Greatest US Cities for Black People, according to The Coli?

murksiderock

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I'm interested in a few things:

•in your opinion, what makes a city great, or even comfortable, for black people? Use whatever criteria you deem acceptable;

•"black people" for me means any African descendant of The Diaspora. I don't play the purity games, but I'm leaving this open for posters to talk about which black ethnicities fare best in what locations;

•what are red flags that black folk should see when considering a city?

.......

I've never seen a streamlined thread on this particular topic, so I want to use this space for it. I'm curious into what people here view as good conditions to live black domestically, all responses are welcome!
 

Unfiltered

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Honestly I'd say a city more conservative leaning, probably a bit more restrictions on social activities but with emphasis on probably blue collar trades and factories. I know it sounds lame but I think for us, we this is better as those heavily integrated minority spots tend to have a stronger push towards white collar which leads to more classism, racism.

Unions are going away period in a sense but a union friendly city with blue collar jobs with a reasonable price col probably the best bet.

I hear little Rock is pretty black, if I was younger I'd probably move there, but I work at the post office, and I find a old lady and just call it a day. I kinda think the LA, NYC, Mia, DC will always be very tough for those without a certain mindset. I think
 

murksiderock

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Off gate for me, there has to be the foundation of a large, established community. You're not a "great" place to be black without the population, you can be good, you can be somewhat comfortable, but you can't be GREAT, and that's the level I'm seeking...

For this very reason, my hometown of Sacramento isn't a great place to be black. Sac has had black folk for 150 years but didn't begin developing a large presence in the city until roughly 2000. The good news about that, is that Black Sac has exploded in the last 20-25 years, and with it brought some of the foundational pillars of community (black eateries, black retail, etc)...

The sobering news is that our presence in Sac is still evolving, we just don't have the political representation we need or the unified community we need. Sacramento is intensely integrated in most of its neighborhoods, and you struggle creating a solid black front when everywhere you see black people, you see as many of everyone else, or more of everyone else, than black people. This doesn't mean we don't exist in the city, clearly there are places you can go in Sac and see many of us, but our presence is muted---->there's no neighborhood in Sac that reaches 30% black...

And I love Sacramento, its home and to witness to ascension of Black Sac in real time is an awesome and unique experience because most cities have deeply rooted and established black communities, but I'm using Sac as an example of why it isn't great. The city is ~13% black, which is twice as high as California as a whole, and higher than national average, but we don't have the firmly entrenched community that would make us a great place for black people. It's a good one though, and probably only second to LA at this point in California, but thats a distant second...

So having the foundation of a deeply rooted community is the starting point for me, and it goes beyond the numbers; I post statistics for context but everything has nuance. It's why I'd say Los Angeles is no longer "great" for black people, but is still close to it, it's still a very good place for us despite being ~8% black...

In a city of over 3.8 million people, 8% is still ~320,000 black people. Our roots in cultural Los Angeles are felt across different sectors of the city, and because LA's southern suburbs tend to have large black populations, it adds to the community feel in LA; LA's "Black Bubble" which encompasses all of South LA and some adjacent cities, is a city the size of Philadelphia and around ~29% black still, and is the heart of Black Los Angeles...

Again there are reasons I wouldn't consider LA "great" for us, but there are people who will tell you it isn't even a good place for us and point to the 8% population, and I'm using LA as a reason that 8% can't be looked at with face value. We have cultural and political representation in Los Angeles that we just don't have in cities like Sacramento that are statistically blacker...
 

murksiderock

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After the population for me are the indicators of upward black mobility, chiefly the black income and poverty rates, black educational attainment, centers that cater to black education--->and just to clarify this, this doesn't solely mean HBCUs, as HBCUs are largely institutions of places that were slavery dominant in colonialism. There are some great places to be black outside the South, some more that are really good, though I would say having a high performing HBCU is probably a benefit in this conversation...

But not having an HBCU isn't a detriment as there are other ways cities cater to black education without them...

