# "Best" black-dominated regions in the USA **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 25, 2014, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-black-dominated-regions-in-the-usa/705581 "2014-11-25T08:50:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-black-dominated-regions-in-the-usa/705581/21 "2014-11-26T01:17:10Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > #1 Greater population size correlates with increased per capita crime rates. > [@Surreal](#): > > #1 Site? For homicide this is the case. See figure 19. PDF!: [Home | Bureau of Justice Statistics](http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/hus11.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-black-dominated-regions-in-the-usa/705581/22 "2014-11-26T01:30:51Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > IME, crime is a function of poverty, not race. I think you will find crime stats in the poor white areas of Appalachia comparable to those in poor black urban areas. Article on poverty and crime in Appalachia: [http://theweek.com/article/index/255505/appalachia-the-big-white-ghetto](http://theweek.com/article/index/255505/appalachia-the-big-white-ghetto) Seems that the biggest criminal activities are drugs and scamming the government. People aren’t getting knifed or shot on the street. Maybe the black/white comparison is the wrong one - maybe the real difference between “the hood” and the hollows of Appalachia is actually an urban/rural distinction. Black poverty in the US is overwhelmingly urban. White poverty in the US is overwhelmingly rural. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-black-dominated-regions-in-the-usa/705581/23 "2014-11-26T01:35:56Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > I seriously doubt it. [West Virginia](http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/murder-rates-nationally-and-state) doesn’t have a particularly high murder rate. Louisiana and Alabama have rates over twice that of WV, and those places have far greater percentages of black people than WV, and also tend to be poor. I’ve also traveled quite a bit in “poor white areas of Appalachia” and never encountered a serious or violent criminal or even felt meaningfully scared of becoming a victim of crime there. Maybe there’s some bias there from being white, but I don’t think that’s all of it. I’ve also traveled in Atlantic Canada where there is a lot of rural white poverty and almost no violent crime. If you find yourself in a holler where you hear " you ain’t from around here, are you?" you might think differently. As a native of Appalachia, I’ve seen plenty of violent crime. As a resident of the DC area, I can say that the dangerous parts of PG County tend to be next to the dangerous parts of DC. ---
**Author:** ![EdwinAmi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5fc32e/32.png) [@EdwinAmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdwinAmi)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-black-dominated-regions-in-the-usa/705581/24 "2014-11-26T01:39:21Z")
I don’t have particular knowledge, but all I can say is that A) I know that Plainfield, NJ is largely black, and B) most of New Jersey is very safe and low crime. Crime rates are probably bumped up by ne’er do well gang members, which are everywhere to some extent. Basically, even in affordable, small NJ cities, you’re completely safe 24/7 unless you REALLY test your luck (like, walk around certain bad parts of town for hours on end until you evevnutally get mugged… maybe) On top of that, culturally, there are tons of black people who are, in certain ways culturally not “black”. That is college-educated, often “white-acting”. The northeast is freezing in winter, and highly competitive. You can’t be a f!\*# up around here, or you’ll freeze to death, and college degrees are over-appreciated/required. So there are very few ne’er-do-wells, relatively speaking ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-black-dominated-regions-in-the-usa/705581/25 "2014-11-26T01:44:49Z")
> [@EdwinAmi](#): > > I don’t have particular knowledge, but all I can say is that A) I know that Plainfield, NJ is largely black, and B) most of New Jersey is very safe and low crime…Basically, even in affordable, small NJ cities, you’re completely safe 24/7 unless you REALLY test your luck (like, walk around certain bad parts of town for hours on end until you evevnutally get mugged… maybe) > … I heard a motivational speaker once who talked about his experiences growing up as a farmboy in Kansas and how he was curious as to whether or not there really was such a thing as urban violent crime. So he went and “hung out” downtown in Topeka or Wichita late at night for hours and hours until he finally found some trouble. But the point really is that he had to go out _looking_ for trouble. If he had just been in the city normally he would have had no trouble at all. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-black-dominated-regions-in-the-usa/705581/26 "2014-11-26T01:46:41Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > #3 From your Wikipedia site, Atlanta’s population of 437,041 is quite similar to Virginia Beach’s population of 447,588, but Atlanta’s violent crime rate is over 8X as high as Virginia Beach’s, its robbery rate is over 7X as high, and its aggravated assault rate is over 10X as high. The Atlanta metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million. The Norfolk-Virginia Beach metropolitan area has a population of 1.7 million. While the difference is less it would seem to make more sense to compare metropolitan areas rather than that of the cities themselves. > **[List of North American metropolitan areas by population](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_metropolitan_areas_by_population)** > > This is a list of the fifty most populous metropolitan areas in North America. Where available, it uses official definitions of metropolitan areas based on the concept of a single urban core and its immediate surroundings, as opposed to polycentric conurbations. These definitions vary from country to country. For example, for U.S. cities, the list uses Metropolitan Statistical Areas as defined by the United States Census Bureau, and for Canadian cities the list uses Census Metropolitan Areas as ... ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-black-dominated-regions-in-the-usa/705581/27 "2014-11-26T01:47:49Z")
