Which Northeast city would be best for a black middle class family? (salary, living)
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It’s really not the northeast as we want to talk about it here. Nothing below the mason dixon. The point of the thread is to think further about the more overlooked northeastern cities in terms of black migration.
Which was the point in the original post. There are other places in the region that would work, as illustrated throughout the thread.
Just to add to the Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown metro information, for the Orange County(Middletown, Newburgh, etc.)black median household income is $68,242: https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table...ST5Y2019.S1903
DC is has way more in common with the northeastern cities than southern cities. Its part of the NE corridor.
But it’s not a northeastern city in the way we are talking about. The metro is way blacker and with different ethnicities…. demographically a bit more like Atlanta than NYC. Much more modern and a different racial history entirely. We’re talking only above Mason Dixon on purpose, that’s why it wasn’t included. We already know DC is more popular.
Having lived in DC and Boston they’re very similar but DC definitely feels more culturally aligned with Black America at large than Black northeasterners. Baltimore is blurry but it prolly falls under that category too.
To revisit this, Boston, Framingham, Carlisle, Norristown, Maplewood and Ithaca(just left a few days ago) are currently out.
Places like North Braddock PA, Harrisburg PA, Beaver Falls PA and Williamsport PA and West Chester PA are in.
I forgot to add tiny South Corning NY previously.
If there are others, I'll try to add them.
Some others that can be added currently are Hempstead NY(village), Long Beach NY(City Manager) and Plattsburgh NY. Tarrytown NY, a village in Westchester County was in until the end of last year.
If by Newark you mean Montclair, Maplewood, and West Orange than yea. It’s a vibe. Jersey City is also cool. Then you got Teaneck, Hackensack and Englewood in Bergen county. North Jersey as a whole would be more appropriate option.
If by Newark you mean Montclair, Maplewood, and West Orange than yea. It’s a vibe. Jersey City is also cool. Then you got Teaneck, Hackensack and Englewood in Bergen county. North Jersey as a whole would be more appropriate option.
Yes, North Jersey have plenty of options including South Orange, Union, Linden, Roselle, Hillside, Rahway and other communities or at least parts of other communities.
The Boston metro area does seem to be a better fit for families of any race. I'm not familiar with the area, but it seems more geared towards those who value top-tier education. NYC metro seems to be the best for those looking for diversity while also having safety and good public schools, Philly does best with a lower cost of living and more historic black culture (if we were to include Northern Deleware). As someone who has experience being in the NYC and Philly metros, I would say the Phily metro is probably the best for most black families. I know plenty of Black people who were priced out of NYC and moved to small-town SE PA or South Jersey and are thriving. Most Black families are in the lower-middle-class bracket hence why many leave the Northeast altogether. I agree with BostonMassMabe tho. Boston seems to be the best fit if you're a Black family making well into the six-figure range. Boston proper while slightly more dangerous than NYC, has more of a small-town feel and just an overall better reputation for a Good Quality Of Life. A lot of people in NYC loathe the hectic lifestyle (even those who are well-off) I don't hear too many people complain about Boston being too stressful or too dangerous. Boston's reputation is pretty solid overall. The only bad things you'll hear about Boston are the drivers, the accent, the passionate sports fans, and the people being rude.
The Boston metro area does seem to be a better fit for families of any race. I'm not familiar with the area, but it seems more geared towards those who value top-tier education. NYC metro seems to be the best for those looking for diversity while also having safety and good public schools, Philly does best with a lower cost of living and more historic black culture (if we were to include Northern Deleware). As someone who has experience being in the NYC and Philly metros, I would say the Phily metro is probably the best for most black families. I know plenty of Black people who were priced out of NYC and moved to small-town SE PA or South Jersey and are thriving. Most Black families are in the lower-middle-class bracket hence why many leave the Northeast altogether. I agree with BostonMassMabe tho. Boston seems to be the best fit if you're a Black family making well into the six-figure range. Boston proper while slightly more dangerous than NYC, has more of a small-town feel and just an overall better reputation for a Good Quality Of Life. A lot of people in NYC loathe the hectic lifestyle (even those who are well-off) I don't hear too many people complain about Boston being too stressful or too dangerous. Boston's reputation is pretty solid overall. The only bad things you'll hear about Boston are the drivers, the accent, the passionate sports fans, and the people being rude.
