Blacks leaving the Bay ? (Los Angeles, San Jose: employment, incomes, stats)

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Nineties Flava

If you only ever spent time in San Francisco then you can't talk about the whole Bay Area. I agree with you that San Francisco IS NOT a particularly good place to be black. I'd include San Mateo (where I'm from), Santa Clara and Marin County in that as well. Alameda County, however, is a great place to be black. The majority of black professionals in the Bay Area at this point are spread out through Alameda County and concentrated in Oakland/San Leandro/Berkeley. The parts of the Bay Area that are good for blacks are imo FAR better than the alternatives in the rest of the west coast, the midwest and the south. The East Bay's the only region I've ever seen on this side of the Mississippi where blacks are integrated into society in any meaningful way. The only other cities I can say that for that I've been to are LA and DC but LA has a lot more racial tension and DC isn't a particularly diverse city anyway.

Very good points and thanks for clarifying what I couldn't.

[artwomyn]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

I'm not defending anything. I am simply pointing out your exaggerations. Quite frankly, it's good for those who like the bay area if the likes of people like yourself don't like it.

See, I dislike lots of places too, I get that. I have never posted in the Orange County forums or other places I don't care much for. Catch my drift?

Whether a person likes or dislikes a place, is their perogative. Myself, and other black posters, have indicated that we don't like the Bay area. We've explained why, and I don't consider our explanations exaggerations.
You just happen to have a bias for California, and some of us happen to have a bias against it.

[artwomyn]

Originally Posted by Nineties Flava

If you only ever spent time in San Francisco then you can't talk about the whole Bay Area. I agree with you that San Francisco IS NOT a particularly good place to be black. I'd include San Mateo (where I'm from), Santa Clara and Marin County in that as well. Alameda County, however, is a great place to be black. The majority of black professionals in the Bay Area at this point are spread out through Alameda County and concentrated in Oakland/San Leandro/Berkeley. The parts of the Bay Area that are good for blacks are imo FAR better than the alternatives in the rest of the west coast, the midwest and the south. The East Bay's the only region I've ever seen on this side of the Mississippi where blacks are integrated into society in any meaningful way. The only other cities I can say that for that I've been to are LA and DC but LA has a lot more racial tension and DC isn't a particularly diverse city anyway.

I worked in SF, and lived in Oakland. You might like the East Bay, and I agree that it IS better than SF, but I saw that many upwardly mobile blacks were also leaving the East Bay. Many had told me, that nowhere in Cal, offered them the economic and social opportunities, that parts of the East Coast and south did. I agreed with them, which is why I moved from California.

[artwomyn]

Originally Posted by dragontales

I don't know if you are blind or in denial. All the numbers point to high drop out rates among Hispanic and Blacks in the US. Google it.

Plus you were making a conclusion about SF and the entire Bay Area just based on the black bums you saw in the small concentrated area of the financial district, which doesn't tell anyone what this area is like. Your sample is extremely tiny. Your conclusion is faulty.

You missed the point yet AGAIN! The point WAS NOT that blacks as a whole, are less educated than other groups. The point was, that blacks that ARE well-educated, skilled, and professional, have had a more difficult time of it in the Bay area, vs. other major cities. Myself, and other black posters on this thread, who came to the Bay from other places, have seen, and experienced this ourselves.

The other point that you don't get, is that I mentioned that I saw more homeless blacks in the SF area, than well-dressed professional-looking blacks. When I said that, I was trying to point-out that it appeared to me, that SF (and the Bay area as a whole), is not a good place for upwardly mobile blacks compared to other major cities. Also, the homeless blacks in SF's financial district, were NOT the only thing, that soured me on the Bay area, and I never said that it was either. It was part of MANY things, that I didn't like about the Bay area.

You need to actually THINK about what I've said, and not just skim over my posts, and then try to put words in my mouth, and jump to the wrong conclusions yourself.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by artwomyn

Darkonesun is absolutely right about the Bay area, believe me! I too lived in the Bay area, because it does have wonderful weather. I'm also an African American, and I had experienced the worst racism there, than I had anyplace else.

When my brother was doing his residency in rural TX, one day while he was pumping gas he was called the N-word to his face(We're not black btw) and was told to be out of town before sundown.

Don't act like that happens here-because it doesnt.

