Well To Do African Americans in NJ & Philly (Philadelphia: condos, townhouse)

[willdufauve]

Philadelphia is a city where black people have had a seat at the table for a while now.

I know successful blacks in the Chestnut Hill section of Philly. One of our cousins is a CEO, is very well to do, and has lived there for 25 years. Also, East and West Mount Airy have pockets of mixed blocks and black families. They're pretty nice neighborhoods that range from apartments, row houses, to single family and historic homes. A lot of teachers and city workers in Mt Airy.

North Philly was blighted, South Philly used to be fairly hostile, the university city area is younger and hip, Germantown it depends what block - it can be dicey. I often regret leaving the city. It was great for us socially, but we had a kid starting school and it was the beginning of the crack epidemic. I felt accepted by people of all races in Philly and it was easy to make friends. It had big city problems but we never felt it was personally directed at us. I'd love to go back there. I think I'd feel more socially connected in old age.

[thesixth]

Cheltenham and Wyncote, just north of the city proper, have strong middle class black populations.

[jazz03a]

I agree with a "well-to-do" friend of mine. The areas you're interested in living will be (or at least seem) less racist. The people in well-to-do neighborhoods are more concerned with themselves and keeping up with jones' than anything else. I'm not sure what your price range is, but I'd imagine that things like cutting your own grass in a $600K+ neighborhood would get more a frown than skin color. Just my $.02.

[passdoubt]

Originally Posted by jaeidiaz

1) are there many well to do black people in NJ or philly and 2) what areas are considered semi-upscale (not terribly expensive)?

In L.A. I spend about $2k per month that gets me a really great townhouse in the best area in the SF Valley.

Wynnefield, near St Joes in West Philly, has a lot of middle and upper class black families. Also what people have already said: Cheltenham and Wyncote in the northern suburbs, and of course Mount Airy, which is Philly's defacto "integrated neighborhood" has a lot of middle class black people.

Parts of West Oak Lane are beautiful and it's almost entirely black. Parts are kind of dicey too, but if you find a good block in here it'd be nice.

$2k/mo is more than enough money to afford any of these neighborhoods.

If you want to find areas that are almost entirely black but upscale, you might look into parts of Prince George's County, in Maryland outside DC. It has the most upper income black people in the country (although it also has some rough areas).

[near1977]

Originally Posted by passdoubt

Wynnefield, near St Joes in West Philly, has a lot of middle and upper class black families. Also what people have already said: Cheltenham and Wyncote in the northern suburbs, and of course Mount Airy, which is Philly's defacto "integrated neighborhood" has a lot of middle class black people.

Parts of West Oak Lane are beautiful and it's almost entirely black. Parts are kind of dicey too, but if you find a good block in here it'd be nice.

$2k/mo is more than enough money to afford any of these neighborhoods.

If you want to find areas that are almost entirely black but upscale, you might look into parts of Prince George's County, in Maryland outside DC. It has the most upper income black people in the country (although it also has some rough areas).

Yeah PG county is something else...if you like that "I just cut down some primeval forestland to build my gross looking prefab house not following any logical sort of development pattern because I need to separate my self from the poor folk and I don't really need an actual view of anything from my 300,000 dollar house in the middle of nowhere and hey , lets order pizza this friday so we can taste what it feels like to wait two hours for a mediocre slice of pie? But really, Philly is Sooooooo much better if only because its an actual city, I mean DC is okay but the bum/wino to regular folk ratio is way too high and there is no way anybody needs that many liqour stores! Also Philly hides its bums alot better than DC. Yeah .... our bums are alot more docile too. But Philly has its share of crime/violence but thats the cuty for ya! I am glad to say that I have not been shot, stabbed, robbed, raped, pickpocketed, scammed bamboozled, hoodwinked, run amok, or led astray for quite sometime now and also If you live in a "good" neighborhood you can slip in and out of the interesting parts of town like some sort of wealthy ninja and never have to deal with brokey proles like myself. There are starbucks everywhere and also real coffeeshops, you can get good food just about anywhwere and your bound to be in better physical condition than us lumpy dumplins' so if you run afoul of us and we attack you can simply outrun us like the mighty gazelle of mother africa. Anyhow, here is a breakdown of the in-city hoods:

West philly/University City- um.....you can buy a house near penn on the south side of market between say, 40th and 45-46 but it'll cost ya and it eventually bumps right into a "scaryhood"

South Philly - even I am afraid of south philly, its like bizarro-world or something. doctors,mob guys,hipsters,motorcycle gangs,plastic surgeons,Beanie siegal,mexican,cambodian,and vietnamese immigrants and poor-poor black folks all living together (sort of) they don't really associate too much. The italian market is cool though and its the only place on earth to get a REAL cheesesteak...and theres a walmart!

