Young African American family relocating, looking for city insights

[rugbygirl]

I'm very biased because I grew up largely in a largely Hispanic State and have lived in Colorado for 2 years. Compared to NM, Colorado does have all 4 seasons, however that does not mean the season comes when it's supposed to. In one day, it could be sunny, hail, and then snow. Not that this is an every day occurrence. These past 2 years, winter has been long but not rough. It's definitely not the kind of winter that you'd see in NY. Autumn is brief, but you do see it. Around Halloween, there may be snow. Also, usually we see an "end" to winter and it randomly snows in May. Summers are short. Compared to where I grew up, this State is REALLY green. Again I'm biased. My old hometown was brown. It was abnormal for someone to have a lawn with grass. Also, I have pretty bad allergies as well + and controlled asthma. I still get the sneezes but haven't had to use my inhaler or go in for a nebulizer yet. Children tend to be more sensitive so that's something to consider.

Compared to Columbus, Denver has less Blacks and a smaller population. However, that doesn't mean you won't see Blacks or feel part of the community. If you do decide on Colorado, I feel that you may want to look into areas for housing/schools in Aurora. It's a short drive to Denver if you want to see the city where there's tons of culture (art/music) and there's a Juneteenth festival. I haven't been in awhile but last time I went it was pretty big.

As far a spiritually open community, there's lots of churches, both denominational and mixed. TD Jake's has one of his churches here. If you're looking for a community that almost Bible belt, you won't get that here. I feel there Denver has both spiritual and non-spiritual people.

I feel that we have a great healthcare system, but I could be wrong. I'm in the area/field of public health, and we seem to put a pretty good effort into bettering healthcare and preventative care.

[poppunk]

I moved to the Denver metro area (Westminster) about four months ago from the Baltimore metro. I lived in one of the adjoining counties to Baltimore the last 7 years and the previous 5 years I lived in Baltimore City.

If you're interested in ethnic/racial diversity, there are places Denver proper that offer some, but it's not like where I came from. The suburbs, on the other hand, are incredibly devoid of AA people and it's something I've had to adjust to. When I lived in Baltimore being white meant I was in the minority, and even when I was in the county it was still 1/4 to 1/3 AA.


If you're interested in looking at the racial/ethnic makeup of anywhere in the country, you can do so at this website:


The Racial Dot Map: One Dot Per Person for the Entire U.S.


It shows the makeup of the population in census tracts, which is enough to get a good idea of the diversity there.

[Sunderpig2]

I may have said it before, but cultural differences between two different areas/states (even among people of the same race) can be daunting. I can't imagine then throwing in different major demographic differences on top of that. It can be hard to adjust to as an adult, but might really add undo stress to children. Sometimes the lure of relocating is so strong on the adults/parents part, that it is hard to step back and look objectively as to how it might effect the children. "Kids are resilient and adaptable, aren't they?" Well, maybe not as much as we'd like to think.

[lurtsman]

I hope no parents are keeping themselves or their children in a poor situation because of fear that a move would cause stress. The children face far less stress in the moving than the parents because they don't have to deal with lining up the new job, new places to live, etc.

Personal view: Yes, differences in areas can be dramatic, but I've lived in crappy places and would have hated to be sentenced to stay there for a decade so that I wouldn't have had the stress of moving as a child. That would just teach kids that when they are in a bad situation you sit around and do nothing instead of making changes to create a better situation.

Thus, I politely disagree on the issue overall. However, I can understand how there are also some situations in which you are making a very valid point.

[Sunderpig2]

I agree with all of the above. And it is true that relocations can be poor, great, or anything in-between for kids. I'm just trying to get people to think fully through a relocation from the kids side too, and try to weigh all possible factors (good, bad, ugly).

With regards to my previous post, and as an example, we moved from one location where the schooling was what I'd classify as good/average. We thought our new location though would be superior. Well, there is what I'd call an unhealthy and counterproductive slave-driving mentality at the new location. And the kids have to carry heavya$$ packpacks that are really too heavy for even adults. My daughter has a back illness, and they don't seem to give a flip. It's like "Well, this is the real world. She just needs to tough it out". Jeez, kids should be able to be comfortable in school so they can focus on learning. Not be weighted down - even literally - as though they are already adults and firmly thrown into the rat race. It's enough (along with other factors) to where we would have done things differently. I'm not whining or seeking attention, just trying to help others think even more outside the box, as to possible situations that might come up by a change in location.