Oh, and he told that person to 'eff off.

I almost lost my life there, because of amazingly incompetent doctors, at a local county hospital there. I went in for a severe throat infection, and almost never cam out again! Some other blacks that had gone there for treatment, had told me their horror stories, and they swear that this place was very racist.

That's not racism, that's classism. Poor people regardless of their race are going to receive care that subpar compared to rich people(regardless of their race).

I also lost one job after another, when living in the Bay area, which had never happened to me before I lived there. Employers there, just LOVE to can people at the drop of a hat.

Once again, that has nothing to do with race but is the nature of 'at will' employment.

Since the late-80s, the Bay area has basically turned into a big play-ground, for white and Asian yuppies, particularly those in the high-tech industry. In a nutshell, no one else is welcome there anymore, most especially blacks and Hispanics.

Blacks are also leaving the Northeast, the Midwest and Southern California. I suppose those areas are all racist too?

Everywhere is racist except the SOUTH? Really?

I live on the east coast now, and I'm so glad that I left the Bay area!

So are we.

[dragontales]

And you missed my point. You said that well educated black mem are not finding the same job opportunities in the bay area. My point is that maybe there aren't that many educated black men to begin with due to high drop out rates and low graduation numbers for blacks in this country.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by artwomyn

You missed the point yet AGAIN! The point WAS NOT that blacks as a whole, are less educated than other groups. The point was, that blacks that ARE well-educated, skilled, and professional, have had a more difficult time of it in the Bay area, vs. other major cities.

But this isnt the subset of Blacks who are leaving. Its the middle class group that like middle class whites of times past, want a bigger house in suburbia for cheaper.

We know that its definitely not true that upper income blacks are not having a more difficult time here as opposed to other places at all because the Bay Area has a higher percentage of high income blacks(earning $200,000+) than many places that have far higher concentration of Blacks, like Atlanta, Chicago and Philadelphia.

[Nineties Flava]

Originally Posted by artwomyn

I worked in SF, and lived in Oakland. You might like the East Bay, and I agree that it IS better than SF, but I saw that many upwardly mobile blacks were also leaving the East Bay. Many had told me, that nowhere in Cal, offered them the economic and social opportunities, that parts of the East Coast and south did. I agreed with them, which is why I moved from California.

That's not a black thing, that's a middle class thing. White people are also leaving in droves to stretch their money elsewhere.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by dragontales

And you missed my point. You said that well educated black mem are not finding the same job opportunities in the bay area. My point is that maybe there aren't that many educated black men to begin with due to high drop out rates and low graduation numbers for blacks in this country.

Well, compared to the other large metro areas of the country, Bay Area blacks are among the most highly educated:

Black Adults With a Bachelor Degree or Higher
Washington-Baltimore-Northern VA 25.2%
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville 24.1%
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside 22.3%
San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland 22.3%
Boston-Worcester-Manchester 21.6%
New York-Newark-Bridgeport 20.7%
Dallas-Ft Worth 20.3%
Houston-Baytown-Huntsville 19.9%
Minneapolis-St Paul-St Cloud 19.2%
Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia 19.2%
Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City 18.6%
Miami-Ft Lauderdale-Pompano Beach 16.2%
Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland 15.8%
Detroit-Warren-Flint 14.3%

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by Nineties Flava

That's not a black thing, that's a middle class thing. White people are also leaving in droves to stretch their money elsewhere.

Yup.

The Bay Area is second only to DC when it comes to the percentage of high income Black households:

Black Households Earning $200,000+ Annually, 2005-2009
Washington-Baltimore-Northern VA 24,683.................3.1%
San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland 5,255.................2.8%
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside 11,015..................2.4%
New York-Newark-Bridgeport 25,967.........................2.0%
Boston-Worcester-Manchester 2,410........................1.7%
Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia 1,115................................1.5%
Atlanta-Sandy Springs_-Gainesville 7,594...................1.3%
Houston-Baytown-Huntsville 3,612............................1.3%
Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City 7,167......................1.1%
Dallas-Ft Worth 3,612............................................. 1.1%
Minneapolis 784............................................... ......1.1%
Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland 4,586..........................1.0%
Miami-Ft Lauderdale-Pompano Beach 3,130.................0.9%
Detroit-Warren-Flint 3,600.......................................0.8%