Melotic
01-02-2003, 03:42 PM
BET.com's Best Cities for Black Families
BET.com
1 Columbus, Ohio
2 Houston
3 Boston
4 Charlotte
5 Indianapolis
6 Los Angeles
7 Washington, D.C.
8 Oakland
9 Philadelphia
10 Nashville/Jacksonville, Fla.
11 Dallas
12 Detroit
13 New Orleans
14 Memphis
15 Cleveland
16 New York
17 Atlanta
18 Chicago/Milwaukee
19 Baltimore
20 St. Louis, Mo.
HOW WE RANKED THE CITIES: For six months, BET.com compiled data on African Americans in those U.S. cities with the largest Black populations.** The data, for African Americans specifically, involved infant mortality, high school graduation, median income, homeownership, unemployment and businesses ownership. Rates of poverty and AIDS infection, the percentage of children in single parent, typically fatherless households, teen pregnancy, an economic segregation indexand violent and property crimes for each city were also collected. The data used represents statistics for the traditionally defined cities and, in some cases, what the census bureau calls "Metropolitan Statistical Areas," which include core urbans area and their surrounding urbanized areas.
Each set of data was scored and weighted to determine how each city ranked on each of the above mentioned set of criteria. Studies show that economic opportunities for Blacks tend to improve when African Americans are in the mayor's office so each city also was given a score for political representation based on whether or not they have a Black mayor. The data were divided into seven categories, which were scored and weighted to get an overall score for each city. A city's score determined its place/rank on the BET.com list.
BET.com considers the list a starting point for serious discussions about how families are doing in major urban areas.
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Kids Count Data Book," "County and City Data Book 2000," Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census Bureau Economic Census, Census 2000 Supplementary Survey, The Mumford Center, Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now, The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, Washington Post Market Analyses.
**Birmingham, Ala., excluded for insufficient data.
BET.com
1 Columbus, Ohio
2 Houston
3 Boston
4 Charlotte
5 Indianapolis
6 Los Angeles
7 Washington, D.C.
8 Oakland
9 Philadelphia
10 Nashville/Jacksonville, Fla.
11 Dallas
12 Detroit
13 New Orleans
14 Memphis
15 Cleveland
16 New York
17 Atlanta
18 Chicago/Milwaukee
19 Baltimore
20 St. Louis, Mo.
HOW WE RANKED THE CITIES: For six months, BET.com compiled data on African Americans in those U.S. cities with the largest Black populations.** The data, for African Americans specifically, involved infant mortality, high school graduation, median income, homeownership, unemployment and businesses ownership. Rates of poverty and AIDS infection, the percentage of children in single parent, typically fatherless households, teen pregnancy, an economic segregation indexand violent and property crimes for each city were also collected. The data used represents statistics for the traditionally defined cities and, in some cases, what the census bureau calls "Metropolitan Statistical Areas," which include core urbans area and their surrounding urbanized areas.
Each set of data was scored and weighted to determine how each city ranked on each of the above mentioned set of criteria. Studies show that economic opportunities for Blacks tend to improve when African Americans are in the mayor's office so each city also was given a score for political representation based on whether or not they have a Black mayor. The data were divided into seven categories, which were scored and weighted to get an overall score for each city. A city's score determined its place/rank on the BET.com list.
BET.com considers the list a starting point for serious discussions about how families are doing in major urban areas.
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Kids Count Data Book," "County and City Data Book 2000," Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census Bureau Economic Census, Census 2000 Supplementary Survey, The Mumford Center, Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now, The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, Washington Post Market Analyses.
**Birmingham, Ala., excluded for insufficient data.