WalletHub' List of 2021’s Most Diverse Cities in U.S. And the winner is...

[dimondpark]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

for clicks.

well that's probably true too!

[montréaliste]

The whole thing smelled rank.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by pj3000

The DC metro area is estimated to have over 1.5M immigrants currently. That is one of the big things I notice that gives a diverse international flavor to NYC and DC, that I at least have not experienced to the same extent in other large US cities (i.e., I don't think of 10th generation Mexican-Americans in California as "diverse").

"In ’19, the Houston Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) contained an estimated 1.7 million foreign-born residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This figure represents 23.4 percent of the metro population."

https://www.houston.org/houston-data...orn-population

I've read elsewhere that at least 600K of those live in the city proper. And then there are the estimated 500K undocumented immigrants in the area.

[pj3000]

^ I don’t doubt that one bit. And I also imagine the vast majority are from Mexico and a handful of other Central American countries.

I’m in no way arguing that Houston is not highly diverse. I know it is. I used to live in Texas and have a lot of time in Houston. I’m just saying that I haven’t it experienced the same in Houston and elsewhere that i have in NYC and DC. And i do think that had much to do with the types of cities they are (i.e., dense, public transit, east coast megalopolis, top international destinations, etc.)

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by pj3000

^ I don’t doubt that one bit. And I also imagine the vast majority are from Mexico and a handful of other Central American countries.

From that link:

35.7% are from Mexico.
25.5% are Asian.
17% from Central America.
6.9% Africa.
6.2% South America.
4.7% Other.
4% Europe.

As they once said about Oldsmobiles: This is not your father's Houston.

[pj3000]

^ ok, so maybe not vast majority. But majority at 55% documented

[JManc]

I think people are taking issue with Houston being number one and not New York, DC or wherever because Houston. New York's diversity is in your face because it's crowded and it's a touristy city where as Houston's diversity is more subdued and scattered; the oilfield engineer from Riyadh who works in the Energy Corridor or the woman from Tehran who runs a jewelry store off Harwin. I've seen people from virtually everywhere here as I am sure there are people from virtually everywhere in NY and DC.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by JManc

the oilfield engineer from Riyadh who works in the Energy Corridor or the woman from Tehran who runs a jewelry store off Harwin.

Shoot. All anyone has to do is hang out in the Med Center or go to any hospital in town and they'll think they've stumbled into the UN or something.

Go to any museum or park and all the people you might think are foreign tourists are actually locals.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by JManc

I think people are taking issue with Houston being number one and not New York, DC or wherever because Houston. New York's diversity is in your face because it's crowded and it's a touristy city where as Houston's diversity is more subdued and scattered; the oilfield engineer from Riyadh who works in the Energy Corridor or the woman from Tehran who runs a jewelry store off Harwin. I've seen people from virtually everywhere here as I am sure there are people from virtually everywhere in NY and DC.

Yeah man, that’s all I’m saying... likely the in your face thing. Again, I’m not trying to suggest Houston is not deserving of such a high “ranking”. I know that it is. Rankings of diversity are BS as far as I’m concerned.

How one experiences diversity in a city is all I was talking about. But all I’ve been talking g about is MY experience.

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by pj3000

I think the majority of DC's diversity is located outside of DC proper, in Montgomery county (that's whay all these places like Gaithersburg, Rockville, Olney, Wheaton, Germantown, Silver Spring, etc. always pop up on these "diversity" lists) and to a somewhat smaller extent throughout Northern VA.

It's a very suburban population, with a majority of the non-white/black population being foreign-born. The DC metro area is estimated to have over 1.5M immigrants currently. That is one of the big things I notice that gives a diverse international flavor to NYC and DC, that I at least have not experienced to the same extent in other large US cities (i.e., I don't think of 10th generation Mexican-Americans in California as "diverse").

Gotta say that I'm somewhat surprised that you didn't recognize much of an Hispanic population... it's certainly not small, and definitely visible throughout the area. I believe it is around 1M people. That's significant any way you look at it.

LA and the Bay Area both have a significantly higher % foreign born population than DC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...on?wprov=sfti1

As a metro DC does better but still considerably lower than LA and the Bay.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ies-in-the-u-s

[jd3189]

Originally Posted by pj3000

It's a very suburban population, with a majority of the non-white/black population being foreign-born. The DC metro area is estimated to have over 1.5M immigrants currently. That is one of the big things I notice that gives a diverse international flavor to NYC and DC, that I at least have not experienced to the same extent in other large US cities (i.e., I don't think of 10th generation Mexican-Americans in California as "diverse").

