Moving From Chicago Il (Phoenix, Gilbert: fit in, houses, neighborhoods)

[PEACH98]

Hello All
My Family And I Are Moving To Az And I Want To Know Were Do The Black's Live.i'm Looking In To Gilbert.

[Ponderosa]

We don't have racial and ethnic segregation in housing here as in common in the east. Hope you won't miss it. People here are segregated by income and/or age. Black, white, brown or red, or whatever you pretty much live in neighborhoods with people in your same income bracket.

Gilbert is an affluent area by and large. You'll need about 80K or more a year to fit in. Things being what they are, there's mostly white people there. But everyone will be welcome as long as they can afford the price of admission.

[Artliquide]

Caucasian people are still in larger numbers overall in the Phoenix area, though the hispanic population is rapidly catching up. Gilbert is predominantly caucasian and has a large mormon population. I live in Gilbert, but I lived in one of the historic neighborhoods in Phoenix for a year and a half. There are many African Americans there. As a white girl, I was definitely in the minority. My black neighbors across the street had lived in their house for 50 years! The historic neighborhoods are becoming nice, with all the people buying the old houses and renovating them. Also, this was the friendliest neighborhood in which I have lived. My neighbors talked to me as soon as I moved in, and were always helping me with yardwork, etc. This is pretty rare in the Phoenix area because there aren't many areas where people stick around for a long time, like they seemed to do in my neighborhood in Phoenix. A lot of people avoid that area because it has a reputation of having a lot of crime, but the fact is that all areas have about the same amount of crime.

Anyway, I really loved living there because of the culture and the people (and the old houses!). Because of the concentration of African Americans, there are a lot of cultural activities aimed at African Americans around there. If you're asking about this because you want your kids to have a more African American culture, then central Phoenix is the place. I used to go to a free african dance class down the street every Saturday. There are also a lot of African American community events at Heritage Square downtown. The community center where I attended the dance class also has a Juneteenth celebration every year.

You'll be more than welcome in Gilbert, but the theme here is geared more around the Old West and Cowboys than African American heritage. Whatever area you choose, you can always trek to Phoenix if you're interested in African American activities