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i do not frequent the new york forum , so I apologize if Im bringing up a topic that has been done to death..
Is immigration as much of a hot button issue in New York as it is in Los Angeles?
Its no secret that hundreds of thousands of people have left California for places along the sun-belt or in the mid-west. Reasons vary from insane cost of living, traffic, housing costs, and for many, the number of immigrants coming to california.
Lots of bitter ex-Californians claim they left due to Los Angeles becoming a "third world" city, sometimes referring to the state as "Mexi-Fornia".
Its almost like white-flight, except instead of people fleeing the inner-city, they are fleeing the entire state.
Is that anti-immigrant sentiment prevalent in New York as well? Using the search button, I didn't see much discussing that issue. I'm curious about how it is back east.
There is a certain degree of immigrant tension in parts of NYC, usually happens when a new immigrant group moves into a certain area of the city in large numbers, but it definitely isn't anything compared to Los Angeles.
Last edited by DoomDan515; 04-09-2008 at 11:08 PM..
I see it more as an ethnic issue, not immigration. Sure you got your rallies(when it's a nationwide thing), but nothing compared to Cali and other border states. And the most obvious: location, location, location.
There is a certain degree of immigrant tension in parts of NYC, usually happens when a new immigrant group moves into a certain area of the city in large numbers, but it definitely isn't anything compared to Los Angeles.
Could it be because New York is already accepted as being a place that is very diverse?
Los Angeles has been diverse for a long time, but it seems like many people want it to be this pristine, peaceful town surrounded by orange groves that it was 50 years ago. Where you have your nice neighborhoods,nice houses with a large front yards and white fences, inhabited by a nuclear family of 4 1/2.
The way I see it, being a major metropolitan area, immigration is an inevitability. And Los Angeles is probably going through growing pains. Look at the Los Angeles forum, and discussion on anything from home prices to traffic comes back to immigration. Its like the scapegoat of any problem.
Should LA fear becoming a third world type city? Is this that different from the large immigration of Italians and Irish to the East Coast in the early 20th century?
After a few generations, those people assimilated and became productive citizens, and became very much a part of the cities in the east coast they came to.
Can't we expect the same of hispanics in the west coast?
Sorry if I'm writing a lot, but I'm just curious on the attitudes of New Yorkers on this issue.
New York and L.A. are very different, IMHO, in terms of immigrant population. Where L.A. has one dominant immigrant group (Mexican), New York literally has immigrants from around the world. I'm guessing the concentration of Mexican immigrants in L.A. is really the issue, and that just doesn't exist in NYC.
Are people in California upset over ALL immigration or just illegal immigration?
I suspect because of proximity to the Mexican border that the percentage of illegal immigrants is much higher than in NY, but I've never seen any statistics. just a guess.
I can say, in certain towns in Westchester (my hometown being one), there is a LOT of tension regarding the day laborer population. Mostly quality of life issues: public urination, overcrowding apartments, loitering, catcalling, ER being used for colds, health concerns (TB, etc). There are lawsuits going on left and right all the time. I know several people who have moved due to houses on their streets becoming rented out flophouses. It happened in the house next to me when I had my first apartment, and it was not fun.
I can say, in certain towns in Westchester (my hometown being one), there is a LOT of tension regarding the day laborer population. Mostly quality of life issues: public urination, overcrowding apartments, loitering, catcalling, ER being used for colds, health concerns (TB, etc). There are lawsuits going on left and right all the time. I know several people who have moved due to houses on their streets becoming rented out flophouses. It happened in the house next to me when I had my first apartment, and it was not fun.
Yeah that's a big issue in Long Island too. There are alot of day laborers in Queens as well but people don't seem to care as much.
Could it be because New York is already accepted as being a place that is very diverse?
Los Angeles has been diverse for a long time, but it seems like many people want it to be this pristine, peaceful town surrounded by orange groves that it was 50 years ago. Where you have your nice neighborhoods,nice houses with a large front yards and white fences, inhabited by a nuclear family of 4 1/2.
The way I see it, being a major metropolitan area, immigration is an inevitability. And Los Angeles is probably going through growing pains. Look at the Los Angeles forum, and discussion on anything from home prices to traffic comes back to immigration. Its like the scapegoat of any problem.
Should LA fear becoming a third world type city? Is this that different from the large immigration of Italians and Irish to the East Coast in the early 20th century?
After a few generations, those people assimilated and became productive citizens, and became very much a part of the cities in the east coast they came to.
Can't we expect the same of hispanics in the west coast?
Sorry if I'm writing a lot, but I'm just curious on the attitudes of New Yorkers on this issue.
mexican/chicano migration in the southwest is not like latin american migration to the northeast. if anything it is more analgous to palestinian migration to jordan during the 60's and irish migration to britain from the 1920's onward. while many palestinians and irish assimilated and succeeded in those host nations, a startingly high percentage of those groups could not shake the burdens of their (and their nation's past) and sought to undermine the host nation. luckily for la raza the american people and their elected leaders have been more tolerant of such subversion than king hussein, ted heath and margaret thatcher were.
Yeah a lot of Mexicans have ideas of taking back parts of the Southwest for Mexico. I don't think this could be said of any immigrant group to the city.
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