No. 1 City for who????? (condo, crime rates, lawyers)

[Kat_Woman36]

I am an original midwestern that is currently living in FL. I will be looking to relocate in a couple of years not b/c i dont like florida but because career wise it is lackluster and after reading a variety of cities post FL is much like many cities in the area of horrible traffic, high taxes and cost of living, poor schools, rude people, low wages etc. I have read and heard year after year that the DC area is a great place for blacks. What i want to know is what makes this area so great for blacks is it job market? is it the education system? Please tell me i'd like to hear all about it! Thanks in advance.

[saganista]

For one thing, there is a lot of black history, a lot of black culture, a lot of black money, and a lot of black people already here. The city itself and its eastern suburbs are predominantly black over substantial areas, and the local governments in those areas reflect that. Not a magic wand. But it does create a different dynamic than what might prevail in many areas of a state like Florida. There is a strong, and perhaps more importantly, consistent job market in the area, and there are many good options for continuing adult education, although the K-12 systems in most black majority areas have in the main been serious under-performers. In addition to blacks, the DC area also has significant other minority populations. Hispanics have also heard that the DC area is a good one for them, and most areas have a signifcant such community. Asians, perhaps especially those of Vietnamese and Korean heritage, have also become a significant group in the region, and the diplomatic population, drawn from all over the world, continues to be a noteworthy component as well. And I didn't even mention the Greek, Turkish, Arab, Persian, or Indo-Pakistani numbers, the latter being signficant enough to make Urdu one of the five official languages of my own local school system. With such a degree of diversity, you'll have to work hard in order to feel different here. Everyone is different. Those riding with you on the DC Metro for instance are likely to look like a UN General Assembly meeting, and indeed, it would not be at all uncommon to overhear five or six different languages being spoken. All in all, what might make DC a good bet for any of those who might feel like cultural outsiders in other areas is the combination of the facts that there are many established cultures here, and no culture that simply dominates over the others.

[PenguinSix]

There is a large African-American middle class in the DC area which was the result of a lot of migration back in the 50s-60s from the South to pretty good paying and steady government jobs. A number of those families now have their roots in DC and as was mentioned there are some suburbs that are predominantly black now.

DC proper was once known as 'Chocolate City' back in the early days of Home Rule (back when the P.Funk album was popular). But in recent years I think the overall population has started to shift a bit as more and more yuppies move in and gentrify parts of the city, closing and gutting some lower income areas that were predominantly black (and pushing them to live in older suburbs).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv...c6898/funk.htm

[KerryB]

Originally Posted by PenguinSix

DC proper was once known as 'Chocolate City' back in the early days of Home Rule (back when the P.Funk album was popular). But in recent years I think the overall population has started to shift a bit as more and more yuppies move in and gentrify parts of the city, closing and gutting some lower income areas that were predominantly black (and pushing them to live in older suburbs).

Nobody's forcing anyone to do anything. No one wanted to live in DC a few years ago because it was a dangerous, crime infested dump. How is it a bad thing that people are trying to make it a nice place to live?? When you do that in ANY city, of course the cost of living goes up. So, if that pushes poor resident out (whether they are black, white, hispanic, whatever), its a natural process & has nothing to do with racism.

Saying the "yuppies" are taking it over is just a polite way of saying "these damn white people are ruining our city." I've heard it soo many time in the district it makes my head spin.

[Zippy7fo]

Originally Posted by KerryB

Nobody's forcing anyone to do anything. No one wanted to live in DC a few years ago because it was a dangerous, crime infested dump. How is it a bad thing that people are trying to make it a nice place to live?? When you do that in ANY city, of course the cost of living goes up. So, if that pushes poor resident out (whether they are black, white, hispanic, whatever), its a natural process & has nothing to do with racism.

Saying the "yuppies" are taking it over is just a polite way of saying "these damn white people are ruining our city." I've heard it soo many time in the district it makes my head spin.

Lmao....WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not to get into a debate about urban development but those folks abandoned the city because they didn't want to live around blacks or go to school with their children. They left and so did the tax base that would fund schools, economic development, and residential development of property. Now that pricing is ungodly in the burbs, traffic, and peak oil is coming everybody is going into the cities raising property values, developing communities, building businesses all the things AA community couldn't get for the last 60 years. They're reasons for anger. Don't you find it odd that AA are always live in the south of the city, next to industrial complexes where pollution is high and property equity is low.


But to answer the question of the original poster. DC is Mecca for AA professional opportunities. People are really aggressive about managing their careers here and you'll meet Doctors, Lawyers, Professors, Executives, and Entrepreneurs of all colors. I think it has to do with the area's commitment to education-diversity and that makes a huge difference when dealing with bigotry and racism plus you have so many companies all fueled by government spending and MANY programs geared towards minority business development. Some companies can't do business with the govt if they don't hire minorities or they have to work in conjunction with minority owned contractor to get business. Its just a great area and you can thrive and meet like minded AA doing well. Its too bad their stories don't lead on the six o'clock news and not the nonsense about crime and hip-hop.......

[Cowboy44]

D.C. may have a lot of government jobs, it still has high crime, and their school system is horrible. To live in a great neighborhood, you have to move to places like Virginia, and pay over $400,000 for a house. I wish people will stop using the race card, and understand that any place should benefit anyone regardless of race.

[saganista]

Originally Posted by Cowboy44

D.C. may have a lot of government jobs, it still has high crime, and their school system is horrible.

The DC school system is still predominantly bad, and has a couple of decades worth of catch-up to do if it is to become credible. The crime situation is a different story. DC has, and once deserved, a reputation as a crime mecca, but the foundations for that have evaporated. Of the 98 US cities with population of 200K or more in 2004 for instance, DC ranked 56th in overall crime. It was slightly more dangerous than Aurora, Colorado, and slightly less dangerous than Durham, North Carolina. Crime rates in St. Louis were more than double those of DC. Crime rates in Orlando were nearly double.

Originally Posted by Cowboy44

To live in a great neighborhood, you have to move to places like Virginia, and pay over $400,000 for a house.

That might get you a nice condo in an upscale area of NoVa.

Originally Posted by Cowboy44

I wish people will stop using the race card, and understand that any place should benefit anyone regardless of race.

I wish people would stop using the term 'race card'. Race exists. Mentioning it is an indication of sentience, but not necessarily anything more than that...