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I agree, I think its all a matter of perspective. DC is definitly a world class city (because of movies and politics) so many will come here. IMO -- I think Chicago is much more diverse than DC, Chicago is just not as integrated (and while DC is no shining star, Chicago sets the bar on "zones"). Example: Chicago has a PR neighbhorhood.....not a hispanic neighborhood, but a bonafide PR neighborhood, I am unaware of a PR neighborhood in DC. And in Chicago, here is the downside if someone from PR was living in the Loop they would get all the funny stares in the world, but south loop or Hyde Park they are fine....
I think DC metro is extremely segregated, less so in the district but its still there. I think there is the melting pot aspect, but you cannot ignore the zoned areas for white and black. That is an ugly mark on DC, that is well hidden outside of the metro area.
Ask anyone not from Chicago where blacks live in Chicago, and its "South side?" ask, anyone not from DC where blacks live, and its like "what do you mean, I thought all people lived together like NYC".
What are you talking about?
Apparently you are unaware of the huge numbers of individuals from El Salvador, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Korea etc. etc. who live in both the DC metro area INCLUDING the city itself. "Zones" for black people? Huh? In one sentence there are "Puerto Rican" neighborhoods in NYC, (not Hispanic) but in another DC "zones" its African American community? Wouldn't you tout that as a neighborhood, were it in NYC? Is there some sort of compound where we house our majority African American population that I am unaware of? Did you stay here for a weekend or actually *live* in the city?
I stand by my initial assessment. Calling DC "a step down" betrays your bias. Got it. You don't like it. That's fair, you are entitled to dislike the city for any number of reasons. But I think saying its not diverse is about the silliest thing I have ever heard. As for "funny stares" -- never experienced it in DC. Never got harrassed for walking around with friends of all colors and stripes, dating outside my race or chatting with someone in a different language. Some people let their unhappiness with a place cloud reality....
“Diversity” is of course relative. The scale of NYC’s diversity is unlike any city probably in all of North America. Natives learn to *tolerate* it, while the average non-native just gawks at it from a distance. But I’ve seen people come from other parts of the country to the DC area (MoCo, Fairfax, Prince William) and are shocked by the influx of immigrants this area has seen in the last 30 years. I hear the “nobody speaks English” rant almost daily.
dc has a lot of hoods that diverse people
have no reason to even go to, unless they
run some type of convenient store or are
police officers; so people who say it is not
kinda segregated have not seen all parts
of the city.
Apparently you are unaware of the huge numbers of individuals from El Salvador, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Korea etc. etc. who live in both the DC metro area INCLUDING the city itself. "Zones" for black people? Huh? In one sentence there are "Puerto Rican" neighborhoods in NYC, (not Hispanic) but in another DC "zones" its African American community? Wouldn't you tout that as a neighborhood, were it in NYC? Is there some sort of compound where we house our majority African American population that I am unaware of? Did you stay here for a weekend or actually *live* in the city?
I stand by my initial assessment. Calling DC "a step down" betrays your bias. Got it. You don't like it. That's fair, you are entitled to dislike the city for any number of reasons. But I think saying its not diverse is about the silliest thing I have ever heard. As for "funny stares" -- never experienced it in DC. Never got harrassed for walking around with friends of all colors and stripes, dating outside my race or chatting with someone in a different language. Some people let their unhappiness with a place cloud reality....
I said DC is diverse, I said what it is not is integrated. Looking at SE and NE, and then looking at Manhattan or Queens pretty much sums that up. Before you run outside and grab the first person with an accent to disprove my point, try to have some empathy from someone coming from NYC. This thread is not about you or your neighborhood, its about the poster, and the poster asked a simple question
"Coming from NYC, whats DC like"
My base answer here is: "On race: Its diverse, but assuming that I know what life is like in NYC, you will be missing what you had if you come to DC" I think that is a fair point.
I dont see it any other way than that, and when you throw in Arlington and PG county into the mix, the point gets even stronger.
DC is too new, too young, too gentrified and too confused about its identity to be reasobably compared to any of the other cities, and that is my main point. DC has racial issues (like many other cities) this isnt some racial utopia, and neither is NYC, but certain strides that NYC has managed to make over the last 100 years, DC is still coping with and that is some of the value that is lost when you change cities.
DC is a much much smaller city with *far* fewer white people than NYC, 13% of foreign born residents, and a healthy Hispanic population. NYC has a much larger population of Aisans, more white people and approx 7% more foreign born residents.
Seems to me both places are healthily diverse.
DC is "young"? Really? New? Yeah, we just founded it on the banks of the Potomac last summer. Gentrified? Okay. But even so, interesting that we have significantly fewer white people than NYC and yet wear that "gentrified" label. Maybe because many of the white people have jobs instead of hanging out in bars pretending to contemplate the merits of postmodernism?
^ a lot of unemployed and illiterate, aids-infested blacks in dc
compared to other cities in the u.s.; so what's that all about?
that's discouraging enough right there to make you not want
to move there.
DC is a much much smaller city with *far* fewer white people than NYC, 13% of foreign born residents, and a healthy Hispanic population. NYC has a much larger population of Aisans, more white people and approx 7% more foreign born residents.
Seems to me both places are healthily diverse.
DC is "young"? Really? New? Yeah, we just founded it on the banks of the Potomac last summer. Gentrified? Okay. But even so, interesting that we have significantly fewer white people than NYC and yet wear that "gentrified" label. Maybe because many of the white people have jobs instead of hanging out in bars pretending to contemplate the merits of postmodernism?
Please define how NE and SE constitute integration? Ive said (multiple times) that DC is diverse not integrated. Read the defition below and tell me how NE/SE play into that, and then exand it to PG vs NOVA. I bet one virtual dollar that you cant.
1. equal access for all: the process of opening a group, community, place, or organization to all, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or social class
2. acceptance into community: the process of becoming an accepted member of a group or community
3. combination: a combination of parts or objects that work together well
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