murksiderock
Superstar
Off top, we all recognize that there is no truly "chocolate city" in the Western United States. Honestly there aren't many outside the Southeast, and within the Southeast most of the true "black cities", are not the bigger cities.
So immediate acknowledgement that there are no "chocolate cities" out west, so this question shouldn't be interpreted as such.
I live in Raleigh, everyone knows I'm a native Californian, so I was recently asked what were the best cities for black people out west, and it got me thinking about what I'm creating with this thread.
Every single Westerner, or people familiar with The West, will tell you that the top three black areas are between LA, The Bay, and Vegas; most people would tell you Vegas is #3.
I've always found the debate between whether LA or The Bay is #1 to be nonsense, LA clearly remains the #1 city for us out west. But putting my personally opinion aside, the Big 3 are The Bay, Vegas, LA...
My main question I'm asking the black posters on this board, what are the next strongest places for us after The Big 3?
I've never been to Seattle or Phoenix but, Seattle has a ton of black history, and is popular in some black circles because of that. Phoenix is less historically relevant than Seattle for us but has had (like Vegas) an explosion in black community and culture for years now, since the 90s.
I would make a significant argument in favor of Sacramento and the greater Sacramento/Central Valley nowadays. I'd make an argument for Denver as well.
Then after those places it kinda falls flat. Never been to Portland but it doesn't really register on the scale of of relevance for us like that (though I've had several relatives do stints living there and every single relative loved it there)...I love Reno but it isn't somewhere that registers as that important.
San Diego is out, its in the Portland tier of black relevance, black people don't go to SD to experience black community and culture.
I have a sister in Tucson who can't wait to leave to blacker environs when she graduates in '27, so they aren't it. El Paso and nowhere in New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, or Montana are even in the running (thoygh I'm an SLC fan)
Honorable mention, black people actually speak pretty well about Colorado Springs, so maybe that's a sleeper, but I haven't been.
Tell me how you'd order, I guess a Top 5 list based on black interests, in The West, and why you ranked them the way you do!
So immediate acknowledgement that there are no "chocolate cities" out west, so this question shouldn't be interpreted as such.
I live in Raleigh, everyone knows I'm a native Californian, so I was recently asked what were the best cities for black people out west, and it got me thinking about what I'm creating with this thread.
Every single Westerner, or people familiar with The West, will tell you that the top three black areas are between LA, The Bay, and Vegas; most people would tell you Vegas is #3.
I've always found the debate between whether LA or The Bay is #1 to be nonsense, LA clearly remains the #1 city for us out west. But putting my personally opinion aside, the Big 3 are The Bay, Vegas, LA...
My main question I'm asking the black posters on this board, what are the next strongest places for us after The Big 3?
I've never been to Seattle or Phoenix but, Seattle has a ton of black history, and is popular in some black circles because of that. Phoenix is less historically relevant than Seattle for us but has had (like Vegas) an explosion in black community and culture for years now, since the 90s.
I would make a significant argument in favor of Sacramento and the greater Sacramento/Central Valley nowadays. I'd make an argument for Denver as well.
Then after those places it kinda falls flat. Never been to Portland but it doesn't really register on the scale of of relevance for us like that (though I've had several relatives do stints living there and every single relative loved it there)...I love Reno but it isn't somewhere that registers as that important.
San Diego is out, its in the Portland tier of black relevance, black people don't go to SD to experience black community and culture.
I have a sister in Tucson who can't wait to leave to blacker environs when she graduates in '27, so they aren't it. El Paso and nowhere in New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, or Montana are even in the running (thoygh I'm an SLC fan)
Honorable mention, black people actually speak pretty well about Colorado Springs, so maybe that's a sleeper, but I haven't been.
Tell me how you'd order, I guess a Top 5 list based on black interests, in The West, and why you ranked them the way you do!
