Metro Atlanta's 'Black Mecca's' suburban layout is changing (Roswell, Alpharetta: middle-class, section 8)

[LynnHarris1]

Odds are you've heard someone refer to Atlanta as the "Black Mecca," but new census data shows Atlanta's suburban cities are becoming more diverse. The areas with the fastest growing Black populations have shifted.

It's been nearly two years since Antonio and Charmina Phillips moved just north of Atlanta, right on the Johns Creek/Alpharetta line.

They say the impeccable schools and job opportunities pointed them to this region ..."

https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/met...ut-is-changing

SOURCE: Fox 5 Atlanta

[Born 2 Roll]

Yep.

Over the past 15 years, the populations of 6 metro Atlanta suburban counties have flipped from ‘majority-white’ to ‘majority-minority’ status where racial and ethnic minorities make up a majority of each county’s population.

The 6 metro Atlanta suburban counties to flip from majority-white to majority-minority status since 2008 were Rockdale, Gwinnett, Newton, Henry, Douglas and Cobb counties.

Those 6 metro Atlanta suburban counties joined core metro Atlanta counties Fulton, DeKalb and Clayton counties, which had already had majority-minority populations since before the turn of the millennium, to give metro Atlanta 9 counties with majority-minority populations.

Something that is also interesting is that the Atlanta region outer-suburban and exurban counties of Fayette, Forsyth, Hall and Paulding also appear to have extremely fast-growing minority populations that appear to have those counties trending rapidly toward eventual majority-minority status.

[walker1962]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

Yep.

Over the past 15 years, the populations of 6 metro Atlanta suburban counties have flipped from ‘majority-white’ to ‘majority-minority’ status where racial and ethnic minorities make up a majority of each county’s population.

The 6 metro Atlanta suburban counties to flip from majority-white to majority-minority status since 2008 were Rockdale, Gwinnett, Newton, Henry, Douglas and Cobb counties.

Those 6 metro Atlanta suburban counties joined core metro Atlanta counties Fulton, DeKalb and Clayton counties, which had already had majority-minority populations since before the turn of the millennium, to give metro Atlanta 9 counties with majority-minority populations.

Something that is also interesting is that the Atlanta region outer-suburban and exurban counties of Fayette, Forsyth, Hall and Paulding also appear to have extremely fast-growing minority populations that appear to have those counties trending rapidly toward eventual majority-minority status.

Not surprising to me when you consider the ATL metro area is over 6 million people but the city of Atlanta is only 500k and doesn't cover more than 140 square miles. Yet Georgia has one of the largest black populations of any state in America. As a comparison, NYC is 300 square miles and Chicago covers 235 sq. miles. There's only so much room within the city's limits for housing and expansion of housing stock.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by walker1962

Not surprising to me when you consider the ATL metro area is over 6 million people but the city of Atlanta is only 500k and doesn't cover more than 140 square miles. Yet Georgia has one of the largest black populations of any state in America. As a comparison, NYC is 300 square miles and Chicago covers 235 sq. miles. There's only so much room within the city's limits for housing and expansion of housing stock.

Yep.

Atlanta has the largest metropolitan Black population in the country outside of New York.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by walker1962

Not surprising to me when you consider the ATL metro area is over 6 million people but the city of Atlanta is only 500k and doesn't cover more than 140 square miles. Yet Georgia has one of the largest black populations of any state in America. As a comparison, NYC is 300 square miles and Chicago covers 235 sq. miles. There's only so much room within the city's limits for housing and expansion of housing stock.

Well like everyone else, Black people are looking for elbow room (so Arjay doesn't have to say it first) and affordable housing and good schools. So a lot are moving out to the suburbs or relocating to Atlanta and living in the burbs.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by bu2

Well like everyone else, Black people are looking for elbow room (so Arjay doesn't have to say it first) and affordable housing and good schools. So a lot are moving out to the suburbs or relocating to Atlanta and living in the burbs.

Not necessarily just a lot of Black people seem to be looking for “elbow room,” but apparently most Black newcomers to metro Atlanta move to and live in the Atlanta suburbs, which technically is every part of the 29-county Atlanta MSA/Metropolitan Statistical Area that is located outside of the corporate limits of the City of Atlanta proper.

More than 88% of the Atlanta MSA’s Black population lives outside of the City of Atlanta proper.

[SAAN]

Whats happening now also is Black Flight. Many people that lived in South Dekalb, Parts of Clayton, Rockdale and South Gwinnett because it was a nice area with big houses are tired of the crime from the Section 8 and renter crowd and now moving to the suburbs further out. The foolishness of S Dekalb is now spreading into Snelville, Conyers, Ellenwood so folks move further out to Logansville, Lilburn, Duluth, Covington, sotuth Stockbridge , McDonough, and Ellenwood closer to Henry County and further out or if they have enough money, go to the northern suburbs, where half this crap doesnt go on a daily basis. Same is probably going on in South Fulton area as well. So many of these lillly white suburbs will have a more mixed crowd as time goes on.


Also, if you have enough money, folks will probably flock to the area with the better schools.

