I want to live in Oakland's Ghetto - moving from Northern Ireland (Montclair: neighborhood, living in)

[Larry Siegel]

Originally Posted by Woof

If your wife is from the Big Sur area, I suppose she's likely to be a trust-funder with enough money to go back to live in that area, since most people who come from that area are rolling in it...

Goodness. It's hard to count someone else's money, especially when you haven't met them. While Big Sur has its share of trust fund babies, Wikipedia says:

"The median income in 2000 for a household in 93920 Zip Code Tabulation Area was $41,304, and the median income for a family was $65,083."

Which is decidedly middle-income, maybe a little below average.

[Nineties Flava]

Originally Posted by Larry Siegel

Even Black people don't want to live in Oakland's real ghettos (including those that look somewhat suburban).

Follow the other poster's suggestions.

Point out a single ghetto (i.e. high crime, high poverty & economically depressed neighborhood) in America that black people actually want to live in.

[Natural510]

Originally Posted by Woof

If your wife is from the Big Sur area, I suppose she's likely to be a trust-funder with enough money to go back to live in that area, since most people who come from that area are rolling in it. It's such a nice place ...... why go slumming in Oakland if you could live in Monterey or Carmel at the one end, or Cambria/ San Luis Obispo at the other?

Maybe it's work, maybe you're a "courier" or something requiring delivery in Oakland, but once you've made your fortune I'd suggest looking into your wife's former haunts. Exquisite.

Perhaps her aristocratic upbringing caused her to fetishize living in warzones such as Belfast and Oakland (*sarcastic grin*).

[Larry Siegel]

Originally Posted by Nineties Flava

Point out a single ghetto (i.e. high crime, high poverty & economically depressed neighborhood) in America that black people actually want to live in.

A ghetto is an area within a city where a particular group of people (originally Jews, now the term usually refers to blacks) are concentrated. Here in Chicago, I know quite a few black people who like living in a black or mostly-black neighborhood even though they could afford to live in an integrated yuppie part of town.

Nobody *likes* to live around crime and poverty. It's something you put up with to get a characteristic you do like.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by Larry Siegel

I know quite a few black people who like living in a black or mostly-black neighborhood even though they could afford to live in an integrated yuppie part of town.

This is not a Chicago peculiarity as Oakland is much the same way, if not more so than Chicago.

Furthermore, Oakland actually has a few wealthy, desirable predominantly Black neighborhoods.

[jade408]

Living in a neighborhood with people of similar ethnicity's isn't really the same as living in a poor under-served area. Most people want to live somewhere where they share values with their neighbors. No one wants to worry about driveby shootings at the dinner table. And given the choice and opportunity people would leave crime-ridden under-served areas in a heartbeat. But choosing a new neighborhood requires prioritizing which values are most critical to your identity and feeling of "home." For some people that means class, education levels, ethnic identity, religious identity, political beliefs or social beliefs. It isn't one size fits all.

Oakland, unlike Chicago isn't so much segrated by race as it is by class. You can find primarily black, asian, white, and latino neighborhoods (or micro-neighborhoods) across all income levels. And you can't make assumptions about where someone lives by ethnicity. (Chicago, not so much.....) Everybody lives in virtually every part of town. (Chinatown is definitely primarily Chinese)

[18Montclair]

In fact, upon looking at Census Bureau statistics, we see that Oakland has a higher concentration of upper income Blacks than Chicago.

Black Households Earning $100,000+ Annually, 2005-2009
Oakland city, CA 12.2%
Chicago city, IL 8.9%

Black Households Earning $200,000+ Annually, 2005-2009
Oakland city, CA 2.0%
Chicago city, IL 0.9%

Oakland's adult Black population is also slighter better educated.

Blacks Age 25+ with a Bachelor Degree or Higher, 2005-2009
Oakland city, CA 19.6%
Chicago city, IL 17.1%

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by jade408

And you can't make assumptions about where someone lives by ethnicity.

Amen!

Chabot Park Average Household Income: $123,738

[Tallysmom]

My Gawd, 18 -- what a cesspool that is!

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by Tallysmom

My Gawd, 18 -- what a cesspool that is!

Hahahahahaa....I know right.

We should take up a collection.