What city will replace Atlanta as the new black mecca? (Dallas: house, job market)

[MantaRay]

Originally Posted by adavi215

What cities in the West, Mid-west, and North could apply.

Compton. Just kidding.

[MantaRay]

Originally Posted by matt8325

Why are you comparing north and south side of Atlanta ? Do people not realize there are an east and west side too ? It's amazing, if someone says they live in Atlanta, they are asked "north" or "south" side.

It's due to development patterns. First, just look at a map and see how only one interstate goes east and west but 2 go south (3 if you count 675) and 3 go north, counting GA400. On top of that, the suburban residential development has been more extensive north to south than east to west. Not to mention the commercial development. If you want to have access to several malls fairly close to your home outside 285, where is it most likely you'll be able to do that, north/south locations or east/west locations? Aren't there more shopping destinations in proximity to Roswell and Jonesboro than in proximity to Lithia Springs and Lithonia?

The sections that grow the fastest get the most attention.

[MantaRay]

Originally Posted by AtlantaGuy404

It depends what you define a "mecca" as. If you are saying there are place where similar people congregate then I agree those places exist. If you are defining a "mecca" as the best place for a group of people to live then I'm saying that doesn't exist.


Just because there are affluent black people in Atlanta that doesn't make it a black mecca. Those same people could move to Dallas, or Charlotte and still live a great lifestyle but nobody calls Dallas or Charlotte black meccas.

Mecca isn't the best place. If you think about it, the term "Mecca" is a metaphor for where the greatest Muslim pilgrimmage in the world is. It refers to a place of cultural prominence. Cultural prominence. That manifests itself not only in food, music, clothing, and other aspects normally considered to define culture, but also in professional prominence.

Nobody calls Dallas or Charlotte black meccas because Dallas and Charlotte don't have a Morehouse College and a Spelman College and a Clark Atlanta University and a Morris Brown. Dallas and Charlotte have not had the prominence of black mayor after black mayor to the degree that Atlanta has. Dallas and Charlotte don't have the extent of black business that Atlanta has. I don't think Dallas and Charlotte even touch Atlanta on soul food restaurants. Dallas and Charlotte are not epicenters of black music like Atlanta is, with the numbers of well known black recording artists coming from or living in the city. TLC, Jermaine Dupree, Usher, Lil John, Lloyd, Outkast, etc. And now Tyler Perry is making Atlanta into an epicenter of black film. Don't expect Dallas and Charlotte to follow suit. Atlanta hosts the annual Atlanta Classic between Tennessee State University and Florida A&M University, sponsored by the 100 Black Men of Atlanta. What does Dallas and Charlotte do that is comparable?

Black mecca is about black culture. That's what you define black mecca as. And Atlanta easily beats out Dallas and Charlotte for black culture. Culture is about more than just people congregating. Therefore the phrase "black mecca" is also.

[MantaRay]

From the 2006 Census Bureau data, cities with the greatest African American population were:

1. NYC
2. Chicago
3. Altanta
4. Washington, DC
5. Los Angeles
6. Philadelphia
7. Miami
8. Detroit
9. Houston
10. Dallas

If there was going to be a "next black mecca" it would seem that it would have to come from that list.

[WilliamM]

It's funny to observe how these thread topics get bent all out of proportion in so many cases. In some cases, a thread starts with a very questionable proposition (Is Atlanta a 'failed city'? for ex.) and the back and forth just rages from there.

In this case, the thread puts forward the idea of some new city 'replacing' Atlanta as 'black mecca', which presupposes 1) the existence of such a thing as a 'black mecca' (very hard to deny), 2) that Atlanta IS this black mecca (not impossible to refute but you can make some arguments), and 3) the idea that some other city is about to overtake Atlanta for this title (very very difficult to argue) (presupposes validity of nos. 1 and 2).

Some people, let's call them nominalists, resist the use of terms like black mecca, which is their prerogative. Others of us marvel at how much breath and how many keystrokes are wasted going back and forth over what amounts to confusion over the basic definitions of terms.

