Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
In terms of a small city/metro, East Stroudsburg PA(about an hour and 25 minutes west of NYC/an hour and 50 from Philadelphia, metro covers Monroe County PA) is just under 15% as a metro, has a black median household income of $69,733 and a black poverty rate of 11.3% according to 2019 5 year census data. Stroudsburg, East Stroudsburg, Mount Pocono, Penn Estates and townships such as Coolbaugh and Tobyhanna have black percentages around the national percentage to just under 30%.
I'm gonna back you up here on the Poconos as a worthwhile place to consider if you are Black and middle class or affluent.
We devoted our June issue to a feature on the Poconos, for which I got to spend a weekend up there in a B&B called The Mansion at Noble Lane. One of five elegant inns run by a company called Akwaaba, it's located a 10-minute drive northeast of Honesdale in a mansion that was built for one of Frank Woolworth's sons.
The founder and owner of the company, who was on the property for my visit with my (Trinidadian-American) boyfriend, is a former editor-in-chief of Essence magazine who decided to get into the hospitality business. She runs an outstanding lodging, if my stay was any guide, and I wish I had gotten more than 50 words to write about the place.
(BTW, "akwaaba" means "welcome" in Twi, one of the languages spoken in Ghana.)
Almost everyone there the weekend of our stay was Black and quite middle- to upper-middle-class. Justin and I got into an interesting conversation with a younger (straight) couple from DC who had also come up for that weekend; we were comparing notes on our two cities and the current political situation. (There was a racially mixed group of six younger adults who also stayed that weekend; it was the birthday of one of the six.)
About three weekends after that, the owner of a 1910 cottage in the Pocono Manor community pitched me on coming out to inspect his property, which he was putting up for sale. The owner — a white guy about my age from Philadelphia who was active in one of the rowing clubs on Boathouse Row — took us on a hike in the wilds attached to the Pocono Manor development (whose hotel burned to the ground in a 1999 fire everyone believes was suspicious) that Saturday; our trek ended at this huge resort and indoor water park next to Pocono Manor called Kalahari. It's part of a chain owned by a Wisconsin family who fell in love with Africa; they commission African artists to create original works for their facilities and consult with them on the design of the furniture, which the company builds. One of the centerpieces was a stairwell lined with posters about Nelson Mandela in whose center was a huge sculpture of a tree depicting various aspects of African cultures.
The convention center there was hosting a small-business expo that day. All 12 of the vendors selling wares there were Black men and women who lived in the Poconos.
And something else I noticed was that this huge resort drew a large number of Black and Hispanic visitors — I suspect more than patronize most Poconos resort hotels.
Now, as this is a largely "rural" area (I put that word in quotes because outside its large tracts of state game lands and parks, this area is pretty uniformly developed with vacation houses), it doesn't really fit into the parameters of this topic: East Stroudsburg, the biggest municipality in the Poconos, has a population of 10,000, and next-door Stroudsburg adds another 5,500 to that. The biggest actual cities in the general area lie just outside the Poconos in Northeast Pennsylvania: Scranton (77,000), the Lackawanna County seat, and nearby Wilkes-Barre (41,000), the Luzerne County seat. (To the Poconos' immediate south is the even-more-urbanized Lehigh Valley, home to Allentown (121,000), Pennsylvania's third-largest city and the Lehigh County seat, and Bethlehem (75,500), a former steelmaking center, along with much smaller Easton (26,000), the Northampton County seat (Bethlehem is also in Northampton County).)
But if it's a less urban lifestyle you're after, the Poconos are a region worth considering.
Last edited by MarketStEl; 07-08-2021 at 05:58 AM..
We devoted our June issue to a feature on the Poconos, for which I got to spend a weekend up there in a B&B called The Mansion at Noble Lane. One of five elegant inns run by a company called Akwaaba, it's located a 10-minute drive northeast of Honesdale in a mansion that was built for one of Frank Woolworth's sons.
The founder and owner of the company, who was on the property for my visit with my (Trinidadian-American) boyfriend, is a former editor-in-chief of Essence magazine who decided to get into the hospitality business. She runs an outstanding lodging, if my stay was any guide, and I wish I had gotten more than 50 words to write about the place.
(BTW, "akwaaba" means "welcome" in Twi, one of the languages spoken in Ghana.)
