Question: Are there thoughts about difference between actual diversity in communities versus perception of diversity?

The full question that was submitted is below:

65% say they live in a diverse neighborhood yet our region is very segregated. Are there thoughts about difference between actual diversity in communities versus perception of diversity in how diverse those communities actually are?

We did not ask or record the neighborhoods of the respondents – the survey data was not that granular. And this question also makes a fantastic point – how do you define “diversity” in a community?

Is 10 percent population of a minority considered diversity? Or does it have to be a 40-60 percentage mix?

We did not define that in our survey as we wanted to survey attitudes, and most people have their own standards and sense of diversity. It could also be that some people do not live in “diverse” communities, but they engage with the small group of diverse population that does live in that community, and so they might feel that they live in a diverse neighborhood.

That’s a long, roundabout manner of saying – we do have similar questions and thoughts about it as the individual that sent us this question, but we do not have the research data (yet, hopefully) to quantify it better.