[DC's Finest]

DC is already the Black Mecca! When did Atlanta take the title?

[WilliamM]

Originally Posted by DC's Finest

DC is already the Black Mecca! When did Atlanta take the title?

You guys crack me up. See my post just before yours #65.

[grindin]

I don't think that another city will be replacing Atlanta as the so-called "Black Mecca" anytime soon. To me, names/descriptors like these are a bit presumptive and misleading, because it creates connotations and expectations that people have for the city.

That being said, there are very few cities in the country that have the critical mass of middle-to-upper income African Americans and the history that Atlanta has. The only other city that I could think of off the top of my head would be Washington DC. Because the cost of living is much higher there, as well as the weather not being as benign as it is down south, DC has a much more established black middle-to-upper class and seems to be more "Old Money" than Atlanta, which is a newer, sunbelt era city.

To me, Dallas and Houston would be the other "black meccas" in the country. Whenever magazines such as Black Enterprise provide those lists for "Best Cities for Blacks," Dallas and Houston are right on there along with Atlanta, DC, Charlotte, Nashville, etc. While not as southern as Atlanta, they still are the south, and have similar factors that make them have potential: Low cost of living, decent climate (although Texas is hell during the summer), lots of white collar, professional jobs (Texas hasn't been quite as affected by the economy as Atlanta has, BUT that could change), an already decent-sized black population, etc. They don't have quite the critical mass that ATL and DC have, but there are middle-class blacks there. I do think that Houston has more upper-income black communities (Riverside in the 3rd Ward and Missouri City in the suburbs come to mind) moreso than Dallas does (I think most of the upper income blacks there live in Cedar Hill/DeSoto). That being said, I don't think either city would "replace" Atlanta. Besides, why should they? I like it here in Atlanta and all, but hey, that's less traffic to deal with if people don't move here. Spread the "wealth!" Atlanta just seems to have better PR and is higher profile to blacks due to it's Civil Rights History and the music artists and media stars that are from here.

Also, although Dekalb and PG County, MD are often viewed as the crown achievement of Black wealth in this country, I think that Baldwin Hills/View Park-Windsor Hills/Ladera Heights in Los Angeles is the wealthiest majority black neighborhood in the nation.

It seems like some people in this forum are dumbfounded that not all us black people live in the ghetto, and there are blacks that actually do well for themselves, but that's neither here nor there.

[Crazy Virgo Child]

Originally Posted by BringBackCobain

The reason Dekalb county is the second richest black majority county is probably because places like Druid Hills, Dunwoody, Decatur, Briarcliff, North Druid Hills, and Brookhaven bring up that average as the are wealthy areas. I would bet that if South DeKalb was its own county, it would not be wealthy.

Again, I have seen no one provide reliable statistics to back up inferences that Atlanta is where wealthy blacks live.

^^^^

Dude if maybe if you would take time to read my post in its entirety and fully digest what I said you would see that I didn’t say Dekalb County as a whole ranks as the 2nd richest majority Black County; I said South Dekalb County the area- not the whole county ranks as the 2nd richest black area in the country. So that pretty much excludes Brookhaven, Druid Hills and Briarcliff as they are not in south Dekalb County so therefore they are not included in that statistic. You’re so blinded by jealousy Cobain you can’t even comprehend what you read correctly. Oh yeah, and I don’t have to provide facts for that, if you want to see it for yourself take all of the zip codes in South Dekalb go to Census.gov and do the research for yourself playboy!!!!

[matt8325]

Originally Posted by MantaRay

From the 2006 Census Bureau data, cities with the greatest African American population were:

1. NYC
2. Chicago
3. Altanta
4. Washington, DC
5. Los Angeles
6. Philadelphia
7. Miami
8. Detroit
9. Houston
10. Dallas

If there was going to be a "next black mecca" it would seem that it would have to come from that list.

I'm surprised that Atlanta is #3 on this list, considering only about 550,000 or so live in Atlanta. By comparison, over 2 million live in Houston. So i'm a little surprised Atlanta has more blacks than Houston.