How come Africans Americans do not Move to Canton (Atlanta: crime, buying a home)
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We moved to Canton, Ga in Bridgemill subdivision from up north. The award winning neighborhood is beautiful and well manicured. It has great ammenities, schools are good and crime is low. Out of over 3000 homes in this subdivision, we have not one African American neighbor. Do not get me wrong we are spread throughout the community, but we are not very many.
Canton is not that far from Atlanta about 35 miles. All blacks seem to move to the south side of Atlanta, why? We love our home and the community, but are considering moving because of lack of diversity in the area. Do realtors even consider this area with African American , Asian, Latino clients. This is a beautiful area, but we need people we can relate with. My kids have plenty of kids to play with, but not one other that looks like them. We need all types of neighbors.Please help we need some mixture of people and culture in this area
Well, its probably because of all the confederate flag wielding natives,hoping their presence with send a message to any future non-white resident, they are not welcome. Most forward thinking would be residents pay no attention to them and continue to move to the area. Don't adopt a defeatist stance and move out of the area. Having seen more and more african-americans move to the area in recent times tells me,your continued stay in B'Mill would continue to draw more of your kind to the area. If its any comfort to you I live in B'Mill,have been for the past 3yrs and am not going anywhere. Love it too much here. My little ones love it too.
We moved to Canton, Ga in Bridgemill subdivision from up north. The award winning neighborhood is beautiful and well manicured. It has great ammenities, schools are good and crime is low. Out of over 3000 homes in this subdivision, we have not one African American neighbor. Do not get me wrong we are spread throughout the community, but we are not very many.
Canton is not that far from Atlanta about 35 miles. All blacks seem to move to the south side of Atlanta, why? We love our home and the community, but are considering moving because of lack of diversity in the area. Do realtors even consider this area with African American , Asian, Latino clients. This is a beautiful area, but we need people we can relate with. My kids have plenty of kids to play with, but not one other that looks like them. We need all types of neighbors.Please help we need some mixture of people and culture in this area
How is Bridgemill? We considered moving there at a point. I'm AA. The people seemed really nice in the neighborhood.
I'm confused. You did mention that there are other black families "throughout the community", but you want to move because your next door neighbor's aren't black and your kids can't relate to anyone who "looks like them" because there aren't blacks living next door or across the street? You can't "relate with anyone" unless they're black? (Just basing my questions on how you worded your post).
Honestly, I'm not trying to be a smart-ass and I'm aware of at least two people who are going to come in here and do the, "your an ass and a racist for saying those things", but I'm curious and confused when I see posts like this (there have been others).
If you drive around the Canton area before buying a home, you'll see a distinct lack of diversity there regarding other races. SOME realtors will inform you of this if you ask - others will refuse to discuss race/color when you are looking for a home (this has been heatedly discussed on these boards, too). Few of them will "steer" people of particular races to certain areas while avoiding others, but some will if asked. But, maybe like you, Asian or Hispanic people will see suburban white areas and decide against it for the same reasons you're having second thoughts... they want to be around more of their own people.
You have to realize that until a decade or so ago, Atlanta was as some suburbanites would call it (and still do in some areas), "the black city", and some of the suburbs were shall we say, "redneck" areas. Canton as a matter of fact had a ton of chicken farms, so was for the most part a very rural, sleepy, "old south" kind of area. Around the time of and after the Olympics, more and more subdivisions started sprouting up in that area and others in the North Georgia "rural" communities.
Today due to the excessive growth, you pretty much can't tell when you've left one area and have entered the next, but the basic demographic makeup of people in those areas haven't really changed a whole lot. Most of those areas are still majority-white, majority-American, and some might call the makeup of the newer residents more of a "rural yuppie". People who migrate here from rural suburban areas in other parts of the country setting in places like Canton because they're close to what they left, while being not too far from the ammenities Atlanta offers (jobs, shopping etc).
There are areas closer to Atlanta on the West, East and South sides that have more blacks, and in some cases are majority-black neighborhoods. In the Chamblee/Doraville areas you will find many more Hispanics and Asians, and in certain areas of Gwinnett County you will find areas with extreme mixtures of people from all over. But generally the NorthWestern, Far Western, and Northern suburban areas are still majority-white and will likely at least for a while stay that way for the most part.
