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So I grew up in Killeen. It has had a significant Black population for a minute. But growing up in the 90s, it was always the second largest but not close to being near the White population. Now I see the demographics stats and I am floored for the city alone. I bet 15k of that 18k went to Killeen alone as the Black population is now a plurality in 2023. No way I would thought that could happen 30 years ago. Killeen is one of a small few where the black population is a plurality in Texas.
I also agree with you about Texas and stated a similar fact years ago. People don’t realize how Black that state really is.
In the people I encounter in Houston, most come because they want to not because they feel they have to.
MSP is a strange one. MSP has very strong black growth but its entirely foreign born black growth. MSP is flooded with people from Somalia, Ethiopia, Liberia, and Kenya.
Table B06004B was the source of the data.
Could you run the numbers for Grand Rapids? Curious to see how it compares and it takes me 2 hours to relearn how to use the ACS tools each time lol.
Texas’ growth is incredible and I doubt it will slow down.
Generally AAs are moving to the south for COL and jobs, in that order. Most of the people moving are college educated and/or have families. Certain areas, such as Baltimore, St Louis, Birmingham, are affordable but have other deeply entrenched issues like crime, poor schools etc.
Your fourth point re: AA and foreign born growth being unrelated is incorrect in places like Atlanta, Houston and Dallas. All three have also seen large increases in the Caribbean and African populations.
I know some AA people that moved to Atlanta from Columbus, Ohio, and Chicago suburbs. They moved moreso for QOL than COL. Some of the Atlanta burbs are more expensive than the burbs in Columbus and Chicago now.
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PHILLYUPTOWN
The cultural and economic pull of specific Southern Metros are the reason why it's so lopsided, as opposed to a general, and even, move to the Southern states. I wish I could say it was less superficial than this but its the movies this generation grew up with and the tv shows like "Housewives" and "Love and Hip Hop" and the entertainers, or else why wouldn't blacks be moving to popular Southern places like Austin, Nashville, Miami and Raleigh in equally large numbers, or Seattle, Denver and Portland the way young white kids have.
That's some of it, but really it's three other things driving it: Economic opportunity, lower cost of living, and access to higher education. The first one is the biggie as not everyplace in the south has this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PHILLYUPTOWN
They see a perception black wealth and success in those specific 4 places and are driven to it; whether its real and attainable idk. The psychology of black people is that life is tough and we are not welcome everywhere, so when a place is broadcasted as being a place where one can be successful, we gravitate toward it......I have a theory about how this thinking broke Detroit.
However, Atlanta, DFW, Houston and Charlotte has grown massively amongst all groups; the fact that they are in the black belt means they were destined to have large black populations.
I'm 50/50 on this one because again it's not as if the whole South is welcoming of Blacks folks even when they are in the majority. For example, Mississippi has the largest Black population by percentage in the country at 37% and beats Georgia by 6 whole percentage points in that regard. So why isn't Mississippi seeing a ton of growth from folks in the New Great Migration? Why isn't Jackson an mini version of Atlanta? It's because Mississippi lacks economic opportunity and they've never had a strong core of middle and upper class/rich Black residents driving business or government agenda.
Now I know from outsiders perspective the South is monolith, but I assure you it is not and there are vast differences between living one of those urban areas you mentioned (not sure why you left off Miami, but it's in the same boat as those places) and rest of the South, particularly in rural areas. Even in the States that hosts those cities life outside of those cities is not ideal. For me personally for example I only leave Atlanta to go for a daytime hike in the mountains, to go to Savannah, or to go to the another State. Otherwise, I'm sticking in Atlanta.
If you go on down the line with this in mind, it becomes easier to see why some cities do better than others and why they are getting
Quote:
Originally Posted by PHILLYUPTOWN
It didn't start with this generation, but probably with generation X; the 90s and beyond. Those people moved for affordability, and the possibility of homeownership in NEW housing (it can't be jobs because the South has always paid less)....their relative success and entrepreneurship created the environment for the media attention....
This really started in the 70s after Jim Crow was fully abolished and upwardly mobile folks wanted a chance at creating something of their own. My parents were a part of that first wave in the Late 70s from NYC to ATL pipeline. It is only intensified since then.
EDIT:
Forgot to mention your most egregious error: Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Charlotte are not in the Black Belt. The Black Belt runs along the fall line below the Piedmont ridge. Atlanta and Charlotte are situation sevaral hundred miles north of that and the line of the actual Black Belt only goes from the middle of Mississippi, through middle Alabama and Georgia, and ends in South Carolina. It never goes into Texas. Now, what does exist is that in close proximity to the Black Belt you will find all of the counties (sans Queens and Brooklyn) with the largest African-American populations in the country. That runs from Texas to Virginia, so I can see why you would combine the two, but they are two different things going on there.
Last edited by waronxmas; 05-09-2023 at 12:31 PM..
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