Nashville, a diverse district that is 72% poor and 68% minority, has struggled.

WSJ: Segregation Fear Sinks Charter School

Popular in Mexico, and sometimes linked to the illicit drug trade, the skeleton saint known as La Santa Muerte in recent years has found a robust and diverse following north of the border: immigrant small business owners, artists, gay activists and the poor, among others many of them non-Latinos and not all involved with organized religion.

WSJ: Underworld saint becoming more popular in US

The boardwalk is the obvious draw, a tourist attraction stretching about four miles along the coast with a diverse mass of humanity -- rich and poor, young and old, black and white, families and miscreants -- tromping up and down the wooden slats.

BBC: Atlantic City��s fading boardwalk empire

Today, Lapa attracts an equally diverse mix of cariocas (Rio locals) - rich and poor, favela dweller and condo-owner alike - all drawn to the old-fashioned gafieiras (dance halls) and the electric sound that crackles over these battered, rhythm-filled sidewalks.

BBC: Searching for the perfect samba beat