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

[Swirv]

I like well run cities and towns where health of the community is a priority and crime rates are low.

Also, education is important for bringing up kids. Along with those, I prefer places where discrimination are kept to a minimum and opportunities for economy are plentiful.

With that said, I vote for Massachusetts being the best place for black folks.

 

[BigMan]

DMV

 

[ISO]

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

Also some of the city suburbs have a good % of middle to upper class black people in Long Island, Westchester, Rockland, Jersey, Poconos, etc. depending on the county, town, village.

I lived in Buffalo and there was not a single suburb with a respectable population of black people even with the inner city particularly the East side being close to exclusively black.

 

[ISO]

I love Philly and it’s low key always under appreciated. I get laughed at when I say it’s my favorite city in America. But it’s one of the last major cities on the east thst feels like a city… working class, blue collar that hasn’t been fully gentrified. Crime has been crazy though

The nightlife is weak though and it’s just too dangerous to call it “great” old ass infrastructure too.

I fukk with Philly tho been considering investing in property there.

 

[murksiderock]

2020 5 yr estimate - 22.1%

2021 1 yr estimate - 21.8%

Also, I think something needs to be said specifically about income/wealthy stratification and inequality.

As in the negative effects of black poverty are intensified the more the non-black rate of poverty rate is less than it and/or non black wealth exceeds black wealth in a given location. That means the more black folk are UNIQUELY vulnerable to economic exploitation, economic soft targets per say, by wealthier/less impoverished non blacks in their immediate vicinity the more you get- abundance of non-blacks owning businesses in the hood, gentrification, environmental racism, over policing, mass incarceration etc of the local black community. Not to mention the psychological effects it has on the black communities collective sense of self worth and esteem.







I actually plan on doing an entire thread in a similar vein as your census black pop thread on it. Been fkn with the data.census site a lot lately. Still tryna get the hang of it and finesse it the way it need it + working on javascript programming to tap into the apis more efficiently so I can format it how i want.

In Virginia Beach, Black People Are Closing the Wealth Gap

Virginia Beach landed on the top spot of cities where African Americans fare best economically and where Black businesses thrive.

www.washingtoninformer.com

According to the personal finance website Smart Asset, Virginia Beach also has the seventh-highest median Black household income, at roughly $65,600, and the sixth-highest Black labor force participation rate, at 78.7 percent.

.............

I'm gonna continue to advocate for Virginia Beach as one of the very best cities for black people in America. The national black mhi is ~$45,000---->VIRGINIA BEACH IS OVER 40% HIGHER THAN THAT!

Top 10 in median household income and labor participation rate. Top 10 primary education district in Virginia (Virginia Beach City School District). Only behind Philly and Detroit in black homeownership rate (43.9%). No large city is "cheap" to live especially on the coasts, but VB isn't crazy expensive, black people can afford to live here...

And for those it matters to, weed is legal in Virginia . And the city is right in the middle politically, not too far right or left...

Virginia Beach doesn't have a major university within city limits, but it has two things in its favor: a)branches of ODU and VT within the city, in addition to several smaller colleges; and b)it is in VIRGINIA, a Top 10 state in primary education and Top 12 in higher education. This means a black child growing up in The Beach not only grows up within one of the strongest school districts in VA, that child has access to all of higher education infrastructure of the entire Commonwealth...

The city is 18-19% black in a city of ~460,000 people, comfortably above national average, so community is here. Virginia Beach is pretty integrated, which I think is a plus, but not intensely so the way Sac is which is a minus as we have no black majority neighborhood in Sac and few plurality black neighborhoods---->The Beach itself has just one majority black neighborhood, and only four neighborhoods that are plurality Black:

•Campus East, 65.7%, mhi $69,343
•Level Green/College Park, 48.7%, mhi $65,247
•Boulevard Manor, 39.3% (not the greatest neighborhood but not completely fukked up, mhi is below city average for black people)
•Lake Edward/Baker, 38.6% (this is the hood though and not anywhere you'd suggest someone with resources to go better to move, but I'm listing it solely for the purpose of it being a hood where black people are the largest demo)

But the typical Beach neighborhood on the NW and SW sides where most black folk are, is between 20-25% black and integrated among other groups, there aren't many majority-anybody hoods in NWVB or SWVB. That integration provides a balanced cultural education for black people growing up and living in VB, who experience the spectrum of living around others...

So community is here, and just to contextualize the contrast, Norfolk has around 25-26 plurality-to-majority black neighborhoods compared to VB's 4, and only one on the level of Campus East or Level Green ($60k-plus mhi)---->that's Poplar Hall/Woodbine...

The Beach has one of the lowest black poverty rates of large cities (only 10% per the link), which correlates in part to VB's low rate of violent crime; the city is only at 19 homicides with 39 days left in '22, and this is a higher than average year in murders. Understanding that all 19 victims weren't black, in a city with over 82,000 black people, this trend true also of robbery and assaults are all much lower against black people in VB than almost everywhere...

In most cases the social life of The Beach and Nfk is intertwined, and to the extent of value of black social life, it's excellent here: black businesses in abundance, black events, places for Black people to go be around other black people.

Listen, I've lived in 14-15 cities across 7 states. I've been to 33 of the 50 states here and half of the major cities. I've been around, the greatest lived experience I've seem for black folk are Virginia Beach and Raleigh, with Charlotte a little behind...

I live in Raleigh. I lived in VB before here, and lived in Charlotte before there...

Ultimately, I plan on moving back to VB to live my life out in wonderful fashion once my daughters get a little older. I prefer it to anywhere I've ever lived, including Raleigh where I'm at now, and have grown to love itself. If life happens and plans change and I end up stuck in Raleigh, it's certainly not the worst thing that could happen to me...

