.

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by bubbyK

It was not, it was an example of the lack of diversity in austin. The reality is that the austin experience is vastly different if you are asian. I have many Caucasian friends that talk about how welcoming people are in Austin. Multiple anecdotal stories of neighbors helping their Caucasian neighbors move in. Neighborhood welcome wagons, etc.. However all of my Asian friends have not experienced this. Despite the hipsters and the college students austin is still a small town good ole boy city.

If your looking for a great city to raise kids that is diverse Dallas but more specifically Plano/Frisco is the place you should look.

The only times I hear about "neighborhood welcome wagons" etc. are in new suburban master plan type neighborhoods with large HOAs.

Agree with 97, that bubbyK must not be spending much time in North or NW Austin. My son (who is Korean) attended elementary, middle & high schools which were 35-40% Asian. I would suspect that there are 4-5 High Schools in Austin with 10% Asian or higher populations.

OP, I would look at the demographics of Elementary Schools (this is what I did when originally searching for a home) Each ES would serve the immediate 1-2 area neighborhoods, so the demographic of the ES is usually similar to the demographic of the nearby neighborhood.

[Mrs.JT]

Originally Posted by bubbyK

It was not, it was an example of the lack of diversity in austin. The reality is that the austin experience is vastly different if you are asian. I have many Caucasian friends that talk about how welcoming people are in Austin. Multiple anecdotal stories of neighbors helping their Caucasian neighbors move in. Neighborhood welcome wagons, etc.. However all of my Asian friends have not experienced this. Despite the hipsters and the college students austin is still a small town good ole boy city.

If your looking for a great city to raise kids that is diverse Dallas but more specifically Plano/Frisco is the place you should look.

I understood what you were implying, and you're correct. Austin lacks diversity. And I can completely understand how you might be put-off by witnessing the "Caucasian clique." BUT...conversely, I must admit, I feel that some Asians are a bit stand offish, so they appear unapproachable. I don't know if this is the reason for the alleged disparate treatment, but it's the topic of discussions I've had many times with my other half Asian friends. We see both sides because we are hybrids. My father is a Texan, and he's never met a stranger. My mom, however, is the typical reserved Japanese. If I go somewhere with my father, he will talk to everyone in his path. My mom will keep to herself and speak to no one.

[Trainwreck20]

SW Austin 'Tech' area elementary schools (% Asian):
Clayton - 15.5%
Kiker - 10.9%
Mills - 11.7%

NW Austin 'Tech' area elementary schools (% Asian)
Davis - 11.3%
Doss - 9.8%
Summitt - 22.8%

In most cases, the largest portion of those percentages are Indian and likely followed next by Chinese. Or so it would seem based on casual observation.

The city as a whole is listed as 6.1% Asian. White and Hispanic make up 84% of the population.

Round Rock is 7.1% Asian and 80% white/Hispanic.

Pflugerville is 8.2% Asian and 75% white/Hispanic.

[ClaraC]

Some pockets of Austin, notably far northwest Austin, are heavily Asian.

For example, Laurel Mountain Elementary is 54% Asian, and is reflected by a very heavy Asian population in the surrounding neighborhoods.

http://public-schools.startclass.com...ain-Elementary

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by Mrs.JT

I understood what you were implying, and you're correct. Austin lacks diversity. And I can completely understand how you might be put-off by witnessing the "Caucasian clique." BUT...conversely, I must admit, I feel that some Asians are a bit stand offish, so they appear unapproachable. I don't know if this is the reason for the alleged disparate treatment, but it's the topic of discussions I've had many times with my other half Asian friends. We see both sides because we are hybrids. My father is a Texan, and he's never met a stranger. My mom, however, is the typical reserved Japanese. If I go somewhere with my father, he will talk to everyone in his path. My mom will keep to herself and speak to no one.

I do believe that there can be cultural differences, especially for immigrants as opposed to U.S. born, that can make social situations difficult; however, it can be the individual instead of a cultural barrier.

Some years back, a young Indian couple moved in across the street from us. I chatted a few times with the young lady and she was very friendly; however, after a time or two, the husband would come out and, for lack of a better word, 'glare' at me (or my wife) if we were talking to his wife. And he is a very physically impressive guy. Anyway, she seldom talks to us now and we definitely don't try to strike up a conversation with her now. We do wave and say 'hello' if we are both out at the same time, but she is seldom outside. She has two kids now and the grandparents come from India and stay for a month or more at a time. They are very nice people and I talk with them quite frequently as they walk past our house on their way to or from HEB.

Anyway, it may just be my imagination, but it seems that she would be more social if her husband would 'allow' it. But as it stands, they essentially interact with no one on the street (so far as I can tell), although it is a very social street. There is a Japanese woman (a widow) that has difficulties with English, but still gets on well with multiple people. The visiting UT prof behind me is (or was, they just moved) Chinese and he and his wife are super pleasant people that we socialized with regularly due to the age of their kids and the common school.

Come to think of it, I think the kids across the street will be school age next year, maybe? I wonder if their mom will 'get out more'.

[ScoPro]

Why do folks moving here expect "diversity" anyway? When I lived in Taipei and Monterrey 50+ years ago neither city was diverse compared to Austin. Didn't bother me a bit, except for the lack of a good ol' greaseburger joint.
I've never really understood why newbies want to hole up in a neighborhood that looks just like home That goes for all the Euro-centric enclaves in many of the large US cities. This country is supposed to be a "melting pot" or so we were taught in school.
Mix it up & enjoy the parts you like. The parts you don't like? Just ignore it, like I did.

[eirenecat]

I live in Northwest Austin and work in tech, and I see Asians every day. This has been pretty constant in my experience working in tech. On my street, we have Hispanic people, Chinese people, Indian people, and a couple where the husband is Asian and the wife is white.

[ScoPro]

The Avery Ranch/Pearson Place neighborhoods next to me seem to be popular with Asians. Check out the student body demographics at Elsa England Elementary - 54.77% Asian:


Elsa England Elementary School Austin, TX - HAR.com

[Independentthinking]

Originally Posted by ScoPro

Why do folks moving here expect "diversity" anyway? When I lived in Taipei and Monterrey 50+ years ago neither city was diverse compared to Austin. Didn't bother me a bit, except for the lack of a good ol' greaseburger joint.
I've never really understood why newbies want to hole up in a neighborhood that looks just like home That goes for all the Euro-centric enclaves in many of the large US cities. This country is supposed to be a "melting pot" or so we were taught in school.
Mix it up & enjoy the parts you like. The parts you don't like? Just ignore it, like I did.

I agree. And Diversity and Racism are two distinctly different things.

It's ironic as I read many of these posts of one anecdote after another, that people seem to be making vast stereotypes based on statistically insignificant numbers. So a person has an experience based on a couple of people and suddenly a whole neighborhood/city has racism issues?! I'm sorry, but that's irrational and completely ridiculous. And that type of stereotyping is a form of prejudice and similar in thought to the claims of racism being made here. It just seems like there's an awful lot of hyper-sensitivity these days, much of which is fueled by the media.