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Red lives in The Woodlands, which is lily white. However, he’s close to Spring, which has a pretty solid middle class black population. He prefers Fort Bend County’s school system, which has a black plurality.
Spring definitely has it's fair share of predominately Black middle class neighborhoods as well as Humble and Atascocita especially. Hell you even have pockets of Cranbrook and neighborhoods east of 1960 that are full of middle class black populations before you hit Acres Homes. All located 15-25 mins from The Woodlands.
One of my biggest complaints with these areas though is the schools. Fort Bend punches above average when it comes to Black students in a truly diverse school setting. That and I just like the layout of the suburbs better West of Houston than what you get North of 45 and 59 imo. Also I just like the amenities and food options better in Ft. Bend in comparison to what you get in burbs like Spring. Plus, I notice there's just more Inner loop establishments in the West Houston and Ft.Bend burbs than North Harris county.
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Originally Posted by As Above So Below...
Bear in mind the fist year of your life after you move will suck. It just will. Youll have moments of regret, itll create tension in your marriage, and youll ask yourself why you uprooted to make life more difficult. But after that youll be situated in the city of your choice, youll reconnect with old friends, youll probably own a home, and things will become much more comfortable. Thats exactly what happened to us when we came here from LA. The first year was awful and my wife and I fought all the time. But now, there is no way in hell you could convince us to go back to California. This is home now and we dont ever want to leave Texas. If Atlanta is your favorite city of the three with the best career options, you will feel that way too. Two years after the move youll ask yourself why you didnt do it sooner!
I honestly think the answer is staring you in the face, but you just want someone to say it for you.
Bro you hit the nail on the coffin as always when it comes to useful information. It's funny you bring up your first year experience. That's exactly how it was when we moved back to Houston. Granted it had a lot more to do with where we ended up due to certain circumstances and not anything to do with Houston.
But I appreciate everybody's input on this matter. It's just a little hard to make a life altering decision especially when you have a little one involved. It would be easier if I actually hated living in 1 of the 3 but I like em all for different reasons.
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 really think people know that Tarrant County black population is growing at a faster rate percentage wise than the Hispanic population. That’s really damn impressive and speaks to the explosive black growth in DFW.
Last edited by Exult.Q36; 05-13-2020 at 09:21 PM..
I don’t really think people know that Tarrant County black population is growing at a faster rate percentage wise than the Hispanic population. That’s really damn impressive and speaks to the explosive black growth in DFW.
That is impressive. Where exactly in Tarrant are Black folks going?
^ This. I've been to both and that definitely explains why Houston "feels" blacker than DFW.
..Also add to the fact that the black population in DFW is spread out between lots of suburbs and both Dallas and Fort Worth themselves have black communities and are separated by 30 miles while the black population in Houston is a lot more centralized since Houston is the principle city in its metro area while DFW has its two principle cities and lots of black people in the suburbs. As Southernboy pointed out, Charlotte and RDU have this same compare/contrast since Charlotte is the principle city in its region while things are a lot more spread out in R/DU out there in NC. DFW and Houston are just that on a larger scale as they're both much larger metro areas.
OP, you have a hard choice and I put my hat off to you, and I know you'll make the best decision for you and your family in the long run. I'll be here in the DMV for the long run, but I've considered moving back down south either back to these three cities later on down the road, but each have pros and cons that I'd have to consider.
Yeah DFW Black population being so spread out makes it "feel" less Black and the Black culture in DFW feels less attached to the dominant identity of DFW in comparison to Houston. But I'll say this Dallas is bridging the gap when it comes to Black social scenes in comparison to Houston. I still personally prefer Houston but when the last couple of times I've been to Dallas I've been impressed with the social settings in favorable areas in the cities core.
Dallas at least for the past 5 years feel like it's arriving more and more as a enjoyable hip Black hub on a national level. Trust me, a decade ago back when I was going to school in Waco (02-09) I would hit up Dallas every other weekend. Multiple friends and classmates that lived there, 2 ex gf's I was super familiar with the city. And back then when it came to social settings for Black people you had to ride around the metroplex to hit up the non hood spots. Deep Ellum had maybe 2 hip-hop clubs, downtown was a wash, Uptown wasn't even popping like that at the time for us. Even then I still liked Dallas and always enjoyed myself when I went out but Houston was just more of my taste in my 20's.
As I get older though there are a couple things I like about DFW more than Houston. And the black population is growing. We were there this past weekend and even though you have everything going on with covid and what not I do get the feeling that the Black community in DFW is on the trajectory up.
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.
1-3 is more responsible for the fast growth of Black people more so than Houston. I got a couple of friends who are Black Dallasites that moved to Houston, spent a year or 2 here and ended up moving back to Dallas because the job market is just more abundant there. My sister and brother-n-law moved to Dallas in 2018 because he lost his job in Houston. He was in tech but working for a O&G company. Dallas had the jobs and the pay so Dallas they went. And being from North East Texas we know Dallas. It's not foreign to us. There's plenty of East Texans there so the transition for them was pretty easy. They still prefer Houston but they still like Dallas.
As far as branding, I feel like Dallas hasn't done the best job when it comes to branding and marketing specifically for Black people but when you have a diverse economy and cheaper cost of living compared to other major cities than that pretty much speaks for itself.
