What city demographics are out of line with media or outsiders' perceptions?

[Capsicum]

For example, Chicago is close to thirty percent Hispanic now. A large Mexican community lives there, but because by contrast Hispanic communities elsewhere like Texas and California are in the limelight, many people aren't as aware of it compared to say the white (including European ethnic groups like Polish, Greeks etc.) and black demographics in Chicago.

Some of this is lag time for people to be aware of demographic shifts (eg. people's perceptions may reflect the demographics of a generation ago, which is why for instance many older people still thought of LA and SoCal as having lots of blondes long after the minority share rose).

[ThePhun1]

Quite talkative, are we? Yet another thread so soon?

[10023]

My first thought reading this thread title was that people are always shocked to find out how Hispanic (Mexican) Chicago actually is.

[Centropolis]

the biggest one i can think of is los angeles...



when in fact los angeles is FIFTY percent latino, and also full of working class people of all backgrounds who do not fall into the "californians" stereotype.

i'd agree with the chicago thing, too.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by 10023

My first thought reading this thread title was that people are always shocked to find out how Hispanic (Mexican) Chicago actually is.

Chicago is 1,500 miles from the border, so it's not the first place that pops into most people's minds when considering america's largest mexican cities. Border states like cali, texas, and Arizona are what jump out immediately. Chicago's giant mexican-american population is a bit of a geographic anomaly.

[jd3189]

Chicago also has a good amount of Puerto Ricans from what I heard.


Others are Detroit's Arab community and Atlanta's Koreans.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by jd3189

Chicago also has a good amount of Puerto Ricans from what I heard.

Yeah, there's a decently sized Puerto Rican community in chicago (~4% of the city proper), but they are dwarfed by those of Mexican ancestry (~22% of the city proper).

But those two groups make up the lion's share of chicago's Hispanic ancestry population.

[10023]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Chicago is 1,500 miles from the border, so it's not the first place that pops into most people's minds when considering america's largest mexican cities. Border states like cali, texas, and Arizona are what jump out immediately. Chicago's giant mexican-american population is a bit of a geographic anomaly.

Of course. But geography wouldn’t dictate that NY has so many Puerto Ricans or Chinese either.

[Crawford]

How about black populations in NYC and Detroit metros? NYC metro has a higher % black than Detroit metro, which would surprise most folks.

Metro Detroit isn't actually particularly black, it just has a lightly populated central city that's almost entirely black. NYC proper isn't particularly black, but metro area has black enclaves everywhere, especially West Indian enclaves.

[iheartthed]

This is more of a broad statement on California, but I was surprised when I realized how small the black population is, percentage-wise. Especially considering the cultural shifts on race that originated/ignited in California (police brutality, OJ, Black Panthers, etc).

[10023]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

This is more of a broad statement on California, but I was surprised when I realized how small the black population is, percentage-wise. Especially considering the cultural shifts on race that originated/ignited in California (police brutality, OJ, Black Panthers, etc).

That’s not surprising, because it’s really just the southern part of LA County and Oakland that have significant black populations.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by Crawford

How about black populations in NYC and Detroit metros? NYC metro has a higher % black than Detroit metro, which would surprise most folks.

Metro Detroit isn't actually particularly black, it just has a lightly populated central city that's almost entirely black. NYC proper isn't particularly black, but metro area has black enclaves everywhere, especially West Indian enclaves.

The Detroit MSA is 22% Black, the NYC MSA is 17% Black.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Docere

The Detroit MSA is 22% Black, the NYC MSA is 17% Black.

Yeah, Detroit is one of the blackest metro areas in the country outside of the southeast.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by 10023

That’s not surprising, because it’s really just the southern part of LA County and Oakland that have significant black populations.

Even in LA and Oakland, the numbers are lower than what I would intuitively expect. LA City is less than 10% black, while the rest of the top 5 cities in the country are all more than 25% black. And Oakland is less than 30% but is often portrayed as a "chocolate city."

California's percentage black (6.5%) is just half of the national average (12.6%).

[Quixote]

I’ve always found it odd that Miami/South Florida didn’t have larger Puerto Rican and Dominican populations. Why is Orlando more Puerto Rican than Miami?

Detroit’s large Arab population is another oddity.

[Quixote]

Other oddities/surprises:

— The Bay Area’s relatively small Korean population (I think Seattle is more Korean percentage-wise)

— The LA area’s small Indian population, but proportionately sizable Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi communities

— Glendale, CA being Little Yerevan

— Bolivians in DC

[goat314]

Somalis in Minneapolis.
Bosnians in St. Louis.

[Docere]

Isn't there a pretty sizable East African community in Seattle?

[Urbanguy]

Outside of this forum, I still encounter a lot of people who think everyone from Hawaii is Hawaiian yet they are a minority in the State & of the large Hawaii ex-pat community that lives on the US Mainland. Most outsiders have no clue of just how diverse the State is and how Mixed the races/ethnic groups, culture, music & cuisine are. People often associate the Ukulele, for example, as a Hawaiian instrument but it was the Portuguese immigrants that first introduced the relatives of it the braguinha & cavaquinho. Same with the popular "Hawaiian Sweet Bread" which is an offshoot of the Portuguese Pao Doce.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Docere

The Detroit MSA is 22% Black, the NYC MSA is 17% Black.

I was going by CSA. I'm pretty sure NYC metro is blacker than Detroit metro by CSA.

Also, Metro Detroit is quite white. Detroit CSA is something like 70% white, NYC CSA is something like 45% white. I think most folks would assume Detroit is less white.

Another one- NYC Hispanics are heavily associated with Puerto Ricans, yet PRs are only like 20% of the Hispanic population, and share is declining. In NYC proper in 2018, Dominicans are probably the most visible Hispanic group. There are more South American Hispanics than PRs, and Dominicans and Mexicans are eventually going to top the PR population.

I also think San Diego is surprisingly white. You would think Southern CA metro bordering Mexico, has to be heavily nonwhite. Yet San Diego County is much whiter than neighboring Orange County, even though SD County is heavily urban, and OC is almost 100% newer sprawl, and even though OC is the CA county most associated with the blond, beachgoing surfer and conservative white stereotype. In fact SD is much whiter than CA as a whole.