The bolded couldn’t be more true to me. SoCal is the first place I have been to in which many Mexican Americans are indistinguishable from the main white majority. I have talked to patients who had Spanish names in the EMR but when I meet them, they talk with a Valley or standard American accent.

[Tom In Chicago]

Originally Posted by JManc

I think people are taking issue with Houston being number one and not New York, DC or wherever because Houston. New York's diversity is in your face because it's crowded and it's a touristy city where as Houston's diversity is more subdued and scattered; the oilfield engineer from Riyadh who works in the Energy Corridor or the woman from Tehran who runs a jewelry store off Harwin. I've seen people from virtually everywhere here as I am sure there are people from virtually everywhere in NY and DC.

Right. . . I mean there's a not-so-insignificant population of people in Houston from every country that has any hydrocarbon industry. . . it's just that from a street level view most people are in their cars, but those retail strip malls are all packed full of international shops. . .

Also I wonder if the international communities have less of a "neighborhood" than older cities do. . . so like Hillcroft is touted as being a center for South Asian community in Houston (maybe I'm mistaken?), but aside from a few retail centers off of 69 it's not very visible. . . whereas a similar neighborhood in Chicago such as Devon Ave is wall to wall Indian/Pakistani. . . it's more like our Arab community which is more spread out with a more similar car-oriented epicenter on the far southwest side (I've never even ventured to it, but it's there apparently). . .

From my dial surfing while I was spending time in Houston it appears they also has a full-on desi radio station that I found interesting. . . it would be neat to see more of that. . .

. . .

[edale]

Originally Posted by pj3000

I think the majority of DC's diversity is located outside of DC proper, in Montgomery county (that's whay all these places like Gaithersburg, Rockville, Olney, Wheaton, Germantown, Silver Spring, etc. always pop up on these "diversity" lists) and to a somewhat smaller extent throughout Northern VA.

It's a very suburban population, with a majority of the non-white/black population being foreign-born. The DC metro area is estimated to have over 1.5M immigrants currently. That is one of the big things I notice that gives a diverse international flavor to NYC and DC, that I at least have not experienced to the same extent in other large US cities (i.e., I don't think of 10th generation Mexican-Americans in California as "diverse").

Gotta say that I'm somewhat surprised that you didn't recognize much of an Hispanic population... it's certainly not small, and definitely visible throughout the area. I believe it is around 1M people. That's significant any way you look at it.

When I lived in DC, the only real Hispanic neighborhood was Mt. Pleasant. And it was small and the commercial strip only was a few blocks long. This is back around 2008-2010. I didn't have a car, and didn't go out to the burbs much, but I do know the DC burbs tend to be pretty multi-cultural. Still, I never felt much of a Hispanic influence in DC...certainly nothing like what I experienced when I moved to LA.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by edale

When I lived in DC, the only real Hispanic neighborhood was Mt. Pleasant. And it was small and the commercial strip only was a few blocks long. This is back around 2008-2010. I didn't have a car, and didn't go out to the burbs much, but I do know the DC burbs tend to be pretty multi-cultural. Still, I never felt much of a Hispanic influence in DC...certainly nothing like what I experienced when I moved to LA.

LA has the largest Hispanic population in the U.S. So obviously DC won't have a comparable population.

But there are significant, highly visible Hispanic populations in the DC area. For example, Rhode Island Ave. north of the city limits is overwhelmingly Central American. Pretty much that whole geography where PG and Montgomery Counties meet is now very Hispanic. There are similar areas in Northern VA too, but I'm not as familiar. Definitely parts of South Arlington.

[pj3000]

Yeah, again there’s over 1M Hispanics in the DC metro now, mainly in Montgomery and PG counties, but also in VA. Though certainly it would not feel the least bit Hispanic in comparison to LA

[edale]

Originally Posted by Crawford

LA has the largest Hispanic population in the U.S. So obviously DC won't have a comparable population.

But there are significant, highly visible Hispanic populations in the DC area. For example, Rhode Island Ave. north of the city limits is overwhelmingly Central American. Pretty much that whole geography where PG and Montgomery Counties meet is now very Hispanic. There are similar areas in Northern VA too, but I'm not as familiar. Definitely parts of South Arlington.

Again, I was talking about in the city. Walking around DC, I did not feel like there was a significant Hispanic population. It was hard to even find decent Mexican food in the city. I had a Cuban friend who lived in Silver Spring, and because of him, I knew there was a decent Cuban/Caribbean community out there, but I don't know if I would have picked up on that just walking around the downtown Silver Spring area (or whatever the area by the Metro is called).

