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White people in Midwest seem to really like Denver for some reason.
There are some young White people in the South (particularly around Atlanta) who like Denver as well.
One thing I have noticed is this. While I was living in the Atlanta area, I noticed a decent amount driving around with Colorado license plates. At least half of those persons were Black. I thought about something. Blacks are about 4% of Colorado's population. I start wondering "is there a reason why I as a Black person should avoid Colorado?". The irony is this. I know Black people who grew up in Georgia, who currently live in Colorado, or have moved out there at one point. All of them have positive perceptions about Colorado.
I think about this though. I have been posting on city-data since March 2007. I think about the racially charged posts I've seen. I think about the users who post them. For some reason, a relatively high proportion of those posting racially charged comments come from Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and St. Louis. I start thinking "the racial climates in those cities are very bad".
Race relations are getting much better as the city becomes more diverse. The blue collar conservative Rizzo fanboys moving to SJ, Delco or Bucks Co also helps.
My parents told me Kensington, Fishtown, and Port Richmond were sun-down neighborhoods 40 years ago. The complete opposite in 2022.
I don’t think Seattle has that much of a negative perception across the board. It’s views positively by most groups IMO. Portland on the other hand has a polarizing view. It’s known for being beautiful with great restaurants by the white crowd, but it also has a reputation mostly for left wing extremism but also right wing extremism as well. Most non-whites I’ve met personally don’t seem to view it that positively. White people overall love it IMO.
I get why Portland might not have a good reputation among Black people, though I don't get why it's a foregone conclusion that it has a poor reputation among other minority groups.
It has a higher percentage of hispanics (metro-wise) than Seattle, Atlanta, Charlotte, and literally every metro in the Midwest and Northeast except NYC, DC, and Chicago. In the last decade, Oregon's latino population grew by over 30%.
Its Asian representation is low for the West Coast but is on par with Chicago and Dallas.
It has a higher percentage of hispanics (metro-wise) than Seattle, Atlanta, Charlotte, and literally every metro in the Midwest and Northeast except NYC, DC, and Chicago.
Portland, OR has a more Hispanic metro than Boston?
It's interesting how the state of Texas itself has several examples of this within its own borders. Houston and Dallas are preferred by black people but almost no one else. Most white people you ask will likely tell you Austin is their favorite, and while I'm not sure, I would assume most Hispanics like San Antonio the best. Asians and other immigrant groups don't seem to have a preference in general, as I'm guessing for them it may come down to where their ethnic group is best represented.
Race relations are getting much better as the city becomes more diverse. The blue collar conservative Rizzo fanboys moving to SJ, Delco or Bucks Co also helps.
My parents told me Kensington, Fishtown, and Port Richmond were sun-down neighborhoods 40 years ago. The complete opposite in 2022.
I know about Frank Rizzo. There were about one or two posters here who claim to admire Rizzo. Rizzo was the one who said "vote White".
It still leaves a bad impression when there are several individuals from Philly and vicinity making racially charged comments.
I know about Fishtown because of baseball bat wielding "tough guys" that came about after the 2020 protests. Kensington, I had no idea that was considered a "sundown town". I wouldn't have gotten such an idea watching the Rocky series (which was first filmed in 1976).
Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, and St. Louis, those are other places that come to mind when I think about racial tensions, and cities that have a negative perception among some Black people I've met.
It's kind of interesting to hear Black people wouldn't go to Nashville or White people wouldn't move to DC.
don't think it's good to judge. I have plenty of Black friends who moved right out of school to Seattle and have had fantastic lives there. I have many Black family and professional colleagues living in Nashville. I'm not shocked by where people want to live. People like where people like for many reasons.
I would say race can determine your experience depending upon your lifestyle choices and where you settle down in the city.
I'm Black and I've been to Nashville. Didn't have any issues while I visited. Of course this was in 2016. I wonder how much it's changed since then.
Places that have a unique pull or push. Meaning mostly or inordinately supported or disliked by a certain racial group compared to the other 2/3.
White Favorable:
Boston
Austin
Denver
Black Favorable:
Detroit
Memphis
Houston
Asian Favorable:
LA
SF
NYC
Hispanic Favorable:
LA
Miami
NYC
White Unfavorable:
Houston
NYC
LA
Black Unfavorable:
Boston
Austin
Portland
SF
Asian Unfavorable:
IDK
Hispanic Unfavorable:
Pittsburgh
Houston/Boston are the best examples of being lauded by white or blacks and then pretty heavily maligned by white/black. The inverse of each other. And two basically polar opposite cities from a settlement/culture/development standpoint. Houston is a new, suburban, integrated, sprawling, hot, featureless, black mayor. Boston is old, highly urban, fairly segregated, minimal sprawl, generally cold, hills/beaches/lakes/rocky, never had an elected black mayor.
No blacks I know ever talk about Memphis and Detroit favorably. Never knew anyone saying those two towns were favored destinations. Black favorable - D.C. Atlanta, Houston, DFW, the big Carolina metros, Oakland.
Add for Asians, the whole west coast, Austin, DFW and Houston
Strangely, my ex-wife was from Pittsburgh (Garfield area) and she absolutely loved coming to St. Louis. I thought it was strange because St. Louis has a horrible reputation (especially from the white community), which recently has hailed Pittsburgh as some rust belt success story despite being a very rough region for black people. She said she like St. Louis, because a lot of the black people owned their houses and she had not seen all black middle class neighborhoods in Pittsburgh. I remember her telling me this while we were at a crowded Red Lobster on a Tuesday night in the Northern St. Louis Suburbs where about 80% of the clientele and workforce was black. Then when I did more research I noticed that even though Pittsburgh and St. Louis were similar sized metros, St. Louis had twice as many black people, which does make a difference on the ground when you talk about representation and cultural dynamics in regions.
Interesting you mention Pittsburgh. I notice a pattern among many of the far-right posters who make racially charged remarks, especially about Black people. A relatively high proportion of them come from the Pittsburgh area. For all I hear about Pittsburgh being "the most livable city in America", it's also referred to as one of the worst cities for Blacks in the USA. St. Louis proper has a bad rep because of its murder rate. And I would be hesitant to live there. However, Pittsburgh looks like a hot mess for Black people, worst than for anyone else. I could easily think "Pittsburgh is a racist city" based on some the comments I see from some bigoted posters on city-data, and from Pittsburgh being called one of the worst cities for Black people. However, I really don't want to go down that rabbit hole. I just wonder "how would I do in Pittsburgh as a college-educated Black person from a middle class background"?
I also wonder the same thing about Milwaukee.
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