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I am a 37 year old African American mother of 2 children (son is 9, daughter is 4). I am considering relocating to Colorado Springs. I am a little apprehensive about the move as I wonder if there are ANY African Americans there. I have no problem living in a predominately white area. Hear me when I say this...I love all people regardless of the color! But unfortunately not everyone holds the same belief. I just want to be prepared. I am from Baltimore Maryland which is VERY diversed...many african americans, white, asians, etc. and that's a good thing! While I realize that racism exists in pockets all over the country (and world for that matter), I don't want to go into this with my eyes closed. I'm excited about the move and feel that the change will be great for me and my children.
I don't know much about Colorado Springs. Perhaps I could live in Denver. IS DENVER CLOSE TO COLORADO SPRINGS? If anyone is familiar with Maryland especially the Owings Mills, Columbia, Baltimore County area, I'm looking to live in a area like that (if it exists in Colorado). Please forgive me of my ignorance...I guess I should do research myself; however, I thought it would be best to gain information from people currently there.
Anyway, I would appreciate your feedback from ALL RACES...black, white, hispanic, asian, etc. I am excited! Thanks for your input!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm from Charm City too; miss the crabcakes at Faidley's and Snyder's.
Both cities have some diversity, though nothing like DC metro area where I worked 31 years and where we had 100+ languages in one of the high schools there in Falls Church, VA.
COLO SPGS has about 40,000 Army and USAF personnel, bringing with it a fair share of diversity, and the city does have it's own black population as well as a sizable Hispanic population (much of which goes back generations), plus quite a few Asians. My neighborhood has all of these folks.
Demographic stats are on this website (hit the city-data.com link in the upper left corner to get there) as well as an easy google.
There are threads in the Denver forum on racism, which seems fairly minor here in COLO cities when compared to big eastern cities. Use the search tool and/or the index of key threads to find the main threads on many topics.
Downtown Denver is @60miles and @90 minutes from downtown COLO SPGS, via I-25. From northern areas of COLO SPGS where we are to the southern suburbs of Denver (Nordstroms' at Park Center Mall) is 50 minutes.
I've spent a lot of time crawling around Columbia, Owings Mills, Westminster, Hampsted, Arbutus, Landsdowne, Halethorpe, Relay, Catonsville (Class of '66), Locust Point, Inner Harbor, Towson, and many other areas. Much of the newer suburbs of both Denver and COLO SPGS would be like Columbia (i.e., NICE!) and our older close-in stuff would remind you of the nicer parts of Baltimore, like up N. Charles Street around the Campus of JHU or the old Memorial Stadium. I've never seen long rows of row homes here like on Wilkens Avenue there in West Baltimore.
IMO, you'll be fine in either city. Fear not.
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Last edited by Mike from back east; 09-04-2010 at 10:17 AM..
Wow...Mike! Thanks so much for your reply. I currently live in Greensboro NC and when you mentioned the row houses on Wilkens Ave, it brought back memories from just a couple years ago. I used to work about a block from Wilkens. LOL I will take your advice and check out the link you provided and also check up on some of the threads. I really appreciate it!
this is colorado. it does not have a large black population anywhere. the state is about 4% tops, denver metro about 12%, colorado springs (if I recall correctly) about 5-6%.
there are a few other threads here about racial diversity here and what it's like to be black in colorado. I'm black and I've lived on the east coast (RI, MA) and visited up and down the coast including Baltimore. The cultural diversity found on the east coast isn't here in colorado.
that said, I like living here for a number of reasons, but keep in mind that there are blacks that stay here for a short time and then leave. they miss the cultural centers that are found in larger cities.
I strongly suggest visiting the area before moving here. As the previous poster mentioned Colorado doesn't have a large presence of African Americans. And it can feel both professionally and socially isolating at times. With you coming from Maryland, get ready for quite the culture shock. As LisaCACO mentioned, people of color usually come here and leave within a short time. So, there's no real African American community feel. Now, I don't want you to think there's no diversity here because there is, just not a large presence of African Americans.
On the other hand, Colorado has alot of great things going for it. The scenery is beautiful, outsdoorsy friendly, the people are friendly, mild weather. Overall, I feel it's a great place to raise kids. Mines are grown now and I am planning to move soon. But I certainly won't regret my time spent in Colorado. I think you and your family will be just fine here.
I am a 37 year old African American mother of 2 children (son is 9, daughter is 4). I am considering relocating to Colorado Springs. I am a little apprehensive about the move as I wonder if there are ANY African Americans there. I have no problem living in a predominately white area. Hear me when I say this...I love all people regardless of the color! But unfortunately not everyone holds the same belief. I just want to be prepared. I am from Baltimore Maryland which is VERY diversed...many african americans, white, asians, etc. and that's a good thing! While I realize that racism exists in pockets all over the country (and world for that matter), I don't want to go into this with my eyes closed. I'm excited about the move and feel that the change will be great for me and my children.
I don't know much about Colorado Springs. Perhaps I could live in Denver. IS DENVER CLOSE TO COLORADO SPRINGS? If anyone is familiar with Maryland especially the Owings Mills, Columbia, Baltimore County area, I'm looking to live in a area like that (if it exists in Colorado). Please forgive me of my ignorance...I guess I should do research myself; however, I thought it would be best to gain information from people currently there.
