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The new zoning will allow buildings up to 7-8 stories.
Nice. Hopefully this is approved and quality retail will follow. I’d love to see better retail and more density at Hechinger Mall as well. Are you aware of anything in the works regarding Hechinger Mall?
A young African American family may move to your city if they can find the right fit. They require the following in a neighborhood:
1. Neighborhood must be in city proper with urban walkable built environment
2. Predominately African American population in the neighborhood
3. African American owned businesses/restaurants within walking distance to their home
4. Public transportation within walking distance
5. Walking distance to parks and trails from their home
6. House with a yard for the kids to play
7. African American local political power (sitting councilman for neighborhood)
What neighborhood would you recommend in your city and what makes it the best choice based on their criteria?
What about schools?
Schools dictate everything for 99% of people with children. If you're going to live on the Coasts, and you want to live in a city proper, then you will need to tuck away a lot of money for private school.
For a family, I would say Mt. Airy and East Falls in Philadelphia.
For one, the cost of private school in Philly isn't outrageous, and you're not entirely screwed if you can't get your kids into the elite public schools.
Two, Mt. Airy is a relatively low crime neighborhood for a large city. For comparison, the 19119 zip code (Mt. Airy) has a lower crime overall crime rate than the 10471 zip code (Riverdale, Bronx). The overall crime rate for Mt. Airy is almost identical to the rate for Crestwood (DC) only the cost is significantly cheaper.
Schools dictate everything for 99% of people with children. If you're going to live on the Coasts, and you want to live in a city proper, then you will need to tuck away a lot of money for private school.
Boston has 3 exams schools that are top 1000 schools and you get extra point on the exam for coming from certain neighborhoods. And a totally free METCO suburban program. In Hyde Park New Mission High School (national rank 1,062) is 56% Black 40% Latino with a 95% graduation rate, 89% AP participation. BPS isn’t great but it’s very much better than any other major city thats 20%+ black. It’s routinely been awarded the title of the #1 urban school system in America.
The density of elite private school in the area is approached by other northeastern cities but not as thick. Proportionally BPS only serves 71% of school age children in the city. The largest demographics opting out of BPS are black families (44% of all students opting out of BPS are black).
15,666 black students in Boston attend BPS (down from 30,518 in 2000)
9,323 black students in Boston attend school outside of BPS.
NYC has some great exam schools and many private schools but I don’t know if many black kids are in them (particularly exam schools-it’s a wildly inequitable system). Philly has at least 1. Baltimore has 2 decent public high schools. Washington DC has the most in the city itself and they serve a lot of students, you can find some good schools in DC for sure and despite poor scores I find their schools to be materially nicer than Bostons and new Yorks.
That area reminds me of what a restored Historic Anacostia in DC could be after everything is built. DC has a long way to go though. Boston seems light years ahead of DC in their Black neighborhood retail saturation.
I see the Menkiti Group heavily involved on this. Funnily enough, Bo Menkiti went to my high school in Boston, lol. Hes involved in projects in Worcester MA too. Ive seen him at alumni events.
Washington DC has the most in the city itself and they serve a lot of students, you can find some good schools in DC for sure and despite poor scores I find their schools to be materially nicer than Bostons and new Yorks.
DC has Banneker and Walls (the good ones), which are small with about 500-600 students each. Duke Ellington is also around 500 students. Central alone has around 2,400 kids. And Central is not the only quality application school in Philadelphia that has a large Black population. There's also Carver, which might be the best all around public HS for Black students considering it's about 90% Black and consistently sends kids to the top undergrad programs.
But as I said earlier, you can't bank on getting your kids into these schools, though you'd probably have better odds getting your kids into Central simply because it's larger. What makes living in Philadelphia a bit easier is that private schools are generally a lot more affordable.
DC has Banneker and Walls (the good ones), which are small with about 500-600 students each. Duke Ellington is also around 500 students. Central alone has around 2,400 kids. And Central is not the only quality application school in Philadelphia that has a large Black population. There's also Carver, which might be the best all around public HS for Black students considering it's about 90% Black and consistently sends kids to the top undergrad programs.
But as I said earlier, you can't bank on getting your kids into these schools, though you'd probably have better odds getting your kids into Central simply because it's larger. What makes living in Philadelphia a bit easier is that private schools are generally a lot more affordable.
Whats typical private school tuition in Philly. We should also differentiate between Catholic and Secular private?
Boston Latin Academy is in one of the blackest parts of Dorchester and is pretty much the equivalent of Central HS. Both are 21% black albeit Central has slightly more kids- But BLA serves a far greater portion of Boston black students than Central serves Philly's black students.
BLA is much more Hispanic than CHS. And it has a greater college readiness ranking, curriculum and graduation rate. But CHS has better test scores (which might be in part because its 38% Asian).
BLA is the 2nd best of our 3 exam schools. With Boston Latin School being a top 40 school (changed its admissions 2 years ago to allow more black/Latino students in) and John D O Bryant being 90% minority and ranked 436 in the nation
I attended private school for $500-$3100 annually in Boston with two full time working parents.
Carver High in Philly comes in at 68% black https://www.usnews.com/education/bes...h-school-17251 and ranks in the same 1000-1100 as New Mission High in Boston (56% black). Carver serves about 800 kids and New Mission typically serves 400.
Proportionally I think youre significantlybetter of with BPS than Philly PS. Cant speak to the private school situation because Boston area has a wide range of prices and financial aid policies, im sure Philly does too. I dont now "the average"
But BLA serves a far greater poriton of Boston black students than Central serves Philly's black students.
Philly is a lot Blacker than Boston soooo...
Putting all of the stats aside for the moment, and taking a pragmatic view of things, how are you going to afford a 2,000+ sq. foot home in Boston, NYC or DC without luck (inheritance of money or property) or two high incomes that can pay a large mortgage and also private school tuition? And also live in a neighborhood that's not hood-adjacent.
Putting all of the stats aside for the moment, and taking a pragmatic view of things, how are you going to afford a 2,000+ sq. foot home in Boston, NYC or DC without luck (inheritance of money or property) or two high incomes that can pay a large mortgage and also private school tuition?
To the bloded.. yes, thats the point. Way fewer black students as a % are getting into Central compared to Black students getting into Boston exam schools-way fewer... Is also way larger so a 2,400 school in Philadelphia is like a 1000 person school in Boston-smaller really because Boston has fewer kids. BLA has 1700 kids BLS has 1600 the Obryant has 1200
As to the second point, people do it though. In fact, nearly 40% of black kids in Boston dont even attend BPS. Were just talking about neighborhoods. Affordability wasnt a listed criterion in this thread. The assumption is you can afford it and/or whats the best. Usually the best cost $$ because the demand is there.
Best on a budget is different, very different. Even though Philly's affordable it lost 30,000 blacks last year a higher/identical share of its population than NYC or Boston..
Best on a budget is different, very different. Even though Philly's affordable it lost 30,000 blacks last year a higher/identical share of its population than NYC or Boston..
Budget is very relevant. It's obvious that most posters here are young, childless or men and often all three.
For me, I would choose Mt. Airy because it's a more bourgeois neighborhood (in parts) that's very established (rather than transitional) and can be bought into at a relatively low price point. I have no desire to live anywhere near Benning Road or east of the River in DC. If I had to live in DC, it would be in Crestwood since you have the park nearby and the bourgeois factor, but that's not the best neighborhood if you want to walk to a bunch of things.
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