The national black poverty rate is around 20%, the highest of any race nationally, and I'll be very direct. You are NOT a great place for us if your black poverty rate is approaching 30%, once you get over 25% it gets really dangerous to call you "great" for black people, because poverty is directly correlated to income, wages, and wealth. Cities with high black poverty have low black income levels, generally...

So for me, a city like Chicago that has 30-34% (varies by source but this is the ballpark) of black people living impoverished can't be considered a "great" place to live black, because that city is failing its black citizens miserably. To put into context, Black Chicagoans are waaayyy above the black poverty rate in NY (21-23%) and LA (20-24%), like it isn't even close. A freaking THIRD of Chicago's black people are impoverished...

I wouldn't recommend any city that's failing its black citizenry to such a degree to anyone black. And that's without getting into other issues like the crippling violence Black Chicagoans experience and other social issues. I'm not sure how good Chicago is for us but objectively it can't be called "great"...

In correlation, the black median household income is in the range of ~$45,000 nationally, and the black per capita income is in the range of ~$25,000. These numbers can be confusing because of the cost of living variance in different parts of the country, but I'll definitely say if your city is below this, you're in poor shape...
 

Ozymandeas

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Philly. People shyt on us but, we're one of the lowkey dope cities in America.

There's crime. You can avoid it if you stay out of certain areas.

D.C. is a close second but, it's too expensive. If it was in line with Philly or Baltimore's cost of living then it would be a good choice.
 

murksiderock

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Richmond's black mhi is around $39,000, and Richmond's black poverty rate is around 29%. Richmond is also one of the most violent cities in the country, Richmond's black education infrastructure is weak and black folk are fleeing the city...

I love Richmond, some of its strengths are its black political and cultural representation on the city at large. Rich's black history is truly beautiful and deeply rooted and fun to learn about, you can see vestiges of historic Black Rich today. Being black in Richmond gives you access to Rich's unique geography and culture...

It's not a "great" place to be black, though. "Good". Not great...
 

UberEatsDriver

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Brooklyn keeps on taking it.
Black people in every city = the same result.

Even in the most black capitols (DC and ATL) black people for the most part are not doing too well.

My opinion, just like for any other race in this country the best cities for black folks are cities that have lots of white collar corporate positions and high paying government jobs.

Now when it comes to fun and social life perhaps in these two topics we can have a discussion about which cities are the best for black people.
 

FrontoBama

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New York.

Largest continuous Black community (SE Queens and Central/North Brooklyn contain 3x ATL Black population in the same space.)

Largest overall Black population (Diversity neega)

Active political representation at every level (city councilmen to governors) Blacks have held every senior office in the state. (shoutout to Hakeem Jeffries).

Deepest Black militant presence and history in the North. The first civil rights march was in New York.

Functional Black dating scene where most Blacks marry other Blacks.

Public School System getting better but still kills Philly or Chicago.

Access to all major cities on the E/C

Top-Tier public university system (cuny) and state (suny)

Met Museum holds the overwhelming majority of stolen African (Benin Bronzes & Egypt) artifacts in America

Job opportunities at all levels and trades for Blacks, unions mandate it and firms love it for photo ops.

Superior Northern education. So many on this site don’t know even American history it hurts.

Incredible amount of social services, nearly 1 million people live rent free in the city.

building codes and city gov (much lower incidence of lead poisoning like Chicago or what’s going on in Jackson/Flint)

Global face card that grants you all kind of exclusives (Come check out my dispensary my New York friend!)

HARLEM USA

tired
 

murksiderock

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Black people in every city = the same result.

Even in the most black capitols (DC and ATL) black people for the most part are not doing too well.

My opinion, just like for any other race in this country the best cities for black folks are cities that have lots of white collar corporate positions and high paying government jobs.

Now when it comes to fun and social life perhaps in these two topics we can have a discussion about which cities are the best for black people.

Go ahead and talk about social life, what's stopping you? That's part of the math bro, because I also think we need a black social life that matches our population. Not every city has that...

