West Coast City with Strongest Black Presence? (transfer, live in)
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I don't think any of them are *dominated* by AA culture but of the bunch, I believe Oakland has the highest percentage of blacks. But at 24%, it's far behind major Northeast, Midwest and Southern cities in that regard. The Western US just didn't get as much of the 20th century Great Migration as did the regions closer to the South.
Where is Seattle? The Seattle metro area has 250,000 Black people, more than most other cities on your list. And Seattle proper has a higher percentage of black people than Phoenix, SF and several others on your list.
Also, you have Reno, which is 3% Black, but left out Tacoma, which is 12% Black?
In any case, the answer is there are no Western cities with a strong Black presence. It’s generally more Hispanic and Asian. If you had to choose a city, it would be Oakland followed by Los Angeles.
Where is Seattle? The Seattle metro area has 250,000 Black people, more than most other cities on your list. And Seattle proper has a higher percentage of black people than Phoenix, SF and several others on your list.
Also, you have Reno, which is 3% Black, but left out Tacoma, which is 12% Black?
In any case, the answer is there are no Western cities with a strong Black presence. It’s generally more Hispanic and Asian. If you had to choose a city, it would be Oakland followed by Los Angeles.
The Bay Area is about 7% black, but a much larger Black community with 471k people in 2010.
Seattle is about 5% black with about 191k Black people as of 2010.
The West is the least black region of the U.S, but if I would say that Los Angeles is unquestionably the mecca of Black culture on the West Coast with the Bay Area being second. All the other regions really are not a factor.
So do you think Seattle has grown by 60k black people in the last 10 years? I know it's an expensive market and I haven't really heard of many blacks moving to the area. My cousin and her husband moved out there a few years ago when her husband got transferred from the Boeing facility in St. Louis, but they were back in St. Louis in like one year. They said it was super expensive and wasn't a good cultural fit for them, despite thinking it was a beautiful area.
The Bay Area is about 7% black, but a much larger Black community with 471k people in 2010.
Seattle is about 5% black with about 191k Black people as of 2010.
The West is the least black region of the U.S, but if I would say that Los Angeles is unquestionably the mecca of Black culture on the West Coast with the Bay Area being second. All the other regions really are not a factor.
So do you think Seattle has grown by 60k black people in the last 10 years? I know it's an expensive market and I haven't really heard of many blacks moving to the area. My cousin and her husband moved out there a few years ago when her husband got transferred from the Boeing facility in St. Louis, but they were back in St. Louis in like one year. They said it was super expensive and wasn't a good cultural fit for them, despite thinking it was a beautiful area.
The region has grown by nearly 600,000 people since 2010 and continues to be 5-6% Black (depending on the source), so I guess it’s 210-220K Black people. I stand corrected. There are definitely areas with strong Black culture by West Coast standards, including parts of South Seattle, South King County, Tacoma, and by the military base in south Pierce County. A lot of Black NBA players have come out of the region, there are Black icons like Jimi Hendrix, Quincy Jones, and Sir Mix-A-Lot who are from Seattle, Seattle has had a black mayor. So again by West Coast standards it definitely belongs on the poll
Overall I agree with you that Black Culture is not a strong factor on the West Coast - with Oakland and parts of LA being the exception. But honestly I grew up in the Bay Area and live in Seattle now and I don’t feel that much of a difference in terms of black culture. If anything, because the Bay Area has a more prominent Asian and Hispanic presence than Seattle, but a similar Black percentage, Black culture sticks out more in Seattle, especially in the areas where that population is concentrated. I lived primarily in the South Bay and SF and Black culture is not strong at all in those places.
My point is Seattle and possibly Tacoma belong in this poll. They don’t deserve to win but if Reno, Phoenix, etc. are on it, these cities should be there too.
Oakland, and to a much lesser extent LA, thought LA is more known for Hispanic/Asian populations, not black.
The north/south line across the U.S. where prominently black cities generally ends is Minneapolis/Kansas City/Houston. West of that, virtually all cities are either predominantly white, Hispanic, Asian, or all three, but not black. Even in Oakland, blacks are a minority in the city.
The fact that Reno is on the poll really shows how thin the overall black presence in the West is. Reno is like 2-3% black for a city of 250k, so a few thousand black people. In the downtown area it's fairly common to see black people (my building has many), but it's still way too small, poor, and scattered a community to really have an established culture here.
The fact that Reno is on the poll really shows how thin the overall black presence in the West is. Reno is like 2-3% black for a city of 250k, so a few thousand black people. In the downtown area it's fairly common to see black people (my building has many), but it's still way too small, poor, and scattered a community to really have an established culture here.
No, the OP just chose the wrong cities for the poll. It’s a bad question to begin with because the only remotely reasonable answers are Oakland and LA, but if you’re going to ask you can’t include random cities with a few thousand black people and leave out metro areas with 200K+ black people like Seattle and Denver.
Also, if you are looking for a specific city, you may have smaller cities/communities in the major Western areas. I believe that Inglewood CA is the incorporated place with the highest percentage in the Western US(41.8%(about 44% when inc. in combo).
So, Las Vegas has the highest metro percentage at 11%.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 05-26-2019 at 09:18 AM..
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