I know tons of people from different parts of the country that hear the news about the Texas economy and the cost of living and say to themselves "I need to move to Texas". So they do their research and on paper DFW just appeals to more people which includes Black people. Again the economy plays a big role in that. Hell one of the reasons i'm considering DFW is because of the economy. I don't think Cowboys or T.D. Jakes is enough of a big draw for Black people to just up and move. Houston is still the more popular city for Black people nationally.
The deal with Houston is simply this, jobs are not growing as fast as Dallas and Austin. Houston reached it's peak in popularity with Black America years ago. The secrets been out in Houston. And enough people within the past decade have experienced Houston during a time where traffic has been at it's worst, lack of job growth in comparison to the other 3 big cities and FLOODING. Trust me these things play a big part in why a lot of people avoid Houston. Oh and it's much bigger and spread out then Dallas and it's suburbs.
As far as 5. Some cities in the Best Southwest burbs are actually losing people. For many Black Transplants the North burbs are Arlington/Irving/Grand Prairie and Mansfield or bigger draws to people. Best Southwest was the place to be for Dallasites in the 80s and early 90s but it's best days are behind them. Don't get me wrong I hear there's a resurgence of activity in certain areas in Best Southwest but it stills more so geared for older middle class black populations. Not really a popping spot for Black millennials or transplants.
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Originally Posted by Spade
That is impressive. Where exactly in Tarrant are Black folks going?
You got Arlington, parts of Grand Prairie, Mansfield, Ft.Worth, Hurst-Bedford-Euless school district,etc. Me and my wife actually visited a middle class predominately Black community in between Grand Prairie and Mansfield that was really really nice. I'm not the biggest fan of suburbs but we were really impressed with the Mira Lagos community. Only thing we didn't like was it was so far from Dallas. But some people like being that far out from the city so hey.
That is impressive. Where exactly in Tarrant are Black folks going?
A lot of African Americans have moved to Southwest Fort Worth. African Americans make up the largest percentage in the 76123 zip code in Southwest Fort Worth. The median income in the 76123 zip code is $84,590. East Fort Worth traditional black middle class zip codes of 76120 and 76112 remain while the 76119 zip code in southeast Fort Worth has trended more Hispanic. Just about every part of Arlington these days seem to be trending black. Arlington black population has increased to over 23% and I expect that trend to continue. Southeast Tarrant County is another hot spot (Arlington, Mansfield, Grandpraire) has large and growing black middle class. It’s worth noting that all of these zip codes mention are very diverse and Tarrant County as whole especially neighborhoods from H-E-B area or 121 southward are largely integrated.
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.
Man, y'all younger Millenials/older Gen Z'ers don't know nothing about real nightlife lol. Y'all are inhereting a more urban American landscape for sure, but it's been at the expense of authentic, hole-in-the-wall nightlife. I was in my nightlife prime during what I would consider to be the last decent years for going out which immediately preceded the takeoff of gentrification and the widespread popularity of social media apps, both of which joined forces with a global recession and the rollback of last-call hours and just radically altered the nightlife scene everywhere.
I don’t really think people know that Tarrant County black population is growing at a faster rate percentage wise than the Hispanic population. That’s really damn impressive and speaks to the explosive black growth in DFW.
Interestingly enough, a couple of days ago I was reading an article about Tarrant County being one of the last, if not the only, holdout(s) among large urban counties that are decidedly conservative (the county also has its fair share of exurbs and even rural areas from what I read) in the country but signs are pointing towards it getting purpler. Now I know why.
As far as 5. Some cities in the Best Southwest burbs are actually losing people. For many Black Transplants the North burbs are Arlington/Irving/Grand Prairie and Mansfield or bigger draws to people. Best Southwest was the place to be for Dallasites in the 80s and early 90s but it's best days are behind them. Don't get me wrong I hear there's a resurgence of activity in certain areas in Best Southwest but it stills more so geared for older middle class black populations. Not really a popping spot for Black millennials or transplants.
A minor correction: The Best Southwest cities are not losing people. Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Lancaster, and Glenn Heights have all continued to attract new residents, businesses, and development. Even Duncanville, which is pretty much built-out, has registered a modest increase in population since the 2010 census. Now isn't the time to write the obituary on the Best Southwest when the region still has potential and opportunities for further investment and growth in the near future.
Man, y'all younger Millenials/older Gen Z'ers don't know nothing about real nightlife lol. Y'all are inhereting a more urban American landscape for sure, but it's been at the expense of authentic, hole-in-the-wall nightlife. I was in my nightlife prime during what I would consider to be the last decent years for going out which immediately preceded the takeoff of gentrification and the widespread popularity of social media apps, both of which joined forces with a global recession and the rollback of last-call hours and just radically altered the nightlife scene everywhere.
Y'all have fun tho!
I’m tired of it, honestly. Houston literally makes me tired with the nightlife because it seems like that it’s all it has to offer. However, it has a lot more to offer for us, but the nightlife and the day parties are very “in-your-face”. You can’t enjoy brunch without a twerk off to some bounce music.
Last edited by SouthernBoy205; 05-14-2020 at 12:13 AM..
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