Your current community sounds very nice and it sounds like you enjoy living there for the most part the way you describe it, and it sounds like you're not the ONLY black family there as well. Decide the pluses of living there as opposed to the negatives. You MIGHT have to give up something if you relocate to a closer and more diverse area which may not be quite as safe, may not have schools that are as good, or may not have the same value-for-dollar regarding home prices. There are tons of other areas and festivals and cultural events going on in and around the metro area all the time that will expose your kids to every race, religion, and culture imagineable - maybe you just need to take part in those events and visit more of those areas more, and enjoy your community as it is at home?
I'm confused. You did mention that there are other black families "throughout the community", but you want to move because your next door neighbor's aren't black and your kids can't relate to anyone who "looks like them" because there aren't blacks living next door or across the street? You can't "relate with anyone" unless they're black? (Just basing my questions on how you worded your post).
Honestly, I'm not trying to be a smart-ass and I'm aware of at least two people who are going to come in here and do the, "your an ass and a racist for saying those things", but I'm curious and confused when I see posts like this (there have been others).
If you drive around the Canton area before buying a home, you'll see a distinct lack of diversity there regarding other races. SOME realtors will inform you of this if you ask - others will refuse to discuss race/color when you are looking for a home (this has been heatedly discussed on these boards, too). Few of them will "steer" people of particular races to certain areas while avoiding others, but some will if asked. But, maybe like you, Asian or Hispanic people will see suburban white areas and decide against it for the same reasons you're having second thoughts... they want to be around more of their own people.
You have to realize that until a decade or so ago, Atlanta was as some suburbanites would call it (and still do in some areas), "the black city", and some of the suburbs were shall we say, "redneck" areas. Canton as a matter of fact had a ton of chicken farms, so was for the most part a very rural, sleepy, "old south" kind of area. Around the time of and after the Olympics, more and more subdivisions started sprouting up in that area and others in the North Georgia "rural" communities.
Today due to the excessive growth, you pretty much can't tell when you've left one area and have entered the next, but the basic demographic makeup of people in those areas haven't really changed a whole lot. Most of those areas are still majority-white, majority-American, and some might call the makeup of the newer residents more of a "rural yuppie". People who migrate here from rural suburban areas in other parts of the country setting in places like Canton because they're close to what they left, while being not too far from the ammenities Atlanta offers (jobs, shopping etc).
There are areas closer to Atlanta on the West, East and South sides that have more blacks, and in some cases are majority-black neighborhoods. In the Chamblee/Doraville areas you will find many more Hispanics and Asians, and in certain areas of Gwinnett County you will find areas with extreme mixtures of people from all over. But generally the NorthWestern, Far Western, and Northern suburban areas are still majority-white and will likely at least for a while stay that way for the most part.
Your current community sounds very nice and it sounds like you enjoy living there for the most part the way you describe it, and it sounds like you're not the ONLY black family there as well. Decide the pluses of living there as opposed to the negatives. You MIGHT have to give up something if you relocate to a closer and more diverse area which may not be quite as safe, may not have schools that are as good, or may not have the same value-for-dollar regarding home prices. There are tons of other areas and festivals and cultural events going on in and around the metro area all the time that will expose your kids to every race, religion, and culture imagineable - maybe you just need to take part in those events and visit more of those areas more, and enjoy your community as it is at home?
Thank you for your post. I am not trying to be racist, but if I sound that way that was not the intent. What I am saying is that with all Canton has to offer rmany other races and cultures do not come this way. I can relate to anyone, thats how I survived 25 years working on Wall Street. In the long run we all want the same thing. A nice, safe environment where we can learn and grow and be successful.
This is a problem that my sister had when she moved to Charlotte from NY. She is a lawyer, has two daughters, and really wanted my nieces to be around other minority children in school. And after months of knocking her head against a wall she had to finally to give up her desire for that "perfect" area. She couldn't find anywhere that met all of her criteria, and in the end she decided on the best education for her kids. But she has done the most she can in other ways, they are in an all black girl scout troop, they go to a mostly black church, she actively seeks out other black people in her neighborhood to make friends for her children.