North Philly - wow.....well to do types typically avoid everything south of olney avenue. basically the oak lanes (east and west are pretty nice and the further north you go generally the nicer)

The Northeast - poor white folks, latinos and blacks, then poor asians, then middle class white folks , then ...wait....we've left town!

Old city -
Are you rich and wanna be hassled for change by a wino?

wanna hear what a bunch of jerkys from jersey think about some subject you care nothing about as they get drunk and pretend to be from here and fondle their skinny gold chains......and hassle you for change!?

wanna go outside on the first friday of every month and fight your way through crowds of tipsy artistes with communications degrees who work at starbucks ride 300 dollar bikes that look like they cost 5 dollars and dress like bums even though they have rich parents?

If so, old city is for you!

Actually there are these really cool condos that go out into the water and it looks really awesome but the view is if camden and I'm fairly sure they will eventually fall into the water and unless you are moving here from atlantis that could be a downer.

Center city-
Wanna increase your chances of being hassled for change exponentially?

Wanna be frisked by a cop because your not wearing business attire?

Do you want a good 'ol fashioned big-city mugging in the wee small hours?

Wanna see some big fat city -fed rats?

Wanna have to park in south philly?

Yay, center city!

Just go to cherry hill nj and say you live here....everybody else does.its for the best!

[margarets1]

mt airy and chestnut hill areas are the most diverse parts of philadelphia since the 60s and remain the most diverse to this day. mgt city employees/judges/etc. that must live in phila county live in these areas; white collar. the suburbs mentioned like cheltenham and wyncote (montgomery county) real estate taxes are much higher in comparison to the 2 phila areas mentioned. however, those areas of montgomery county have very good schools if that is a concern. phila public schools (generally, although some exceptions)are not very good. many in the mt airy and chestnut hill area will send their kids to private schools since many can afford to. wynnefield is nice as well, usually closer to city ave as opposed further into the west. university city has a lot more converted housing since a heavy collegiate presence exists there (u of p, drexel); that has been the biggest change there over the last 20 yrs. housing in mt airy, chestnut hill, and wynnefield are very similar (older stone homes, wood floors, etc.).

[Hockeynut]

Yeah isnt it ashame this day and age we still have to worry about things like this. One would just hope that a neighbor would just be friendly and polite and take pride in their home. Anyhow Lawnside is a nice area I actually take a ride there about once a month to a store there. People are friendly and homes are very nice. Good luck with your search

[MoorestownResident]

I would not recommend Willingboro, Mount Holly or Pemberton, three historically black towns. I suggest you look in Lumberton, NJ near Mount Laurel if you want family suburban town with agricultural roots. Maybe 15 miles from center city. It has great access to roads, shopping, good mix of housing stock. You could get a good deal right now but $2K might be tough with property taxes in NJ. The town was just reassessed; new townhomes in the area list for 300K and above. And they aren't in the best part of town. You could get a small 3/4 bedroom house about 15-20 years old in the mid-300s. The housing stock in Lumberton runs to about $1 million but not much more than that. I believe the town is about 15-20% black.

The town's website is below. It has held a reputation in recent years as being 'up and coming'. New schools were built in the last 10 years.

Home-www.lumbertontwp.com

You could also consider Hainesport which also borders Lumberton. Taxes are less but the school system is not as good. Jeremiah Trotter just built an estate on 10 acres in Hainesport right on the Lumberton border. That area was extremely hot in the boom with lots of higher-end construction in the area. But you aren't going to be able to find much under $600K in Trotter's area.

[Bruh 2 the K]

I want to move to Philly. I currently live in LA. I am a city guy and living downtown would be idea. But I want to be amongst my people (African Americans). Is there an area in DownTown Philly where a good number of Blacks live? Inquiring minds want to know.

[newmarlig]

You will find African Americans living in all of center city, which is not that large of an area. As long someone can afford it, race is not an issue.