Why is Vallejo, California so racially diverse?

[Senator Napoleon]

No race even breaks 30%, there's an almost equal amount of blacks, whites, Hispanics, and Asians. Is there any particular cause for this? I wonder what it would be like to live in such a place (though as I understand Vallejo is not a very nice city).

[jimrtex]

No race even breaks 30%, there's an almost equal amount of blacks, whites, Hispanics, and Asians. Is there any particular cause for this? I wonder what it would be like to live in such a place (though as I understand Vallejo is not a very nice city).

The Asian is mainly Filipino, so that probably has to do with Mare Island.   And the number of blacks is probably also related to the shipyard (good paying jobs that don't require high levels of education) and it is probably nicer than Richmond or Oakland.   Because it is well established there should be a base of somewhat older affordable housing, which people may prefer over new apartments for a similar cost/rent.

[Senator Sbane]

Meh, a lot of the Bay Area is pretty racially diverse. And so is Sacramento, which in some ways is similar to Vallejo. In other ways it's not, in that Vallejo is a sh**thole worse than Oakland and a little better than Richmond. Oakland overall is about 25% white, Hispanic, Asian and Black also. Although there are neighborhoods where a certain race is dominant, it's not like LA for example.

[jimrtex]

Meh, a lot of the Bay Area is pretty racially diverse. And so is Sacramento, which in some ways is similar to Vallejo. In other ways it's not, in that Vallejo is a sh**thole worse than Oakland and a little better than Richmond. Oakland overall is about 25% white, Hispanic, Asian and Black also. Although there are neighborhoods where a certain race is dominant, it's not like LA for example.

Oakland has dropped from 47% black in 1980 to 27% now.

Vallejo is particularly Filipino,

[memphis]

There's an old joke about diverse being a nice way to say bad neighborhood.

[So the Heroes Fall]

There's an old joke about diverse being a nice way to say bad neighborhood.

No ghettos are usually just concentrated with one type of minority (and sometimes a certain group of "ethnic" whites, that was a lot more common three to four decades ago of course), places diverse like this tend not to be like that at all.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Oakland is equally diverse and it's actually nicer than Vallejo. The area of Oakland east of Lake Merritt is particularly diverse. See map here. There's a census block that is black plurality with only 28.5%.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/nation/census/2010/

[Senator Sbane]

There's an old joke about diverse being a nice way to say bad neighborhood.

Meh, by that definition those neighborhoods in Memphis or north Nashville which are 95% Black would be considered "diverse". In Vallejo the whole city is almost 25% white, black, hispanic and asian. Same with some neighborhoods in Oakland and Sacramento. There are many more areas in the Bay Area where the black population is low, but lots of whites, hispanics and asians in the same precinct. The only "diverse" area in I can think of in Nashville is the Nolensville pike area, which is right by where I live. It's not the nicest neighborhood, but it's not the worst either since it's full of immigrants who may be poor but don't cause problems.

[BaldEagle1991]

There's an old joke about diverse being a nice way to say bad neighborhood.

Bad neighborhoods are usually known for their homogenitity.

[jimrtex]

Blacks appear to be fairly evenly distributed, with census tracts ranging from 10-35%.  Asians and Anglos have some census tracts where they exceed 50%,

There are 12 census tracts with an Anglo plurality, 10 with Asian, 9 with Hispanic, and 3 with Black.

Census Tract 2518.02 is 24.9% Hispanic, 24.0% Anglo, 23.2% Asian, 23.2% Black, and 4.6% HIOPI, AIAN, or multi-racial.   To the extent there is a Black area it is toward the north along the Napa County line.   American Canyon across the line in Napa County, is notably not Black (only 7.5%), while 32.2% Asian, 28.4% Anglo, 25.7% Hispanic.   Like Vallejo, the Asian population is very Filipino, with Indian a distant second, followed by Chinese.

So I still go with the Mare Island (naval shipyard) theory.

[redcommander]

What's with all the hate for Vallejo and Richmond? Plus all the lefties here should be in love with Richmond. It has a Green Party mayor.

[Senator Sbane]

It's just not a nice place to live is all. I'm not taking politics into account.

[Χahar]

Richmond's not the sort of place where one lives when one has other options.