diversity in philadelphia

[wanderer34]

I'd like to question the issue of diversity in Philadelphia. Despite the fact that there are different races, creeds, colors, religions, and ethnic backgrounds, we're not as diverse as we think we are. What I mean is that we have had a problem attracting immigrants ever since we lost to NYC pertaining to the biggest seaport and the biggest. We might not have been destined to be the biggest city in the country like NYC already is, but we could've been just as great (but not bigger) as a seaport and as a city. Consider this: The largest population of West Indians is, no doubt the NYC metro, with 802,000. The second largest is Miami-Ft Lauderdale with 350,000. The third largest isn't even us, but the Boston metro, with 77,000, followed by the Baltimore-DC area with 71,000. In Philadelphia, we came only come up with 39,000 West Indians, and the Northeast is a huge area of settlement when it comes to attracting West Indians. We probably came in at 19th or something. We should've been at third place, with 125,000 or something since we're so close the NYC and all that. The Hispanic population is growing, but the Dominican population is miniscule, compared to NYC (over 600,000), Boston (90,000), and Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Palm Beach (70,000). Once again, the Northeast and Florida have been factors in attracting them. In the Phila area, we have about 15,000 Dominicans. Mexicans in the area are about 20,000 in this area, and nothing against the Mexicans, but the Dominicans are the second-largest group of Hispanics behind Puerto Ricans and the Northeast, especially NYC and Boston, attracts Dominicans, and therefore the Dominicans should've been the second largest Hispanic group with about 75,000, not 15,000. Still don't get it: the largest Greek populations are in NYC(202,000), Chicago (93,000), & Boston (80,000), so why does Phila have only 31,000 of Greek origin??? Because we never made ourselves into a major seaport like Boston and NYC did during the 19th century. We literally dragged our feet when it came to immigration (and still do), and when we finally had enough sense to get immigrants and strengthen the workforce of this city, the government stopped all immigration because of WWI, therefore limiting the amount of immigrants to come to the States. Think about it. If Philadelphia was a strong immigration stronghold like NYC, Chicago, Boston, Houston, LA, SF, and Miami are, we would not just be more diverse, but the population of this city would grow, and not shrink like it's doing right now and we would have a stronger tax base. Sometimes I think what this city should've been if we were able to attract these forementioned immigrants (including Swedes and Norwegians since they were known to be great shipbuilders and craftsmen). The Pennsylvania, the Reading, and the Lehigh Valley three of the most powerful railroad companies at that time, and they couldn't figure out how to get immigrants to this great city. It must be a shame to think about because this city could've been better than what it is right now.

[Furiine]

Here's the first ancestral/ethnic background rundown for Philadelphia from 2002. I think there's much for Philadelphians to be proud of. Scroll down all the way to see the numbers.
http://www.city-data.com/housing/hou...nsylvania.html

[xzmattzx]

personally, i think immigrants can move wherever they want. if they don't want to move to philly, then so be it. philly is a great city with or without them.

[*Sweetkisses*]

Philly does need to do more to attract immigrants.But we cant attract anything until we fix up the inner city.
You cant make people move here. If they dont like Philly, I hate to say this but ,oh well.
P.S. Wanderer, are you ever happy with anything? LoL

[volguus zildrohar]

Philly, for one thing, does not market itself well to immigrants (or many other people). The city, like many other older industrial cities, is suffering from a lack of the type of influx of immigrants that keeps other places thriving. Look in particular at all the cities known for having large immigrant populations - New York, Miami, Los Angeles chief among them - these are major port cities and points of entry into the United States. They're easy to get in and out of. The fact that these cities are also the economic engines for their respective regions ensures that there will be some tpye of jobs available.

Philadelphia, in this regard, will always fall second to New York in my opinion. The pull the city has for people all over the world can't be matched by any other city in the United States no matter how you slice it.

This city needs to concern itself with marketing the attributes it does have in addition to correcting the problems that are driving the native born away - to say nothing of bringing newcomers in.

[Joe84323]

You're obviously talking about LEGAL Mexicans. There are way more Mexicans than Dominicans. They're just not on the books. I see what you're saying, tho.

[DarkFenX]

Does Boston have the most Irish immigrants outside of New York? Just wondering.

