Latin Spice in Philly or NJ? (Philadelphia: crime, job market, schools)

[Orlando Nigerian]

Sorry, but I have another question . In 3 or 4 years, I will have to start my college education over as a young (27 now), single, black (Nigerian parents), woman. I need an area and city of the country that is very academic and offers many medical lab research jobs and medical lab study opportunities and it seems like the Northeast is the best region for me. I don't want the crime and lack of diversity of D.C. and Baltimore and don't want the expensiveness, fewer degrees of coldness, terrorist threat, and big urban hassles of Newark and NYC. Boston is probably too cold for my liking. ANYWAY, I'm pretty sure, wherever I land, I'm staying there because I would be approaching 40 by the time I get a PhD. So, while in school, I'll probably be searching for that special someone to spend my life with .

Anyway, I'm 98% sure my "special someone" is a brown, bronzed-skinned, huge-hearted Puerto Rican, Dominican, or Cuban . So, I'd really like to live in Philly because its the farthest-south Northeast city with diversity and an academia, but seems like from the stats its mostly black and white people, only 8.5% Latino. Also, I've read and heard that New Jersey seems to have plenty of Carribean latinos. I don't exactly need or want to be surrounded with all the Spanish, but also don't want trouble finding a mate. I'd be willing to settle between Trenton and Philly or on the other side of the bridge from Philly AROUND (not in) Camden. Even the metro area between Philly and Wilmington is fine.

Do you think my romantic life would do fine in the Philadelphia metro area or is south and middle New Jersey probably a better spot? (I know it's a subjective question, but if you have any opinions I'd be more than happy to hear them)

[ajb842]

I have to be honest, I have read your other posts and I see that this is an area of concern for you, but I must say that you should not choose an area to live based on this. You seem to be well-educated, intelligent and motivated. I have met many hispanic individuals in my career and have had many hispanic friends over the course of my life here in Philadelphia. I cannot really say whether there are more individuals to your liking here or in NJ. I can say that you should first pick a school and area to live, and then, if you are still considering interacting with hispanic people as a driving force for your future romantic life, I suppose you could look up latin groups and churches in the area, of which we have many. It may be difficult for people on this forum to respond to your question about this because in reality, you could move to an area of no hispanic people and meet the only puerto rican there and begin a relationship. A large amount of attractive people is not to say that you will even find one to your liking in any area. All this to say, check out the schools you are interested in and then decided based on courses they offer and the local job market. But I have to say, if you're in Florida already, why not check out Miami? It seems to have all the things you are looking for.

[FindingZen]

There is a significant enough Hispanic community here, traditionally Puerto Rican but expanding into other ethnicities as well. However, while they may be friendly enough towards you, I don't know if there is the "luv" quotient that you'd find in say, NYC. If that's the dealbreaker for you, then I'd actually recommend the Big Apple or at least North Jersey.

Then again... you could come up here, hit a few Latin clubs and see what kind of play you get. If the fellas take a shine to you, then you might find your "papi" here, after all.

[john_starks]

NYC/NJ/Philly/B'more/DC all have latin spice.....

yo - welcome to the northeast...

[Orlando Nigerian]

[FindingZen]

Not sure what the eye-rolling is in reference to...

[Ant$]

dude...you're gonna love this area.