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How are photos better than someone who can walk outside and see things with his own eyes? If I wanted to know if Seattle has black people, I could walk out the door. I don't need pnotos
I stepped out my door in Seattle for 13 years so I do know what i'm talking about. I've been living in Los Angeles for 2 yrs now but i don't think Seattle has changed in 2 yrs.
I think the scope is a bit off when comparing these cities...
Los Angeles is the key city to a large multi-cultural metropolis, while Oakland is a city encompassed in another large multi-cultural metropolis shared by at least two other main cities. A better comparison would be to compare Oakland to Inglewood, or comparing parts of the East & North Bay to South Central & the South Bay LA.
If you are asking which city 'feels blacker', then the answer will definitely go to Oakland (and Richmond). If you are asking about which West Coast city has the stronger art, music, poetry, tradition, culture, and vibrant, creative hiphop scene then the answer still goes Oakland by a long shot. While Los Angeles may have more wealthy & successful blacks, Oakland does has more connected & educated blacks. Even with all that said though, Oakland these days is more of a multi-cultural city like Pasadena than it has been a 'black' city.
Judging from the poll, Los Angeles has been placed as an option as a whole, while the Bay Area has been broken up to little sections (also, notice how San Francisco is not even on this poll when it sure as hell more of a contender than Seattle or Las Vegas?). Long Beach, Carson, Compton, Inglewood, Hawthorne, Watts, etc. belong on the poll just as much as Richmond and Vallejo are.
I think part of the reason why black areas in the Bay feel 'blacker' is because those places are somewhat regionally segregated from San Francisco and Sillicon Valley, while whichever black areas left in Los Angeles have always been surrounded by far larger Latin, Anglo and Asian areas since from the beginning, which tends to 'water down' the black presence of the city....But Los Angeles was never really supposed to be a 'black' city to begin with. It has always been a multicultural city first, and a Latin capital second.
Going back to the question, Oakland does indeed have the strongest black presence out of the entire West Coast, but once you leave Sacramento and the Bay area, the presence in NorCal tends to taper away rather quickly. And while Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix and outer Seattle have respectable, continually growing black populations, they aren't even in the same league as LA and the Bay Area.
...But then again, it's all relative anyway. As BajanYankee had mentioned, New York seems to have a stronger black presence than Charlotte, despite Charlotte technically being the 'blacker' of the two. And while the black population in Los Angles alone is larger than the population of St. Louis, St. Louis still has the stronger black presence. Even with the Dallas-Ft. Worth metro having just a few more black people with 1.2 million compared to Greater Houston's 1.1 million, Houston still feels 'bigger and blacker' than Dallas.
Presence and culture is more than just numbers, but why even worry about the black offerings out West anyway? Black culture on the West Coast is lame and outdated in comparison to the South, Midwest, East Coast and the rest of the country. West Coast is its own animal nowadays. We're on our own sh't now.
No one ever said Seattle has as many blacks as Atlanta. And to even make such an ignorant statement about blacks in Seattle shows your ignorance. I know black doctors, engineers, dentist, teachers, lawyers, bankers, artist, anchors on the local news stations. Have you ever been to the Mount Baker, Leschi, Madrona, Lakeview, Seward Park, Central District, Lakeridge or Madison Valley communities of Seattle. Have you been to any of the black owned restaurants around town? Have you been to the PNW African American Museum? Have you been to Scoupe Dejour Ice Cream in Madison Park? Great ice cream and the nicest family you ever wanted to meet. Have you been to Starbucks at 23rd and Jackson Street? Great place to shoot the breeze and look at the beautiful black and white photography on the walls of Seattle's jazz scene back in the 40s and 50s. Do you even know anything about Seattle's black history? Just asking? I'm from DC and didn't Expect Seattle to have as many but was pleasantly surprised as to what Seattle had to offer for aa.
