What is the best true "melting pot" city in America? (transplants, neighborhoods)
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This is the flip side of the other thread. Which cities have a culture that is truly a traditional American melting pot where people from various backgrounds have moved there and all played a part in shaping a new culture that seems to prevail?
I don't have Los Angeles or New York here because both places feel more like a "tossed salad" where various groups live in the same city/region but rarely mix except (sometimes) at work. For example a Mexican from L.A . is likely to live in an exclusively Mexican neighborhood, speak only Spanish, eat only Mexican food, and is very unlikely to have non-Mexican friends or engage in non-Mexican activities, while in New Orleans where French, African Americans, and other people of all backgrounds listen to jazz music and cook/eat Creole cuisine and see all of that as part of their own culture.
I've also included some "New South" and Sunbelt cities where people have moved from all over the country, in addition to immigrant groups.
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Huh? NYC and LA are the two metros that "melt" the most, since they have the most ethnicities.Where else will you find a Chinese Dominican or Nigerian Mexican? Just google fusion restaurants. If you find these two metros, easily the most cosmopolitan metros we have, to be "tossed salad", no other metro will meet your criteria. Certainly not Baltimore nor Pittsburgh nor New Orleans, etc.
Huh? NYC and LA are the two metros that "melt" the most, since they have the most ethnicities.Where else will you find a Chinese Dominican or Nigerian Mexican? Just google fusion restaurants. If you find these two metros, easily the most cosmopolitan metros we have, to be "tossed salad", no other metro will meet your criteria. Certainly not Baltimore nor Pittsburgh nor New Orleans, etc.
I used to live in the Baltimore area and generations of immigrants have always gone there, especially Irish, Germans, Italians, Polish, and Greeks as well as a lot of domestic migration from the Deep South, both black and white. Many people have mixed ancestries from various European countries, and most people can appreciate a good Greek spinach pie and a good Polish kielbasa though everyone is mostly American.
In LA you have a lot of Asian Americans (I am of Asian descent myself) who would hang out only with Asian friends, eat only Asian food, watch mostly Korean and Japanese dramas and anime even though Hollywood is right there. Los Angeles also has lots of Mexicans who speak little English even into the third generation and still live in exclusively Mexican neighborhoods.
In Miami the Cubans, Haitians, and Northeast transplants/snowbird all stay in their own separate worlds and often don't even live in the same parts of town.
In LA and New York most groups seem to keep their own distinct cultures and languages rather than interact with one another. I do think New Orleans is a great melting pot where a lot of different cultures have really come together to create a unique style, which is what makes New Orleans such a unique city.
I know Houston has a large number of both domestic and international transplants and its true that Texas minorities seem to be more assimilated with the exception of the Rio Grande Valley (hence the other thread).
Are Mexicans more mixed in with others in Houston and speak more English, live a more diverse lifestyle than Laredo, etc?
What if multiple cities in the poll are a "true melting pot"? How do you approach that?
Also, there are different forms of 'melting pots', i.e. different ethnicities. Are we just judge/vote some groups over others? Voting for one over others might be a form of racism or culturalism.
I don't have Los Angeles or New York here because both places feel more like a "tossed salad" where various groups live in the same city/region but rarely mix except (sometimes) at work. For example a Mexican from L.A . is likely to live in an exclusively Mexican neighborhood, speak only Spanish, eat only Mexican food, and is very unlikely to have non-Mexican friends or engage in non-Mexican activities, while in New Orleans where French, African Americans, and other people of all backgrounds listen to jazz music and cook/eat Creole cuisine and see all of that as part of their own culture.
That was a pretty arbitrary decision, that happens in all metro areas. Right or wrong we silo by culture, by race, by socioeconomics, etc. around the world...
In LA and New York most groups seem to keep their own distinct cultures and languages rather than interact with one another. I do think New Orleans is a great melting pot where a lot of different cultures have really come together to create a unique style, which is what makes New Orleans such a unique city.
Different New Orleans cultures have existed and blended over a 200 year timeframe, while NY and LA are constantly being replenished. Yesterday's Little Italy or Chinatown no longer exist, as newer cultures are added to the mix. My grandparents "kept" their European culture and language for over 50 years until they died, and it really wasn't until their grandchildren grew, and the greater culture accepted them and their differences, that assimilation takes place.
New York is definitely a melting pot, it is very cosmopolitan.
Sure, immigrants (especially lower income) might not mingle much, but they live mostly in harmony and all shape the city's culture. My grandmother lives in Kensington, Brooklyn, and her neighborhood is extremely diverse, even down to her building.
And the children of various immigrant groups definitely do mingle.
Every city descends from people from many parts of the world. The longer ago different cultures showed up, the more likely they are to have melted in.
A lot of the prevailing cultural tendencies we see in various cities today (cities seen as pushy or reserved, or where random people talk to you; various local cuisines, accents, whatever) is all influenced by who showed up and when.
It seems like the question is more about recent immigration merging in with the prevailing culture.
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