# City dwellers: What ethnicities and cultures populate your neighborhood? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 15, 2006, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822 "2006-08-15T13:59:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822/1 "2006-08-15T13:59:38Z")
I don’t know why this fascinates me, but it does. What sorts of people are you most likely to find in your immediate vicinity? Most likely American whites (if you live in the US, of course) and American blacks predominate. Hispanics are likely a large portion of the population as well. In my neighborhood, the next most populace group is either Russians or Jews. Most likely Russian Jews. This makes for some fantastic food shopping. Next after that is Irish – mostly pretty young and right off the boat. What I don’t see a lot of, in any real quanties at all, are French and German people. Not many Swedes, either. What’s your neighborhood like? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822/2 "2006-08-15T14:30:56Z")
I don’t really qualify as a “city dweller”, but in our vicinity it’s mostly “island Hispanics”, or people that are from or descended from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, etc. Plus other hispanics from central America, although not too many Mexicans. Which means we get tasty food stuffs at my son’s baseball outings. In the greater area that are a lot of people that came over during the troubles in the Balkans. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822/3 "2006-08-15T14:34:27Z")
My neighborhood: an older suburb of Cleveland that developed between the 1920s and 1950s. It’s quite mixed, but with a larger-than-normal amount of Italian-Americans, Jews, Russian immigrants (the majority being Jewish), and blacks. There’s quite a few interracial couples in my neighborhood. They like the area because it’s not whitebread suburbia, but not da’-hood-know-what-I’m-sayin’ either. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822/4 "2006-08-15T15:13:19Z")
About 50% white, 25% black, 25% Hispanic. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822/5 "2006-08-15T15:41:43Z")
Not a city, but according to the 2001 census, my little corner of England has a population of 115,000, and the largest minority population is 344 Chinese people. Compare that to the part of Manchester I used to live in: 12% Pakistani, 7% Bangladeshi, 4% mixed race, 3% Chinese ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822/6 "2006-08-15T16:38:15Z")
My town (it thinks it’s a city, but it’s a town) is predominantly white, Northern European-derived, and Christian. There are a certain number of Latinos, and very few of anybody else (including Jews). Coming from the DC/Baltimore area (and later Southern New England), I am constantly aware of how unheimlich this mix is and how weird it feels not to have about 50% of the people around me be black. Not even a handful of Portuguese to add a little variety! ---
**Author:** ![davmilasav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@davmilasav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davmilasav)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822/7 "2006-08-15T16:51:10Z")
I currently reside in Little Armenia, so I’m surrounded by…Mexicans. I grew up in [a mill town in Western PA](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellwood_City) full of Italians, Germans and Eastern Europeans. It’s weird being the only white person on the bus in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![Snowcarpet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowcarpet/32/257_2.png) [@Snowcarpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowcarpet)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822/8 "2006-08-15T16:51:49Z")
I live in an area with a history of a large Italian immigrant population, we have several old Italian restuarants, community centers, and an excellent market. My street is pretty diverse - white, black, and other. We have a BBQ Rib place down the street and family-run Korean, Mexican, Chinese, and Indian restaurants nearby. I really like my neighborhood! ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822/9 "2006-08-15T17:49:27Z")
Currently I live in one of the whitest areas of Toronto. There’s probably 80% WASP to about 10% Chinese and Vietnamese, and 10% black. The area I grew up in is becoming heavily East Indian and some Ethiopian. There are quite a few mixed-ethnicity couples, though, so it’s hard to guess. Oh, and a lot of adopted Chinese baby girls. I’d like to live in Little India or Greektown. That would be fun. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822/10 "2006-08-15T17:51:17Z")
The vast majority of my neighborhood is Asian & Eastern European. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822/11 "2006-08-15T18:15:56Z")
Our little section of Santa Rosa (the area is known as South Park) is predominantly Hispanic (Mexican mostly), if I had to guess I’d say 85% or so, although our \*very \*immediate area (the 40 or so units in our condo complex) is predominantly white, maybe 85%, with the rest a mixture of Asian, Hispanic and black. ---
**Author:** ![dasgupta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@dasgupta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasgupta)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822/12 "2006-08-15T18:25:56Z")
My part of Queens is fairly Jewish and Russian/other former SSRs, with plenty of overlap between those groups. There’s also a good mix of South American, South and East Asian. Nearby is: Rego Park - more Eastern European Briarwood - 25% South Asian Flushing - over half East Asian Jackson Heights - over half South Asian ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822/13 "2006-08-15T18:29:32Z")
Los Angeles here. I live in Little Armenia which borders Thai Town…take a wild guess… Yep, Mexicans. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822/14 "2006-08-15T18:35:22Z")
We are white, and I have white neighbors to the left, a white man/ Asian woman to the right, blacks next to them, across the street are Vietnamese, next to them whites, next to them whites, next to them Hispanics. Very mixed neighborhood! ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822/15 "2006-08-15T18:37:24Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] Not a city, but according to the 2001 census, my little corner of England has a population of 115,000, and the largest minority population is 344 Chinese people. Compare that to the part of Manchester I used to live in: 12% Pakistani, 7% Bangladeshi, 4% mixed race, 3% Chinese [/QUOTE] Going by your location I’m assuming you live in Ipswich, nice place 😛 Anyway if you were to pay a visit to Manchester these days you’d notice a much increased popn. of Pakistani, Bangladeshi and eastern europeans altho’ the Chinese popn. seems to have remained about the same. I live just outside Manchester, in Sale, Cheshire, and as yet we don’t have so many immigrants, doubtless we will given time. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822/16 "2006-08-15T18:38:32Z")
No can’t be Ipswich with so few people :smack: ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822/17 "2006-08-15T18:51:33Z")
The largest culture in my neighborhood is Students. There’s a damn school every 32 feet, I think! 😃 I’m pretty new to the area, so I’m just getting a feel for it. Looking at my neighborhood’s [wikiPage](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Ridge,_Chicago), my impression that there’s a lot of Hassidim (is that the right plural?) and Germans, as well as some other Eastern European, Irish and Korean, and a fair number of Hispanic and Black. My building is a six flat, and has two Whitebread Caucasian families, one Indian (“feathers, not dots”), one Polish, one Hispanic and one Nigerian. We’re a pretty good microcosm of the diversity in the area. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822/18 "2006-08-15T18:53:28Z")
Oy. > [@](#): > > Looking at my neighborhood’s wikiPage, my impression that… That should be “_bears ou_t my impression that…” ---
**Author:** ![davmilasav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@davmilasav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davmilasav)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822/19 "2006-08-15T19:16:46Z")
[QUOTE=Push You Down] Los Angeles here. I live in Little Armenia which borders Thai Town…take a wild guess… Yep, Mexicans. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Hunh - we’re neighbors! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822/20 "2006-08-15T19:35:45Z")
I live in an older in-town neighborhood here in Columbia, and it’s an interesting mix because the neighborhood is going up - not gentrifying exactly, but it’s right next to where people _really_ want to live, so a lot of younger first time homeowners are buying here because they can afford it. There’s also a lot of rentals still. So we have a bunch of young single women, a bunch of college student renters, and a bunch of old black ladies. A few blocks down and over we’ve got some ghetto action, but the kind where older people own their homes and everybody else seems to move in with Grandma. I love living here but wish people wouldn’t steal things out of my yard. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-dwellers-what-ethnicities-and-cultures-populate-your-neighborhood/368822.md?page=2)