Once again, you fail to see the point. In Seattle you have to go and seek out black people, they just aren't 'there' already. They are segregated in certain areas. In Atlanta, sure you'll find black people anywhere you go. It's not because the city is overwhelmingly black, but because blacks are represented everywhere. I'm not expecting Seattle to be Atlanta. But being black in Seattle isn't any more special than being black in Wisconsin, or East St. Louis. There isn't a decent sized city in this country where I couldn't go to a particular pocket and see black people if I really wanted to find them. This doesn't mean that the city has a very relevant black population. I'm from Kansas City originally, it doesn't have a lot of black people. Growing up though all I saw was black, because I grew up in a black area. But the minute you leave those pockets, the black population declines. I've found in cities where black people stay isolated to certain areas, not matter what type of income they make, means there has been an imperative set by government or history to keep people separated. For me that's one of the more alarming things about Seattle. Black people in Seattle do not live outside the ghetto. There is probably a reason for tnis, but in Seattle it seems like that 900 lb. Gorilla in the room.
Anyway I don't have to deal with it anyway. I already have a job, and make money, so it doesn't bother me how Seattle like to treat their black people. As long as the white people in the neighborhood I stay in in Bellevue don't bother me, I'm good.
Actually, the military presence has a lot to do with the residential patterns of Black folks in the Seattle-Tacoma area. Just look at where Ft. Lewis and McCord Air Force Base are located. Bremerton has a notable Black population in part due to a Naval Base in that immediate area. So, that is a factor to consider as well.
Once again, you fail to see the point. In Seattle you have to go and seek out black people, they just aren't 'there' already. They are segregated in certain areas. In Atlanta, sure you'll find black people anywhere you go. It's not because the city is overwhelmingly black, but because blacks are represented everywhere. I'm not expecting Seattle to be Atlanta. But being black in Seattle isn't any more special than being black in Wisconsin, or East St. Louis. There isn't a decent sized city in this country where I couldn't go to a particular pocket and see black people if I really wanted to find them. This doesn't mean that the city has a very relevant black population. I'm from Kansas City originally, it doesn't have a lot of black people. Growing up though all I saw was black, because I grew up in a black area. But the minute you leave those pockets, the black population declines. I've found in cities where black people stay isolated to certain areas, not matter what type of income they make, means there has been an imperative set by government or history to keep people separated. For me that's one of the more alarming things about Seattle. Black people in Seattle do not live outside the ghetto. There is probably a reason for tnis, but in Seattle it seems like that 900 lb. Gorilla in the room.
Anyway I don't have to deal with it anyway. I already have a job, and make money, so it doesn't bother me how Seattle like to treat their black people. As long as the white people in the neighborhood I stay in in Bellevue don't bother me, I'm good.
I see what you're saying...but where in Seattle would you consider it a ghetto? Because last I remember, most of the black people living in the Seattle area don't even live in Seattle (like how there's still plenty white people in Detroit, they just don't live in the city proper) kinda like what's going on with Denver and the city of Aurora. Actually, I think I remember reading somewhere that the most diverse zipcode in this country was actually somewhere in the South Seattle suburbs.
You make it sound like you're living in super-white Portland or Spokane or Salt Lake City when really you're not...I swear, Portland's minority numbers are just made up. But then again, you said you live in Bellvue, which could also be the problem. Now, I won't completely defend Seattle, because the lack of black population for such an urban city is seriously laughable...but I think you're trying too hard or not hard enough to find other blacks in the area.
It's kind of interesting to see how African Americans from the Coasts are better prepared for mulitculturalism and have a stronger grasp with living in more cosmopolitan atmospheres, while AAs from the South and Midwest are too busy being obsessed with who has the blackest city and seem to have the hardest time adapting to a place that isn't strictly black & white. I come from the school where people is people, and if I can live in a diverse environment that also offers a strong hub for my own people, and isn't somewhere in Hickory-ass, West Virginia, I'm a happy man. Nothing wrong with either perspective because everyone is different. Just making an observation.
I know it'll be hard, but if being near a lot of black people in Seattle is important to you, then I would recommend leaving Bellvue and searching for parts that are a little more diverse and not 'ghetto'. Seattle is a bit larger than you would expect. Personally, I find the overcast and weather up there is far more unbearable than the lack of diversity.
