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Barry Farms is not gone yet. I ride past it every day, and yes there are redevelopment plans ready once raized but I don't have those available. Maybe MDallstar may have them tucked away somewhere.
Last time I went there. I know I seen parts of the area had been razed. Maybe I'm confusing Barry Farms with another area in the southeast.
Beautiful, If only blacks invested more in our neighborhoods. Areas like 4th Ward in Houston or Shaw in DC would still be remaining. Sad.
I hear Anacostia is getting hit hard with gentrification aka modern day colonization lol
I was shocked when I went back and saw Barry Farms was gone. That place was ROUGH, but still. Did they ever redevelop the land?
Anacostia's still hanging in there and it's still heavily Black (mostly native but some transplants believe it or not. Few white people), and the Farms are still there actually. They're just on the other side of the Anacostia Metro station. And while Shaw may not have as many Black businesses like it used to, the decent number that still remain are still holding ground. And trust me as someone who hangs out in Shaw a lot, there's still a lot of Black people out and about in the neighborhood as well, be it natives, transplants, Howard students, blipsters, artists, buskers, buppies, suburbanites, etc. Plenty of Black people hanging out and living in Shaw, it's still a pretty popular nightlife area for us also.
Last edited by tcave360; 09-30-2015 at 09:57 PM..
Reason: Typo
Anacostia's still hanging in there and it's still heavily Black (mostly native but some transplants believe it or not. Few white people), and the Farms are still there actually. They're just on the other side of the Anacostia Metro station. And while Shaw many not have as many Black businesses like it used to, the decent number that still remain are still holding ground. And trust me as someone who hangs out in Shaw a lot, there's still a lot of Black people out and about in the neighborhood as well, be it natives, transplants, Howard students, blipsters, artists, buskers, buppies, suburbanites, etc. Plenty of Black people hanging out and living in Shaw, it's still a pretty popular nightlife area for us also.
I know about DC because my dad's from Charlottesville [now living in the DMV area] and we use to spend lots of time in the Southeast, Capitol Hill area, and the Shaw area. The last time I visited was like 2 to 3 years ago. It's good to see these areas still have their culture intact. If only gentrification was inclusive and not exclusive.
Houston's 4th Ward is pretty much gone. Full of nothing but townhouses, condos and lofts. It's sad because like Barry Farms, it was founded and built up by free blacks. It was once called Freedman's town.
I know about DC because my dad's from Charlottesville [now living in the DMV area] and we use to spend lots of time in the Southeast, Capitol Hill area, and the Shaw area. The last time I visited was like 2 to 3 years ago. It's good to see these areas still have their culture intact. If only gentrification was inclusive and not exclusive.
Houston's 4th Ward is pretty much gone. Full of nothing but townhouses, condos and lofts. It's sad because like Barry Farms, it was founded and built up by free blacks. It was once called Freedman's town.
Oh cool. And yes, there are new developments near the Anacostia Metro station but you'll mainly see Black people around those new apartments, some of them look like they're native to The City too. Gentrification really is like modern day colonization in my eyes no matter how people try to sugercoat it. After watching San Francisco 2.0 on HBO, it's a practice that's definitely merciless and intrusive at times. Just feels like the cons of gentrification are beginning to outweigh its "pros". I'm more of a fan of revitalization. A lot of cities are seeing their crime rates drop as a result of gentrification but at what cost? It's even affecting neighborhoods in other cities that never even needed to be gentrified. It's sad really.
I have been hearing a lot of people throw around the term “New black meccaâ€referring to cities that are in their opinion the new black meccas. People have been throwing around this term a little too much these days. A city can’t belabeled the new black mecca just because black people are moving to said cities. Certain standards and criteria’s must be met in order to claim thetitle. There has to be a standard just like there is a standard that must be met to join the military. Having lived in true black mecca cities such as Atlanta and DC (NYC) there are certain things and a certain lifestyle that these cities have that make them true black meccas from history, having multiple nightlife options with well dressed AA, eventsthat bring large amounts of blacks in the city all the time, dozens of AA neighborhoods, plenty of black businesses, etc. This thread is to set astandard on what a city should have at a minimum to even be mentioned as a black mecca. A city that is a good city for blacks is totally different than saying said city is a new black mecca. Some people don't know any better so this is to inform those people what things a true black mecca city should have
Nightlife: Must have a diverse nightlife for all blacks. All blacks to include professionals, neo soul/spoken word crowd, etc. Does the averageprofessional black person have at least 10 options per night on the weekend for places to go to that aren’t ratchet? In most cities it is easy to find ghetto spots but what about places with well dress professionals? Nightlife should consist of live music, mega clubs, lounges, dive bars, happy hours, networking events, etc. Are there at least two places that are packed on Monday and Tuesday night?
Middle Class/Upper Middle Class neighborhoods: Your city musthave at least 20 middle class majority AA subdivisions. For this topic amajority is at least 80% instead of 51%
Radio stations: Must have at least four radio stations that play either R&B, Hip Hop/Old School music
Black Events: City must have at least five huge homegrown events that bring at least 30,000 people to the city annually. Homecoming and national music tours do not count since they are unique to any city.
HBCU: Must have at least one well known historical black college within the metro area
History: What significant national history does your city have regarding African Americans?
Trends: What trends have your city created? Not local trends but national trends
Black businesses: Your city must have plenty of black businesses. Not just talking about hair salons and wing stands.
Mayor: Said city must have had at least 3 AA mayors in the past 30 years.
Unemployment Rate: Since most cities are out of the recession I decided not to include this
Atl, NYC and DC have set the standard on the different criteria's listed above for the most part. When people visit these cities they can except to have these standardslisted above in above average quantities. With that being said a city might not have everything on this list but overall they are still true black meccas.
Why is this list needed? A standard has to be set. I cant say for example Minot, ND is the new Hispanic mecca if they have no Hispanic radio stations, Hispanic events, etc. I can say it is but I would lose credibility.
Well, I'm sure glad some rando on the internet gave us standards for the "new black mecca," so that we can all stop embarrassing ourselves!
Probably not a whole lot. At least not where these metros are relative to each other. The next report comes out in December.
It's like there's really not a true black mecca sans DC to an extent. It seems like each metro (NYC, HOU, DC, ATL, Philly) picks up where the other one lags. It's crazy!
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