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For Black families that have a requirement that they live in the city proper based on the criteria, schools aren't really a factor based on neighborhood because most families put their children in charter schools or private schools which can be anywhere around the city. I know many families that currently have their children in charter schools.
Charter schools are a crap shoot and the best ones are ultra competitive to get into (i.e., Yu Ying Academy). So practically speaking, you need to be saving 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.
One of my closest friends bought a house in Ward 7 in SE near Texas Avenue. His son goes to Duke Ellington.
My first question: Have you ever lived there? I have actually lived in all four cities (Boston, NYC, Philly and DC) for at least 4 years.
This is sort of like saying "I don't think it's entirely pragmatic to say that living in Roland Park shields you from an elevated level of crime when the crime is as high as it is." That's totally silly. You can live in Roland Park and not have to worry too much about even random property crime even if West Baltimore has nearly a murder per day. And crime in Philadelphia is actually lower than it is in DC, so I'm not sure why you would even consider DC to be in the conversation here if crime is a concern.
Yeah, I do since I'm from there LMAO!
Philly is not nearly as transient as DC and NYC, and you don't have the critical mass of Black professionals overall, which means fewer events, fewer dating options, etc. Sure, the city has some great universities that attract people from different places, but Philadelphia overall is a significantly more provincial place and it will only be a matter of time before you're constantly coming across HS people. On the flipside, the city is not super in-demand like NYC or DC, so if you and your wife are bringing in, say, 175K between the two of you, then it's not that hard to afford to live in Mt. Airy or even Chestnut Hill, especially with private school tuition being lower. The vast majority of Philly's "Jack and Jill crowd" will be found in that part of the city. And it's far more affordable than Crestwood or Shepherd Park, which require HHIs over 300K easily these days, which means those neighborhoods are trending white.
Gotta say "no" to your Roland Park thing. If you're an African American with ties to a city you're gonna be privy to a lot more than what your typical Roland Park person (white, its a white neighborhood) will be exposed to-due to social networks. Even still, people in Roland Park (and similar areas) complain about crime in Baltimore all. day. long... up and down... I see them on FB and on Reddit. And in the Baltimore forum here.
DC is different because crime is one factor. DC is cleaner, transient, in demand, very polished, with higher incomes, a different vibe in general. Its a psychologically a different place and different headspace with many factors outside of crime that it trumps Philly in.
Crime matters but its not the only thing. Crime aspect gives Boston an edge, as do schools... where it loses in other areas (raw black # and culture---affordability wasnt on here). I haven't been to Mt. Airy to compare it to Hyde Park which is the neighborhood in Boston id say checks really every box here.
DC is different because crime is one factor. DC is cleaner, transient, in demand, very polished, with higher incomes, a different vibe in general. Its a psychologically a different place and different headspace with many factors outside of crime that it trumps Philly in.
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.
No, I lived in Suitland about 2 minutes outside of DC right by the metro stop. I worked in DC though.
Doesn't matter much. It's close enough and really there's no comparison on the vibe of the two cities, they're operating on two very different plains economically and aesthetically. Ones white collar to the max ones gritty to the max.
If neither East Falls nor West Mount Airy is plurality black- what's a different neighborhood in Philly? Philly's got a lot of neighborhoods. I'm sure one nearby checks all the boxes.
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