Almost everyone there the weekend of our stay was Black and quite middle- to upper-middle-class. Justin and I got into an interesting conversation with a younger (straight) couple from DC who had also come up for that weekend; we were comparing notes on our two cities and the current political situation. (There was a racially mixed group of six younger adults who also stayed that weekend; it was the birthday of one of the six.)
About three weekends after that, the owner of a 1910 cottage in the Pocono Manor community pitched me on coming out to inspect his property, which he was putting up for sale. The owner — a white guy about my age from Philadelphia who was active in one of the rowing clubs on Boathouse Row — took us on a hike in the wilds attached to the Pocono Manor development (whose hotel burned to the ground in a 1999 fire everyone believes was suspicious) that Saturday; our trek ended at this huge resort and indoor water park next to Pocono Manor called Kalahari. It's part of a chain owned by a Wisconsin family who fell in love with Africa; they commission African artists to create original works for their facilities and consult with them on the design of the furniture, which the company builds. One of the centerpieces was a stairwell lined with posters about Nelson Mandela in whose center was a huge sculpture of a tree depicting various aspects of African cultures.
The convention center there was hosting a small-business expo that day. All 12 of the vendors selling wares there were Black men and women who lived in the Poconos.
And something else I noticed was that this huge resort drew a large number of Black and Hispanic visitors — I suspect more than patronize most Poconos resort hotels.
Now, as this is a largely "rural" area (I put that word in quotes because outside its large tracts of state game lands and parks, this area is pretty uniformly developed with vacation houses), it doesn't really fit into the parameters of this topic: East Stroudsburg, the biggest municipality in the Poconos, has a population of 10,000, and next-door Stroudsburg adds another 5,500 to that. The biggest actual cities in the general area lie just outside the Poconos in Northeast Pennsylvania: Scranton (77,000), the Lackawanna County seat, and nearby Wilkes-Barre (41,000), the Luzerne County seat. (To the Poconos' immediate south is the even-more-urbanized Lehigh Valley, home to Allentown (121,000), Pennsylvania's third-largest city and the Lehigh County seat, and Bethlehem (75,500), a former steelmaking center, along with much smaller Easton (26,000), the Northampton County seat (Bethlehem is also in Northampton County).)
But if it's a less urban lifestyle you're after, the Poconos are a region worth considering.
Yes, I did know about Akwaaba, but only its Brooklyn location via a radio show that I listen to sometimes. I wish she would consider one in Syracuse due to having some old mansions that would fit, but I disgress.
I actually went to Kalahari for an event about 2-3 months ago and it is a huge facility. I did dig the theme and yes, I think people not familiar with the area would be surprised by the makeup of the people at the facility and area in general.
During my time there, I did get take out from a black owned hot dog spot and a Jamaican restaurant on Crystal Street in East Stroudsburg: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.9987...6!9m2!1b1!2i37 (they are right next to each other)
When I was there, it was a nice mix of people mingling in the area. Even outside of these 2, you saw a nice mix of people in more suburban and even rural areas of the metro/Monroe County.
Supposedly, some people that live in that area still commute to jobs in the NYC area too. Those other smaller metros are also options for employment, depending on where you live in the area/county. So, definitely if a family wants a more rural/small town or city lifestyle, with a relatively strong black middle class presence and close proximity to major cities, I agree that it is worth considering for sure.
Another small metro area that comes to mind is the Watertown-Fort Drum NY metro area(aka Jefferson County NY). It is a county where the black median household income in recent years has been the highest out of any group and according to the 2019 1 year estimate, that was the case at $57,987(at a little over 6% in the metro). Most black residents are in the namesakes of the metro(city of Watertown and Fort Drum Army Base), but are also in smaller communities around/near Fort Drum in substantial numbers in places like Calcium(22-23% black, Indian River SD) and West Carthage(12%, Carthage SD). In Watertown, its outer west and south side neighborhoods would be the best bet.
School districts such as Indian River, Carthage and Watertown City will have higher percentages of black students in the area, with some scattered. It is about an hour/hour and 15 minutes from Syracuse and 30 minutes from the Canadian border(Ottawa is the closest major Canadian city about 2 hours away or so).
While quite a few are there directly or indirectly due to the military, some aren’t as well. For instance, here is some information about a historic church in Watertown: https://www.nny360.com/communitynews...8a7eaff15.html
It would be a potentially good spot for black entrepreneurs that can provide services due to the economic consistency from military families that can use them.
