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...why are more of them moving to DFW than Houston? it the economy? Is Dallas a draw for blacks from specific parts of the US that are losing population more rapidly?...
The black community in DFW is growing noticeably faster than in Houston. If the consensus is that Houston is better for black people, then why are more of them moving to DFW than Houston? Is it the economy? Is Dallas a draw for blacks from specific parts of the US that are losing population more rapidly?
There has to be at least educated guesses to these questions.
I don't know first hand but here are my educated guesses.
Houston is culturally Blacker and has long been a magnet for Blacks in the surrounding region, of which there are more compared to DFW. Also the energy industry has provided both a lot of blue-collar and white-collar (administrative, office-based) jobs, as well as healthcare with TMC and the port. Those fleeing Katrina also gave the region a big bump in its Black population.
I'd guess that Dallas has started outcompeting Houston for Black transplants for a few reasons:
1) Over time, Blacks have become more college-educated which has resulted in larger numbers of Black professionals who have been attracted to DFW's more diverse, corporate, white-collar economy.
2) DFW has seen much less boom-and-bust cycles than Houston and has had a longer streak of strong job growth that have included high-profile corporate relocations.
3) DFW can get some nasty weather (tornadoes, ice storms) but Houston has had higher-profile natural disasters in recent years.
4) Better overall branding and marketing. And Black folks all across the country love them some Cowboys and Bishop T.D. Jakes.
5) This one is probably less important, but I think DFW having predominantly Black middle/upper-middle class suburbs (Best Southwest) has been a draw; that makes for an immediate comparison with Atlanta/Dekalb and DC/PG.
I don't know first hand but here are my educated guesses.
Houston is culturally Blacker and has long been a magnet for Blacks in the surrounding region, of which there are more compared to DFW. Also the energy industry has provided both a lot of blue-collar and white-collar (administrative, office-based) jobs, as well as healthcare with TMC and the port. Those fleeing Katrina also gave the region a big bump in its Black population.
I'd guess that Dallas has started outcompeting Houston for Black transplants for a few reasons:
1) Over time, Blacks have become more college-educated which has resulted in larger numbers of Black professionals who have been attracted to DFW's more diverse, corporate, white-collar economy.
2) DFW has seen much less boom-and-bust cycles than Houston and has had a longer streak of strong job growth that have included high-profile corporate relocations.
3) DFW can get some nasty weather (tornadoes, ice storms) but Houston has had higher-profile natural disasters in recent years.
4) Better overall branding and marketing. And Black folks all across the country love them some Cowboys and Bishop T.D. Jakes.
5) This one is probably less important, but I think DFW having predominantly Black middle/upper-middle class suburbs (Best Southwest) has been a draw; that makes for an immediate comparison with Atlanta/Dekalb and DC/PG.
I think 1 and 4 are the biggest reasons with 2 and 5 right behind them . DFWs black population has grown faster than Houston’s going on three decades now and this is without mentioning that both metro areas have seen their overall population grow around the same clip as DFW has maintained that 500k gap since 1990. Neither city has envious weather so I don’t think it factors in that much. But to the point of 1 and 4 and why DFWs black population has outpaced Houston, you can draw some parallels to Atlanta though obviously to a smaller extent. There’s a reason why people say Dallas reminds people of Atlanta but without trees.
Let’s face it, DFW has marketed itself far more than Houston has the last 30-40 years. Houston has relatively done nothing in this regard. DFW also has a diverse economy to go on top of the marketing. Location is also a big part. Dallas sits in a good location in access to the Midwest, Interior West, and West Coast to go along with the Mid-South and the rest of Texas. Houston has actually done a good job trying to play catch-up but DFW still is seen as the better choice over the best choice. I said years ago that DFW black population will pass Houston. It was inevitable.
I get what you're saying, but the gap between Charlotte and Raleigh/Durham isn't quite as large since Raleigh/Durham have had prominent Black populations from the very beginning (the first two Black mayors in the state in the late 60s/early 70s were in Chapel Hill and Raleigh), probably even more so than Charlotte historically. But I do think Black families would be a bit more drawn towards Raleigh/Durham just as they are probably a bit more drawn towards DFW in Texas, whereas singles are more drawn to Charlotte and Houston.
Interestingly enough, TX and NC also have parallels in Wilmington/Galveston, Austin/Asheville, and Fayetteville/Kileen.
The black community in DFW is growing noticeably faster than in Houston. If the consensus is that Houston is better for black people, then why are more of them moving to DFW than Houston? Is it the economy? Is Dallas a draw for blacks from specific parts of the US that are losing population more rapidly?
