People
tend to live in neighborhoods that are composed of people of their same race or
culture. We feel at ease with this as we could feel like we are closer to our
neighbors because we share a common background. Though we want to be with people we can relate to, is this really the best way of living?
According
to a study by UC Irvine, in an article from the Huffington Post, researchers studied
immigration, ethnic diversity and home value data. In the data they found that
in the past 10 years there was a distant change. In the last decade they found
that communities with more ethnic diversity had less crime, and the number of immigrants
had neither a positive or negative effect on crime levels. Also that ethnic
diversity caused higher housing appreciation. Compared to the past where crime
rates were higher in ethnic diverse communities and homes would also have
slower home value. Overall, we can see that diversity actually is good for
neighborhoods and that it is getting better as over the years they were able to
notice a drop in crime and a rise in home value in neighborhoods which tend to
have people of various ethnic backgrounds.
Another
perk of living in diverse communities would be that children would be more
accepting of people of another culture different to theirs as they grow up and socialize
with others socialize with others and to also try and learn from other cultures
besides just your own. This was shown in a study by a student from University
of Chicago, Lauren Howard. They measured imitation of children who were 19
months old as this was seen as the best way in which babies showed their
willingness to learn. The test was to see how well the infants could learn new
tasks from a non-English speaker. This article also speaks about how living in
diverse locations makes you want to seek diversity. I can agree with this. When
I was in high school I attended a high school which was mostly Hispanic with a
small percentage of black students. There was not much diversity within the
school so I did not really learn much about other cultures. Now that I am at
NIU I have now noticed how I have learned many things. I have been able to
understand certain languages such as Italian and French just because my
freshman year roommate was Italian and he spoke both languages. I have also
been able to eat different types of food and even cook meals from different
cultures due to my friends while before I mostly ate food that one could
associate with Latinos.
Overall,
I believe that as social beings we need diversity in our neighborhoods. As the
study mentioned earlier it shows that it creates less crime, but is also
helpful as it can open many doors to you as you can learn about other cultures
first hand instead of through the media.
This blog’s information is very compelling. I really like the articles you used for the blog. It provides a good image on how neighborhoods are impacted by the diversity of its residents. The image that was used is also suitable for this post. The UC Irvine study from the Huffington post is a great resource. I didn’t realize one could calculate an appreciation of homes off of diversity alone. The more I think about it the more it makes logical sense. Neighborhoods that have multiple ethic groups are more attractive buys, most of the time, compared to a neighborhood with one group. Pulling from class lecture, the book, and providing multiple internet articles makes this a well-rounded and credible post. I especially like bringing children into this discussion in your third paragraph. All ages need diversity to get a well-rounded education of the world around them, but most importantly environments that include young children since a majority of their views come from childhood experiences. I also enjoyed the part where you brought your personal life into the post which provided a little more POP from a personal perspective. Both articles are credible and the numerous examples makes this post very informative and a great read.
ReplyDeleteOn the flip side the only thing I would do is provide a little more in depth statistics. I am more of a reader based off stats and this post is generalized which is good for most readers, but for me I like numbers. An example would be saying “with 10 percent more Latinos than surrounding areas at the beginning of the 2000s saw a 1.3 percent greater increase in home values over the past ten years.” from the Huffington Post article. Providing a few statistics here and there would make this an even better post.
Overall, this is a great post. It provides the reader information from all aspects of a neighborhood. It ranges from the effect of diversity on children, crime, and home prices. The personal past experiences was also a nice addition. Great job.
This was my topic of discussion for class. I found it amazing that diversity could really change the crime rates in a community. I think one of the main reasons why this is is because people tend to change their behavior around certain people because they believe certain behavior isn't acceptable to do in front of different races.However, one thing that I have to say is that although diversity may reduce the crime, due to the people that are in crime may not indulge in crime as much, it still poses a question. Does those people who do indulge in crime then commit less crimes and deviant behavior because of the change and unfamiliarity of the community or do the crime rates go down just because some of those people who did commit crimes are no longer in the neighborhoods. However I think this is a great aspect to focus on because no matter what the reason, the result is still the same. The crime rate is smaller when the community is diverse. I loved the examples that you used to prove your point and the clear support that you have to make this point. Good job!
ReplyDeleteDiversity is key; that is what I gather from this blog post and I am certainly inclined to agree. I believe we would a positive change in terms of racism and discrimination if people of different ethnic and cultural heritages lived among each other, or, at least interacted together more often. It's ironic that sometimes the answer to our problems is so simple. As far as in our own personal lives. I also believe diversity has a positive influence on us.
ReplyDelete