I absolutely do not agree that every city is otherwise the same for black folk, though. That's objectively false...

The cities with the most government and white collar jobs is a fair talking point; not every city has these jobs in spades and that itself contradicts the thought that black folk are doing the same everywhere...

New York.

Largest continuous Black community (SE Queens and Central/North Brooklyn contain 3x ATL Black population in the same space.)

Largest overall Black population (Diversity neega)

Active political representation at every level (city councilmen to governors) Blacks have held every senior office in the state. (shoutout to Hakeem Jeffries).

Deepest Black militant presence and history in the North. The first civil rights march was in New York.

Functional Black dating scene where most Blacks marry other Blacks.

Public School System getting better but still kills Philly or Chicago.

Access to all major cities on the E/C

Top-Tier public university system (cuny) and state (suny)

Met Museum holds the overwhelming majority of stolen African (Benin Bronzes & Egypt) artifacts in America

Job opportunities at all levels and trades for Blacks, unions mandate it and firms love it for photo ops.

Superior Northern education. So many on this site don’t know even American history it hurts.

Incredible amount of social services, nearly 1 million people live rent free in the city.

building codes and city gov (much lower incidence of lead poisoning like Chicago or what’s going on in Jackson/Flint)

Global face card that grants you all kind of exclusives (Come check out my dispensary my New York friend!)

HARLEM USA

tired

Man this is a dope checklist to work off of! New York is definitely top tier, no question...

Alot of these are reasona I'd put North Carolina as a state, and Charlotte and Raleigh as cities, as top tier places for Black people...

I have three black daughters, two of whom are in Raleigh. We have the best public school system of any of the major cities in state, that's a huge plus. The education infrastructure in Raleigh is GOAT, from primary thru university, and the UNC school system gives access to great schools around the state. Two HBCUs, and there is a strong focus on black education here aside from just the HBCUs...

Charlotte has the largest black population in The Carolinas, both it and Raleigh have large and STILL GROWING black populations, which is a benefit it has over cities like NY, LA, Chi, and many others who are watching their black communities decline. Part of a healthy population is the ability to grow and it's an underrated point on here certainly; Carolina and Texas and Florida cities are growing tremendously, attracting black people from all over the country and even internationally (as well as a handful of cities outside these states like Columbus and Vegas and others who continue to explode in their black population)...

One of the things that gets undersold is black diversity, there are foreign blacks in NC, too. Part of the difference between most Southern cities compared to Midwest and coastal cities is there are less "enclaves", which I also think contributes to less segregation down south, which I think should be great for anyone black. We dont necessarily need "Little Belize" or "Little Guyana", or the like, those negroes move in with us and are welcomed with open arms...

The political representation black people have in NC as a whole and Rgh and Clt as cities is amazing, we're everywhere abd I love it. I think this is important for black people to see, we have to be able to see ourselves in leadership positions from city hall to the school board to public works and all the shyt. We got that in spades...

Watching black folk live in black middle and upper middle class neighborhoods is a benefit, so many cities have so little of this. Like with Sacramento, because there's no single neighborhood that reaches 30% black, there's no black middle class neighborhood; the black middle class in Sac lives immersed into neighborhoods with more of everyone else. Rich black folk live in neighborhoods surrounded by everyone else...

Richmond is similar, despite being 42% black, there is only 2-3 areas that are black middle class. Everyone else middle class and black, and wealthy, in Rich move into blended areas where there's more of everyone else...

Carolina cities have distinct BLACK hoods where we are doing well..

At this point being in North Carolina gives you a domestic face card 😆. I flew into El Paso yesterday and will be here two months, while waiting for the company van with a girl from Orlando, when I told her I live in NC she was like "I wanna move there so bad". This happened when I was in Idaho too; happened when I was in Upstate NY and was around many New Yorkers with NC as one of their top southern destinations; in California NC isn't as big a destination as Texas but you run into this sentiment about NC every once in awhile...

Black people are excited to get to NC from other places and when you in other states people get excited to talk about NC with you...
 
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