Post: #1

(03-06-2012 10:38 AM)pid='341383 Wrote:  http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/...384174.php




Houston region is now the most diverse in the U.S.

By Jeannie Kever

Updated 11:21 p.m., Monday, March 5, 2012


The Houston region is now the most ethnically diverse large metropolitan area in the country, surpassing New York City.

Two suburbs - Missouri City and Pearland - have become even more diverse than the city of Houston. Other suburbs aren't far behind.

These findings are from a report released Monday by Rice University researchers, based on an analysis of census data from 1990, 2000 and 2010.

"We are a little United Nations," Pearland Mayor Tom Reid said. "You go to one of our neighborhoods, and there will be a person from Nigeria living next to somebody from India, living next to somebody from Mexico and somebody from Louisiana."

The report also found that while residential segregation has dropped over the past 20 years, it remains highest within the city of Houston; most suburban neighborhoods are less racially segregated.

Report co-author Michael Emerson, co-director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice, said poverty, aging housing and larger concentrations of minority groups all contribute to continued segregation in Houston.

New neighborhoods often attract people from a range of racial and ethnic groups, he said. "There's no history that says, 'You can't come here.' "

The report covered a five-county area - Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria and Galveston - and was produced by the Kinder Institute and Rice's Hobby Center for the Study of Texas.

Fort Bend County is the most diverse, with Latinos, African-Americans and Asians accounting for almost two-thirds of residents. Montgomery County is the least diverse, with slightly more than one-fourth of the population made up of minorities.

But Emerson said diversity is increasing everywhere, and rapidly.

A comfortable mix

That's not news to people in the suburbs.

Danny Nguyen was born in Vietnam and now runs a real estate business in Missouri City. He's on the City Council, too, where his colleagues include an Indian, two African-Americans and three Anglos.

"Diversity has never been a problem here," Nguyen said. "I love the city. The quality of life. The safety."

For some people, the diversity itself is a draw.

Toni Carter was a reluctant suburbanite, moving to Pearland in 2000 in search of more house for her money. Carter had grown up in Houston and was wary of raising her children in what she feared would be an all-white enclave.

"I wanted them to be comfortable with everybody," she said. "When we were looking at this neighborhood, that was something I had my eye on."

She discovered a mix of people from all over the world.

"I didn't know much about the suburbs," she said. "I expected it to be white-bread land."

Emerson attributed the growth in diversity to a 1965 shift in immigration laws that changed the way visas were granted.

Before that, immigration was dominated by people from Europe. Once the United States began granting equal numbers of visas to every country, immigrants from Latin America, Asia and Africa became dominant.

That shifted the immigrant population in cities all over the country, including other major immigrant gateways such as New York, Los Angeles and Miami.

But Emerson said it had a more pronounced impact on Houston, partly because the city was smaller when the shift began. This allowed the influx of immigrants to play a bigger role in shaping the region's demographics.

Happens 'organically'

"That's a good thing," said Larry Green, elected last fall to represent Houston's newly drawn District K on the City Council. "Diverse communities allow you to think outside the box."

His southwest Houston district is about 42 percent African-American, 32 percent Latino, 19 percent Anglo and 6 percent Asian.

And desegregation is coming, he said.

"You're starting to see African-Americans in traditionally Anglo communities, or Hispanics in traditionally African-American communities," he said. "I think it's going to happen organically, as opposed to the city putting (rules) in place."

Post: #2

Is this a good thing or a bad thing ? I know that in some places diversity works , in others don't.

Post: #3

IT also has one of the highest obesity rates.... NY still reigns

Post: #4

Damn, I never knew H-town was that diverse. But watch out. Once the internationals start rolling in the local culture turns to shit (See Atlanta).

Post: #5

Each nationality will migrate to it's own suburb/district...and they'll be passing ships at work during the day ...melting pot was ever only true on the fringes I think.

Post: #6

And yet New York will always be more cosmpolitan and cooler than Houston ever will be.

Post: #7

Sounds like some of y'all are mad lol. Its ok

Post: #8

Nah, just unswayed.

Post: #9

I wanted to see how fast the hating comments would come when I posted this. Couldn't even read it and just move on. Had to say something completely unrelated.

Post: #10

More diverse as in more diverse women coming in or as in Houston already being a sausagefest becoming a more ethnically diverse sausagefest?

Post: #11

(03-06-2012 03:42 PM)houston Wrote:  I wanted to see how fast the hating comments would come when I posted this. Couldn't even read it and just move on. Had to say something completely unrelated.

Yep. That's the thing with diversity. Just because it exists, it doesn't mean everyone likes it or wants to see their own area become more diverse. Even though people that live in the community extolled the virtues (like SAFETY), people that don't live there immediately assume the worst, like comments saying things will go downhill, etc. etc. You know there's going to be at least one "there goes the neighborhood" comment.

I went to Houston a couple of times for business in the '90s, and noticed that most people live outside of downtown. People commute in for work, and do everything else on the outskirts of downtown (live, shop, nightlife). If I'm wrong, correct me.

Post: #12

Timoteo - Houston has always been a brown and black city if you know what I mean. Hell, that's all of Texas. Austin is the whitest, gayest and safest city we have. I don't care about the statistics about El Paso being the safest. You will get jacked in El Paso a lot faster than Austin. Its funny how people in Atx will act like its so open minded and diverse yet are scared to step foot in our big cities.

Yes, you're right. A lot of people work in downtown but the majority live outside the area. There's a lot of lofts and apartments around there since you've visited. You'd be shocked if you came back. Houston is growing very fast everywhere.