In many cases black children separate themselves by class in school. So even if you move to a very "diverse" area your child could be just as much of an outsider if they live in a "white" neighborhood. Sadly you have to take social-standing into account just as much as race. Its not easy to find that balance.
I'm confused. You did mention that there are other black families "throughout the community", but you want to move because your next door neighbor's aren't black and your kids can't relate to anyone who "looks like them" because there aren't blacks living next door or across the street? You can't "relate with anyone" unless they're black? (Just basing my questions on how you worded your post).
Honestly, I'm not trying to be a smart-ass and I'm aware of at least two people who are going to come in here and do the, "your an ass and a racist for saying those things", but I'm curious and confused when I see posts like this (there have been others).
If you drive around the Canton area before buying a home, you'll see a distinct lack of diversity there regarding other races. SOME realtors will inform you of this if you ask - others will refuse to discuss race/color when you are looking for a home (this has been heatedly discussed on these boards, too). Few of them will "steer" people of particular races to certain areas while avoiding others, but some will if asked. But, maybe like you, Asian or Hispanic people will see suburban white areas and decide against it for the same reasons you're having second thoughts... they want to be around more of their own people.
You have to realize that until a decade or so ago, Atlanta was as some suburbanites would call it (and still do in some areas), "the black city", and some of the suburbs were shall we say, "redneck" areas. Canton as a matter of fact had a ton of chicken farms, so was for the most part a very rural, sleepy, "old south" kind of area. Around the time of and after the Olympics, more and more subdivisions started sprouting up in that area and others in the North Georgia "rural" communities.
Today due to the excessive growth, you pretty much can't tell when you've left one area and have entered the next, but the basic demographic makeup of people in those areas haven't really changed a whole lot. Most of those areas are still majority-white, majority-American, and some might call the makeup of the newer residents more of a "rural yuppie". People who migrate here from rural suburban areas in other parts of the country setting in places like Canton because they're close to what they left, while being not too far from the ammenities Atlanta offers (jobs, shopping etc).
There are areas closer to Atlanta on the West, East and South sides that have more blacks, and in some cases are majority-black neighborhoods. In the Chamblee/Doraville areas you will find many more Hispanics and Asians, and in certain areas of Gwinnett County you will find areas with extreme mixtures of people from all over. But generally the NorthWestern, Far Western, and Northern suburban areas are still majority-white and will likely at least for a while stay that way for the most part.
Your current community sounds very nice and it sounds like you enjoy living there for the most part the way you describe it, and it sounds like you're not the ONLY black family there as well. Decide the pluses of living there as opposed to the negatives. You MIGHT have to give up something if you relocate to a closer and more diverse area which may not be quite as safe, may not have schools that are as good, or may not have the same value-for-dollar regarding home prices. There are tons of other areas and festivals and cultural events going on in and around the metro area all the time that will expose your kids to every race, religion, and culture imagineable - maybe you just need to take part in those events and visit more of those areas more, and enjoy your community as it is at home?
Damn AtlantaGreg.. I guess you may not be so ignorant after all... Come on everyone, lets sing:
Kumbaya, my Lord, kumbaya Kumbaya, my Lord, kumbaya Kumbaya, my Lord, kumbaya O Lord, kumbaya
We moved to Canton, Ga in Bridgemill subdivision from up north. The award winning neighborhood is beautiful and well manicured. It has great ammenities, schools are good and crime is low. Out of over 3000 homes in this subdivision, we have not one African American neighbor. Do not get me wrong we are spread throughout the community, but we are not very many.
Canton is not that far from Atlanta about 35 miles. All blacks seem to move to the south side of Atlanta, why? We love our home and the community, but are considering moving because of lack of diversity in the area. Do realtors even consider this area with African American , Asian, Latino clients. This is a beautiful area, but we need people we can relate with. My kids have plenty of kids to play with, but not one other that looks like them. We need all types of neighbors.Please help we need some mixture of people and culture in this area
I've been to Bridgemill. It's a very nice subdivision, with a lot to offer (once the lake level comes back, anyway). But you're right; it lacks diversity the way many just-as-nice Gwinnett County neighborhoods do.