You also get the dynamic of people moving from the Bos-Wash corridor portion of the region to places further inland within the region. That can include “satellite” metros like Poughkeepsie, Worcester, Allentown, Lancaster, etc. For some, they still make the commute to work in the major cities, while living in an independent metro nearby.
Some may move further inland for affordability, more room and a change of pace, among other reasons. In turn, some of these areas may see growth not only within the city proper, but in suburbs and even some small towns in black population.
What makes it somewhat interesting is that families in some inland parts of the region can have reasonable access not only to Bos-Wash areas in the region, but also in terms of major Canadian areas like Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. For instance, parts of Upstate NY can be within a 4 hour drive, give or take, of NYC, Philadelphia, Toronto and Montreal. Some others aren’t much further away. So, that could be something for families to consider, if they like to take trips/travel to different places.
DC is has way more in common with the northeastern cities than southern cities. Its part of the NE corridor.
When it comes to the historical growth and development patterns of its Black population, DC has at least as much in common with Southern cities. While DC was a huge magnet city for Blacks during the Great Migration like actual Northeastern (and Midwestern) cities, it was also like Southern cities back then in that it had a sizable Black population from the very beginning that consisted of both enslaved and free Blacks and also today by ranking highly as a city where Black Americans register high marks socioeconomically (which is mostly a thing of the past for Northern metros overall although this remains true at the municipal/zip code/Census tract level). Truthfully DC tracks closest to Atlanta within this broader demographic-specific context from the beginning of the 20th century until today than any other city.
The Boston metro area does seem to be a better fit for families of any race. I'm not familiar with the area, but it seems more geared towards those who value top-tier education. NYC metro seems to be the best for those looking for diversity while also having safety and good public schools, Philly does best with a lower cost of living and more historic black culture (if we were to include Northern Deleware). As someone who has experience being in the NYC and Philly metros, I would say the Phily metro is probably the best for most black families. I know plenty of Black people who were priced out of NYC and moved to small-town SE PA or South Jersey and are thriving. Most Black families are in the lower-middle-class bracket hence why many leave the Northeast altogether. I agree with BostonMassMabe tho. Boston seems to be the best fit if you're a Black family making well into the six-figure range. Boston proper while slightly more dangerous than NYC, has more of a small-town feel and just an overall better reputation for a Good Quality Of Life. A lot of people in NYC loathe the hectic lifestyle (even those who are well-off) I don't hear too many people complain about Boston being too stressful or too dangerous. Boston's reputation is pretty solid overall. The only bad things you'll hear about Boston are the drivers, the accent, the passionate sports fans, and the people being rude.
Boston isn’t too stressful- any stress is due to the expense. There are many professional black families sending their kids to suburban schools, charter schools, and private schools close into Boston: so many beautiful green parkways. I used to traverse like VFW parkway, Enneking Parkway, Turtle Pond Parkway, West Roxbury Parkway. Much of the blacker area of Boston and the metro are sort of like a dense suburban environment with some urban issues and amenities. Still many black organizations for black families to be a part of. It’s just clean, and you can find black people in a few nice leafy areas at least as shoppers and visitors. I don’t think many people really are aware of how many black people you will se out and about in suburbs to the south/southwest like Dedham, Milton, Cambridge, Randolph, Braintree, Newton, Brookline, Stoughton, Milton, Canton, and nice Boston neighborhoods like Hyde Park, Roslindale, West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, and leafy sections of Dorchester Roxbury and Mattapan. But the thing is you have to be accustomed to being less represented in local TV and radio and having a just smaller presence even in the places black people frequent a lot (aforementioned) and more limited presence throughout the metro. While there may be other black people around in the store in Attleboro, Walpole, Woburn, Burlington, Framingham you will always be in a decided minority as soon as you leave DRMHP or Randolph/Brockton. For some African Americans being a minority within a minority isn’t comfortable. I don’t really feel that way because when you’re black you’re always a minority anyways. Unless you’re coming from a majority-black city/county. You’ll end up self segregating regardless of where you are- most likely.
It’s definitely one of the only cities where you never hear black kids really feel discouraged from “sounding white”…even in the worst Boston neighborhoods people give you a real level of respect for simply attending a good school-let alone when they find out you’re a good student. I’ve never heard stories of that in Boston but hear it from well-educated blacks in just about every other city. I have a friend right now who gre up in Mattapan, grandfather gave him and his cousin a triple-decker he bought in JP in the 80s. At 24 him and his cousin started sharing the top floor apartment and rent out the other two. They run their own business that with the help of the City props up and connects black businesses together through a loyalty rewards program that extends to dozens of black-owned businesses in the city, and are thriving. I have another good friend from Mattapan who had his graduate degree paid for by MIT through a resident work program. Now is a CPA and realtor in Boston, he attended METCO schools. Some colleges in Boston will do this for any employee who meets a certain standard, even janitors.
I know plenty black colleges graduates from Bridgewater State, Salem State, Framingham State, Fitchburg State, UMASS Boston, UMASS Dartmouth, Quinnipiac, University of New Haven, Central Connecticut State, Boston College. There were a lot of educational opportunities at Museums and Universities throughout the area. Things like $1 Kayak/sailboat across all summer in the Charles River for Boston Youth, Camp Harborview out in the Boston Islands, Boston YouthWorks.
One other thing I think people miss out on is that nowadays only 1/3rd of blacks in Greater Boston live in Boston proper. And less than 1/4th of the black population statewide. There’s a real upward mobility there now for those who choose to pursue it. Despite that narrative that blacks in Boston and The Boston area are down bad…. only about 90,000 live in Roxbury Dorchester and Mattapan and half of them are doing decent.
But this is one of the regions of the country that will feel most different from general America and it’s one of the most insular urban areas. So as a transplant it’s not a familiar or very welcoming city. It takes time to learn to navigate.different local governance (no county government), ethnicities (Few AAs, no Mexicans, Few standard Germanic White Americans), street grid (doesn’t exist), street numbering (no block numbering), vocabulary, athletic interests (emphasis on winter sports and zero interest in college sports), hyperlocal political concerns etc…
Boston has programs like SteppingStone (www.tsf.org) which exists to prepare Boston’s black children to attend private schools and suburban high schools both academically and socially. Many kids I knew in inner-city Boston and even teachers I had in school were SteppingStone Alumni- it’s one of those things everyone knows. Add to that to the METCO program and the abundance of private schools within ~10 miles of Boston black community and it’s just an educated air. In addition to this nowadays blacks people are running for and winning notable public office and positions and they’re also being appointed and hired into pretty high places. Eastern Bank, Boston Childress, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, presidents of Simmons College/Bentley University/Emerson College/Cambridge College, Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice, Governor etc etc It’s certainly a bad place for a black American blue-collar worker though. Very little of that exist outside of car mechanics in the hood. Hundred of thousands of Black Americans choose the Boston Area for a reason.
We sort of ignore the fact that Boston is the safest and most educated US metro with over 250k blacks and its the 2nd highest median black household income behind only Washington DC (despite being cheaper than LA and NYC). And it surpasses the Bay Area without a fraction of the homeless and grime problems. Also kills it in measures of economic stability. There's also a cognitive dissonance in that most black people here live in suburbs now...
Lastly, Boston has had a whopping 2 homicides this year. No way are Philly and NYC more family-friendly in general. They’re not. Boston zones any vice, riff-raff, and noise out of the neighborhoods. It’s a city that excels in daytime activity and suffers in nightlife activity so that automatically orients it towards families. But if you prefer NYC and Philly for a larger black culture then they should win. But there are still plenty of black events that happen in Boston year-round including Gospel Fest, BAMSFest, Roxbury Homecoming, Urban Nutcracker, Boston Carnival, Cambridge Carnival, Tafuta, KiteFest, Beantown Bounce, etc etc.
Do any black people complain about crime, blight, lack of jobs, lack of educational opportunities, neighborhood environment in Boston? I always come down to being the ‘only one’, weather and expense. But if the expense isn’t an issue and you take the initiative tomorrow find and ingratiate yourself in the black community, you shouldn’t feel like the only one. It's still a top 20 metro for an overall black population so the idea that you are the only one has never ever made sense to me as a native...Weather? you just gotta get used to-summers are great.
Last edited by BostonBornMassMade; 02-19-2022 at 11:37 AM..
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