[xzmattzx]

boston's known for it's irish population, regardless of how many irish live in new york. they even have a basketball team that reflects the prominence of the irish society in boston.

[wanderer34]

Originally Posted by *Sweetkisses*

Philly does need to do more to attract immigrants.But we cant attract anything until we fix up the inner city.
You cant make people move here. If they dont like Philly, I hate to say this but ,oh well.
P.S. Wanderer, are you ever happy with anything? LoL

I don't hate Philadelphia, I LOVE it, but the fact that we have such a homogenous population compared to NYC, Boston, Chicago, and LA really is putting a lot of strain on this city. We have enough problems such as abandoned housing, high taxes, an ineffiecient mass transit system, but not being a major immigration center irks me the most. We're the only city in the NE megapolis that doesn't have much immigration compared to NYC, Boston, and the Baltimore-DC areas. Even the state of Connecticut (Hartford, New Haven, and Bridgeport areas) have West Indian populations of size unlike us.

[Disneymustdie]

I dont like Chinatown, I dont like little Italy. I dont like 5th street. I dont mind bringing youre culture .but when you take over parts of cities . I think it leads to trouble.

Now I dont mind immigrants more power to em. but if they decide to move to a section of Philly(lets say Chestnut Hill) and if you speak English they look at you crazy. thats a problem. We're so unfriendly that they have to live next door to each other to survive and thats wack. Ill eat your spagetti and gravy but if I want Italy Ill go to Italy this is USA. Everybody should feel welcome everywhere. I eat Shrimp Chow Mei Fun but if I want China Ill go to China. and I definitely dont want people here tha'tll kill their daughter if they have a crush on you.

I think we can attract immigrants without trying to completely assimilate them. But at the same time they should want to be assimilated just a little. I mean therye allegiance IS with America now.

That means sittng down Eating a Cheesesteak and rootin for the Birds

I dont care about new york with ppl from the West Indies thats isolated and dont intermingle or D.C. with ppl From El Salvador that dont speak.

We dont play that crap here. and I dont mind a bit

[wanderer34]

Originally Posted by Disneymustdie

I dont like Chinatown, I dont like little Italy. I dont like 5th street. I dont mind bringing youre culture .but when you take over parts of cities . I think it leads to trouble.

Now I dont mind immigrants more power to em. but if they decide to move to a section of Philly(lets say Chestnut Hill) and if you speak English they look at you crazy. thats a problem. We're so unfriendly that they have to live next door to each other to survive and thats wack. Ill eat your spagetti and gravy but if I want Italy Ill go to Italy this is USA. Everybody should feel welcome everywhere. I eat Shrimp Chow Mei Fun but if I want China Ill go to China. and I definitely dont want people here tha'tll kill their daughter if they have a crush on you.

I think we can attract immigrants without trying to completely assimilate them. But at the same time they should want to be assimilated just a little. I mean therye allegiance IS with America now.

That means sittng down Eating a Cheesesteak and rootin for the Birds

I dont care about new york with ppl from the West Indies thats isolated and dont intermingle or D.C. with ppl From El Salvador that dont speak.

We dont play that crap here. and I dont mind a bit

Sorry, bro, but that's not what I had in mind. Not everybody in Philadelphia is going to eat a cheesesteak , not everybody goes to the Mummer's day Parade, not everybody likes soft pretzels, and not everybody likes the Birds, Flyers, Sixers, or Phillies. That's just how people are and if you can't accept that, than I don't know how you can live. Whenever I see immigrants in NYC, Boston, DC, Chicago, LA, or Houston, I see this diversity that the cities have. IT's like we're missing out, and on top of that, each of these cities economies are stable compared to us, because they have a stable tax base and each of these cities invest their tax money on projects unlike Philadelphia. What I'm trying to say is that the more people we have in this city, the more money we're going to make based on tax revenue, and the more immigrants we get, the more internatational exposure we get. Why do immigrants in NYC, Boston, DC, LA, SF, and Houston come to these cities. Because each of these cities promote themselves. We don't even care what we look like, just as long as the politicians get their money while this city is continually starved of immigrants and the bias that the natives who complian that the immigrants are taking over this neighborhood and that they don't speak English. As far as I can remember it, the immigrants in the 1800's had a hard time doing the same thing the natives at the time were saying, and now look today, they've been assimilated. We're in the middle of one of the most diverse megapolises in the country and we don't have anything to show in the case of immigration. We need to embrace immigration if any shred of this city is to survive otherwise we'll end up being another Detroit.