Part of the reason for it's lack of diversity is timing; we're not that far removed from the bad ol' days of hostility and exclusion (remember, in the Deep South, things didn't change in the '60s and '70s, it was more like the late '80s). Part of the reason is that most people--Black and White--have adhered to the traditional dividing line of north metro/south metro. And part of the reason is that some people just don't realize that it's a choice.
With time, some Black families--especially those who come from the West Coast and other diverse areas--will occasionally find places like Bridgemill and move in. Given the choice, though, many families are going to be mindful of non-diverse reputations and move to a neighborhood where they feel like they can "plug in"; have peace of mind, and not feel isolated. That's the downside with places like Cherokee and Forsyth counties. For now.
Perhaps we can ask some of the realtors on this board to chime in:
Is it steering or otherwise unethical to recommend a diverse neighborhood as opposed to a homogenous one?
This is a problem that my sister had when she moved to Charlotte from NY. She is a lawyer, has two daughters, and really wanted my nieces to be around other minority children in school. And after months of knocking her head against a wall she had to finally to give up her desire for that "perfect" area. She couldn't find anywhere that met all of her criteria, and in the end she decided on the best education for her kids. But she has done the most she can in other ways, they are in an all black girl scout troop, they go to a mostly black church, she actively seeks out other black people in her neighborhood to make friends for her children.
In many cases black children separate themselves by class in school. So even if you move to a very "diverse" area your child could be just as much of an outsider if they live in a "white" neighborhood. Sadly you have to take social-standing into account just as much as race. Its not easy to find that balance.
I can attest to this. When I went to a predominantly black and poor elementary school, I had more problems than when I went to an all white prep school. The difference was socieconomic. The poor black children "couldn't relate" to me at all. I conjured up pictures of an "Oreo Cookie" in their minds. They couldn't understand the way I talked, or dressed, or anything. I was actually met with hostility more than once.
In my predominantly white school, I was never met with hostility by the kids, most of whom are still close friends of mine. It was their PARENTS, and some of our teachers who were hostile. One of my teacher's husbands was in the Klan.(shiver) The woman hated me, but her younger daughters loved me to death. Really made her skin crawl. In any case, I think I got along so well with the white kids because we were from the same "social class", so we were being raised in virtually the same environments. The poor black kids, not so much. Had I been in school with poor white kids, I believe that the issues would have not only been socioeconomic, but race as well-since poor kids often lack outside exposure to anyone other than those perceived to be like them.
I can attest to this. When I went to a predominantly black and poor elementary school, I had more problems than when I went to an all white prep school. The difference was socieconomic. The poor black children "couldn't relate" to me at all. I conjured up pictures of an "Oreo Cookie" in their minds. They couldn't understand the way I talked, or dressed, or anything. I was actually met with hostility more than once.
In my predominantly white school, I was never met with hostility by the kids, most of whom are still close friends of mine. It was their PARENTS, and some of our teachers who were hostile. One of my teacher's husbands was in the Klan.(shiver) The woman hated me, but her younger daughters loved me to death. Really made her skin crawl. In any case, I think I got along so well with the white kids because we were from the same "social class", so we were being raised in virtually the same environments. The poor black kids, not so much. Had I been in school with poor white kids, I believe that the issues would have not only been socioeconomic, but race as well-since poor kids often lack outside exposure to anyone other than those perceived to be like them.
I think this is an interesting topic. Many black parents (my sister included- I really had to school her on this topic) don't realize that thier black children can be just ostracized by other black children if they are not at the same socioeconomic level. In many cases even more so than white children in areas that would be considered to be lacking diversity.
Even in my own family my siblings and I had VERY different experiences. My siblings went to majority black schools since they were school age when my parents just got to this country. When I came around years later my parents were at a different economic level which meant we lived in a higher income community with whiter schools.
Until I discussed this with my sister she never took socioeconomic class into account, only race. She was never exposed to it so she didn't think of it.
The original poster should keep this in mind, and find a diverse area with black families of similar economic levels. Though I'm sure if they try hard enough they can find other black families in a similar situation right in their own neighborhood.
This issue was actually a major part of our house search, and one of the main reasons we live where we do. If I can help it I would like spare my kids the trouble of having to deal with what I did.
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Come on everyone, lets sing:
