Is Houston segregated? (Dallas, San Antonio, Arlington: high school, college, live in)

[feufoma]

Of course it is. Is that a bad thing?

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by Chanteuse d' Opéra

But LANative10, you have to admit. In Dallas, there are certain areas that are more "lily white" or "more black" versus in Houston, especially now. I lived in Carrollton for a long time & I'm black, but I grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma (which by the way is still very segregated: north Tulsa is black & poor, south Tulsa is white & rich) & lived in Houston & now I'm back in Houston. Houston has also been more historically welcoming to African-Americans than has Dallas. There are 2 predominantly black universities (TSU & Prairie View A&M) does Dallas have any HBCUs (historically black colleges & universities)? I don't remember there being any except for Paul Quinn..

When I was living in Dallas, there was the white side of town (north Dallas-Plano, Lakewood, Preston Hollow, Highland & University Park) & the black side of town (south Dallas-Duncanville, DeSoto, Grand Prairie, Lancaster). When I was in Houston, there was also a black side of town (5th ward, 3rd ward, Acres Home, Sunnyside) & a white side of town (north Houston, south Katy, Memorial, River Oaks) but the suburbs as a whole were much more diverse than were the suburbs of Dallas.

Before you attack me, I'm not saying that Houston is better than Dallas or vice versa. Houston is merely more international & global than Dallas is & it's been that way for a while now. Dallas is becoming more of a global city too but in terms of segregation, it is not nearly as integrated as Houston. I mean, I live on the west side of town in Houston & my next door neighbors are German & Filipino.

But that's my 2 cents anyway, take it or leave it.

First off, I am not going to attack you and I respect your opinion.

After reading your post, I have one thought. From what I get from it is that what you seem to be describing is two things:

1) Houston's suburbs are more diverse than Dallas'.
2) That Houston is more African-American friendly.

As to point one, I agree to a point. Both Houston and DFW have suburbs that are diverse and those that arent. The Northern burbs of Houston arent diverse in the slightest (The Woodlands, Conroe, Humble, etc.). They are every bit as not diverse as Frisco and Little Elm on the northern reaches of Dallas. Houston does have super-diverse suburbs like Sugarland and Missouri City, but so does Dallas in Garland and Arlington. Overall I agree that Houston's burbs are more diverse, but I dont think its overwhelming. DFW's suburbs are much larger than Houston's burbs so it makes a comparrison lopsided.

Another thing thats important is to mention is that DFW is changing much faster than Houston is changing and alot of that change is for the better. Houston has always been diverse. DFW hasnt been diverse until more recent years. Its takes time. Look at Irving. In 1990 it was 90-percentish white. Now its pushing 50% hispanic and is over 10% asian. Thats alot of change in 20 years. DFW has also received more new international residents since 2000 than any other metro except NYC, LA, Miami, and Chicago. Thats going to help diversify DFW further.

As to point two, Houston may be more Black friendly. Im not black so I cant judge that.

[Trae713]

Arlington is about as diverse as Humble.

[loves2read]

a city can have a diverse population and be segregated in how it is distributed...
and I think you can find evidence of that in any city or town that does have multiple ethnic groups...

sometimes it is driven by income, sometimes by personal desire, sometimes by the lack of public transportation which restricts movement from home to job, sometimes by city zoning for apt/home/business construction...

Arlington is fairly diverse--Hispanic, Asian, Anglo, African American--but it is also segregated in where these population groups can be found in majority/minority numbers...
it is also a city that has a shrinking pool of residents with college educations and middle class incomes according to info on city data and other sources...

[pandorafan5687]

I wouldnt say "segragated" but to a certain extent racially seperated. Segregated would be seperated required by law. But like most large cities, and their suburbs most neighboorhoods have one predominant race living there.

[diablo234]

Every city is segregated to some extent but as a whole the Houston metro is pretty racially integrated as a whole. Most of the segregation is based on your income.

[Trae713]

Originally Posted by diablo234

Every city is segregated to some extent but as a whole the Houston metro is pretty racially integrated as a whole. Most of the segregation is based on your income.

But even then, Houston is pretty integrated income wise. There are a lot of nice neighborhoods that are right next to, or near not so nice neighborhoods.

[DANNYY]

Originally Posted by Scarface713

Not really. Houston's Chinatown is not even really a "Chinatown". I think there are more Vietnamese owned businesses than Chinese owned businesses.

Haha yeah but it helps having two Chinatowns. But what I meant was that yes, you can find Chinese restaurants anywhere in the city, and even some Chinese groceries to an extent, but you can't find things like Chinese clothing, or Chinese furniture, or Chinese electronics everywhere in Houston like you can in it's two Chinatowns.

That's where Dallas is different, it's got stores spread through out the city where you can get food, clothing, furniture, etc... for that culture.

Being South Asian, my parents nearly always have to drive to Hillcroft (Mahatma Gandhi District) to get Indian clothing, or Indian antics. In Dallas we saw places spread throughout the end of DFW that had that. While they didn't have a large concentration of Indian shops/restaurants in one particular place like Houston's in Hillcroft.

Yeah, I noticed that too, but the Hong Kong Mall is where most of the Chinese shops are at in Houston. It's a very nice mall IMHO.

[Hanglo Phucwell]

Originally Posted by jluke65780

I disagree; it's signifcantly different as you go north to south. Majority of the black population lives in the southern areas of Dallas; including a mixture of rich, poor, and middle - class blacks.

A lot of those communities might SEEM like they're a mixture of rich, poor, and middle-class blacks that tolerate each other and sing, "Kumbaya" together, but- not necessarily so. There are many a south-metro suburbian subdivision that a "poor" black can't even afford to live in amongst their fellow more well-to-do black brethren, and, trust me- there is certainly a "classist" aire being personified in those communities.

"Oak Cliff" might be close to "Duncanville" which might be close to "Cedar Hill" which happens to be close to "Desoto"- but, they are not TRULY as integrated as one might think (-granted that a distinctly large concentration of one ethnicity dwells throughout them all). A bourgeois black is STILL a bourgeois black- and Dallas has PLENTY of them. Same goes for the predominantly white well-to-do communities.

Again, Classist Segregation.

I've hardly ever observed this type of essence of socio-economic "segregation" in Houston, but, then again, I don't have nearly the same amount of life-experience there. Still, if pressed with the choice, I'd say HOUSTON is a good move. More diverse and accepted foreign-based communities, palm trees, nearby beaches and an ocean (-well, nearby enough, lol) can't go too wrong with it.

[Acntx]

Originally Posted by Hanglo Phucwell

There are many a south-metro suburbian subdivision that a "poor" black can't even afford to live in amongst their fellow more well-to-do black brethren, and, trust me- there is certainly a "classist" aire being personified in those communities.

Isn't this typical of most subdivisions of any metro area? Don't most people live in neighborhoods with people of similar incomes and economic class?

Even though there are upper income/affluent neighborhoods in these communities, particularly DeSoto and Cedar Hill, a majority of the residents living the southern suburbs of Dallas are middle-class. Few fall into the categories extreme poverty or wealth.