Black Cities of The West...

[shopthatwrecks]

Black Denver is dope. Smallish (8% black, 58,000 black people in the city; 5% black, 154,000 black people in the metro)...

But Northeast Denver is 18% black, more than twice as black as the overall city. Our presence, culture, and community is absolutely felt if you're in the Northeast, or adjacent areas in the city of Aurora.

Denver is 100% on the board for me as a long term relocation option when I can finally head back West, and among several reasons, a chief reason is how much beauty and love I got from Black Denverites while I was there. Can't wait to get back!

went to montbello when i was younger.... that shyt was crip central......all them nikkas sounded like ice t to me

got a gang of cousin in denver the hood side was in montbello shyt was crazy as hell

 

[murksiderock]

The most recent 2024 estimates for the Black Bay Area, source below:

https://data.census.gov/table/ACSSE2024.K200201?q=Oakland+city,+California&d=ACS+1-Year+Supplemental+Estimates

•Oakland 82,238 (18.5%), -10.2% since 2020
•San Francisco 41,300 (5%), -7.3%
•San Jose 31,136 (3.1%), +13.5%
•Vallejo 21,211 (17.2%), -13.2%
•Antioch 17,829 (15.1%), -24.8%
•Richmond 17,493 (15.2%), -19.58%
•Pittsburg 15,999 (20.7%), +28.6%
•Hayward 13,049 (8.2%), -6.8%
•Berkeley 10,586 (8.7%), -2.8%
•Daly City 3503 (3.5%), +48.4%
•East Palo Alto 1875 (6.4%), -41.2%
•Marin City 741 (20.6%), -6.7%

The Bay in total, has a black community of 418,432, which is down 3.7% from 2020's 434,686 black people; this accounts for 5.5% of The Bay's overall population.

A silver lining here, is that there are still some black people staying in The Bay, as evidenced by black population growth in Daly City, Pittsburg, and San Jose. But more people are leaving than moving elsewhere in the region.

I would say majority of Bay movers are going to the Sacramento/San Joaquin Valley, as well as to Nevada (both Vegas and Reno have a TON of Bay transplants), but plenty Bay natives are and have headed back south.

 

[murksiderock]

went to montbello when i was younger.... that shyt was crip central......all them nikkas sounded like ice t to me

got a gang of cousin in denver the hood side was in montbello shyt was crazy as hell

Yeah Montbello is in Northeast and Montbello is 18.3% black. I was fukking around with a chick right up the street from Montbello in Green Valley Ranch (GVR), which is 29.8% black.

Montbello still Crip heavy, "Bello Crips". Park Hill is Blood heavy. I fukk with Denver and its still on my permanent relocation list.

 

[RugbyMan]

I stay shyttin on Seattle, but after being in and out of it for a decade, you gotta put it last on the list… even underneath Portland. The most docile disconnected negroes you’ll ever meet reside in Seattle. The black population and people of color in general place whiteness on a pedestal to the likes you wouldn’t believe. And much of the black population are east African immigrants obsessed with assimilating into whiteness.

Seattle is bedwench central. My wife (Pakistani/ Indian) had an extensive group of female friends of color, and every single one of them was with an unimpressive cac but them chicks acted like they won the lottery. My wife eventually had to leave that group alone. Some years back I was talking to some Seahawks brehs in a club in Bellevue, and every Black/ Asian/ Latina chick was walking right past them to aggressively swoon over school shooter looking cacs.

Seattle is a city to attain economic prosperity and then dip. But if you’re looking for that soulful and enriching black experience it ain’t it. Nikkas won’t even give you the head nod, and the bedwenches will treat you with outright contempt. Even you “safe” negroes.

 

[murksiderock]

I stay shyttin on Seattle, but after being in and out of it for a decade, you gotta put it last on the list… even underneath Portland. The most docile disconnected negroes you’ll ever meet reside in Seattle. The black population and people of color in general place whiteness on a pedestal to the likes you wouldn’t believe. And much of the black population are east African immigrants obsessed with assimilating into whiteness.

Seattle is bedwench central. My wife (Pakistani/ Indian) had an extensive group of female friends of color, and every single one of them was with an unimpressive cac but them chicks acted like they won the lottery. My wife eventually had to leave that group alone. Some years back I was talking to some Seahawks brehs in a club in Bellevue, and every Black/ Asian/ Latina chick was walking right past them to aggressively swoon over school shooter looking cacs.

Seattle is a city to attain economic prosperity and then dip. But if you’re looking for that soulful and enriching black experience it ain’t it. Nikkas won’t even give you the head nod, and the bedwenches will treat you with outright contempt. Even you “safe” negroes.

Even in South Seattle proper (18.5% black) and South King County cities like SeaTac 30.7%; Tukwila 22.4%; Federal Way 18.5%; Boulevard Park 16.8%; White Center 13.9%; Kent 11.5%; Renton 10%; Des Moines 9.2%; Covington 7.9%; Burien 7.6%;

Even in these areas you don't think you can have an enriching black experience?

All of these cities besides Covington and Renton are along that I-5 corridor, south of Seattle, and are contiguous and heavily populated with black residents, it just seems like there should be some authentic black culture in this area.

 

[RugbyMan]

Even in South Seattle proper (18.5% black) and South King County cities like SeaTac 30.7%; Tukwila 22.4%; Federal Way 18.5%; Boulevard Park 16.8%; White Center 13.9%; Kent 11.5%; Renton 10%; Des Moines 9.2%; Covington 7.9%; Burien 7.6%;

Even in these areas you don't think you can have an enriching black experience?

All of these cities besides Covington and Renton are along that I-5 corridor, south of Seattle, and are contiguous and heavily populated with black residents, it just seems like there should be some authentic black culture in this area.

Originally lived right off MLK in south Seattle when I first came out here, and worked in Renton and Tukwila for a bit. I stand by what I originally wrote. Can’t speak on other areas you listed, but it’s all the same culture (Tacoma has a black population, but they seem stuck in the 90s with their slang and demeanor).

In Seattle You’ll have black folks with BLM shirts and posting “woke” content on social media, but will exclusively date cacs and try to build their social circle around white people. Everything is very performative.

It’s hard to find a decent barber, hearty seasoned food, and people with Black humor or who understand certain references. In a city with this population, these are not things that should have to be searched for. They should just be your experience as you leave your door and navigate through the city. They live in a silo and when you point out their disconnection to the rest of Black America they can’t process what you’re talking about.

 

[ReturnOfJudah]

Marin City Ca

 

[daemonova]

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!

Quik beat u by a few decades

 

[murksiderock]

Finna expound on this in a minute.

Also, all these hoods have a decimated black population today, but besides Potrero Hill, are all still really black for San Francisco:

Bayview-Hunters Point 23.8% black
Fillmore 10.9%
Lakeview 8.6%
Sunnydale 6.5%
SoMa 6.1%
Potrero Hill 3.5%