[Disneymustdie]

That means sittng down Eating a Cheesesteak and rootin for the Birds

Was tongue in cheek

I could have swore you said diversity.

Not just warm bodies to help our tax base.

Missing out on what?

Ive been to everyplace you named except Houston.

These arent bastions of ethnic/racial harmony.

I know lets put 30,000 Haitians in the symphony House, Mandeville, 1441 Chestnut etc..
Overnight you turn racist. If you're not already.

[NYC007]

There are a lot of good points being made by a lot of people in this thread. However, I have to tend to agree with Disneymustdie. This ratial diverstiy and harmony everyone keeps wishing for seems like pie-in-the-sky to me. This great "melting pot v. mixing bowl" theory is a crock. Large groups of immigrants do tend to stick together rather than intermingle with the larger society. This idea that NYC is that great urban racial utopia is kind of silly, and the people who use that as an example must mainly hang out in Manhattan, where all of NYC tends to mix the most. If you spent more time in the Bronx, perhaps you'd get another impression of racial diversity that's less attractive. And, by the way, those neighborhoods are anything but economically stable--and we have Albany (The State Capitol), not NYC to thank for funelling all the tax $$$ down there to support them. Not that that's necessarily a completely bad thing. But this isn't the place for a debate about the welfare system, so I'll let that topic be.

[wanderer34]

Originally Posted by Disneymustdie

That means sittng down Eating a Cheesesteak and rootin for the Birds

Was tongue in cheek

I could have swore you said diversity.

Not just warm bodies to help our tax base.

Missing out on what?

Ive been to everyplace you named except Houston.

These arent bastions of ethnic/racial harmony.

I know lets put 30,000 Haitians in the symphony House, Mandeville, 1441 Chestnut etc..
Overnight you turn racist. If you're not already.

First of all I'm not racist towards anybody!!!!!! Who the fuck are you talking to!!! What the fuck did I say in order to become a racist, tell me!!! Second when I meant than we needed a stronger tax base, I was referring to immigration to help us out, not just bringing some people from Bubbleluckia who can't do a damn thing but make money just to increase our tax base, but immigrants who'll be able to help this slowly dying city. The Comcast Center won't bring us a stable tax base neither will it stop and increase Philadelphia's population. It's just another building. We need more than a new skyscraper if this city is going to survive with high taxes and a low and decreasing representation in the state and national government, as well as a steadily decreasing population. Do you see John Street trying to make this city better on trying to increase immigration in this city, as well as spending money on schools, transportation, culture, recreation, public utilities, etc. NO!!!!!!!!!!!! Instead I see the same politicians who we elect every four years pocketing our tax money and not giving a shit about this city and leaving us empty-handed. The quality of schools in Phila is low, as well as public transportation, where people would rather go to KOP than invest in CC by clogging up the Schuylkill, the 202, and the 422 with their SUV's rather than using public transportation to get to work and other places. That's the problem with this city. We're not using our heads!!! And when we don't we get pay-to-play and heavy corruption in our government!!! And that's why we have an inferiority complex in Philadelphia. As far as missing out, I wasn't referring to you nor me, but immigration and stopping the exodus of people from this city. As far as the Haitians, the Russians, the Jews, the Asians, etc., I might care or I might not care what goes on and personally I don't care really what goes on in the Italian, Irish, and Polish communities in Philadelphia because I'm neither. I grew up in a West Indian neighbrhood in Brooklyn, which is why I was wondering why there isn't a significant number of West Indian institutions and people in this city, when it's only 90 minutes away from NYC, a stone's throw, and as for me, my parents were both African. You might consider it bias, but I'm just placing my point of view on this forum and just asking a simple question as to why there is very little West Indian presence over here. Think before you post, Disney, otherwise you're going to get jumped!!!

[wanderer34]

Have you ever heard of this man??? He's a councilman for this city. Do a search on him on Yahoo or Google pertaining to immigration and you'll find out what the hell I'm trying to say!!!

[wanderer34]

Here's the link regarding the "New Philadelphians":

www.jameskenney.com/acrobat/new_philadelphians.pdf#search='james%20kenney%20immigration'