where should I go? (work related)
Mike_Bell
5,736 Posts
Hi Soul Strut.I found out that I'll be leaving the Peach State in November. I may have an option to go anywhere in the continental U.S. I kind of want to go back to NJ but not my native city/area. Where are some nice places to live in this country. I like the Pacific NW a lot. What are your thoughts and suggestions?
Comments
seattle
virginia
philly
virginia
san diego
san francisco
if you'd like to know more about any of these places, send a pm.
I'm going to Recruiter school in August. So from 2008 to 2011, I'll be on Recruiting
duty. I can get stationed anywhere in NJ but I ain't trying to go back to Atlantic City. I know way to many dudes who are into doing dirt and I can't be around that
I got my orders on Tuesday but I know people who are in the system and can get me a nice assignment.
All of the cities that you posted, I wouldn't mind recruiting there.
-Mike
2. austin tx
3. miami fl
4. new haven ct
5. portland or
6. new orleans la
7. memphis tn
8. eugene or
9. chappell hill nc
10 the o.c.
peace, stein. . .
New Haven is shit, don't go there. The same for Miami and New Orleans, crime-ridden as hell. Portland, pardon the phrase, is much too Eurocentric (so I'm told). A White colleague who has tried to recruit me to Portland State in the past said so. Here are some spots to check out:
-Raleigh/Durham.
-Rockville, MD (Montgomery County is really nice).
-Fairfax, VA (or any northern Virginia spot).
-Baltimore (suburbs).
-Columbus, OH.
-cosign on Nashville and Chapel Hill (NC).
-Charlotte, NC.
-Philly.
-New Jersey (so we can hang out).
-Dallas/Fort Worth (I realy liked it there).
-Houston (hot, but nice).
-Indianapolis (up-and-coming among 'our folks').
-Atlanta.
-D.C. (the Chocolate City).
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
NJ/MD/PA looks like strong contenders. OH and IN are places that I'm sure I would enjoy.
Like anywhere it depends on where you reside, the westside and the suburbs are pretty damn white errr..
I mean "Eurocentric". The eastside is a different story.
L'ville was cool (guard the gold at Ft Knox)
Nofax VA is a cool spot
There's a sizable population of people of color in Portland? That's news to me.
And the word you want here is WHITE. Eurocentric is like...Solvang.
You get work in any of these spots, and all the other spots are within commutable distance. Essentially, it's all the same big spot, lots of differences betwixt and between, but that's the upside. Downside is even the Baltimore suburbs housing has gotten expensive, but still cheaper compared with DC, Rockville or North VA. Personally, I would recommend DC or Rockville waaaaaay before VA, but that's because getting around in Northern VA is a huge pain in the ass. It all depends on whatcha like or can stand.
The Baltimore suburbs, on the other hand, have very poor public transportation into the city and very little cultural anything.
Housing prices in Baltimore have skyrocketed lately, but they used to be dirt cheap, so they're still substantially less than DC.
stupid cheap cost of living, southern living (which i accustomed to), and minorities doing well for themselves.
Thank you, Portland is not at all Eurocentric. It is very segregated, however. There are very large pockets and neighborhoods comprising immigrant and minority populations, but many people think of Portland as consisting mainly of downtown, the NW shopping district, most of SE, and parts of SW, all of which are pretty white.
Seriously I would reccomend Philly, North Jersey (Hoboken/Jersey City,) and Brooklyn as all being great. I know Baltimore is on the come-up and I know a lot of people who have moved there in the past 5 years and they love it, but I don't know if I can give you an atcual endorsement right now.
I've never lived anywhere else but I've done a lot of traveling and I've always thought that Austin and Chicago seem mad liveable to me (although Chicago gets cold as fuck.)
If you want more info on Philly/NJ/BK get at me.
Peace,
Big CB in the BK
Hey M**e,
You might find this article/study informative Best and Worst Cities for Blacks . Notice where my soon-to-be former city of residence ranked
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
Is Charlotte the new Atlanta?
Man, Milwaukee is FUCKED UP for Black folks, but a great place for White folks to live (as my colleagues would relate). It's built for White folks in terms of cultural opportunities, entertainment, social structure, education, economy, etc. Blacks, given our disproportionately low socioeconomic status as a group, largely are irrelevant, or worse, seen as a nuisance. Sadly, I can understand why with all that n***a-shit going on in the North-Central part of the city, and it's spreading to the "Vanilla Suburbs." Such a social system spells trouble for upper-middle-class Black folks, as they can't relate to either Whites (due to racial tensions) or Blacks (due to class tensions). The result? Social isolation. There is NO Black middle-class aesthetic here, since Black venues are located in THE HOOD, where you dare to tread after dark. So, at nice places, Blacks MUST always be in the minority ("Elsa's" downtown is the one exception I can think of, but it's a restaurant). Most Black folks are relegated to the fucked up, disenfranchised part of the city, with a few Black dots (like me) sprinkled in the suburbs. In the North-Central city, there is constant crime, violence, and under-education there, and few economic opportunities.
As far as Charlotte goes, I think it is a little overrated (bear in mind my assessment is based from 2000 when I was last there). I think the cultural scene pales in comparison to cities like Atlanta, NY, D.C., etc. It has a ways to go to become a major cultural center for Black folks in a relative sense.
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
Charlotte is full of bankers and thats about it.
My folks lived there for about 5 years in the mid 90s and it was basically a culturally "eh" city. Lots of malls. That's about the highlight.
you are doing the city a great disservice by not mentioning the fine motor speedway and nascar museum
M**e is Black, so don't suggest racist-ass Wilmington pleeeeeeease!!! My first academic gig was at UNC-W. It was a miserable 2 years living there, and worse than Milwaukee. They're still stuck in the Anti-Bellum period down there. T**i cried about hating it there and she's not the softie type. Again, my White colleagues would tell me how a great a place it was to live. It's amazing to me how subjective perceptions of place can differ so diametrically across racial-ethnic lines. Similar to Milwaukee, however, the Wilmington aesthetic pretty much ignores Black folks, as it is all about the beach and bars (none of which cater to 'our folks'). T**i and I went to an upscale restaurant blocks from Wrightsville Beach, and let's just say, the music stopped and the sneers began
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
Yeh i can definately see that, that whole section fo NC is ass backward, moreseo than the rest of the state. I was just throwing it out there just for the sheer amount of honies there. My brother in-law is prof. there so I spent alot of weekends there. I will say that NC overall is pretty backwards outside of the raleigh-durham-chapel hill area, and maybe Asheville except that place is infested with hippies aka trustafarians (sorry can't stand em).
Asheville also would be very culturally-barren for Blacks. I would not recommend a Black person to live anywhere in western North Carolina, outside of Charlotte which is more south-centrally located. The same goes for western Virginia, all of West Virginia, northwestern Maryland, and the western parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio (southern too; how do you think Bush won this state, it's backward as hell), and South Carolina (most of the freakin' state for that matter).
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
I was in Cleveland, OH last week. It was not good. However, I've heard many good things about Columbus.
I've lived along the Mid-Atlantic corridor--from Baltimore to Richmond--for a while. That's nice area, but I miss the ocean. Ocean towns that I like are Charleston, Miami and San Diego.
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
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