Please help!!! African American family considering moving to east valley Az. (Phoenix: low crime, day care)

[tasha78]

I do not want to sound bias or prejudice because i am neither of the two, but my family which consists of myself, husband and son who is 1 years old now, r considering moving to the east valley, Phoenix,Gilbert, Tempe/? Mesa area next year. we r an african american family, we want diversity, good low crime neighborhood with good school systems, day care facilities....i don't want to move and made to feel uncomfortable because of our race......does anyone know of an area with some african americans with all the above criteria i mentioned..your help is greatly appreciatred. we r looking to buy new under $200,000. FYO, we r moving from chicago....my husband and I are LPN's, how is the job market??????????????????? does anyone know of a good relocation specialist????

[observer53]

Tempe is the most ethnically diverse of the suburbs, it is a good place for young families. In the Phoenix area, neighborhoods are not created by ethnicity, but by economics... in the same neighborhood, you can see various races and ethnic groups.

Of all the east Valley suburbs, Gilbert would be the least diverse.

[fcorrales80]

Very true. Chandler has a very large population of interracial couples. I have plenty of friends from every race that absolutely love the Chandler and Tempe areas. Also look into the Central Phoenix area, Arcadia, Biltmore, downtown, uptown, etc. No one cares what race you are in Phoenix or Arizona. The only confusion and preoccupation currently is with illegal immigrants; this is NOT a race issue however and many people confuse that.

[F40]

I would also look at the west valley I live in Surprise .Things are alot better here than in Chi-town, left there twenty years ago

[tasha78]

thank-u very much for all your responses, they r really appreciated.

[xenourtv]

OP, please do not consider relocating your family to Arizona. I could give you a number of reasons as as a young black male who has lived in Arizona. I am telling you to reconsider your move and choose another place, because you should ultimately think about your child. If you allow him to grow up in an environment with little or hardly any ethnic diversity, he will grow up being oblivious to the struggle of being black a black man in America. The educational system in Arizona is terrible.

He might not encounter racism per say, because quite frankly most people in Arizona just keep to themselves because they either do not want to learn about anything or are afraid to learn. However it would grow on him and quite frankly in my opinion, make him as ignorant as many of the natives here further perpetuating most people stereotypical views about black culture. If you raise your child in Arizona he would come to the frame of mind that only white girls are beautiful, only white people can be managers, or white people can be wealthy. Do not allow his mind to be brainwashed, there are more great cities out there to relocate too that has much better diversity and accepts integration like Atlanta.

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by xenourtv

OP, please do not consider relocating your family to Arizona. I could give you a number of reasons as as a young black male who has lived in Arizona. I am telling you to reconsider your move and choose another place, because you should ultimately think about your child. If you allow him to grow up in an environment with little or hardly any ethnic diversity, he will grow up being oblivious to the struggle of being black a black man in America. The educational system in Arizona is terrible.

He might not encounter racism per say, because quite frankly most people in Arizona just keep to themselves because they either do not want to learn about anything or are afraid to learn. However it would grow on him and quite frankly in my opinion, make him as ignorant as many of the natives here further perpetuating most people stereotypical views about black culture. If you raise your child in Arizona he would come to the frame of mind that only white girls are beautiful, only white people can be managers, or white people can be wealthy. Do not allow his mind to be brainwashed, there are more great cities out there to relocate too that has much better diversity and accepts integration like Atlanta.

Frankly, I find your attitude to be quite disturbing. While I'm not black I don't think segregating yourself by your race is an important aspect of life in America in 2009 NOR it is doing anyone any good beyond our present. Phoenix is exactly the place to race a young child, OF ANY RACES, because they will be introduced to culture that isn't anywhere else. The culture of Arizona and Phoenix, birthplace of Goldwater republicans, is a live-let-live society. There is little prejudgement here compared to any city in the U.S., especially a HIGHLY segregated Chicagoland area or even L.A., etc. People often find it "weird" that there isn't large ethnic enclaves in Phoenix and that everyone mixes amongst each other. If you want to remain in segregation, live somewhere else. But if you want to see your kid with whites, Asians, latinos and other blacks and where parents don't think twice about it, give Phoenix a try.