Mt. Pleasant was literally the only DC neighborhood that felt like a true Hispanic neighborhood, where most of the businesses had signs in Spanish, lots of little groceries/bakeries/restaurants, etc. But it was just a little pocket, and the surrounding areas all seemed to be black or gentrifying (Columbia Heights). This was 10 years ago, so maybe that has changed. But walking around downtown DC or Georgetown, or U St or wherever, I hardly noticed much of a Hispanic presence at all.

[pj3000]

^ well yeah, Hispanics in DC area are a relatively new population overall. Majority are immigrants and DC is quite expensive and established white and black. Throw in the country’s second most extensive metro system, and voila, you have large immigrant populations in the much cheaper suburbs stretching far out.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by edale

Again, I was talking about in the city. Walking around DC, I did not feel like there was a significant Hispanic population. It was hard to even find decent Mexican food in the city.

But what does it matter? Most of the highly visible Mexican populations in LA aren't in LA proper. East LA and all those ultra-Mexican communities heading east/southeast of downtown LA out to Whittier or wherever, aren't in the city limits. Most of the biggest Asian concentrations aren't in the city limits, but the SGV and OC.

DC proper is like 10% of DC's population, if that. A prosperous city with small geographic limits and large metro (SF, Boston, DC, etc.) obviously won't have most visible immigrant populations in city proper. Half of DC is super-affluent, the other half working class black, and the whole city is expensive, so why would Salvadorans go the city proper?

And, yeah, DC isn't great for Mexican food, as the Mexican population is tiny for U.S. standards. Most working class Latino immigrants in DC are from Central America. Though the differences between, say Guatemalan and Salvadoran cooking and Southern Mexican (Chiapas and Puebla) cooking are pretty minor.

[TexasPlaya]

Originally Posted by Tom In Chicago

Right. . . I mean there's a not-so-insignificant population of people in Houston from every country that has any hydrocarbon industry. . . it's just that from a street level view most people are in their cars, but those retail strip malls are all packed full of international shops. . .

Also I wonder if the international communities have less of a "neighborhood" than older cities do. . . so like Hillcroft is touted as being a center for South Asian community in Houston (maybe I'm mistaken?), but aside from a few retail centers off of 69 it's not very visible. . . whereas a similar neighborhood in Chicago such as Devon Ave is wall to wall Indian/Pakistani. . . it's more like our Arab community which is more spread out with a more similar car-oriented epicenter on the far southwest side (I've never even ventured to it, but it's there apparently). . .

From my dial surfing while I was spending time in Houston it appears they also has a full-on desi radio station that I found interesting. . . it would be neat to see more of that. . .

. . .

The Hillcroft/Bellaire areas (older southwest suburbs) are probably the center for the working class South Asian population while those with money are moving to the newer suburbs.

Hillcroft near 69 is probably more of immigrants from India, Pakistan, etc while Bellaire is largely Vietnamese and surrounding countries. They are both relatively large areas, but a lot of it is off the beaten path. Bellaire Blvd near Beltway 8 in west houston is probably the most in your face ethnic area.

[edale]

Originally Posted by Crawford

But what does it matter? Most of the highly visible Mexican populations in LA aren't in LA proper. East LA and all those ultra-Mexican communities heading east/southeast of downtown LA out to Whittier or wherever, aren't in the city limits. Most of the biggest Asian concentrations aren't in the city limits, but the SGV and OC.

DC proper is like 10% of DC's population, if that. A prosperous city with small geographic limits and large metro (SF, Boston, DC, etc.) obviously won't have most visible immigrant populations in city proper. Half of DC is super-affluent, the other half working class black, and the whole city is expensive, so why would Salvadorans go the city proper?

And, yeah, DC isn't great for Mexican food, as the Mexican population is tiny for U.S. standards. Most working class Latino immigrants in DC are from Central America. Though the differences between, say Guatemalan and Salvadoran cooking and Southern Mexican (Chiapas and Puebla) cooking are pretty minor.

It matters because most people's experience with DC is the city, not the far flung burbs. So when discussing how diverse a place feels, it's usually based on the experience of walking/biking/driving through downtown or central neighborhoods. By that metric, DC doesn't feel super diverse.

And your comparison to LA falls totally flat here. You don't have to be in East LA or the SE Gateway cities to know you're in a very Hispanic metro. Just like you don't have to be in the San Gabriel Valley to see evidence of a large Asian community. You can go to literally any corner of LA and find Asian and Hispanic people and businesses. Go to any mall or big box store, and the crowd will undoubtedly be very diverse, and you'll hear multiple languages being spoken. That was not my experience in DC. DC (again city, not suburbs, where I lived and spent the majority of my time) felt like a closer demographic match to Cincinnati than it did to LA or NYC.