If you like the outdoors, it would be a good option due to proximity to Lake Ontario, the Thousand Islands Region and the eastern portion of the Adirondacks.
Another small metro area that comes to mind is the Watertown-Fort Drum NY metro area(aka Jefferson County NY). It is a county where the black median household income in recent years has been the highest out of any group and according to the 2019 1 year estimate, that was the case at $57,987(at a little over 6% in the metro). Most black residents are in the namesakes of the metro(city of Watertown and Fort Drum Army Base), but are also in smaller communities around/near Fort Drum in substantial numbers in places like Calcium(22-23% black, Indian River SD) and West Carthage(12%, Carthage SD). In Watertown, its outer west and south side neighborhoods would be the best bet.
School districts such as Indian River, Carthage and Watertown City will have higher percentages of black students in the area, with some scattered. It is about an hour/hour and 15 minutes from Syracuse and 30 minutes from the Canadian border(Ottawa is the closest major Canadian city about 2 hours away or so).
While quite a few are there directly or indirectly due to the military, some aren’t as well. For instance, here is some information about a historic church in Watertown: https://www.nny360.com/communitynews...8a7eaff15.html
It would be a potentially good spot for black entrepreneurs that can provide services due to the economic consistency from military families that can use them.
If you like the outdoors, it would be a good option due to proximity to Lake Ontario, the Thousand Islands Region and the eastern portion of the Adirondacks.
Just to update, when looking at the the 2019 5 year census data, the black median household income is $53,412(20.8% poverty rate likely related to military aspects and maybe off campus college students, but still lower than most). That is still the highest of any group in the area for that period.
In the city of Watertown(8.5%, but 11.9% inc. in combo), besides Some Other Race, the black median household income is the highest of any group at $45,422 during that 5 year period(32% poverty rate?).
In Calcium(CDP), the black median household income again was the highest out of any group in that 5 year period at $56,444(0% black poverty rate for the same period).
Some companies in the area are: Little Trees/the Car Freshener Corporation(has its HQ's there), Kraft in nearby Lowville, HP Hood in LaFargeville and NY Air Brake, among some others.
There may be more in terms of this criteria, but I have come across some that come close in places like Philadelphia, New Haven and in Central and Northern NJ.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 07-10-2021 at 07:56 PM..
There may be more in terms of this criteria, but I have come across some that come close in places like Philadelphia, New Haven and in Central and Northern NJ.
The New Haven ZIP code does come close on your educational-attainment scale, as does Mount Airy, but on economics it seems to me to come up short: overall poverty is 28.1 percent and MHI is $41,904, 60% of that for the New Haven-Milford MSA.
The comparable figures for Mount Airy: 9.1 percent (well below the citywide rate of 23.3 percent, which is high but also lower than that New Haven ZIP code) and $64,237, a little more than the Pennsylvania statewide median of $61,744 and well above the citywide median of $47,474.
The New Haven ZIP code does come close on your educational-attainment scale, as does Mount Airy, but on economics it seems to me to come up short: overall poverty is 28.1 percent and MHI is $41,904, 60% of that for the New Haven-Milford MSA.
The comparable figures for Mount Airy: 9.1 percent (well below the citywide rate of 23.3 percent, which is high but also lower than that New Haven ZIP code) and $64,237, a little more than the Pennsylvania statewide median of $61,744 and well above the citywide median of $47,474.
I thought about that for the New Haven zip in terms of income. I’m wondering if the presence of Yale in that zip helps(increase the educational attainment), but hurts(off campus students presence can bring income down/poverty rate up).
I thought about that for the New Haven zip in terms of income. I’m wondering if the presence of Yale in that zip helps(increase the educational attainment), but hurts(off campus students presence can bring income down/poverty rate up).
Again, ZIP code 10027 (Harlem/Manhattanville/Morningside Heights) looks to me like it doesn't clear the income bar, and it includes Columbia University — but it seems to me that Ivy League universities don't really depress the income stats save for their graduate students, whose teaching fellowships don't pay them all that much. (Wait: I don't know how the on-campus undergrads are counted.)
But the ZIP code that includes Bed-Stuy I find fascinating. High child and senior poverty but also high educational achievement and a decent middle-class MHI.
I'm in 19095 quite often — that ZIP includes Cedarbrook and Wyncote. There's a Walmart and a supermarket I patronize fairly often at Cedarbrook Plaza, which lies at the end of one of the two bus lines that run between my house and the Broad Street Line subway.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
