Which downstate city do you think is the most diverse? (Chicago: home, school)

[Chicagoland60426]

In your opinion, Which downstate city/area or outside of Chicagoland in IL do you think is the most diverse or racially diverse? In my opinion Champaign-Urbana area seem racially diverse, considering its the only downstate area with a sizeable Asian population.

[noid_1985]

Champaign-Urban, only because U of I.

[QuadCityImages]

Where are the Quad Cities or East St. Louis in this poll? I guess under Other...

[BUalumni]

Originally Posted by QuadCityImages

Where are the Quad Cities or East St. Louis in this poll? I guess under Other...

Well, at least in a Central Illinois perspective, the Quad Cities (in Illinois) are like Rockford, in the sense that they are Northern Illinois Cities. Even though I-80 splits them in half, the Quad Cities are still "up there." It sounds weird, but most people in Central Illinois put Moline and RI, in the same category as Joliet. (On second, thought, no that isn't so far off the mark.)

Also, you can't reasonably say that East St. Louis (the city) is diverse. When I've driven though, there isn't much diversity to be found. If you are talking about St. Louis Metro East, than I would say you have a much better argument, since it is probably the most overlooked part of the entire state when it comes to these kinds of questions. I don't think Central Illinois, and even more to the point Chicagoland, even begin to realize that the fastest growing part of the STL metro, is the Illinois portion. With that said, even the most popular cities, like Edwardsville that are growing like a weed, in my experience, they aren't to diverse.

I agree, (that when class is in) C-U may be the most "diverse" in an ethnic sense, but when the summer hits, C-U isn't so high on the list. During this time the title of "most ethnically diverse" would be in either Peoria, B-N, or Springfield. If we are talking about diverse, in the sense of everything else that you could apply the world with, than it would have to go to Peoria. Springfield may be in some ways very close, but for the most part, Peoria is the downstate epicenter for most of our "diversity."

[skipcromer]

Originally Posted by QuadCityImages

Where are the Quad Cities or East St. Louis in this poll? I guess under Other...

Where is the diversity in a city that is 99% african american?

[QuadCityImages]

Hmm. Its actually 97.7%, but I didn't realize it was that high. I figured it was more stereotype than fact, but now I see that I'm wrong. I withdraw East St. Louis as a suggestion.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by skipcromer

Where is the diversity in a city that is 99% african american?

"Diverse" is becoming synonymous with "anything but white."

[illstate89]

Champaign is definitely the most diverse.

[linicx]

Technically speaking diverse means variety. By this definition I think Peoria is very diverse in race, language, culture and religion. There is a wide variety in educational possibilities, arts & entertainment, foods, medical community, and many opportunities for children to learn and interact outside of the school and home environments.

[Maintainschaos]

Here are the breakdowns for the various races of the cities, using 2010 data:

Peoria (115,007):

White alone - 69,454 (60.4%)
Black alone - 30,705 (26.7%)
Hispanic - 5,628 (4.9%)
Asian alone - 5,214 (4.5%)
Two or more races - 3,505 (3.0%)
American Indian alone - 233 (0.2%)
Other race alone - 241 (0.2%)
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone - 27 (0.02%)

Springfield (116,250):

White alone - 86,781 (74.7%)
Black alone - 21,344 (18.4%)
Two or more races - 2,813 (2.4%)
Asian alone - 2,538 (2.2%)
Hispanic - 2,325 (2.0%)
American Indian alone - 205 (0.2%)
Other race alone - 221 (0.2%)
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone - 23 (0.02%)

Champaign (81,055):

White alone - 52,533 (64.8%)
Black alone - 12,474 (15.4%)
Asian alone - 8,510 (10.5%)
Hispanic - 5,111 (6.3%)
Two or more races - 2,066 (2.5%)
American Indian alone - 143 (0.2%)
Other race alone - 162 (0.2%)
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone - 56 (0.07%)

Urbana (41,250):

White alone - 23,809 (57.7%)
Asian alone - 7,305 (17.7%)
Black alone - 6,651 (16.1%)
Hispanic - 2,165 (5.2%)
Two or more races - 1,070 (2.6%)
Other race alone - 134 (0.3%)
American Indian alone - 59 (0.1%)
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone - 57 (0.1%)

Bloomington (76,610):

White alone - 57,141 (74.6%)
Black alone - 7,663 (10.0%)
Asian alone - 5,315 (6.9%)
Hispanic - 4,308 (5.6%)
Two or more races - 1,884 (2.5%)
American Indian alone - 170 (0.2%)
Other race alone - 106 (0.1%)
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone - 23 (0.03%)

Normal (52,497):

White alone - 43,313 (82.5%)
Black alone - 4,201 (8.0%)
Hispanic - 2,133 (4.1%)
Asian alone - 1,673 (3.2%)
Two or more races - 1,026 (2.0%)
American Indian alone - 59 (0.1%)
Other race alone - 71 (0.1%)
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone - 21 (0.04%)

Decatur (76,122):

White alone - 53,749 (70.6%)
Black alone - 17,600 (23.1%)
Two or more races - 2,127 (2.8%)
Hispanic - 1,650 (2.2%)
Asian alone - 695 (0.9%)
American Indian alone - 155 (0.2%)
Other race alone - 128 (0.2%)
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone - 18 (0.02%)

If you consider diversity to be the largest mix of multiple races, then it looks like (from most diverse to least diverse):

Urbana > Champaign ~ Peoria > Decatur > Springfield ~ Bloomington > Normal

A comprehensive ranking is hard because some cities have a broader mix of races whereas others are heavily white and black but few other races.