Why is NOVA so racially integrated?

[ProgressiveModerate]

It's one of the few areas of the US where there is clear racial segregation between neighborhoods. On the Maryland side of the DC metro, you still have a very clear black communtiy in Ann Arundle and a small Hispanic and then White Communities to the West.

How was NOVA able to achieve this and will we see more nationally in the coming years? A few areas that come to mind that seem close are: Suburban NJ, Western Houston, Saremento, and some areas of the Bay areas

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

Because so much of the non-white community here consists of the extended families of high-education, high-skill immigrants. There typically isn't as much of a stark class barrier.

[Sol]

It's really not too odd--most major American cities, especially newer-growth ones, are very diverse and many suburbs often reflect that. NOVA's diversity isn't really too different from the diversity you see in Fort Bend or Gwinnett County, except with a bit more of professional tendency given the DMV's employment patterns.

[It’s so Joever]

Honestly it’s like that in most newburbs. Denver suburbs also are relatively racially “integrated” (not to the extent of NoVa) At least newburbs tend to be more integrated than oldburbs.

[jamestroll]

Where I live there is not really a specific white or Asian neighborhood but those are the main two population groups in my census designated place. Along with a sizeable Hispanic population.

In the complex I am in, I would say Asians slightly outnumber whites.

[Tintrlvr]

These days racial segregation in residences is primarily, though not exclusively, due to where families used to live back when legal segregation was more real (whether explicit legal segregation such as laws and land covenants governing where different races could live or implicit legal segregation such as redlining and racially biased lending practices). People don't actually move around that much, so the patterns of 30 or 50 or 80 years ago largely hold up, leaving communities across the country often starkly racially segregated in the same way they were up through the 1980s. But in areas that have been mostly built up within the past few decades, after the end of most explicit and implicit legal segregation, where there were no or many fewer residents in, say, 1990, communities are much more racially integrated. NOVA isn't unique in that regard, as others have observed.

[lfromnj]

These days racial segregation in residences is primarily, though not exclusively, due to where families used to live back when legal segregation was more real (whether explicit legal segregation such as laws and land covenants governing where different races could live or implicit legal segregation such as redlining and racially biased lending practices). People don't actually move around that much, so the patterns of 30 or 50 or 80 years ago largely hold up, leaving communities across the country often starkly racially segregated in the same way they were up through the 1980s. But in areas that have been mostly built up within the past few decades, after the end of most explicit and implicit legal segregation, where there were no or many fewer residents in, say, 1990, communities are much more racially integrated. NOVA isn't unique in that regard, as others have observed.

Non black Segregation can also be due to self selection or what types of jobs are there. in Chicago it's pretty clear even if there was white flight from SW Chicacgo, those white ethnics were replaced by hispanic workers.

[jamestroll]

I wish there more Latinos around here.

[Del Tachi]

Sol's answer is the most correct.  New growth suburbs tend to be racially integrated only because the population growth defining metroes like Atlanta, Houston, D.C., etc. is itself very diverse.

The only additional wrinkle I'll add is that Northern Virginian is somewhat unique among eastern suburbs for how Asian it is, and these well-educated and affluent Asians typically are able to settle into historically preferred White neighborhoods. 

[Smash255]

Sol's answer is the most correct.  New growth suburbs tend to be racially integrated only because the population growth defining metroes like Atlanta, Houston, D.C., etc. is itself very diverse.

The only additional wrinkle I'll add is that Northern Virginian is somewhat unique among eastern suburbs for how Asian it is, and these well-educated and affluent Asians typically are able to settle into historically preferred White neighborhoods. 

Northern VA isn't the only eastern suburb with a decent sized Asian population.  Portions of suburban New Jersey would fit into that category.  There is also a fairly large Asian population in NE Queens through much of northern Nassau County.

[Del Tachi]

Sol's answer is the most correct.  New growth suburbs tend to be racially integrated only because the population growth defining metroes like Atlanta, Houston, D.C., etc. is itself very diverse.

The only additional wrinkle I'll add is that Northern Virginian is somewhat unique among eastern suburbs for how Asian it is, and these well-educated and affluent Asians typically are able to settle into historically preferred White neighborhoods. 

Northern VA isn't the only eastern suburb with a decent sized Asian population.  Portions of suburban New Jersey would fit into that category.  There is also a fairly large Asian population in NE Queens through much of northern Nassau County.

My point was that Asians in NOVA are very college-educated and more likely to work in high-earning STEM fields, which means they are more likely to live among mostly White neighbors rather than in the Asian-majority ethnic enclaves you find in Queens/Nassau.

[lfromnj]

Sol's answer is the most correct.  New growth suburbs tend to be racially integrated only because the population growth defining metroes like Atlanta, Houston, D.C., etc. is itself very diverse.

The only additional wrinkle I'll add is that Northern Virginian is somewhat unique among eastern suburbs for how Asian it is, and these well-educated and affluent Asians typically are able to settle into historically preferred White neighborhoods. 

Northern VA isn't the only eastern suburb with a decent sized Asian population.  Portions of suburban New Jersey would fit into that category.  There is also a fairly large Asian population in NE Queens through much of northern Nassau County.

My point was that Asians in NOVA are very college-educated and more likely to work in high-earning STEM fields, which means they are more likely to live among mostly White neighbors rather than in the Asian-majority ethnic enclaves you find in Queens/Nassau.

NJ has relatively segregated Asian areas for its suburbs and a lot of those workers still work in STEM. As I stated a large portion of segregation is self selection.

[Smash255]

Sol's answer is the most correct.  New growth suburbs tend to be racially integrated only because the population growth defining metroes like Atlanta, Houston, D.C., etc. is itself very diverse.

The only additional wrinkle I'll add is that Northern Virginian is somewhat unique among eastern suburbs for how Asian it is, and these well-educated and affluent Asians typically are able to settle into historically preferred White neighborhoods. 

Northern VA isn't the only eastern suburb with a decent sized Asian population.  Portions of suburban New Jersey would fit into that category.  There is also a fairly large Asian population in NE Queens through much of northern Nassau County.

My point was that Asians in NOVA are very college-educated and more likely to work in high-earning STEM fields, which means they are more likely to live among mostly White neighbors rather than in the Asian-majority ethnic enclaves you find in Queens/Nassau.

I wasn't so much talking about areas like Flushing as much as Bayside/ Douglaston Little Neck in Queens or southern Great Neck, Roslyn, Jericho & Syosset in Nassau.  Those areas are primarily well educated UMC and tend to have a large Asian population, but are still for the most part majority white.