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Does Dallas have Demographic Segregation?


lockmat

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A couple of stories:

1. I just met a couple that moved to Pearland from the Dallas area and they're white. Initially Thinking they may have been from Cali, but then finding out Dallas, I said, "ah well it's not that big of a change for you then." They replied saying that the culture here is much different and that there are more sketchy neighborhoods here and that Dallas is more upscale.

2. My wife's Mexican friend lived in Dallas for a year or so a few years ago but has lived in Houston for about 10 years. While there, she noticed blacks lived in one area, Asians another, whites another etc.

I'm wondering if the couple I met thinks there are more sketchy areas because they're seeing more people of color? Or maybe there just are? And, is Dallas really that segregated? Of course, every city is to a certain degree, including Houston. But is Dallas more so?

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Here is a map that should answer that (to an extent).

http://demographics.coopercenter.org/DotMap/index.html?utm_medium=App.net&utm_source=PourOver

 

Of course Houston seems more diverse - it is!  Much more.  We're also grittier and dirtier thanks to the huge amount of industry that dominates the eastern side of the metropolitan area.  Dallas does have its seedy sides though, so for anyone to think otherwise is silly.

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A couple of stories:

1. I just met a couple that moved to Pearland from the Dallas area and they're white. Initially Thinking they may have been from Cali, but then finding out Dallas, I said, "ah well it's not that big of a change for you then." They replied saying that the culture here is much different and that there are more sketchy neighborhoods here and that Dallas is more upscale.

2. My wife's Mexican friend lived in Dallas for a year or so a few years ago but has lived in Houston for about 10 years. While there, she noticed blacks lived in one area, Asians another, whites another etc.

I'm wondering if the couple I met thinks there are more sketchy areas because they're seeing more people of color? Or maybe there just are? And, is Dallas really that segregated? Of course, every city is to a certain degree, including Houston. But is Dallas more so?

I got  alot of people in Dallas....and they all like Houston better but they do say that there are a lot more Hoods in Houston....and having been around Dallas quite a bit there are a LOT more hoods here....doesn't mean its a bad thing....go to Chicago...NYC...LA there are a lot of Hoods there....and they are all world class cities....the problem with Dallas its still very conservative...its really weird....And I mean I met HARDCORE conservatives of all ethnicities in Dallas...so its not just one ethnic group....All in All...like I said everyone that I know from Dallas has the same image of Houston...too big..too much crime..dangerous....but at the same time...they love the culture here..the diversity...the neighborhoods....even though we are really big and have a lot of crime....they still like it because they say its the same as any big city in the US or the world for that matter....Which I agree with... 

 

 

Edited by Elseed
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I spent 3 months working in Dallas last year. My observation was that North Dallas is higher income, South Dallas is lower income, whereas Houston has a few pockets of high income areas and a lot of low income areas, sometimes even surrounding on all sides. Houston is a lot more diverse though.

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I spent 3 months working in Dallas last year. My observation was that North Dallas is higher income, South Dallas is lower income, whereas Houston has a few pockets of high income areas and a lot of low income areas, sometimes even surrounding on all sides. Houston is a lot more diverse though.

Dallas does have some really posh suburbs...Southlake...Coppell..Plano...University Park..Allen

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I'm from Houston and tend to agree with the idea the OP mentioned -- that we have more sketchy neighborhoods than Dallas.  But ... I think it's also true that the "nice" stuff in Dallas tends to be more concentrated in a single area (North Dallas) than does similar stuff in Houston.  That would make it easier for a person to spend all of their time in a bubble of manicured neighborhoods and fancy shopping centers, never having to venture out into the "real world".  Despite that, I do think that most of Dallas is more presentable, in a sense, than Houston.

 

OTOH, I once had a Mexican-American friend in Houston who moved to Dallas.   Once, upon coming back to Houston for a visit, he said "I'm the only Mexican in  Plano" ... and he was unhappy about how he was treated because of that. It surprised me, especially since he never complained about being discriminated against while living in Houston.  Actually, he was from an affluent, well-educated family, so there was nothing in his behavior that I think would make people treat him differently.  OK, a disclaimer:  this was 20 years ago and I know that Plano has become much more diverse in that time.  For all I know, things are much different there now.

Edited by ArchFan
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This thread has just made me realize that since 2003, I've been to Greater Houston no less than 10 times (plus a few that I'm leaving out). Dallas? Just 2.

Also, "segregation" is a really loaded word, and the graphs try to make it seem like most cities are "backwards" in terms of race relations—though the only real "integrated" places are college campuses in terms of race. But they are definitely segregated by sex, and there's very few people above 24.

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I agree about the "pockets" mentioned above. Look at the Galleria Area, and then drive a few blocks south or west of the area. It's not a continuous flow of upscale places, it's a pocket. I think it has more to do with our lack of zoning, and how the upscale areas are scattered on random lots.

Of course I can dig gritty. Not all gritty neighborhoods and areas of town are necessarily bad in crime.

Once land prices in the loop sky rocket (eventually), forcing low and middle income families out, then we can have a nice continuous upscale flow from Downtown to Uptown. So that way we can finally impress our northern neighbors and the whole world.

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  • 5 months later...

 

 

OTOH, I once had a Mexican-American friend in Houston who moved to Dallas.   Once, upon coming back to Houston for a visit, he said "I'm the only Mexican in  Plano" ... and he was unhappy about how he was treated because of that. It surprised me, especially since he never complained about being discriminated against while living in Houston.  Actually, he was from an affluent, well-educated family, so there was nothing in his behavior that I think would make people treat him differently.  OK, a disclaimer:  this was 20 years ago and I know that Plano has become much more diverse in that time.  For all I know, things are much different there now.

 

Plano East or Plano West?

 

There are two different sides to the city.  Its very segregated.

 

East Plano is mostly minorities (Chinese, Koreans, Indians, Hispanics, & Blacks).  

 

West Plano is largely Caucasian.

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Dallas does have some really posh suburbs...Southlake...Coppell..Plano...University Park..Allen

I feel like the area I grew up in, Champions/FM 1960/Louetta, at one time could have compared with some of these suburbs in appearance, but now it's a far cry. Seems like in Houston you're in a master-planned community or you're in a jungle... there's some in-between but if it's not master planned or zoned, the gravitational pull is towards jungle.

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Champions/1960/Louetta reminds me of when I talked with a North Dallas developer whose market studies have revealed that - in suburban municipalities there - within 10 years of peak building permits, the median household income begins to decline.  The infrastructure subsidization frontier moves on.

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Champions/1960/Louetta reminds me of when I talked with a North Dallas developer whose market studies have revealed that - in suburban municipalities there - within 10 years of peak building permits, the median household income begins to decline. The infrastructure subsidization frontier moves on.

Only in Dallas the area doesn't look as ugly after it moves on due to regulations.

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