As many have said, most of the differences in neighborhoods in the Phoenix area are economic. The middle class lives with middle class of ANY race, the upper class and lower classes are the same. Where this gets blurred is in the most urban and dense areas of the metro area; this is true in any urban place. It is true of even Manhattan just think of the Upper East side and Washington Heights. No biggie. Crime has fallen in Phoenix and the metro area over 24% for homicide alone and this is the largest drop for any major city in the U.S. Also, Phoenix metro schools outrank the nation in standardized testing, ACT/SAT testing, graduation rates, etc. The Mesa, Paradise Valley, Phoenix Union High School, Tempe, etc. have some of the highest rates of graduation, even when the illegal immigrant population is account for. Mesa had THE highest graduation rate in the nation in 2008. Cities like Boston, Philly, Detroit, Chicago, L.A., New York, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, Denver, Minneapolis, etc. have lower graduation rates than Phoenix and we all know of the problems with illegals in Phoenix. AND YES, ATLANTA is a much more segregated city, where blacks do (UNFORTUNATELY) fail and drop out of high school in large numbers because they are disenfranchised even to this day! The graduation rate in Atlanta for all students is less than 48%!!! Abysmal doesn't begin to describe that sad state of public education.

http://www.wtop.com/?sid=1377794&nid=316

And just some history from 2006, the worst cities for drop-outs even then did NOT include any in Arizona:

Students in a handful of big-city school districts have a less than 50-50 chance of graduating from high school with their peers, and a few cities graduate far fewer than half each spring, according to research released on Tuesday.
Fourteen urban school districts have on-time graduation rates lower than 50%; they include Detroit, Baltimore, New York, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Denver and Houston.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/educati...ut-rates_x.htm

And to say only white people are wealthy in Arizona is a complete lie, a ridiculous assertions, and just ignorant. I'm not white and not poor and in an upper management position. I have hundreds of family members/friends who are hispanic, black, asian, middle eastern, mix, native, whatever in the Phoenix area in management, finance, doctors, nurses, professors, educators, business owners, etc...get your head out of your butt! And I am sure there are tens-of-thousands of minorities like me that know hundreds of other minorities in Phoenix that aren't poor and managers and/or are rich. That's exponential and not a small number at all.

[MotleyCrew]

Originally Posted by xenourtv

OP, please do not consider relocating your family to Arizona. I could give you a number of reasons as as a young black male who has lived in Arizona. I am telling you to reconsider your move and choose another place, because you should ultimately think about your child. If you allow him to grow up in an environment with little or hardly any ethnic diversity, he will grow up being oblivious to the struggle of being black a black man in America. The educational system in Arizona is terrible.

He might not encounter racism per say, because quite frankly most people in Arizona just keep to themselves because they either do not want to learn about anything or are afraid to learn. However it would grow on him and quite frankly in my opinion, make him as ignorant as many of the natives here further perpetuating most people stereotypical views about black culture. If you raise your child in Arizona he would come to the frame of mind that only white girls are beautiful, only white people can be managers, or white people can be wealthy. Do not allow his mind to be brainwashed, there are more great cities out there to relocate too that has much better diversity and accepts integration like Atlanta.

I am not seeing this in our development. We have plenty of mix here and they are all successful young people and some old retired people as well.
You almost sound afraid that the children will assimilate and move up in spite of history.

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by MotleyCrew

I am not seeing this in our development. We have plenty of mix here and they are all successful young people and some old retired people as well.
You almost sound afraid that the children will assimilate and move up in spite of history.

I wouldn't say assimilate, I would say accepted. Assimilation is a presumed loss of culture from whence you came; this isn't the case so much any more as is integration and blending. Just as a small and of little importance example: Last Thanksgiving my grandmother's kitchen was being remodeled and she has the largest dinning area and kitchen in the family so instead we had a HUGE Thanksgiving with her long time neighbors and friends who are white. Their family made the turkey and we brought ham, tamales, and other stuff. The neighbors had a variety of homemade salsas available for dinner and these were their own recipes. They are an Anglo-Saxon background family and they integrated some of our hispanic culture into their traditions. This is very familiar in the Phoenix area and like I said, a small example of the bigger picture.

[F40]

Originally Posted by xenourtv

OP, please do not consider relocating your family to Arizona. I could give you a number of reasons as as a young black male who has lived in Arizona. I am telling you to reconsider your move and choose another place, because you should ultimately think about your child. If you allow him to grow up in an environment with little or hardly any ethnic diversity, he will grow up being oblivious to the struggle of being black a black man in America. The educational system in Arizona is terrible.

He might not encounter racism per say, because quite frankly most people in Arizona just keep to themselves because they either do not want to learn about anything or are afraid to learn. However it would grow on him and quite frankly in my opinion, make him as ignorant as many of the natives here further perpetuating most people stereotypical views about black culture. If you raise your child in Arizona he would come to the frame of mind that only white girls are beautiful, only white people can be managers, or white people can be wealthy. Do not allow his mind to be brainwashed, there are more great cities out there to relocate too that has much better diversity and accepts integration like Atlanta.

Just wow. You seem to have a lot of hate in you. So sad to be you