Blacks leaving the Bay ? (San Jose, San Francisco: transplants, 2015, crimes)

[jade408]

Originally Posted by andyadhi01

Gentrification and rising prices are a nationwide phenomena and not limited in SF. My old city, Dallas, which has undergone extreme gentrification is last 10 years is also huge magnet for black people moving from everywhere else. And most of them are middle class professionals with good jobs. I don't know what causes the income disparity among different races in bay area, but the income gap between blacks and whites in bay area is simply staggering. And I doubt this level of disparity exists anywhere else in the US, including the deep South. So much so for liberalism and progressive attitudes! This is what happens when a group of people believes their own BS a little too much-

Generally, the black people that moved to the Bay initially were lower income, looking for opportunity. It was like a new version of the dust bowl. Unfortunately, today they are mostly the only ones left.

Growing up, there were quite a few professional organizations for middle class + african americans in the south bay. Most of the black fraternities had an alumni chapter, and there was also a branch of Jack and Jills (think black debutantes). And today there are still quite a few compared with SF.

But lots of the middle class african-americans I know have a plan B, that means moving somewhere cheaper with other middle class black people. I know I have a plan B, and it looks like the south. My parents are only sticking around in the west coast because my brother and I live here, otherwise they'd run back to the south. My family did move out of CA as the schools started to deteriorate in the 80s and 90s and went south. (later we came back and I got a better education in the southern public schools than I would have here)

Makes sense to me to leave. You might as well go somewhere where people actually believe it is possible and probable you went to college and have a good job, instead of everyone assuming you grew up in the hood if you don't have an african accent.

[OrangeCoriander]

Originally Posted by jade408

But lots of the middle class african-americans I know have a plan B, that means moving somewhere cheaper with other middle class black people. I know I have a plan B, and it looks like the south. My parents are only sticking around in the west coast because my brother and I live here, otherwise they'd run back to the south. My family did move out of CA as the schools started to deteriorate in the 80s and 90s and went south. (later we came back and I got a better education in the southern public schools than I would have here)

Makes sense to me to leave. You might as well go somewhere where people actually believe it is possible and probable you went to college and have a good job, instead of everyone assuming you grew up in the hood if you don't have an african accent.

For all the bashing the South gets, Atlanta (along with some other cities) is one of the best places a middle-class Black person can go. There is still a lot of poverty there in the Black community (much like the rest of the East Coast), but there is also a strong, successful, proud and huge middle-class community. The summers still suck, though.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by OrangeCoriander

For all the bashing the South gets, Atlanta (along with some other cities) is one of the best places a middle-class Black person can go. There is still a lot of poverty there in the Black community (much like the rest of the East Coast), but there is also a strong, successful, proud and huge middle-class community. The summers still suck, though.

So true! That's my number 1 hesitation. Humidity.

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by OrangeCoriander

For all the bashing the South gets, Atlanta (along with some other cities) is one of the best places a middle-class Black person can go. There is still a lot of poverty there in the Black community (much like the rest of the East Coast), but there is also a strong, successful, proud and huge middle-class community. The summers still suck, though.

Interesting - I know a young, African American grad student who came out here for school - he graduated from a HBCU in Alabama (and loved the supportive and caring atmosphere he experienced there). He mentioned how few black people were out here, and he was really considering going back to the South when he finished up his studies here because of the networks and critical mass of black professionals in cities such as Atlanta, Houston and Washington DC.

[goldenchild08]

Where I live now in Maryland is right outside the richest Black majority county in the nation, Prince George's County. There are huge upscale mostly Black neighborhoods in PG County filled with million dollar homes. However, PG County has its share of gun violence, drugs and above average homicide rate in the impoverished areas that are located outside of Southeast DC. DC is still a Black majority city (albeit only by a few percentage points in 2011), but DC is the most educated city in the nation with the highest median income of any big city. It is possible to be highly educated, upper or upper middle class, suburban and authentically Black in DC. This is unheard of in SF in 2011. Seeing how disenfranchised Black folks are in the hidden third world corners of SF and coming back to affluent Black suburbia in Maryland is a serious head trip.

There are huge upper middle class Black populations in Baltimore, Howard and Montgomery counties in suburban Maryland as well. But Baltimore City and DC have well-publicized impoverished disadvantaged Black populations. But at the same time, these communities in Baltimore and DC aren't as insular and cut off as some of the impoverished Black communities in the Bay. Living in the ghetto in Baltimore, you can easily make $500 a day on hot Spring, Summer and early Autumn days selling ice cold bottled water on the side of the road. Money from the pockets of rich people doesn't flow through Hunter's Point as much as it does through places like West Baltimore. Hunter's Point mine as well be a thousand miles away from Bernal Heights.

[goldenchild08]

In SF's case, it's not intolerance mostly (aside from the redevelopment of the Fillmore district in the 1950s-1970s)...the causes are largely a combination of gentrification/rising prices and high crime in many of the areas that remain ungentrified (which includes all heavily black areas in SF).

This is true. Even historically Black cities like DC aren't as Black as they were 10, 20, 30 years ago due to gentrification. DC used to be over 70% Black in 1970, but it is only about 52% Black today. DC's Black population decreased by 8% from 2000 to 2007 alone. Within 10 years, Blacks will probably be a minority in DC. Similarly, SF was almost 20% Black 30-40 years ago peaking at a Black population of 16%. Its kinda hard to believe that about one in five people were Black in SF once upon a time. Even my old neighborhood in Lakeview in SF used to be 50-60% Black when I lived there in the 80's and 90's. Today, Lakeview is about 25% Black and that population is quickly shrinking. Believe it or not, Hunter's Point used to have the highest concentration of Black owned businesses and real estate in the entire state California.

Black flight | San Francisco Bay View

[andyadhi01]

Originally Posted by OrangeCoriander

The summers still suck, though.

But not as much as generational poverty and getting stuck in crime infested ghettos! And BTW, the fog sucks way more than the heat and humidity

[goldenchild08]

So true! That's my number 1 hesitation. Humidity.

Actually changes of season on the East Coast and the South aren't that bad once you get used to it. The weather changes like clock work once you get tired of the season. Every season out here is like a completely different state of mind as well. It has been snowing a lot in the past month in Maryland. There are only two real seasons out here though: Summer and Winter. Spring and Fall only last about three weeks a piece before it gets to be 100 degrees or below 50 everyday. The weather feels like SF in Maryland for a total of about four to six weeks a year. Changing clothes according to seasons is also fun. I could never wear shorts growing up in SF.

[OrangeCoriander]

Originally Posted by goldenchild08

Actually changes of season on the East Coast and the South aren't that bad once you get used to it. The weather changes like clock work once you get tired of the season. Every season out here is like a completely different state of mind as well. It has been snowing a lot in the past month in Maryland. There are only two real seasons out here though: Summer and Winter. Spring and Fall only last about three weeks a piece before it gets to be 100 degrees or below 50 everyday. The weather feels like SF in Maryland for a total of about four to six weeks a year. Changing clothes according to seasons is also fun. I could never wear shorts growing up in SF.

I dunno...I spent 40 years in the Mid-Atlantic and the Southeast and still couldn't stand the summers. I love the weather here. To each his own, I guess.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by OrangeCoriander

I dunno...I spent 40 years in the Mid-Atlantic and the Southeast and still couldn't stand the summers. I love the weather here. To each his own, I guess.

I used to live in SC. I only liked Fall and Spring. I hate humidity. Being outside during the summer was torture. I do not like shorts enough to suffer with humidity. But having middle class black areas is a positive....