if your not from Pittsburgh you never fit in? (Mexico: salons, unemployment)

[Katarina Witt]

I will quote clairmarie here:

Or, in other words, out of the TINY percentage of Pittsburgh residents who are foreign-born, a larger percentage are highly educated than in other parts of the country.

That is what I was trying to say as well.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by lifepgh2op

All completely off the topic anyway!

Not exactly, if you're talking about "fitting in".

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by claremarie

Or, in other words, out of the TINY percentage of Pittsburgh residents who are foreign-born, a larger percentage are highly educated than in other parts of the country.

Exactly! You might think that's a bad thing, but I think it brings more cultural diversity to the area. It might come at a slower rate, but we're not getting overrun by one ethnic group at a time. I'd like to see Pittsburgh become a melting pot once again. I don't want Pittsburgh to become another extension of Mexico or any other foreign country. A blend is nice.

Originally Posted by claremarie

What Pittsburgh seems to lack are highly motivated (whether or not highly educated) immigrant entrepreneurs who will start the sort of small businesses that provide employment for a lot of other people, both natives and immigrants.

That might be the result of the necessity to have work or student visa to live in the United States. Cities with a higher percentage of immigrants have better odds at attracting those who have the proper visa and the funds to start a business.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Katiana

I will quote clairmarie here:

Or, in other words, out of the TINY percentage of Pittsburgh residents who are foreign-born, a larger percentage are highly educated than in other parts of the country.

That is what I was trying to say as well.

Badly. You posts simply came across as your not being able to comprehend.

I'm glad we've come to an understanding even though we don't have an agreement.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Katiana

It is very stereotypical to assume that immigrants are most suited for such jobs as landscaping, housecleaning and child care. Since most unskilled immigrants are from Mexico and other central American countries, there is an element of racism there, too.

It's merely a fact that those types of jobs are generally filled by unskilled/uneducated immigrants in areas of the country with large unskilled/uneducated immigrant populations, regardless of country of origin.

[Katarina Witt]

I've known plenty of immigrants who worked at other jobs, such as office receptionists, manufacturing, etc.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Katiana

Omaha, Nebraska, which is larger than Pittsburgh, has 6.6% foreign-born residents. That's almost twice as many as Pittsburgh. I don't know where Brian found his education numbers, I'd be interested in looking at other cities' stats on that as well.

The American Factfinder . . .

American FactFinder

. . . is the Census Bureau's portal to searching their various databases. I'm using the American Community Survey, 2005-2007 data, Table B06009. Again, this is for the population 25 and older only.

Unfortunately, it is a laborious process pulling up these numbers (including some calculations), so I can't do a lot of them. However, here is Omaha, Metro Area, Urban Area, and City (note that while the City of Omaha is larger than the City of Pittsburgh, the Metro and Urban Areas are far smaller). I'll put the equivalent Pittsburgh number in parentheses for the sake of comparison:

Metro:

All foreign born: 6.97% (3.47%)
with at least some college/associate's: 3.00% (2.36%)
with at least bachelor's: 1.88% (1.77%)
with graduate/professional degree: 0.80% (1.13%)

Urban:

All foreign born: 8.38% (4.35%)
with at least some college/associate's: 3.46% (3.01%)
with at least bachelor's: 2.16% (2.31%)
with graduate/professional degree: 0.91% (1.47%)

City:

All foreign born: 10.38% (8.55%)
with at least some college/associate's: 3.84% (6.15%)
with at least bachelor's: 2.45% (5.38%)
with graduate/professional degree: 1.04% (3.67%)

This comparison supports the thesis that while Pittsburgh has low overall immigration rates, it has disproportionate concentration among highly-educated immigrants. Starting with the Metro Area comparison, the overall immigration rate is less than half, but the gap closes as you move up the educational attainment groups, and the Pittsburgh Metro actually has a higher percentage with graduate or professional degrees.

The Urban Area pattern is similar, but this time Pittsburgh passes Omaha in both the bachelors and grad/professional categories. Finally, in the City comparison Pittsburgh starts much closer to begin with, then immediately is much higher starting with some college/associates, and is about three-and-a-half times as much when you get to grad/professional.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Katiana

I've known plenty of immigrants who worked at other jobs, such as office receptionists, manufacturing, etc.

True. But that doesn't make us racist simply because we didn't list all low level jobs that don't require an education. Office receptionist and manufacturing jobs fall into the same category IMO. I'm a little surprised at your lowly opinion of housecleaners and landscapers, but I'm not accusing you of elitism. I'd appreciate the same courtesy regarding your accusation of racism.

[Katarina Witt]

Thanks for doing that. I will say, that while Omaha has several colleges, it is not the "college town" that Pittsburgh is, which I think is what attracts the PhDs to Pgh.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Badly. You posts simply came across as your not being able to comprehend.

I'm glad we've come to an understanding even though we don't have an agreement.

Originally Posted by Hopes

True. But we're not racist simply because we didn't list all low level jobs that don't require an education. Office receptionist and manufacturing jobs fall into the same category IMO. I'm a little surprised at your lowly opinion of housecleaners and landscapers, but I'm not accusing you of elitism. I'd appreciate the same courtesy regarding your accusation of racism.

I didn't say they were lowly occupations, I said they weren't the only occupations suitable for unskilled immigrants. I would appreciate you keeping your opinions of my comprehension skills to yourself.