Post: #13

I used to live down in G-town. Houston is a fuckin' shithole. The people suck, the traffic sucks, people are fat, and fuckin' stupid. No offense Houston, but that town sucks donkey balls.

Post: #14

Bring back the rep system so I can negative rep Ali!!

Post: #15

(03-06-2012 08:04 PM)houston Wrote:  Bring back the rep system so I can negative rep Ali!!

I also used to work for a major company out your way. Get on I-10, and drive past Katy. There's a big tan truck sitting on a pedestal on the right side of the road, with a huge factory behind it. You can't miss it.

Post: #16

I've got to check out the Houston area. I like diverse communities and do well there. I have a few homeboys that love living in the area and they like it, also.

Post: #17

I'll be honest, high areas of diversity aren't my bag. There are many ethnicities and cultures to which I don't particularly care for...

Post: #18

This is for Non-Hispanic Whites



FYI the USA as a whole is roughly 66% NHW (obviously lower in most urban areas). Expected to fall just under 50% by 2050.

Post: #19

Apparently ,Houston has the best strip clubs though...wouldn't mind seeing some of the diversity in there,that would be interesting!

Post: #20

(03-07-2012 04:53 AM)P Dog Wrote:  This is for Non-Hispanic Whites



FYI the USA as a whole is roughly 66% NHW (obviously lower in most urban areas). Expected to fall just under 50% by 2050.

It's going to fall under 50 a lot sooner than that.

NHW also includes middle easterners. If you exclude them the percentage drops quite a bit lower.

Post: #21

Nope, all the predicitons based on the data tell us that the U.S will become a "minority majority" country around 2050. Also, there are only 1.6 million Arabs in America (Steve Jobs was one of them, who knew?) and 460,000 Iranian Americans. Turkish Americans at 500,000. Remember that there are almost 200 million Non-Hispanic White Americans, so Middle Eastern Americans make up a tiny portion of "White Society".

Also, the NHW population of America is NOT declining absolutely, only relatively. Their numbers are staying the same due to their birthrate (which is still a lot higher than most European countries) while Hispanic and also Asian Americans outpace them in growth because of immigration and the former's higher birthrate compared to everybody else. Also, keep in mind that the second generation Hispanic birthrate is significantly lower than the first generation.

Post: #22

Pardon the double post, just to clarify: The Non-Hispanic White Fertility Rate is currently 2.1 children per mother which is exactly the replacement rate (enough to maintain their current numbers in an absolute sense). The black fertility rate is the same, Asians slightly lower. Hispanics however have a fertility rate of 3...

Source: http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2...1s0083.pdf

Post: #23

(03-08-2012 02:50 AM)P Dog Wrote:  Nope, all the predicitons based on the data tell us that the U.S will become a "minority majority" country around 2050. Also, there are only 1.6 million Arabs in America (Steve Jobs was one of them, who knew?) and 460,000 Iranian Americans. Turkish Americans at 500,000. Remember that there are almost 200 million Non-Hispanic White Americans, so Middle Eastern Americans make up a tiny portion of "White Society".

Also, the NHW population of America is NOT declining absolutely, only relatively. Their numbers are staying the same due to their birthrate (which is still a lot higher than most European countries) while Hispanic and also Asian Americans outpace them in growth because of immigration and the former's higher birthrate compared to everybody else. Also, keep in mind that the second generation Hispanic birthrate is significantly lower than the first generation.

I frankly disagree.

Anyway, the demographics of the US in the 2010 census stated 63.7 percent NHW. If you subtract all North Africans, Middle Easterners (arabs, afghanis, pakistanis, turks, etc.), as well as the over 6 million Ashkenazi Jews (whose ancestry is at least half middle eastern), you end up with a figure at about 60 percent.

Also, if you factor in the growing miscegenation between non-hispanic whites and non whites, we are going to be crossing the 50 percent barrier very very soon. It's not just about replacement fertility. Interracial marriage is growing at an ever increasing rate.

And I did know about Steve Jobs being half Syrian.

Post: #24

From a Pew Research Center Report:

-Among all newlyweds in 2008, 9% of whites, 16% of blacks, 26% of Hispanics and 31% of Asians married someone whose race or ethnicity was different from their own.

-Among all newlyweds in 2008, intermarried pairings were primarily White-Hispanic (41%) as compared to White-Asian (15%), White-Black (11%), and Other Combinations (33%). Other combinations consists of pairings between different minority groups, multi-racial people, and American Indians.

Post: #25

(03-08-2012 05:42 AM)Rurik Wrote:  Also, if you factor in the growing miscegenation between non-hispanic whites and non whites, we are going to be crossing the 50 percent barrier very very soon. It's not just about replacement fertility. Interracial marriage is growing at an ever increasing rate.

Mixed hispanic and non-hispanic people aren't considered Non-Hispanic (because they're part hispanic).

Would a tan Greek be considered white under your definitions rather than say a lily white Syrian? Would them being a Christian Syrian instead of a Muslim Syrian (the bulk of the Syrian, Lebanese and Egyptian diaspora is Christian) change their categorization? Would a tan black hair brown eyed Greek be called white but not a blue eyed Jew (half of Jews from Ukraine have blue eyes)? Would you change your mind if they were blonde or red headed? What would you call a Muslim Bosnian then?

Because it sounds like you're only calling people white if they come from a Christian, European (as in the continent) background who doesn't speak Spanish. Or would you go back to 19th century definitions that considered White Americans "ethnic" if they weren't Protestant (ie. the Know Nothings)? Would you exclude "Mediterranean" Italians and Greeks (who together created Western civilization) under early 20th century definitions of what is "White"?