Philly suburbs with sizable numbers of blacks & Puerto ricans (Philadelphia: home, good schools)

[Hillrunner]

Coatesville, Chester, Reading, Yeadon, Upper Darby.
That's about it. There is no area that is predominantly minority that is not high crime in the surrounding suburbs.

[DarkLoFan]

Hold up let me clarify, I'm not necessarily lookin for an area that's predominantly populated by blacks and hispanics. I said sizable numbers, but it doesn't have to be "majority minority". I'm just looking for a suburb or small city in SE PA, that's both atleast over 10% black and atleast over 10% hispanic mostly of puerto ricans , a place that's relatively safe and relatively affordable, it definitely dont have to be the "safest place u can find" , but a far cry from camden n north philly, while still being somewhat affordable

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by hellavajewel

As a newbie to Philadelphia city area. The same seems to hold true. As a city girl that l enjoys living around other middle class African Americans you can not find them in nice neighborhoods unless they are millenials. It is a little disappointing. Good luck in your search.

Truthfully there have been middle-class/skilled working class/more educated blacks in the area for decades.
I'm black. I'm from that world. But we are scattered about in metro area. However many of my fellow Baby Boomers left the Phila. metro entirely once they went off to college. But, luckily, new folks like you are coming to the city, as migrants, like my grandparents did 100 years ago. I mean the latter literally.

The public school that folks rave about, in University City, is named in honor of a black woman. A pillar in the local "colored" community in her day: Sadie M Alexander. Google her.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by 1ondoner

I've cycled a couple of times through Keenet Square. There are many Mexicans, rather than Puerto Ricans. And I believe they mostly work in the mushroom farms. I stand to be corrected

It has traditionally been a PR community for YEARS. Of course being new you wouldn't know that. Any transition to a Mexican workforce is recent. There were barely any Mexicans in Phila. 10 years ago.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by DarkLoFan

Hold up let me clarify, I'm not necessarily lookin for an area that's predominantly populated by blacks and hispanics. I said sizable numbers, but it doesn't have to be "majority minority". I'm just looking for a suburb or small city in SE PA, that's both atleast over 10% black and atleast over 10% hispanic mostly of puerto ricans , a place that's relatively safe and relatively affordable, it definitely dont have to be the "safest place u can find" , but a far cry from camden n north philly, while still being somewhat affordable

You're not going to find even those percentages of folks, you'd like to be around, in much of the 'burbs. That's what we're, pretty much, telling you.

A couple of suggestions were Yeadon or Norristown. I would started looking at those.

[Avalon08]

Originally Posted by kyb01

It has traditionally been a PR community for YEARS. Of course being new you wouldn't know that. Any transition to a Mexican workforce is recent. There were barely any Mexicans in Phila. 10 years ago.

Speaking of which, Norristown has turned into Mexico City in the last 10 years. I don't mean it in a bad way, but what was primarily an Italian/Irish community now has a "10 BEST Mexican Restaurants" list, so apparently there are way more Mexican restaurants than just 10. I barely recognized Marshall Street in the West End when I drove through about 10 years ago with all the bodegas. Having grown up there, I was puzzled about what the attraction is in Norristown for Mexicans. I couldn't think of any industry or agriculture in that area that would attract large numbers of Mexican workers. Anyone know?

As for the OP's question, what about some of the Delaware County towns bordering the city?

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by Avalon08

Speaking of which, Norristown has turned into Mexico City in the last 10 years. I don't mean it in a bad way, but what was primarily an Italian/Irish community now has a "10 BEST Mexican Restaurants" list, so apparently there are way more Mexican restaurants than just 10. I barely recognized Marshall Street in the West End when I drove through about 10 years ago with all the bodegas. Having grown up there, I was puzzled about what the attraction is in Norristown for Mexicans. I couldn't think of any industry or agriculture in that area that would attract large numbers of Mexican workers. Anyone know?

As for the OP's question, what about some of the Delaware County towns bordering the city?

OT. To go with this a bit further there were Mexican groups in this year's Mummer's Parade.

[Burger Fan]

Originally Posted by DarkLoFan

Hold up let me clarify, I'm not necessarily lookin for an area that's predominantly populated by blacks and hispanics. I said sizable numbers, but it doesn't have to be "majority minority". I'm just looking for a suburb or small city in SE PA, that's both atleast over 10% black and atleast over 10% hispanic mostly of puerto ricans , a place that's relatively safe and relatively affordable, it definitely dont have to be the "safest place u can find" , but a far cry from camden n north philly, while still being somewhat affordable

Doesn't really exist, really. As others have said Norristown is probably the closest you'll get to it.


You're asking for a place that's relatively safe and affordable, but over 20% minority (at least 10% black AND 10% Hispanic). The issue here is that as the number of minorities increase within the suburbs, the more rapidly white families tend to move out. Find a place that's 30% minority and it will likely be 100% in short order.


That tends to have a depressing effect on home prices, school systems, etc- and rising crime rates tend come along with it as owners make way for renters and property values drop. This is exactly what happened with Yeadon/Lansdowne/Upper Darby in the 1980s.

[2e1m5a]

Originally Posted by Avalon08

Speaking of which, Norristown has turned into Mexico City in the last 10 years. I don't mean it in a bad way, but what was primarily an Italian/Irish community now has a "10 BEST Mexican Restaurants" list, so apparently there are way more Mexican restaurants than just 10. I barely recognized Marshall Street in the West End when I drove through about 10 years ago with all the bodegas. Having grown up there, I was puzzled about what the attraction is in Norristown for Mexicans. I couldn't think of any industry or agriculture in that area that would attract large numbers of Mexican workers. Anyone know?

As for the OP's question, what about some of the Delaware County towns bordering the city?

Yeah, I'm not sure exactly. I have worked with and for many local Mexicans (at a bar/rental hall) and maybe it is just word of mouth? I have heard many or even most Mexicans in Norristown come from a city/area called La Puebla near Mexico D.F. which is interesting.

For the OP-Upper Darby, Cheltenham could also be options. In New Jersey-Willingsboro is one.

[qworldorder]

For New Castle County, Delaware, there are sizeable populations of well-off Puerto Ricans and blacks scattered throughout the metro. Obviously, the impoverished inner city areas (Wilmington, Claymont, etc.) are not places you'd not want to settle down in, but surrounding municipalites and suburbs have decent populations of educated, stable Puerto Ricans and blacks. Bonus points in that you'd have easy access to those less advantaged but still culturally rich areas if you don't always feel like being "token". I live in Trolley Square, Wilmington, a predominantly Irish/Italian gentrified neighborhood, but am able to shop at Bacalao supermarket in Wilmington/Elsmere, eat at Tropicalia in Wilmington and go salsa dancing in Bear, for example. The area is still affordable when compared to SE PA, and fairly safe.