South Seattle - a Model of Diversity (Spokane, Renton: best cities, apartments)

[tobester]

Opinion: America's Most Diverse ZIP Code Shows the Way - AOL News

[la_fuerza]

What a great article this is. It shows what a truly unique city Seattle is in terms of its diversity and tolerance for other nationalities and lifestyles.

I lived for many years in the San Francisco Bay Area, a place known for tolerance and diversity, yet many cities and neighborhoods are very segregated by ethnicity and nationality. There is a tension just beneath the surface, and I have seen some real racism in the Bay Area.

Seattle by contrast, has very little tension and is a melting pot like no other place I've lived. I feel that most of the people who come here are very accepting and sincere. Rainier Valley is an ideal the rest of the country should strive to become as the United States becomes ever more diverse.

[eskercurve]

My first reaction was "Wow, someone still reads / uses AOL?"

My second reaction was "that's true, I've never really felt odd in the Rainier Valley." Except on Colombian Way going to I-5. Those cheap looking apartments always, for some reason, give me the heebie jeebies.

Another area worth considering is the Northgate area. That's pretty diverse. And I think this article can be expanded to the whole Seattle area.

[oso_te_great]

I used to live in Beacon Hill, and the south end is incredibly diverse. I would rate the rest of King County as nowhere near the top counties in the country. I would argue that this is a place where most people have families, and then move to. I live in Queens (THE most diverse county in the world), and notice that over the 101 square miles that is Queens, and NYC for that matter, exists everywhere. Growing up in Seattle, I have noticed that the area is mostly white, with the Asian population steadily growing.

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by eskercurve

My first reaction was "Wow, someone still reads / uses AOL?"

My second reaction was "that's true, I've never really felt odd in the Rainier Valley." Except on Colombian Way going to I-5. Those cheap looking apartments always, for some reason, give me the heebie jeebies.

Another area worth considering is the Northgate area. That's pretty diverse. And I think this article can be expanded to the whole Seattle area.

Got to disagree here. The whole Seattle area might be pretty accepting, but it's not incredibly diverse. The diversity is concentrated south of !-90 for the most part. For example, The South Seattle zip code of 98118 is approximately 27% White, 26% Black, 34% Asian,7% Hispanic.
The North Seattle zip code of 98103 ( Fremont, Wallingford, Phinney, Greenlake) is approximately 86% White, 2% Black, 6% Asian, 4% Hispanic.
The 98125 which includes Northgate is about 71% White, 5% Black, 15% Asian, 6% Hispanic.
The 98107 zipcode of Ballard is 87% White, 2% Black, 4% Asian, 5% hispanic.
but south of I-90?
The 98144 ( Beacon Hill, Central district) is 36% White, 22% Black, 30% Asian, 9% Hispanic.

[Casportsfan]

Originally Posted by Ira500

Got to disagree here. The whole Seattle area might be pretty accepting, but it's not incredibly diverse. The diversity is concentrated south of !-90 for the most part. For example, The South Seattle zip code of 98118 is approximately 27% White, 26% Black, 34% Asian,7% Hispanic.
The North Seattle zip code of 98103 ( Fremont, Wallingford, Phinney, Greenlake) is approximately 86% White, 2% Black, 6% Asian, 4% Hispanic.
The 98125 which includes Northgate is about 71% White, 5% Black, 15% Asian, 6% Hispanic.
The 98107 zipcode of Ballard is 87% White, 2% Black, 4% Asian, 5% hispanic.
but south of I-90?
The 98144 ( Beacon Hill, Central district) is 36% White, 22% Black, 30% Asian, 9% Hispanic.

Aha! I knew there was a reason that, despite its reputation, the city always appears so "white" to me every time I visit. It's never really struck me as a very diverse place in terms of ethnicity. In terms of politics and social beliefs, yes, very liberal, but aside from that, when I go out up there I usually see a whole lotta white folks with a couple of asians sprinkled in here or there.

Accurate depiction, or are my experiences too limited to form a realistic opinion?

[specificnorthwest]

yeah Ira pretty much nailed it..i wouldn't call Seattle as a whole a very diverse place.
In fact, quite segregated

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by specificnorthwest

yeah Ira pretty much nailed it..i wouldn't call Seattle as a whole a very diverse place.
In fact, quite segregated

And yet some Seattle folks take pride in " celebrating diversity", which they do by going out for Phad Thai or a burrito, but god forbid they should live in a neighborhood with black folks or Asians or Hispanics. They'll never say things like " I'm not comfortable being around people who don't look like me", instead they'll talk about the crime rate or the poor schools.
There's a little bit of truth to that. The crime rate in Seattle's more diverse neighborhoods are pretty low. Ballard has a much higher crime rate than Columbia City, but in general, the schools are a lot better in the less diverse neighborhoods of the north end.

[Redline]

I went to Coulon Park in Renton one day last summer. Lots of ethnic groups for sure but no real intermingling. One picnic table had all koreans, one had all mexicans, another all blacks, another all chinese, russian, etc. Very polar and a lot of them were not speaking English. Not bashing, just observing.

Its great seeing this article!

Im surprised to see some people speaking negatively of Seattles racial diversity/racial harmony. Its great seeing la_fuerza's post and seeing someone from San Francisco/Bay area having those positive opinions about Seattle's racial diversity/racial harmony. La_fuerza describes it well. Seattle has so many great examples relating to its diversity and racial harmony.

Im going to name some examples.

1.Seattle has one of the highest percentages of Asians in the country than any other city/place in America. I think its somewhere in the top 5 in America.
2. Washington state has the 4th highest percentage of Asians out of all USA states in America.
3. Seattle is rated one of the best cities in the country in some surveys for interracial relationships. 4. It has one of the highest percentages of multiracial people in America.
5. Seattle had a two term black mayor in the 1990s that was high regarded and popular, in city that is 7%-10% African American/of African descent. New York City in the 1990s had a black mayor, but for only one term, and a white republican replaced him, and there were racial tensions there while this happened in New York. So this shows one examples of Seattle having a better example of racial harmony than New York. Spokane, Washington also had a black mayor for one term and that is in a city that is 2-5% or less African America/of African descent!
6. A lot of people talk about how great the racial harmony is here.
7. Seattle has some of the best asian amenities in the country. I find Seattle's asian restaurant scene to be much better than New York City, where I lived before, and that is especially amazing for a city that is one tenth the size of population of New York.
8. And then theres the Seattle Asian Art museum, another Seattle asian museum I forgot the name of, the Nordic Heritage museum and so on.
9. The University of Washington campus is rated one of the most racially diverse in the America as well out of college educational institutions.
10. And wow, now I also know that Seattle also has one of the most racially diverse zip codes in America!

I could say other examples as well.

Im not saying Seattle is "perfect" in terms of racial diversity and harmony but its probably some of the best in America, and has so many great examples about its racial diversity and harmony.