Top 10 cities for African Americans 2007: our readers and editors select the best places in which to live, work, and play

Black Enterprise, May, 2007 by Carolyn M. Brown, David A. Padgett

Hatcher, 30, grew up in Nashville listening to music. Her mother sings, her father plays bass, and Hatcher plays piano. At one time she envisioned a musical career for herself, but shifted gears in college and found that "being on television is like performing." She has worked as an associate producer and reporter m a myriad of places, including Indiana, where she was crowned Miss Indiana and participated in the 2001 Miss America pageant. But by 2002, she came back home.

As much as she loved her experience as a Hoosier, Hatcher, a wife and mother, found herself drawn back to Nashville. The city's cost of living, higher education, healthcare, access to technology, and housing scored big with our survey respondents. Nashville's median home is valued at $148,500, and residents pay less in property taxes here than in any other city on our list except Washington, D.C. But of BE's top 10 cities, Nashville's black residents earn the least: The median household income is $27,153.

"There is a lot of growth going on," says Hatcher. "We've had large companies moving in and offering jobs and other business opportunities. For example, Nissan just moved its North American headquarters to a suburb of Nashville. And new subdivisions and homes are being built here."--Carolyn M. Brown

4

Houston

Denise Hamilton

FOR DENISE HAMILTON, HOUSTON IS ONE OF THE country's undiscovered gems. Although she spent her college years in Abilene, Texas, at Abilene Christian University, Hamilton never thought she would call Texas home. After having lived in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami, Hamilton settled in Houston two years ago. "They're great cities, but [people there] have an appearance of wealth, not an attainment of wealth," says the 36-year-old professional who works in business development at a local nonprofit. "I really wanted to focus on attainment."

Nearly half of Houston's black residents own homes. Hamilton achieved her goal of homeownership last year when she purchased a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom house for roughly $135,000, slightly above the city's median home value of $123,400. Houston is also more affordable to live in than most places. It wasn't a surprise to find that our survey respondents awarded Houston high marks for its quality of life and cost of living. Houston's cost of living index is well below the national average and the best among our top 10 cities. The cost of living is an important factor for this mother of a 13-year-old daughter, Javan. The additional discretionary income in Hamilton's paycheck allows her to save for Javan's college education and her own retirement.

While there's still some debate over Houston's public school system, following media reports and claims by some educators that school officials falsified dropout rates, its adult population seems to be well-educated. The city's percentage of black high school graduates is currently reported at 84.1%, and the percentage of black college graduates stands at 21.1%, both above the national average.