Most diverse place in America? It's not where you think.

[Blue_In_AK]

This is a really good piece at CNN about Anchorage's surprising diversity. This is just one of many reasons that I love living here.


http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/12/us/most-diverse-place-in-america/index.html

Anchorage, Alaska (CNN)The shelves at the Red Apple Market are a giveaway. Dried squid. Sambal Olek chili paste. Corned Australian mutton. Canned grass jelly.

Another clue: Ride the crowded No. 45 bus, which meanders down Mountain View Drive, and you hear chatter in seven languages -- none, English.

That these markers of diversity are in a neighborhood in Anchorage may surprise folks from the Lower 48 who picture Alaska as a largely homogenous and snowy American extremity. But Alaskans are quite proud of their distinctive demographics.

<snip>

Mountain View, a northeast Anchorage neighborhood, boasts the most diverse census tract in all of America. That's according to University of Alaska sociology professor Chad Farrell, who analyzed the census data.

In fact, Farrell says the country's three most diverse census tracts are all in Anchorage, followed by a handful in Queens, as in New York, which usually tops everyone's diversity guess list.

<snip>

I like this comment by Mountainview resident Clark Yerrington: "We all live together. Even white people like me. Think how it would be if the whole country had been organized like this. It does people good to break out of their comfort zone and mix with neighbors who are different."

I couldn't agree more.

[bravenak]

1. I've always thought that if the nation was distributed more like here, things would be better.

I have experienced far less racism here than in California.

[Blue_In_AK]

2. And as a long-time Alaskan,

i'm happy that you feel that way. I think most of us try to be welcoming.

[bravenak]

3. I have always told people the the people up here are just nicer.

If a car breaks down, three or four people pull over to help. I feel more comfortable here.