Anyway, I would appreciate your feedback from ALL RACES...black, white, hispanic, asian, etc. I am excited! Thanks for your input!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Denver, being a major american city, has a pretty big black population. It's pretty small compared to many other cities, but it's still there. Northeast Denver is predominately black, as are many parts of the suburb of Aurora. You'll be fine. Colorado Springs, on the other hand, is a conservative military town about 2-3 hours south of Denver. It's very, very different from Denver because of the lack of diversity, much smaller population, conservative leanings, and of course, it's more of a big town than a city.
I'd recommend Northeast Denver if you want to be with other black families. Keep in mind some of these neighborhoods are kind of lower-class and have gangs and somewhat of a "ghetto element", so if you're worried about this then stay out of Montbello, Cole, and NE Parkhill. Five Points, GVR, Whittier, City Park/City Park West, or City Park north are good options in this area. Whittier and the City Park West area are becoming more diverse, as opposed to 10 years ago when they were almost all black. Lots of Hispanic and white people moving in as the area "gentrifies".
Denver, being a major american city, has a pretty big black population. It's pretty small compared to many other cities, but it's still there. Northeast Denver is predominately black, as are many parts of the suburb of Aurora. You'll be fine. Colorado Springs, on the other hand, is a conservative military town about 2-3 hours south of Denver. It's very, very different from Denver because of the lack of diversity, much smaller population, conservative leanings, and of course, it's more of a big town than a city.
I'd recommend Northeast Denver if you want to be with other black families. Keep in mind some of these neighborhoods are kind of lower-class and have gangs and somewhat of a "ghetto element", so if you're worried about this then stay out of Montbello, Cole, and NE Parkhill. Five Points, GVR, Whittier, City Park/City Park West, or City Park north are good options in this area. Whittier and the City Park West area are becoming more diverse, as opposed to 10 years ago when they were almost all black. Lots of Hispanic and white people moving in as the area "gentrifies".
Hope this helped!
While the areas you suggest do offer more diveristy, I take issue with the choice of schools in these communities. The OP has school-aged children, so if she chooses any of these areas, this would place them in the Denver Public school dictrict. Word of caution, many of the schools in that district are sub-par. She should really do alot of research before deciding on a DPS school.
While the areas you suggest do offer more diveristy, I take issue with the choice of schools in these communities. The OP has school-aged children, so if she chooses any of these areas, this would place them in the Denver Public school dictrict. Word of caution, many of the schools in that district are sub-par. She should really do alot of research before deciding on a DPS school.
Well that's why I said stay away from the ghetto. Any neighborhood that has the assault rate of Montbello probably doesn't have very good schools either. However Morey, East, and other schools in the area are really not too bad. East is very highly ranked.
I am a 37 year old African American mother of 2 children (son is 9, daughter is 4). I am considering relocating to Colorado Springs. I am a little apprehensive about the move as I wonder if there are ANY African Americans there. I have no problem living in a predominately white area. Hear me when I say this...I love all people regardless of the color! But unfortunately not everyone holds the same belief. I just want to be prepared. I am from Baltimore Maryland which is VERY diversed...many african americans, white, asians, etc. and that's a good thing! While I realize that racism exists in pockets all over the country (and world for that matter), I don't want to go into this with my eyes closed. I'm excited about the move and feel that the change will be great for me and my children.
I don't know much about Colorado Springs. Perhaps I could live in Denver. IS DENVER CLOSE TO COLORADO SPRINGS? If anyone is familiar with Maryland especially the Owings Mills, Columbia, Baltimore County area, I'm looking to live in a area like that (if it exists in Colorado). Please forgive me of my ignorance...I guess I should do research myself; however, I thought it would be best to gain information from people currently there.
Anyway, I would appreciate your feedback from ALL RACES...black, white, hispanic, asian, etc. I am excited! Thanks for your input!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My wife, daughter (4), son (2) & I moved to Denver last year for a new job opportunity. I absolutely love it here and I'm from the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I definitely miss the seafood (crabcakes) especially. You will find a lot more diversity in the Colorado Springs area. Besides the crime ridden areas of East Denver, North Aurora; you won't find many pockets of the black population. From my understanding, most of the professional black people in Denver mix into anglo, jewish, mexican, etc. neighborhoods. The only issue I have found is trying to keep the kids culturally grounded and not completely assimilated to popular culture. Goodluck with your search and let me know if you need anything. Bring some crabcakes this way!!!!!!
Moved here from Balt. area but grew up in Howard & P.G. Counties. Coming here was a culture shock. There are more minorities & other religions represented here now, but 15 years ago this was basically a sea of white Christian faces. Ethnic and religious intolerance is rampant in eastern El Paso County & Teller Counties. Anyone who says differently is deluding themselves or they live in a bubble. The Springs has a better mix of ethnic backgrounds now because the military population has expanded so much. You could live pretty much anywhere in town and fit right in. It's not a bad state, but it takes some getting used to. We don't hang any holiday decorations up because we're not the "right" religion for this county.
Best wishes!
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Thanks! Additional comments welcome!