> [@EdwinAmi](#): > > On top of that, culturally, there are tons of black people who are, in certain ways culturally not “black”. That is college-educated, often “white-acting”. Well, okay then. ---
**Author:** ![ALOHA\_HATER](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@ALOHA\_HATER](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ALOHA_HATER)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-black-dominated-regions-in-the-usa/705581/28 "2014-11-26T02:02:15Z")
> [@EdwinAmi](#): > > On top of that, culturally, there are tons of black people who are, in certain ways culturally not “black”. That is college-educated, often “white-acting”. The northeast is freezing in winter, and highly competitive. You can’t be a f!\*# up around here, or you’ll freeze to death, and college degrees are over-appreciated/required. So there are very few ne’er-do-wells, relatively speaking So your point is that in areas where black people aren’t “f!\*# ups,” that doesn’t count, because then they don’t count as black? ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-black-dominated-regions-in-the-usa/705581/29 "2014-11-26T10:24:38Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Or, it could be due to migratory patterns. True, that’s a factor of course. But, as I say, _given the history_ there’s no doubt many black-majority areas would have started out as among the poorest. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-black-dominated-regions-in-the-usa/705581/30 "2014-11-26T13:53:47Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > As a resident of the DC area, I can say that the dangerous parts of PG County tend to be next to the dangerous parts of DC. I grew up in the 80s, and back then if you were in PG County between the DC line and inside The Beltway, you were most definitely in “the 'hood.” In the past decade or two the area I would consider the “bad” part has retracted pretty much all the way back to the DC border; in fact there are really only a few small pockets on the Maryland side I would hesitate to go these days. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-black-dominated-regions-in-the-usa/705581/31 "2014-11-26T15:27:47Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > The Atlanta metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million. The Norfolk-Virginia Beach metropolitan area has a population of 1.7 million. While the difference is less it would seem to make more sense to compare metropolitan areas rather than that of the cities themselves. Atlanta’s metropolitan area is rediculously large - 8376 square miles as defined by the US Census Bureau, an area the roughly size of Massachusetts, and contains 21 counties with almost 150 cities. By way of comparison, the VA Beach metro covers 497 square miles. As of the 2000 census, less than 10% of the metro population lived in the city limits of Atlanta. It is impossible to discuss a crime rate for the metro area and have any context at all. That 8376 sq. miles includes some of the highest and lowest crime areas in the country. Makes for tough comparisons, for sure. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-black-dominated-regions-in-the-usa/705581/32 "2014-11-26T16:30:48Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Atlanta’s metropolitan area is rediculously large - 8376 square miles as defined by the US Census Bureau, an area the roughly size of Massachusetts, and contains 21 counties with almost 150 cities. By way of comparison, the VA Beach metro covers 497 square miles. As of the 2000 census, less than 10% of the metro population lived in the city limits of Atlanta. It is impossible to discuss a crime rate for the metro area and have any context at all. That 8376 sq. miles includes some of the highest and lowest crime areas in the country. > > Makes for tough comparisons, for sure. The city of [Juneau, Alaska](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneau,_Alaska) is 3,255 square miles. That’s not the metro area, that’s the area within the city limits. A huge percentage of that is wilderness, but wilderness that is fully incorporated into the legal “city limits”. Jurisdictional boundaries mean very little. Iiirc there are some municipalities in the Pacific that are spread over dozens of islands scattered across thousands of miles. For example, many of the far-flung tiny Japanese islands scattered here and there are legally incorporated into the City of Tokyo for administrative purposes. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-black-dominated-regions-in-the-usa/705581/33 "2014-11-26T16:35:58Z")
> [@EdwinAmi](#): > > … > On top of that, culturally, there are tons of black people who are, in certain ways culturally not “black”. That is college-educated, often “white-acting”. The northeast is freezing in winter, and highly competitive. You can’t be a f!\*# up around here, or you’ll freeze to death, and college degrees are over-appreciated/required. So there are very few ne’er-do-wells, relatively speaking > [@ALOHA\_HATER](#): > > So your point is that in areas where black people aren’t “f!\*# ups,” that doesn’t count, because then they don’t count as black? What is the definition of “culturally black”? While we’re at it, what does it mean to be “culturally Asian”? Can a person be a True Scotsman if he doesn’t eat haggis? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-black-dominated-regions-in-the-usa/705581/34 "2014-11-27T06:05:28Z")
At the risk of repeating myself— Mount Rainier, Maryland, is one answer that fits the OP. Seriously, check it out. I have not visited Upper Marlboro, but I’m willing to take **robert\_columbia** ’s word for it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-black-dominated-regions-in-the-usa/705581.md?page=1)