Maryland Diversity

Yesterday's Baltimore Sun had a story about some recent Maryland census results. It confirmed something that I, at least anecdotally, have observed for many years.

Diversity in Maryland is on the rise.

According to the article, the number of foreign-born residents in the Baltimore metro area has increased 38 percent in the last six years. In Howard County, more than 16 percent of our 272,452 residents are foreign born. Over half of them are Asian. (Looking at my sons' former high school I think it's safe to say most of Howard County's foreign-born Asians are from Korea. In Howard County, bilingual education means English and Korean, not English and Spanish.)

Living in the metro areas of Maryland, especially Howard County, you see all sorts cultures and ethnicities represented. After a while you just think that's the norm everywhere. I was always taken aback by the lack of diversity whenever I visited my parents in Michigan. I'd walk around their local mall and think "Why are there only white people here?"

Other notable stats the census bureau revealed about Maryland:

• Maryland and New York are virtually tied for longest average commute times. The mean travel time for Maryland workers is 30m36s. New York's is 30m54s. (Mine is about 20 minutes if I avoid evening rush hour on US-29 where it can easily balloon to 45 minutes.)
• Of any state, Maryland has the highest percentage of people with advanced degrees (15.7%).

I suppose diversity such as ours might seem unusual to some. But it works out well for me. There are Asian, Hispanic, and Middle-Eastern markets each less than 15 minutes from my house.

As long as I don't go at rush hour.
K-