Criteria to be considered "Black Mecca" (living, places, America)
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Maybe some Atlanta posters could help me out with the Atlanta ones. I though 30331 (Cascade Overlook) would have a higher Black median HHI. It's only $41,762.
Lots of other counties have high Black median incomes but Black people make up a minority of the total population.
Last edited by BajanYankee; 10-09-2015 at 10:49 AM..
Come on now guys, there is no one metric that every one is going to agree on ; that is why threads like these go on forever.
I have lived in enough of these cities to tell you that going from Atlanta to Houston did not in anyway affect the feeling of comfort and belonging I had in that city as a Black person. Neither did going from Houston to DFW. Noticeable changes were felt in Miami, San Antonio, New York, LA and Seattle. I felt oddly comfortable in Seattle, go figure.
Anyway, Atlanta does trump almost everywhere else in terms of Black partying, radio, entertainment/ stars etc. Give it that credit. But those things are not important to me. I don't go coocoo for coco puffs over Nene Leaks, so that metric doesn't hold much for me.
Atlanta, beats almost every where in terms of number and quality of black universities. But that is not important to me either. I had the option, but I went with a more diverse university instead, got just as good an education and think I grew as a person my embracing diversity.
In terms of soul food ATL got me there. Houston beats ATL overall but in terms of access to southern goodness Houston is surprisingly further away from Atlanta than I would expect.
Economically, cost of living, basically everyday stuff that matters to me, I could go from Atlanta to Houston to DFW and not really be lacking in anything. As a Black person those would be my meccas. I would be less comfortable in Miami, DC, Detroit, NY, LA.
Just my 2c
Not everyone cares for the same things, so one person would not be able to tell another where is better for them
I agree with a lot of this.
I didn't feel a difference between Houston, Birmingham, and Atlanta as a black person. Now, we all know that the latter cities trump Houston in beauty. The only difference I sensed was Houston's noticeable diversity.
Partying and nightlife are subjective because it's laidback/chilled (Houston) vs. flashy/be-seen (Atlanta); it's all up to what one prefers, even though Houston has alotta flashy clubs. Yes, Atlanta beats most "meccas" in the number of stars.
I don't eat soul food from restaurants anyway, but Houston is no slouch. Houston has alotta soul food mixed with Cajun/Creole/seafood type fusion places.
IDK exactly what you mean by this: "Houston is surprisingly further away from Atlanta than I would expect."
Also, I agree with you on feeling different as a black person in Miami. When I visited DC, I didn't see the amount of blacks I would have expected to see in a "mecca." I did see some healthy diversity though. However, I did feel different as a black person when I visited DFW, but living and visiting are two different perspectives.
Does Harris County have a PG/Dekalb-type counterpart? If it does, I've never heard of it. Or maybe there's one that's sort of trending in that direction?
What Gunion Powder was trying to say was that Harris County is a huge county; you can literally fit Atlanta's core counties inside of Harris County. With that said, no Harris County does have a PG counterpart, but if Harris County was broken up, you would have areas close to PG County.
Yes, it has come along in that regard in recent years. One area that middle class Black people have settled in with that metro is Pickerington. It is a suburb that is a respectable 13% Black and has a Black median household income above the city figure($81,480 overall, $85,708 for Black households(08-12 info): Pickerington, OH - USA.comâ„¢
Nearby Reynoldsburg is a little bit over 23% Black and you can find Black people in decent amounts in Gahanna, Whitehall, Blacklick Estates and Groveport, among other suburbs in the eastern part of the metro.
Check out the Who's Who in Black Columbus videos as well.
Columbus could be that sleeper city that takes off. Ohio's largest city. It is also in decent economic shape. Unemployment rate there is 3.4%. Interestingly, this is something I have found. Ohio Republicans seem to get more Black votes than Republicans in alot of other places.
Maybe some Atlanta posters could help me out with the Atlanta ones. I though 30331 (Cascade Overlook) would have a higher Black median HHI. It's only $41,762.
Lots of other counties have high Black median incomes but Black people make up a minority of the total population.
I think it is a matter of cost of living in regards to Atlanta and even DeKalb County has a median household income of roughly $51,000. That is $2000 above the state figure and the same amount below the national figure.
What Gunion Powder was trying to say was that Harris County is a huge county; you can literally fit Atlanta's core counties inside of Harris County. With that said, no Harris County does have a PG counterpart, but if Harris County was broken up, you would have areas close to PG County.
That's in direct response to who said Houston is right on par with the rest of them in terms of percentage of blacks with these numbers:
Core county figures:
Harris Co, Texas - 25.9% Black
Fulton Co, GA 44.6% + DeKalb 725,000/54%
Washington, DC 49.5% + PG next door 900,000/62%
Philadelphia Co, Pennsylvania - 43.2%
Wayne Co, Michigan - 40.5%
Cook Co, Illinois - 24.8%
Miami-Dade Co, Florida - 20.3
Houston is pretty far back from DC and ATL already, but especially when only encompassing the adjacent county in each respective metro. In other words, Houston/ Harris County simply doesn't have a PG/DeKalb equivalent. Not to mention PG and DeKalb are literally 1 & 2 in wealthiest black counties respectively in the country.
Not once did I type those words. Virtually everyone in this discussion is well aware that Atlanta and DC have larger Black populations than Houston.
Does Harris County have a PG/Dekalb-type counterpart? If it does, I've never heard of it. Or maybe there's one that's sort of trending in that direction?
Fort Bend County would be the closest. It has a sizeable Black population that is overwhelmingly middle and upper middle class, but it's far too diverse to be a PG or Dekalb.
I think it is a matter of cost of living in regards to Atlanta and even DeKalb County has a median household income of roughly $51,000. That is $2000 above the state figure and the same amount below the national figure.
I understand that there's a COL difference. I would still expect a few majority-Black zip codes to be wealthier. $50,000 in Dekalb County is not the equivalent of $142,000 in Prince George's County. I was expecting more majority-Black zip codes with a higher median HHI. Maybe between $70-$80K. I was thinking 30331 (unincorporated Southwest Fulton OTP) but the median Black HHI there is only $41,762. That's the equivalent of about $63,000 in the DC area. The only zip codes in metro Atlanta where Black median income comes close to Black median income in PG's richest zip codes are in Alpharetta and Buckhead. Even then, the Black median income is lower (30327 in Buckhead has a Black median HHI of $74,789, which is the equivalent of $112K in the DC area). And Alpharetta and Buckhead are obviously overwhelmingly White areas of the metro.
So a few metros have Blacks who are affluent, but few (more like none) have as strong a geographic concentration of Black affluence as Prince George's County. Certainly no zips around 30K-40K people with a Black majority and Black HHI in excess of $100,000. You can find Black people earning an equivalent amount in most cities but they're not living in majority-Black zip codes. That makes PG/Silver Spring a bit unique in that regard.
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