Is Being a Black Mecca a positive or negative for Atlanta? (Dallas: 2009, credit)

[NCN]

When I think of Atlanta, I remember being stuck in a traffic jam for hours--I literally mean hours and we didn't know any other way to get there. I stay out of Alanta.

[City Fanatic]

Originally Posted by NCN

When I think of Atlanta, I remember being stuck in a traffic jam for hours--I literally mean hours and we didn't know any other way to get there. I stay out of Alanta.

There must have been an accident or road work.

[rainrock]

Originally Posted by Georgia

Does not matter.

Just about every large city in the East is a "Black Majority"
NYC /Newark / Camden / Philadelphia / Baltimore / Washington DC / Richmond / Charlotte / Atlanta / Jacksonville / Birmingham / Montgomery/ etc., etc.,

On a sidenote Philadelphia is still technically a majority white city although that status may change in future census data compilations.

Philadelphia (city) QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by Georgia

Just about every large city in the East is a "Black Majority"

Actually, NYC is not even close to a "black majority." Whites are a plurality at around 45% (non-hispanic white = 37%), with blacks being around 30% of the population. The remaining 25% is non-white Hispanic, Asian, and other.

[lilmusket]

Originally Posted by neil0311

Actually, NYC is not even close to a "black majority." Whites are a plurality at around 45%, with blacks being around 30% of the population. The remaining 25% is Hispanic, Asian, and other.

You are right, the only major cities on the east coast that are majority black are Atlanta, Charlotte, Washington, DC... and I think Baltimore..
pretty much confined to the South. The closest comparison for Atlanta would be Washington, DC... but I think when you consider teh entire metro area instead of just the city limits (the city limits of DC are quite small), the I believe metro Atlanta has a much higher proportion of blacks than Washington, DC.

[grindin]

Originally Posted by City Fanatic

Who has a problem with it?

I don't think I need to explain this, but nice try with the baiting...

Funny guy

Yeah, I know, I get plenty of compliments about my humor.

Is that an admission of black preferential treatment in Atlanta?

No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying that a black professional may have a better chance at networking with other black professionals rather than say, Seattle or Salt Lake City.

...but if a white person desires something similar, he's racist. Correct?

No, I didn't say that. I've posted before that people are going to hang out/live with/have relationships with people who they are most comfortable with. If that happens to be race, so be it. I wouldn't want to live in a neighborhood where I wasn't welcome (in terms of race/income/class, etc.)

No one is given a guarantee in life.

Really? For real? Did you know that I discovered that fire is hot and water is wet today! I learn something new everyday on this site...thank you for showing me the light...

Compared to world standards, it's much closer. Try living in a third world country to see what a true gap between the haves and have nots is.

See above. But I was referring to American standards. If we were talking about Sao Paulo or Johannesburg, that would be a whole different animal.

More rambling nonsense attempting to dissect my post and condescend to me and then: Does this apply to people who have lived here their whole life?

Do what you feel is best for you. This is a free country last time I checked. But what I say still stands. Again, if you don't like it, move! Vote with your feet. I'd think taking action would be better than pontificating ad nauseum on a message board.

[Cubancoffee]

The fact that this question continues to pop up here -- and the knee-jerk responses, followed by the knee-jerk responses to the knee-jerk responses -- show how far Atlanta still has to go. We lived in the heart o' Atlanta for three years and couldn't wait to leave. The paternalistic bigotry that still thrives just below the surface was suffocating. If you don't know what I mean, you're probably part of it. And the traffic is just unacceptable.

[US-Traveller]

As an outsider I can say that it is a negative for many people who might be considering looking at visiting or relocating to your area. People from the Northern and Western portions of the United States perceive Atlanta as very nouveau riche and downright dangerous. Atlanta's reputation for being an African-American area also discourages outside investment.

[City Fanatic]

Originally Posted by US-Traveller

As an outsider I can say that it is a negative for many people who might be considering looking at visiting or relocating to your area. People from the Northern and Western portions of the United States perceive Atlanta as very nouveau riche and downright dangerous. Atlanta's reputation for being an African-American area also discourages outside investment.

That's the thing, however. The predominately black areas of metro Atlanta probably only account for thirty percent of the built-up area.

[DeaconJ]

Originally Posted by US-Traveller

As an outsider I can say that it is a negative for many people who might be considering looking at visiting or relocating to your area. People from the Northern and Western portions of the United States perceive Atlanta as very nouveau riche and downright dangerous. Atlanta's reputation for being an African-American area also discourages outside investment.

It hasn't discouraged outside investment enough to affect Atlanta in any way. Exactly which potential outside investors have been discouraged from investing in the city?

Atlanta has been one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. for years now...so it also hasn't kept very many people from moving here. With 37 million visitors to Atlanta last year, the city was in the top 10 most visited cities in the U.S. It doesn't seem to negatively affect visitors either.