Who would you rather have living next to you as your neighbor?

[NNN0LHI]

[madrchsod]

1. well i live 35-40 miles from blackwater north...

that`s to close for me...

[Norquist Nemesis]

3. ROFL!

Love that 'ronnieland' in your profile...Describes the area perfectly right down to the "Reagan Tollway" --UGH!!!! (I'm in southern DuPage)

[madrchsod]

9. you would`t believe how low key things are now

since denny is no longer in power..even the shaw newspapers are running "liberal" op-eds. well liberal for the old guard republican family that owns the news group

[MADem]

2. I live across the street from non-American citizens. They're here on visas.

They're great neighbors, too. I also live not far from a load of folks with green cards who are RESIDENT ALIENS.

Why would anyone have a problem with people who aren't American citizens? All of us have ancestors in that category--even the ones who have been here the longest, and walked across an old land bridge to get here. The question is kind of silly.

Were you trying to draw a contrast between US citizens and undocumented aliens? The whole Immigration question? Because if you were, your question doesn't take into account the huge number of foreigners who are here, quite legally, on work and student visas.

[PsN2Wind]

6. It's said that idealism increases by the square

of the distance from the problem. So I'm guessing that you folks in Mass. are somewhat less impacted by the immigrants than those of us in Southern Arizona.
All of our ancestors did come from somewhere. When my Bohemian grandparents immigrated to this country, they were offered the opportunity to homestead in the Oklahoma Panhandle. No food stamps, no WIC, no ADC, no earned income tax credit, no social security, no section 8.....only the chance, if they made it, to prove up on a patch of dirt from which they could scratch out a living, in the good years. And they, and those like them, were needed to fill vast, empty sections of the country. Those vast empty sections that can support life are for the most part gone so the new immigrants, legal and illegal, end up in the cities, most of which are already strained to provide services for those here legally. Adding another 40 million or so, by the time the newly minted legal residents bring in their spouses and children, is going to be an economic nightmare, one we are already facing in Arizona and the other states bordering Mexico.

[MADem]

15. I rather doubt it. I live nearby a predominantly hispanic city, and the city with the largest

Cambodian population in the US. I interact daily with Central Americans, Dominicans, Venezuelans, Columbians and so on. Of course, there are also large numbers of my fellow Americans, Puerto Ricans, living nearby as well. There aren't as many MEXICANS up this way, but head down to southern MA, and you'll find massive numbers of folks from the Azores. Head to the Cape, and check out the massive legal AND illegal population--that area is Little Jamaica/Little Brazil, nowadays.

Your immigrant "problem" (if you want to call it that) is pretty well homogenized. You can point the finger at those MEXICANS because they're the ones that hang around your way. The ones coming from further south, and often by AIR on a tourist visa, come here to Massachusetts and other states. I'd hardly say that we're "distant" from the effects of immigration in any way, shape or form. I just don't think the sky is falling. I think we can come to some sort of fair accomodation that respects people's rights and doesn't unduly burden people who want to participate in the American experience.

From an article two years ago:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/06/19/immigrant_labor_force_booming/

Today, 1 in 7 Massachusetts residents was born in another country. In Boston, that number is 1 in 4. In Chelsea, where the concentration of immigrants is highest, 1 in 3 residents is foreign born.

The foreign-born share of the labor force has doubled since 1980, to 17 percent.

Between 2000 and 2003, Brazil sent the most immigrants to Massachusetts; 1 out of 5 new arrivals was from that country.

America is strengthened by our immigrant populations. People said shit about my ancestors too. To hell with them. We certainly do need to make the process orderly and fair, but frankly, to blame the people who are here now, because George Bush stood on the front porch screaming GO AWAY!!! while motioning everyone to sneak around to the kitchen door and come on in, is well, a time-wasting exercise.

Massachusetts has a substantial immigrant population, and it continues to increase. We simply have a bit more variety in our population than, say, AZ or NM.