There has to be at least educated guesses to these questions.
Families are drawn to DFW. Singles are drawn to Houston.
I think more blacks know about because it markets itself as a black party city. A lot of people on YouTube and on Lipstick Alley are drawn to Houston, as an alternative to Atlanta.
Many people of all demographics are pleasantly surprised when they visit Houston because Houston doesn’t market itself as a whole. However, the city has a major buzz in the black community.
I think more blacks know about because it markets itself as a black party city. A lot of people on YouTube and on Lipstick Alley are drawn to Houston, as an alternative to Atlanta.
Many people of all demographics are pleasantly surprised when they visit Houston because Houston doesn’t market itself as a whole. However, the city has a major buzz in the black community.
Maybe it's just me getting older, but I don't see nightlife being the draw that it used to be for Black cities specifically since nightlife in general have gotten much more lowkey in cities across the country with all the new development wiping out a lot of nightlife establishments in cities. Plus the recession put a strain on a lot of folks' discretionary income so Millenials in particular have been doing more Netflix and chillin' than going out.
I think 1 and 4 are the biggest reasons with 2 and 5 right behind them . DFWs black population has grown faster than Houston’s going on three decades now and this is without mentioning that both metro areas have seen their overall population grow around the same clip as DFW has maintained that 500k gap since 1990. Neither city has envious weather so I don’t think it factors in that much. But to the point of 1 and 4 and why DFWs black population has outpaced Houston, you can draw some parallels to Atlanta though obviously to a smaller extent. There’s a reason why people say Dallas reminds people of Atlanta but without trees.
Let’s face it, DFW has marketed itself far more than Houston has the last 30-40 years. Houston has relatively done nothing in this regard. DFW also has a diverse economy to go on top of the marketing. Location is also a big part. Dallas sits in a good location in access to the Midwest, Interior West, and West Coast to go along with the Mid-South and the rest of Texas. Houston has actually done a good job trying to play catch-up but DFW still is seen as the better choice over the best choice. I said years ago that DFW black population will pass Houston. It was inevitable.
People move where the jobs are. That's been the case for a very long time.
Blacks were moving in droves to St. Louis, Cleveland and Detroit back in the 1920s - 1970s because they had a ton of good-paying manufacturing jobs, and now you hear a bunch of stories about children and grandchildren of those same blacks reverse migrating back to the Sunbelt. If you talk to blacks who still live in places like St. Louis, Cleveland and Detroit, I guarantee you they'll have a ton of close friends / immediate family who have moved to some place like GA, NC and TX fairly recently.
In Dallas' case, it has an crazy dynamic economy for white collar workers between its legacy oil / finance industry and all of the poaching of corporate HQs from high cost of business states its leaders have done over the past 20 years. It also has a respectable blue collar economy with its massive assembly plants for Lockheed Martin, L3Harris, Bell Helicopter and GM.
This isn't a knock on Dallas, which is a very fine city, but if yoy asked the average transplant, none of them will tell you Dallas was their first choice for relocation. They simply ended up there because it made sense for them and their families economically.
The same could have been said for Houston as well over the past 20 years before the initial oil colllapse in 2014. That place was literally printing money. But now, since the oil companies there stopped hiring in droves and mass layoffs seem to be looming, no one's really tripping over themselves to move to Houston any more. This is evident in the yearly census estimates since 2014 and how they showed a marked slowdown in the population increase.
That said, Dallas' problem for a lot of people is that it's grown so fast that it still has to play catch up with its cultural amenities such as theatres, museums, zoos, health care and higher education. I have no doubt these things will catch up organically with a CSA now of over 8 million people (the next 2 decades could prove to be a pretty magical time to be in Dallas), but it's going to take time. Houston still has it beat on this front, even if only marginally, because it is historically the larger and wealthier city.
Last edited by citidata18; 05-13-2020 at 07:28 PM..
Maybe it's just me getting older, but I don't see nightlife being the draw that it used to be for Black cities specifically since nightlife in general have gotten much more lowkey in cities across the country with all the new development wiping out a lot of nightlife establishments in cities. Plus the recession put a strain on a lot of folks' discretionary income so Millenials in particular have been doing more Netflix and chillin' than going out.
Unfortunately, the party scene is kinda deeply ingrained in a city’s black culture. Younger blacks are drawn to Houston than Dallas because of this too. I’m still in my 20’s, so I get it.
I think with Houston’s legacy as a black city in Texas it does its image wonders.
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