Phoenix and African-Americans (Tempe, Surprise: real estate, low crime, employment)

[omle]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

African Americans are not the only ones who think this way. I'm originally from LA and thought Phoenix was a small town because I used to come here occassionally when I was a kid growing up in LA and it was a small town back then. When I arrived here years later, it was much different and looked a lot like Los Angelas and Southern California.

Back to the topic, I have African American friends and they love it here. They moved here from the south and assumed their experience would be worse here because there doesn't exist the large Black populations that are found in places like Lousiana and Georgia. However, they soon learn that unlike their former states, there isn't the cultural racism they experienced back home. For example, interracial dating is not taboo here. They told me they don't get stares like they did in Atlanta or Birmingham and it's not a big deal here.

Good post! I have AA friends that visit me from NC and are curious at the lack of race cr#p we have in AZ.

I grew up here and lived in a blue collar area that turned "Mexican" and my high school was 10% white. The AA's were the most popular, the rest of us just fit in fine. Guess that is why I'm kind of colorblind now, and would not trade my experience for anything.

I think people in Phx/Sctsdl and AZ are very welcoming if you are are pull yourself up by your bootstaps kind of guy/girl. It's your character that matters to paraphrase a great man.

[westcoastbabe]

I'm an African-American woman in her late 30's considering a move to the Valley of The Sun. I'm curious if there are any other African-Americans on the forum that could share their experiences in living there. What challenges have you faced? What region of Arizona seems good for blacks? I'm looking for positive experiences along with negative ones. Basically: a balanced view. I'm not looking to be offended or expecting the worst if/when I go there. Just trying to get a realistic outlook. Even if you don't have any remarkable stories, I would just be very interested to hear your general impression of it..

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by trudawg

Its' great for single men, but the feedback I get from the laides is its not so great for single black women because of the limited amount of single black men.
So as a single black man, lets just say my dance card stays full. I'm having fun as I'm single by choice not by circumstance. I live downtown, in a highrise overlooking the city, have two good jobs, go to school full time, and I love it.

I work with a single Black woman in her 30's. She loves it here but yes she dates White men. And most of the Black men I know date White women. If you are looking to exclusively date Black men, like trudawg said, it could be really difficult. There are so many mixed couples here that it's the norm.

[kurls]

I am glad I have been watching this topic. My wife and I have thought about moving to the Phoenix area. We are in our late twenties and have a young son, we wondered about this question. (She is AA and I am Caucasian.) It is good to know that IR couples are not a rarity in AZ. We had thought about moving to Atlanta as she has a significant portion of her family there, but we visit enough to recognize it as a city/region that we would not want to raise our family in. Currently we live in Brooklyn Park which is just outside of Minneapolis. We really like the diversity and the number of multi-cultural families in our area. However, the winters here suck and there are some annoying things about this region as well. Overall I wouldn’t cry if I stayed here forever but we are open to moving to another part of the country. One of the things we don’t like is that the people here are nice, but at the same time they are clicky and somewhat fake. It’s difficult to make friends as our experience shows that most of the people here grew up together and our closed-in. Most of the friends we have made moved here from somewhere else, like us. We came to MN from Aurora, CO. We will have to travel to AZ and experience it for ourselves a few times before we actually decide to move and would be looking at a 2-4 year horizon to do so. I will be finishing my undergrad in Business in 2010, currently working as an Analyst, and my wife is a Registered Nurse so I wouldn’t foresee any employment issues.

What are some of the cities in which we would likely like to live?

I hear the real estate market tanked down there, would it be possible to get a decent house on a golf course between 200-300k? What can I expect for this range?

Living in Denver, it often would be in the 90’s with drier heat than you would see in Atlanta. What would you compare the 100+ days too?

What are the police like? Are there major gang problems? (As a teenager I was involved in this lifestyle, and just want to have an understanding of the prevalence of this culture in Phoenix. Minneapolis has significant Chicago ties so by no means is this some gang free utopia.)

[MeridithJill]

IMO one of the big reasons that there isn't much racism here is that most everyone is a transplant. I like that.

[chipnjaz]

Folks, consider Phoenix for it's merits.

We place too much emphasis on race, it's much ado about nothing in today's society.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by MeridithJill

IMO one of the big reasons that there isn't much racism here is that most everyone is a transplant. I like that.

Agreed! Another reason for the relative lack of racism is our so called "lack of culture and history." Due to the transient nature of this city, we lack social cliques and attitudes that take decades if not centuries to form the types of prejudice that is displayed in other parts of this country.

Even the anti-illegal sentiment is more discrimination as opposed to true racism because many of the people opposed to illegal immigration are Hispanic Americans. And even the comments on this forum focus more on transgression as opposed to qualitied related to race.

[sbonets]

Can anyone tell me which suburb is the best place for African American's (mid 50's) to live (retire). We are looking to relocate in a couple years and would like to live in a really nice neighborhood that is quiet but not to far removed from society (entertainment, shopping, etc.). Also, mountainviews are a must!

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by sbonets

Can anyone tell me which suburb is the best place for African American's (mid 50's) to live (retire). We are looking to relocate in a couple years and would like to live in a really nice neighborhood that is quiet but not to far removed from society (entertainment, shopping, etc.). Also, mountainviews are a must!

I live in Estrella which is a community in the southwest part of the metro area. It is situated in the foothills of the Estrella Mountains and there are mountain views from virtually every lot and quite a few of them that back onto the smaller hills. Estrella is somewhat removed from the bustle of the city and that is both its strength and weakness (to some). It is a four to six mile minimum to the edge of the shopping world. The people who live here like it that way, of course, or they would not live here. We do have a little commercial now (Safeway, bank, pizza, etc) and they are starting on a medical building as well so you don't have to drive down the hill for dentists and family practice things.

There are a good number of AA couples, both retired and with children living here (relative to the Phoenix area) in part due to retired military wanting to be closer to the facilities at Luke AFB. It is a welcoming community and you are not going to run into any issues here, I don't think. It is certainly a place you should consider.

EDIT: On the "best for AA" you should just forget about that as you look for homes. Find a place that is to your liking. You are not going to find segregated neighborhoods in Phoenix - at least with race as the primary criterion. Phoenix blossomed after the Civil Rights Act. I'm not saying it is some post racial Nirvana but there is a whole lot less racial baggage being dragged around here than in most US cities of comparable size.

Welcome : Home Page | Estrella | Goodyear, AZ

[beautiful01]

I am a young AA women after reading some of the postings I will move to phoenix az. I think in general we all want to feel as though we belong wherever we relocate to an it is important to see your race. Regardless for dating purposes or not. I will be open to it an take a chance. Thanks again