What city will replace Atlanta as the new black mecca? (Dallas: low income, neighborhoods)

[FromCLTtoATL]

Well, even though more white people are moving back into Atlanta and raising the percentage of whites in the city limits, I don't think Atlanta is going to lose its status as a "black mecca" or whatever people want to call it anytime soon, even if the heyday is over. This city (or metro region) simply has a rich cultural African American heritage and situation that's unique in America and the South AND a good-sized population of middle class and wealthy black people. No other city in America has quite the same potent combo.

Things do change over time, of course, and maybe way down the road it will be different. I don't see it happening quickly.

I suppose that if Atlanta is "usurped" in this regard, Charlotte is a good candidate as any. Durham, N.C., has a very strong black middle class with deep roots. But the city is so much smaller and has no room to grow into the size of Atlanta or even Charlotte. It's blunted by Chapel Hill and Raleigh.

Somehow, I don't see it happening in Dallas. There's not the same history in Texas, or the same demographics. Texas seems like a different animal to me, but then I lived in Austin and don't know the rest of Texas as well, so I'm speculating on not a lot there.

I suppose it's possible a city such as Jackson, Mississippi, or Birmingham, Alabama, could fall into a dynamic between Durham and Atlanta. The black population is already there. The rich cultural legacy and deep roots are there. What's missing is a more enlightened attitude and the economic prosperity, both generally and then specifically within the black community. Still again, you're talking about smaller cities and metro areas. They'd be "mini-Atlantas" at best if the other components came into place.

But they might indeed very nice places for a black person to live 20 or 30 years from now, especially if we see the improvements we're all hoping for under President Obama, and become more economically vibrant for all of the residents. No offense to Alabama and Mississippi fans, but they just aren't leaders in practically any category and growth across the board will lag other places in the South until more changes come. (And to a lesser degree, my home state of South Carolina).

I think many people are hoping for the day when the single biggest factor of anyplace isn't so dependent on being a "black mecca" or a "gay mecca" or a "white mecca" but just a good, safe, prosperous place to live -- THAT'S NOT TOO COLD. LOL!

[Jeff Jarrett]

Many of the Well off blacks live in the southern or far southern burbs of Dallas.

There are no affluent upperclass suburbs in Dallas where Blacks outnumber Whites.

[Ron.]

Where in my previous posts did I ever say blacks outnumber whites?

Originally Posted by Jeff Jarrett

There are no affluent upperclass suburbs in Dallas where Blacks outnumber Whites.

[FromCLTtoATL]

Originally Posted by Ron.

Where in my previous posts did I ever say blacks outnumber whites?

I know you posted that to someone else, but just adding a thought here.

I think to achieve the status of a "mecca" or "new hot spot" or 'magnet" or whatever term you want to apply to a city that has all the components in place to be a big draw for a certain demographic, any population would have to be the outright majority in a city [like Atlanta for black people] or the majority in a certain significant section of a city [like Harlem in the early 20th century for black people] or at least a strong and influential and mostly welcomed minority [like San Francisco for gay people or Miami for Cubans].

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Ron.

It would be nice.....but I can certainly understand why people do it.

Don't you?

I can see where it could be important for some people, yes, and I can also see some positive reasons to want to make that sort of distinction, but that sort of thing is normally done on a neighborhood level, not in regard to an entire city.

[MantaRay]

Not just in Atlanta, but in big cities all over America, a specific trend has been the case pretty much across the board. Back before WW2, whites primarily lived in neighborhoods near downtown and blacks lived on the outskirts of town. Big cities were smaller then than they are now. After WW2, as blacks began to make more money and move into those neighborhoods near town, whites began to flee to the newly built suburbs, hence the phrase "white flight." When this happened, suburban homes began to be more expensive than urban homes and downtown began to die out- malls, entertainment, etc.

Fast forward to today, and the reverse is happening. Gentrification is happening. President Clinton, in an effort to increase investment in urban black neighborhoods, passed legislation for tax cuts for inner city investment. As cities grew and grew through the '90s, they began to refocus investment in the inner city to reverse the "dying" trend and amenities began to be implemented like parks and pedestrian paths. At the same time, condos and other new developments were built as part of the investment, and young, primarily white professionals now have been moving back to the downtown area for the past 20 years. That has increased home prices downtown to more than the suburbs now (the reverse of what happened with white flight to the suburbs). Anybody remember the projecs that USED TO be by Georgia Tech? Anybody remember when there was no Glenwood Park and no Freedom Park/Freedom Center? Anybody remember the time before Lindbergh got built up all nice? How about when there used to be projects along Northside by Morris Brown?

There are reports which predict that as the baby boomers retire, they will want to move back closer to downtowns across America so that they can be near the action, near the amenities of revitalized and bustling downtowns. As this happens (and granted it will be postponed slightly by this economic crisis), you can expect downtown home prices to spike even further and fewer and fewer blacks to be found resident close to the city.

So you can expect Atlanta's black population to continue to shrink, and every other major urban city for that matter. To really get a good feel for whether black population is growing or shrinking in a city, you HAVE TO take the suburbs into account. These days "city proper" doesn't really mean anything any more. So the real question is what has the black population demographics done in METRO Atlanta. If you can make comparisons metro to metro, then you might have a point about shifts of black meccas. The black shift you can expect to see most everywhere over the next few decades is the shift away from neighborhoods close to town, as they get more and more priced out and many blacks who DO have the money to afford an old home or new condo near town choose instead to purchase a big home in the suburbs.

[Ron.]

In regards to the entire city, the person may be trying to gage opportunities and how friendly the local environment is...all of which are important to long term sustained success.

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

I can see where it could be important for some people, yes, and I can also see some positive reasons to want to make that sort of distinction, but that sort of thing is normally done on a neighborhood level, not in regard to an entire city.

[WestCobb]

No city will replace Atlanta as the black mecca.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Ron.

In regards to the entire city, the person may be trying to gage opportunities and how friendly the local environment is...all of which are important to long term sustained success.

I don't know that you can gain much knowledge about the "local environment" when looking at such a broad picture.

Atlanta, for example, is made up of literally dozens (if not hundreds) of different smaller communities, and many of those are very dissimilar from each other.

Even if the city as a whole is a "mecca" for some subset of the population, the actual experience one will have in the city will be greatly dependent on the specific locations in which one lives, works, and recreates.

[BringBackCobain]

Ok I keep seeing all these posts (in this thread and others) about Atlanta being the place where rich black people live, but I wonder what people are basing this assumption on. Are there any facts/statistics/articles that say the black people living in Atlanta have higher average incomes than those in other cities?

Just because you see black people in Atlanta driving nice cars doesnt mean that this is the capital of "rich black America".

Sorry to burst your bubble, but just because metro Atlanta is a cosmopolitan area with many upper-income residents and also a large black population does not mean that there are more upper income blacks here than elsewhere.

Please, correct me if I am wrong with some factual and reliable references.