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This is something I have to consider. Milwaukee just tipped majority Black(barely, at 40%, Whites make up 37% of the population, Hispanics make up 17% of the population). Milwaukee has the highest Black unemployment rate for a major city. That is also my father's home town. When it comes to Milwaukee, I swing between sentimental feelings(being my father's home town) and cringing (when I think about how Milwaukee has some of the worst statistics for Blacks). Alot of college educated Blacks have left Milwaukee, and Wisconsin all together. I live in the Atlanta area, and the majority of Milwaukee natives I've met down here are African-American. Majority of White Wisconsinites I've met often come from the Fox River cities/Green Bay.
I've often wondered "I'm college educated, I will work hard, can I as a Black man make it in Milwaukee"? I could also ask this of other cities that aren't Atlanta, DC, or Houston.
I've also thought about living in places like Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Denver, Colorado Springs, San Diego, Des Moines, Anchorage, San Antonio, Albuquerque, Silicon Valley region, and cities in Canada:Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, and Montreal. Boise has crossed my mind.
Mainly, areas towards the Western USA, Canada, and the far northern areas of the USA. When someone says "go West", it resonates with me. However, I notice that alot of Blacks are going to Atlanta, Houston, DC, and Charlotte. If I'm going to live in Georgia, I can't imagine living anywhere outside of metro Atlanta. If in the South, I can imagine anything outside of Atlanta, Charlotte or the NoVa parts of Virginia. However, I do want to go west or far north. Being Black, I'm noticing that the majority of Blacks are moving to southern metros. I find myself drawn west. I didn't notice that there weren't more Blacks move out there. Later on, I notice this more, and I start to wonder why.
To be honest, go wherever YOU want to go and if you look at any area, you can find unfortunate and unfavorable info for Black people. It is just the legacy of a socio-historical reality in this country. However, you can find positive and favorable info for Black people anywhere as well. So, it may come down to what is best for you.
I will throw this out there though. An area that many Black people may not think about when you look at many metrics that are favorable for Black people in a comparative sense is the Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown area of NY. While parts of Newburgh and Poughkeepsie have a bad rep, it is an area out of the top 100 metros that has a substantial Black population with the lowest White-Black per capita income gap in the country(PCI for Asians is above that of Whites and it has one of the smallest White-Hispanic PCI gaps as well). I actually posted a couple of sources showing this in the thread(which also shows areas where Blacks have a higher PCI than Whites). It is also one of the most integrated metros in the country(overall). Its proximity to NYC allows people to live in that area and take commuter rail into the city for work. Its Black median household income is above the national figure and a little below the state figure. It is an area where while many/most Black people are concentrated in Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, Beacon and Middletown, you will see at least visible amounts of Black people throughout the area(areas/school districts like Pine Bush, Spackenkill, Hyde Park, Walden, New Windsor, Highland Falls, Arlington, Chester, etc). I believe that its Black educational attainment is one of the highest among the top 100 metros as well. West Point/the US Military Academy may have something to do with this as well. Anyway, that may be a sleeper area to look into.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 10-02-2015 at 12:25 PM..
This is something I have to consider. Milwaukee just tipped majority Black(barely, at 40%, Whites make up 37% of the population, Hispanics make up 17% of the population). Milwaukee has the highest Black unemployment rate for a major city. That is also my father's home town. When it comes to Milwaukee, I swing between sentimental feelings(being my father's home town) and cringing (when I think about how Milwaukee has some of the worst statistics for Blacks). Alot of college educated Blacks have left Milwaukee, and Wisconsin all together. I live in the Atlanta area, and the majority of Milwaukee natives I've met down here are African-American. Majority of White Wisconsinites I've met often come from the Fox River cities/Green Bay.
I've often wondered "I'm college educated, I will work hard, can I as a Black man make it in Milwaukee"? I could also ask this of other cities that aren't Atlanta, DC, or Houston.
I've also thought about living in places like Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Denver, Colorado Springs, San Diego, Des Moines, Anchorage, San Antonio, Albuquerque, Silicon Valley region, and cities in Canada:Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, and Montreal. Boise has crossed my mind.
Mainly, areas towards the Western USA, Canada, and the far northern areas of the USA. When someone says "go West", it resonates with me. However, I notice that alot of Blacks are going to Atlanta, Houston, DC, and Charlotte. If I'm going to live in Georgia, I can't imagine living anywhere outside of metro Atlanta. If in the South, I can imagine anything outside of Atlanta, Charlotte or the NoVa parts of Virginia. However, I do want to go west or far north. Being Black, I'm noticing that the majority of Blacks are moving to southern metros. I find myself drawn west. I didn't notice that there weren't more Blacks move out there. Later on, I notice this more, and I start to wonder why.
I think you may be selling some other Southern cities short, like Raleigh/Durham, Dallas, Nashville, Orlando, Richmond, etc.
But if you want to go west, then go for it. Just adjust your expectations accordingly and you should be fine.
A thread this long and for the most part, everyone's been civilized....This is definitely a rarity on City-Data, most especially on City vs. City!!
I think its because there isn't much of a competition. It's an established three cities so there is nothing to argue. They're pretty much agreed upon by everyone and its fact based versus subjective. Can't argue with all the information BajanYankee posted.
If this was about something that can't be proven write or wrong factually because it requires a definition which differs from person to person, you would see the same thing in this thread. This, however, is cut and dry.
Oh damn seriously? I'm not from ATL obviously but that sucks Joaquin isn't gonna make landfall on the Eastern Seaboard, maybe AfroPunk will reconsider if the weather conditions on the ground will be negotiable down there in Atlanta.
I think its because there isn't much of a competition. It's an established three cities so there is nothing to argue. They're pretty much agreed upon by everyone and its fact based versus subjective. Can't argue with all the information BajanYankee posted.
If this was about something that can't be proven write or wrong factually because it requires a definition which differs from person to person, you would see the same thing in this thread. This, however, is cut and dry.
This and any other info is given in an educational way versus posting for some semblance of (city/area)pride or just to argue.
Seattle also has relatively high Black unemployment.
Strangely enough, Seattle has among the lowest Black poverty rates among large cities in the USA. I posted something about it on another thread some months back.
And for the state of Washington at large, the Black unemployment rate is around the national average for Black unemployment. I checked it vs where I live, in Georgia. Georgia has a higher unemployment rate among Blacks than the state of Washington does.
And Wisconsin is actually the the top 5 worst in regards to Black unemployment. In Milwaukee, nearly 1/2 of working age Black men don't have jobs.
One reason I had to consider a few things was this. Is Wisconsin really that impossible to make it in if you're Black? How bad is it for Blacks who were high school dropouts vs the Blacks who have a college education? If the states are really bad, does that mean I can't make it? I find myself asking those questions because I feel I should go wherever I want to be.
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Joaquin isn't gonna make landfall on the Eastern Seaboard, maybe AfroPunk will reconsider if the weather conditions on the ground will be negotiable down there in Atlanta.