[Marrah_G]

17. My friend is coaching Chelsea football now

He said they are a tough bunch of immigrant kids, they have a ton of heart and will do great if they can manage to pass all their academics and not get killed by the gangs. He's trying to find some sort of tutoring program for them, since Boston college runs the school.

It's going to be an interesting season.

[MADem]

19. I was born in Chelsea...a long, long, LONG time ago, when those mean streets

looked somewhat different--but were still pretty mean. Chelsea is a gutsy town; those gutsy kids will make it great someday.

[PsN2Wind]

20. You may have a more diverse immigrant population

than Arizona but according to the Pew Institute, Arizona has twice the number or more of illegal immigrants than Mass. with a slightly smaller population.

[MADem]

22. Well, keep in mind that ours are all crammed into the eastern part of the state, too.

They aren't off in agriculture sectors or spread out evenly. They're clustered around major cities, pretty much east of Worcester/Springfield.

I really don't see it as a "contest" in any event as to who has the most immigration. Immigrants, after all, will tend to go where the WORK is--their goal, at the end of the day, is to make a living.

All I'm saying is that we aren't unaffected by an influx of newcomers to our state. That said, MA has been LOSING population over the last several decades, and many of these immigrants serve to "fill in the blanks" as it were.

[BeyondThePale]

4. Personally, I would prefer Salma Hayek or Penelope Cruz...

but, that is just me...

[TahitiNut]

8. No... that's not just you.

:shrug:

[jeff30997]

5. I lived next to non-American citizens all my life...

Well I'm Canadian so...

[MedleyMisty]

7. Definitely the non-American citizen

My husband and I have already decided that when we buy a house it's probably going to be over sort of near Central in the Plaza-Midwood neighborhood. The neighborhood where many of the business signs are in Spanish and various Asian languages.

My job involves going around to lots of residental developments all day, and really most of the ones around here are fairly diverse. I still wouldn't want to live in one, though. No mini McMansion for me.

[RB TexLa]

10. It's not any of my business who lives next to me

I could have both living next to me and wouldn't know.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

11. Couldn't Care Less. Either Would Be Fine.

[Edweird]

12. The illegals are already my neighbors.

And they are for the most part decent neighbors and employees. For the record my in-laws are Guatemalan immigrants.

[newportdadde]

13. You left off "Doesn't matter as long as the asshole doesn't park on my grass".

[Marrah_G]

14. Another stupid push poll

[MADem]

16. Well, it doesn't distinguish between resident aliens and undocumented workers. It comes off like a

"Love them furriners?/Hate them furriners?" type exercise. Consequently, even the "pushing" aspect of the poll is pretty frigging useless. Which group are we pushing against? Or for? That German family working for VW that is here on visas? That apartment full of Indian guys working at Microsuck? That house with all those Mexicans, or is it Guatemalans, with the dented truck full of landscaping equipment? Those university students from Kenya? How about that Irish guy who came here two decades ago, got married, but is still "undocumented?" Those Jamaican ladies who live down the street and are nannies to the rich families across town?

I mean, really...who's the target with this little exercise?

I have an OPINION as to who the target might be, but, hey, it's just an opinion...and we know what they're like!!!

[Jim Warren]

24. Yup

:boring:

[Critters2]

26. That was exactly my thought. A push poll.

And I never respond to push polls.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. I'd rather be living next to illegal immigrants.

Than any republican.

[LostInAnomie]

21. Is either one of them a hot chick of questionable moral virtue?

Preferably, tall and brunette. :loveya:

[AZBlue]

23. George Clooney!!!!!

Oh, damn....that wasn't a choice!

[sanskritwarrior]

25. Since my neighbor here in Hawaii

is a contractor invovled in interrogation, I'll pick her over an illegal immigrant anyday. Some people at DU have gone round the bend again I see about what contractors actually do...........What if that illegal immigrant was a child molester?? Or that contractor gave 90% of their income to the Democratic party............:eyes: