Things you like that most other people don't like that you're not proud of

[Guynemer]

Yes, there is a wealth of terrific Lebanese cuisine to be had in my old hometown. Lots of other great Middle Eastern food as well.

Hummus.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Ouch, Drake pwned KH... that's not going to sit well in that relationship

[Drake Tungsten]

I'm allowed to be the dom every once in a while.

[KrazyHorse]

Yeah, unless you actually read his link. 120k is Lebanese in the entire state of Michigan.

[Drake Tungsten]

The vast majority of the Arab population in Michigan is concentrated in the Detroit metro. With 120k Lebanese in Michigan, there are easily more in Detroit than in Montreal.

edit: "Metropolitan Detroit is the largest concentration of Arabs outside of the Middle East. Over 350,000 people of Arabic heritage call Metro Detroit home."

http://www.allied-media.com/Arab-American/Arab%20american%20Demographics.htm

edit 2: Detroit – Arab Capital of North America

edit 3: The Arab American Institute estimates between 133k and 155k Lebanese in the Detroit Metro.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.doi.wayne.edu%2Fpdf%2Fkurt_metzger_-_demographic_presentationoct_2007.pdf&ei=HDJ-Srz1C4KRtgekquj_AQ&usg=AFQjCNEJ8f-AsGC0C7dBbZp9AtCeoUkWwQ

I think that's enough.

[KrazyHorse]

Yeah, except the arab-american website you linked to was vastly overstating populations (as might be expected). According to the 2000 US census, 54363 people in Michigan claimed Lebanese ancestry.

Having a hard time narrowing it to detroit currently. Will update when possible.

[KrazyHorse]

Holy **** the census website is slow.

[Asher]

Was talking to a guy yesterday who was a cop in Detroit for years and is of Lebanese descent.

Just thought I'd throw that out there, because of the randomness factor.

[KrazyHorse]

Drake, you can keep editing in references from arab websites and "multicultural" websites, but the US census tells me that you'd do better to find more impartial sources...

[Drake Tungsten]

The Census doesn't have information on the Lebanese population in the Detroit MSA; I'd use it if they did. The best thing the Census Bureau has to offer is this report, which isn't very helpful.

edit: Statistics Canada says there were almost 44k Lebanese in Montreal in 2001.

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-621-x/89-621-x2007015-eng.htm

That's slightly less than the official 44,329 the US Census Bureau reported for Detroit in 2000.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=3&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdoi.wayne.edu%2Fpdf%2Fkurt_metzger_-_demographic_presentationoct_2007.pdf&ei=eDV-SrmvG8-Ptgexk9X9AQ&usg=AFQjCNHPkSxOr0f6Fjv3-2qEicZpxfxIOw

[Drake Tungsten]

Arab Americans represent the largest immigrant group in the Detroit metropolitan area. The Arab American Institute Foundation estimates 490,000 Arab Americans live in Michigan [6]. More than 80% live in the three counties (Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne) of metropolitan Detroit, representing one of the largest concentrations of immigrant Arabs in the United States [6]. Based on census data, two-thirds of the immigrants are from Lebanon and Iraq and
include people of both Christian and Muslim religions [6]. The 2000 US Census, which is regarded as an underestimate, states the number of persons reporting Arab country ancestry in metropolitan Detroit is 124,520, representing 2.8% of the total population [15]. The true population count most likely lies between the US Census estimate and that of the Arab American Institute Foundation.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=9&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.naama.com%2Fpdf%2Farab-american-women-mammography-detroit.pdf&ei=oDZ-SqfHKsT7tgeC2PT8AQ&usg=AFQjCNHQuFRmEVPKvpayZsL5VMdhvGsjLQ

So we're looking at somewhere between 44k and 133k Lebanese in Detroit in 2000. What ****ty data...

[KrazyHorse]

That's slightly less than the official 44,329 the US Census Bureau reported for Detroit in 2000.

Note that that's for a geographic & population size significantly bigger than Montreal's

In other words, Montreal has an equal sized Lebanese population in a more conentrated area.

[Drake Tungsten]

No. Even if I accept your request to look only at official numbers, Montreal has less Lebanese than Detroit by ~1500 (45,384 for Detroit - almost 44,000 for Montreal).

Of course, there's wide agreement that the US Census numbers are an underestimate, while there seems to be no such controversy about Statistic Canada's numbers for Montreal. As such, the small advantage for Detroit in the official numbers is likely to be much larger in actuality. Detroit clearly has both more Arabs and more Lebanese than Montreal.

[KrazyHorse]

there's wide agreement that the US Census numbers are an underestimate

Among Arab American groups?

Yes, I'm sure.

[KrazyHorse]

And again, that's for the Detroit-Warren-Livonia MSA, which covers a geographic area of 10 000 sq. km (compared to 4300 for the corresponsing Montreal statistical area)