But I love Virginia Beach and it has as strong an argument as any city as being the best city for black people in the US!

 

[daboywonder2002]

In Virginia Beach, Black People Are Closing the Wealth Gap

Virginia Beach landed on the top spot of cities where African Americans fare best economically and where Black businesses thrive.

www.washingtoninformer.com

According to the personal finance website Smart Asset, Virginia Beach also has the seventh-highest median Black household income, at roughly $65,600, and the sixth-highest Black labor force participation rate, at 78.7 percent.

.............

I'm gonna continue to advocate for Virginia Beach as one of the very best cities for black people in America. The national black mhi is ~$45,000---->VIRGINIA BEACH IS OVER 40% HIGHER THAN THAT!

Top 10 in median household income and labor participation rate. Top 10 primary education district in Virginia (Virginia Beach City School District). Only behind Philly and Detroit in black homeownership rate (43.9%). No large city is "cheap" to live especially on the coasts, but VB isn't crazy expensive, black people can afford to live here...

And for those it matters to, weed is legal in Virginia . And the city is right in the middle politically, not too far right or left...

Virginia Beach doesn't have a major university within city limits, but it has two things in its favor: a)branches of ODU and VT within the city, in addition to several smaller colleges; and b)it is in VIRGINIA, a Top 10 state in primary education and Top 12 in higher education. This means a black child growing up in The Beach not only grows up within one of the strongest school districts in VA, that child has access to all of higher education infrastructure of the entire Commonwealth...

The city is 18-19% black in a city of ~460,000 people, comfortably above national average, so community is here. Virginia Beach is pretty integrated, which I think is a plus, but not intensely so the way Sac is which is a minus as we have no black majority neighborhood in Sac and few plurality black neighborhoods---->The Beach itself has just one majority black neighborhood, and only four neighborhoods that are plurality Black:

•Campus East, 65.7%, mhi $69,343
•Level Green/College Park, 48.7%, mhi $65,247
•Boulevard Manor, 39.3% (not the greatest neighborhood but not completely fukked up, mhi is below city average for black people)
•Lake Edward/Baker, 38.6% (this is the hood though and not anywhere you'd suggest someone with resources to go better to move, but I'm listing it solely for the purpose of it being a hood where black people are the largest demo)

But the typical Beach neighborhood on the NW and SW sides where most black folk are, is between 20-25% black and integrated among other groups, there aren't many majority-anybody hoods in NWVB or SWVB. That integration provides a balanced cultural education for black people growing up and living in VB, who experience the spectrum of living around others...

So community is here, and just to contextualize the contrast, Norfolk has around 25-26 plurality-to-majority black neighborhoods compared to VB's 4, and only one on the level of Campus East or Level Green ($60k-plus mhi)---->that's Poplar Hall/Woodbine...

The Beach has one of the lowest black poverty rates of large cities (only 10% per the link), which correlates in part to VB's low rate of violent crime; the city is only at 19 homicides with 39 days left in '22, and this is a higher than average year in murders. Understanding that all 19 victims weren't black, in a city with over 82,000 black people, this trend true also of robbery and assaults are all much lower against black people in VB than almost everywhere...

In most cases the social life of The Beach and Nfk is intertwined, and to the extent of value of black social life, it's excellent here: black businesses in abundance, black events, places for Black people to go be around other black people.

Listen, I've lived in 14-15 cities across 7 states. I've been to 33 of the 50 states here and half of the major cities. I've been around, the greatest lived experience I've seem for black folk are Virginia Beach and Raleigh, with Charlotte a little behind...

I live in Raleigh. I lived in VB before here, and lived in Charlotte before there...

Ultimately, I plan on moving back to VB to live my life out in wonderful fashion once my daughters get a little older. I prefer it to anywhere I've ever lived, including Raleigh where I'm at now, and have grown to love itself. If life happens and plans change and I end up stuck in Raleigh, it's certainly not the worst thing that could happen to me...

But I love Virginia Beach and it has as strong an argument as any city as being the best city for black people in the US!

does this still hold true in 2025? My mom and sister are in Chesapeake and my mom always complains about how its unaffordable. Is Va Beach one of those cities where you need to make 6 figures to truly enjoy it? Also what is Va Beach doing right that maybe Norfolk isn't?

 

[murksiderock]

does this still hold true in 2025? My mom and sister are in Chesapeake and my mom always complains about how its unaffordable. Is Va Beach one of those cities where you need to make 6 figures to truly enjoy it? Also what is Va Beach doing right that maybe Norfolk isn't?

The affordability of any area is in many cases relative to one's personal situation and experience. Personally I think Virginia Beach and surroundings are fairly affordable, though I would say the area is is slightly overpriced for what you get. There is mediocre public transit, decent nightlife but not necessarily elite, big ticket/A-list events skip here, no major league sports....so the cost of living there is really based on its location. Its coastal and scenic and desirable to some because of that.

But even with that, I wouldn't really call the area "expensive". Just a little overpriced, but still affordable. You can easily live life there without a 6-figure salary

Virginia Beach is aided by some built in systems of white suburbanization in the 1960s, that still aid it today. It was never allowed to fall into the widespread neglect, impoverishment, and disrepair that Norfolk was allowed to. There are plenty of white people in Norfolk.....but the majority of the white people with real means are in The Beach (or Chesapeake).

Personally I think The Beach is a more dynamic city than Norfolk regardless, but they essentially operate as a twin city dynamic. VB is the better city for us, though!