Why does minnesota seem so segregated?? (Minneapolis, St. Paul: credit, neighborhoods, high school)

[daboywonder2002]

Let me explain. It just seems like very few blacks live in the suburbs here. I live in edina and barely ever see blacks. But yet, you go downtown especially northside like broadway and its nothing but blacks. Now i understand that there are some areas where you will have majority of african americans. But im from philadelphia and even blacks live in the suburbs of philly. you'll see blacks in upper darby pa, or lansdowne, ridley park. In maryland, you dont see all the blacks living in baltimore. blacks live in suburbs of bmore too. Yet here in minnesota, its like all the african americans are on the northside and thats it

[northstar22]

Not all suburbs are like Edina. You see plenty of blacks in places like Plymouth, Bloomington, Maple Grove, Eden Prairie, etc.

[moving123456]

I would guess that the east coast has larger numbers of middle and upper class black people. MN wasn't a destination during the great migration north because trains stopped elsewhere like Chicago first and tickets to those places were cheaper. So I don't think the black community is as old/established here. It seems like many here came from Chicago later.

The numbers in the suburbs seem to be growing though. I am in the western suburbs on Lake Minnetonka and I know there are at least 3-4 in my building now, while that number was zero just a few years ago. I have noticed more than ever in town like at the local grocery store. My high school out here in the mid 90's only had 4 black kids from 2 families.

I see more minorities than ever before shopping at Ridgedale Mall in Minnetonka now. I saw very few while working there about 15 years ago.

[west336]

Originally Posted by daboywonder2002

Let me explain. It just seems like very few blacks live in the suburbs here. I live in edina and barely ever see blacks. But yet, you go downtown especially northside like broadway and its nothing but blacks. Now i understand that there are some areas where you will have majority of african americans. But im from philadelphia and even blacks live in the suburbs of philly. you'll see blacks in upper darby pa, or lansdowne, ridley park. In maryland, you dont see all the blacks living in baltimore. blacks live in suburbs of bmore too. Yet here in minnesota, its like all the african americans are on the northside and thats it

I live in Edina too, and I see black people all of the time. Nothing like Philly or even downtown Minneapolis, but they are everywhere. Hell, I went to Chuck-E-Cheese's a few days ago with my family and my grandparents, and we were one of a HANDFUL of white people in the entire area, and the rest of the makeup was probably 60% black, 20% Asian and 15% Hispanic!!! This was in Centennial Lakes! We weren't expecting this, but we didn't have expectations in the first place.

There are moderate to large concentrations of black families in many suburbs:

Richfield
Brooklyn Park
Brooklyn Center
Columbia Heights
St. Louis Park
Burnsville
Bloomington
Hopkins
Crystal
New Hope
Fridley
Woodbury
Eden Prairie

Again, NOTHING like Philadelphia but Philly is one of the blackest metros in the country, and Minneapolis-St. Paul is STILL one of the least black metros in the country (despite the last two decades of very strong growth -- it may have dropped out of the bottom 5 by now....). Within Minneapolis, there are strong black enclaves in the Southside and SE as well, such as Cedar-Riverside, Central, Phillips, and Windom neibhborhoods. St. Paul has its share as well. Even within the micro-area where I live, I can go 3 blocks north to 60th and Washington and there is a TINY black mini-neighborhood tucked away behind Xerxes (I don't know why it's so small). I guess it just depends on what you are used to and what you want to see.

I think it's "better" than it used to be though, so I may have a different perspective than you.

[uptown_urbanist]

Baltimore suburbs are actually pretty segregated. I think what you're seeing reflects more on overall demographics than anything else; the Twin Cities has one of the biggest income and education disparities between African American and white residents, so that means less of the middle and upper black class that you find in cities like Philadelphia, Baltimore, etc. (some of that is due to history; Minneapolis is a younger city than the cities you're mentioning, and doesn't have the long tradition of an established black middle/upper class). So you end up with a larger percentage of poor black Minnesotan residents, and poverty has been more isolated in certain parts of the city, but are more segregated to due to the poverty issue than because of race. There also aren't the traditional black neighborhoods or suburbs that you find in other cities (well, there was one, but it was bulldozed decades ago). There's no Harlem here, or U Street corridor. You'll find plenty of African American people in the suburbs here, too, they just tend not be concentrated in any one place. Some of that is changing as certain suburbs gain a lot of diversity. Edina just isn't one of them, although it's changing, too.

Historically, too, places like Edina may just not have appealed to black residents, even those who could afford to live there. It's one of the local suburbs that had racist housing covenants in place. Obviously that's not been the case for many years, but some of those earlier policies have long-lasting effects. (just like St. Louis Park still has a large Jewish population).

And don't forget that overall the Twin Cities is still vastly a majority white place. That doesn't mean that black residents aren't out there, just that it's still going to feel very, very white. I think Edina is something like 90% white, so when you're out walking around you're realistically going to see mostly white people. It's still more "diverse" than it used to be, though!

And random aside: I discovered last year that during the 1960s the churches of Richfield banded together and actively advertised in local newspapers (including those geared towards an African American audience) inviting black people to settle in Richfield. The city was almost entirely white, but wanted to send the message that all were welcome regardless of skin color. It was quite a contrast to neighboring Edina.

[audadvnc]

Originally Posted by daboywonder2002

you go downtown especially northside like broadway and its nothing but blacks.

Perhaps I'm mistaken, but the "nothing but blacks" meme sounds like a leftover of sensationalist, 1980's era Eyewitness News specials. Have you spent any time in North Minneapolis lately? I live there.

I am 100% WASP, my mom is DAR; my partner is Dutch/German stock. The neighbors to my left are interracial. The old folks across the street are Minneswedgians. The nice young man next to him is Cajun, I think. The block leader behind me is from Liberia. His neighbor is African American. His neighbors are Mexican. Their neighbors are from Laos.

Talk to me about segregation.

[uptown_urbanist]

I think north Minneapolis only feels "nothing but blacks" when compared to locations like Edina. (which, as West pointed out, still have plenty of people of different races living, working, and visiting there, too, even if it's not up to Philadelphia standards). I don't think the Twin Cities have any neighborhoods that are anywhere near exclusively black. We have neighborhoods in which whites are a minority, but those are still pretty diverse overall.

[west336]

The most black Census tract in the area is actually in St. Paul, I believe, at around 70%. But in fairness, Broadway Ave seems to have more black folks compared to other races, by quite a bit too. Although I know the Northside is more like 50%-60% black instead of 90%-100%, like some think.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by west336

The most black Census tract in the area is actually in St. Paul, I believe, at around 70%. But in fairness, Broadway Ave seems to have more black folks compared to other races, by quite a bit too. Although I know the Northside is more like 50%-60% black instead of 90%-100%, like some think.

This site has some intersting info, though it's dated (based on 2000 census data).

World Wide Webfoot Maps

[Cruz Azul Guy]

This website will tell you everything you want to know with the 2010 census data. I can't take credit for this as it was posted on here by somebody else. It really is a fantastic map though. Check out the racial/ethnic distribution map.

Mapping the 2010 U.S. Census - NYTimes.com.