Black Seattleites don't live outside the ghetto? What ghetto are you even referring to? Seattle doesn't have ghettos like Atlanta. When I bought my first home I in had no desire to live in Mill Creek, Bellevue, Kirkland or Issaquah. I chose the Mount Baker section of Seattle. It's old, charming, within walking distance to Lake Washington and the house was to my liking. And no, it's not in the ghetto. Like I said before you need to take some time and do some exploring.
Like I mentioned in another post, the cities/towns with the highest Black percentages in the Seattle area are the suburbs between Seattle and Tacoma, with Bremerton and Everett being outliers due to not being in that area, but have notable Black populations. Keep in mind that a lot of the Black folks between Seattle and Tacoma are military affiliated. So, it isn't like you can't find a place with a decent Black concentration with some being middle class.
I see what you're saying...but where in Seattle would you consider it a ghetto? Because last I remember, most of the black people living in the Seattle area don't even live in Seattle (like how there's still plenty white people in Detroit, they just don't live in the city proper) kinda like what's going on with Denver and the city of Aurora. Actually, I think I remember reading somewhere that the most diverse zipcode in this country was actually somewhere in the South Seattle suburbs.
You make it sound like you're living in super-white Portland or Spokane or Salt Lake City when really you're not...I swear, Portland's minority numbers are just made up. But then again, you said you live in Bellvue, which could also be the problem. Now, I won't completely defend Seattle, because the lack of black population for such an urban city is seriously laughable...but I think you're trying too hard or not hard enough to find other blacks in the area.
It's kind of interesting to see how African Americans from the Coasts are better prepared for mulitculturalism and have a stronger grasp with living in more cosmopolitan atmospheres, while AAs from the South and Midwest are too busy being obsessed with who has the blackest city and seem to have the hardest time adapting to a place that isn't strictly black & white. I come from the school where people is people, and if I can live in a diverse environment that also offers a strong hub for my own people, and isn't somewhere in Hickory-ass, West Virginia, I'm a happy man. Nothing wrong with either perspective because everyone is different. Just making an observation.
I know it'll be hard, but if being near a lot of black people in Seattle is important to you, then I would recommend leaving Bellvue and searching for parts that are a little more diverse and not 'ghetto'. Seattle is a bit larger than you would expect. Personally, I find the overcast and weather up there is far more unbearable than the lack of diversity.
Seattle has the best weather I've ever experienced in a city. If the rain doesn't bother you (which it doesn't for me), then the weather is quite enjoyable. It's nice and mild, which is what I like. I really use to hate Atlanta's really bad summers, with all of that humidity. And I haven't really seen Seattle get to freezing weather. But I can stand the cold, just hate really hot summers.
I know I'm making it sound like a big deal that there are no black people in Seatte. It's really not, I do think the black population in Seattle is slightly understated. However I don't think Seattle has a very significant black population. With that said, I don't have a really imperative need to be around black people. I'm probably one of the only black people in the office I work in, and while it felt a bit awkward at first, I've been in similar situations in Atlanta. Very few blacks reach the level I'm at in the tech field, so it's not uncomon to see a lot less black faces.
With that said, I doubt I'll ever be in any black hang out spots or neighborhoods in Seattle. It's just not all that important to me. Although I have found the lack of black population in Seattle alarming. But I've come to realize that many people find Seattle "way out". And I have to remember that the view of Washington state is that it's all country, and nothing is out here. I'm quite sure not a lot of black people came out here, and decided to instead settle in California. I don't personalyl know any black people from Seattle, so I may had made some bad assumptions about the black population here. Though I've never big a big fan of ethnic pockets. I had a similar issue with NYC being the same way to be honest with you. That is one of the things I loved about Atlanta. The neighborhoods were pretty mixed, as I've always found Atlanta to be more of a class based city than a race based city.
Seattle could be similar, but that lack of representation of black professionals is kind of alarming. Though I have to admit, many people I've worked with in Seattle seem color blind. Though I think most hiring managers in Atlanta are color blind as well. I think race politics gets bad in the midwest and northeast.
Because I was commenting on the topic. I was making the point that Seattle is not a West Coast city with a string black presence (I hate the term African American), and shouldn't be on the list,
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