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... Overland Park is 82% White[0]. It's one of the wealthiest white suburbs of Kansas City, and has been for decades. I appreciate your experience is different

... Overland Park is 82% White[0]. It's one of the wealthiest white suburbs of Kansas City, and has been for decades. I appreciate your experience is different than the statistics, but it's quite literally less diverse than the US as a whole, and less than Minneapolis and many other midwestern cities. [0]: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/overlandparkcitykansas https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/overlandparkcitykansas

managerclass 5y ago
Agreed. Anecdotal evidence coming from a suburb of a large city says absolutely nothing about diversity living in the rest of the US.
wincy 5y ago
Okay but the grandparent seemed to be stating that enjoying living in a place like this in the Midwest requires being white and straight. I think the main thing my neighbors all have in common is they have children and work professional middle class jobs. Also, I likely see the younger people, there are quite a few old people who retire in OP. The blue valley school districts have a makeup that skews fewer whites (70%) versus a place like San Francisco where whites apparently send their children to private schools rather than public schools. So in terms of actually raising children to meet people who are different than them, it seems like the Midwest is a clear winner. Despite whites making up 40% of the population of San Francisco, only 20% of the enrolled students are white.
- sohdas 5y ago
  > the grandparent seemed to be stating that enjoying living in a place like this in the Midwest requires being white and straight I don't think they meant that you can't own a house and lead a nice life if you're not straight and white. I think they just meant to say it's difficult to 'fit into' Midwestern culture if you don't fall into certain identity categories. While I'm from the Midwest and have fondness in my heart for it, I have to concede this is true from experience.
seanvk 5y ago
Overland Park is a part of Johnson County, KS which has a part in the history of segregation in the greater Kansas City area. [0] [0]: https://shawneemissionpost.com/2020/08/18/johnson-countys-reckoning-with-race-part-1-a-history-of-exclusion-99113/ https://shawneemissionpost.com/2020/08/18/johnson-countys-re...

managerclass 5y ago

Agreed. Anecdotal evidence coming from a suburb of a large city says absolutely nothing about diversity living in the rest of the US.

wincy 5y ago

Okay but the grandparent seemed to be stating that enjoying living in a place like this in the Midwest requires being white and straight. I think the main thing my neighbors all have in common is they have children and work professional middle class jobs. Also, I likely see the younger people, there are quite a few old people who retire in OP. The blue valley school districts have a makeup that skews fewer whites (70%) versus a place like San Francisco where whites apparently send their children to private schools rather than public schools. So in terms of actually raising children to meet people who are different than them, it seems like the Midwest is a clear winner. Despite whites making up 40% of the population of San Francisco, only 20% of the enrolled students are white.

sohdas 5y ago
> the grandparent seemed to be stating that enjoying living in a place like this in the Midwest requires being white and straight I don't think they meant that you can't own a house and lead a nice life if you're not straight and white. I think they just meant to say it's difficult to 'fit into' Midwestern culture if you don't fall into certain identity categories. While I'm from the Midwest and have fondness in my heart for it, I have to concede this is true from experience.

seanvk 5y ago

Overland Park is a part of Johnson County, KS which has a part in the history of segregation in the greater Kansas City area. [0] [0]: https://shawneemissionpost.com/2020/08/18/johnson-countys-reckoning-with-race-part-1-a-history-of-exclusion-99113/ https://shawneemissionpost.com/2020/08/18/johnson-countys-re...