[bethereds82]

We live in JC and love our location relative to "metro Atlanta" as well. For our family, it's a perfectly centralized location providing great access to Duluth (east), Perimeter (south) Alpharetta/Roswell (west), Cumming (north) and Buford Highway.

We live near the JC/Alpharetta border just like the family that was interviewed for this story.

I don't know the racial makeup of elementary schools in our area such as New Prospect/Barnwell/ Dolvin/ Ocee, etc., but it would be interesting to see.

[equinox63]

Originally Posted by SAAN

Whats happening now also is Black Flight. Many people that lived in South Dekalb, Parts of Clayton, Rockdale and South Gwinnett because it was a nice area with big houses are tired of the crime from the Section 8 and renter crowd and now moving to the suburbs further out. The foolishness of S Dekalb is now spreading into Snelville, Conyers, Ellenwood so folks move further out to Logansville, Lilburn, Duluth, Covington, sotuth Stockbridge , McDonough, and Ellenwood closer to Henry County and further out or if they have enough money, go to the northern suburbs, where half this crap doesnt go on a daily basis. Same is probably going on in South Fulton area as well. So many of these lillly white suburbs will have a more mixed crowd as time goes on.


Also, if you have enough money, folks will probably flock to the area with the better schools.

As you have alluded to, this Black Flight has been going on in Atlanta since shortly after segregation became illegal in the mid/late 1960’s. It probably spilled out of the city in the 80’s/90’s. One can literally see the ripple effect on a map over the decades of middle-class whites chasing affluent whites, affluent blacks chasing middle-class whites, middle-class blacks chasing affluent blacks, followed by poorer blacks chasing middle-class black people. This is without including Latin/Asian natives and transplants. Unfortunately, it sounds like a perpetual cycle.

I think this problem was exacerbated by the decades of concentrated poverty found in Atlanta’s various public housing projects that no longer exist.

What I wonder though, is that even if there is no increase in crime, etc., what percentage of black/brown people (if any) would cause white residents to start to consider leaving JC/Alpharetta, etc.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by SAAN

Whats happening now also is Black Flight. Many people that lived in South Dekalb, Parts of Clayton, Rockdale and South Gwinnett because it was a nice area with big houses are tired of the crime from the Section 8 and renter crowd and now moving to the suburbs further out. The foolishness of S Dekalb is now spreading into Snelville, Conyers, Ellenwood so folks move further out to Logansville, Lilburn, Duluth, Covington, sotuth Stockbridge , McDonough, and Ellenwood closer to Henry County and further out or if they have enough money, go to the northern suburbs, where half this crap doesnt go on a daily basis. Same is probably going on in South Fulton area as well. So many of these lillly white suburbs will have a more mixed crowd as time goes on.


Also, if you have enough money, folks will probably flock to the area with the better schools.

Originally Posted by equinox63

As you have alluded to, this Black Flight has been going on in Atlanta since shortly after segregation became illegal in the mid/late 1960’s. It probably spilled out of the city in the 80’s/90’s. One can literally see the ripple effect on a map over the decades of middle-class whites chasing affluent whites, affluent blacks chasing middle-class whites, middle-class blacks chasing affluent blacks, followed by poorer blacks chasing middle-class black people. This is without including Latin/Asian natives and transplants. Unfortunately, it sounds like a perpetual cycle.

I think this problem was exacerbated by the decades of concentrated poverty found in Atlanta’s various public housing projects that no longer exist.

What I wonder though, is that even if there is no increase in crime, etc., what percentage of black/brown people (if any) would cause white residents to start to consider leaving JC/Alpharetta, etc.

SAAN and equinox63 raise a very important point with their comments that ‘Black flight’ from areas closer to the urban core to areas further away from the urban core has played a very significant role in the growth of the Black population in the Atlanta suburbs and exurbs.

‘Black flight’ (or Black migration) from the City of Atlanta, South Fulton County and DeKalb County has contributed heavily to the very high growth of the Black population in areas like Cobb County, Clayton County and Gwinnett County.

But with the Black population in Georgia growing from roughly less than 1.2 million in 1970 (about the time that Atlanta’s reputation as a leading “Mecca” for Black Americans) to roughly more than 3.6 million in 2022 (with most of the growth of Georgia’s Black population obviously happening in the Atlanta metropolitan area), the explosive growth in Georgia’s Black population can’t be explained by ‘Black flight’ from the urban core to the suburbs and exurbs alone.

Most of the explosive growth of the Black population in metro Atlanta appears to be from Black newcomers moving directly into the Atlanta suburbs and exurbs from other parts of the U.S. and the world.

Suburban metro Atlanta areas with ‘majority-minority’ populations and fast-growing Black and minority populations like Rockdale, Newton, Henry, Fayette, Douglas, Paulding, Cobb, North Fulton and Gwinnett counties have Black populations that have grown from a very large amount of direct Black migration into those communities from other parts of the U.S. and the world.

The aforementioned suburban metro Atlanta counties (including Rockdale, Newton, Henry, Fayette, South Fulton, Douglas, Paulding, Cobb, North Fulton and Gwinnett counties) have been a popular destination for Black families relocating into the Atlanta metropolitan area because of the general relative affordability and availability of housing in those areas.