Big metro areas are still the best places to live and work.

Major urban centers have a reputation for being had places to live. But they continue to offer the most promise for African Americans.

ATLANTA, CHICAGO, LOS ANGELES, Philadelphia and Washington. In the "good life" '80s, if you wanted to be on the cutting edge of entrepreneurial and corporate activity, these cities were the places to be. BLACK ENTERPRISE deemed them the best cities for African Americans to live and work (see "Five Top Merros For Black Professionals," May 1987).

While major metropolitan cities have taken it on the chin as being bad places to live, they are still home to many African Americans. They also employ a larger percentage of the black population--albeit predominately in government-related jobs--than smaller cities, and offer a strong African American political presence. Economically, large urban cities continue to offer the most promise for black Americans. But in the downsizing, right-sizing, politically correct '90s, are these cities still the places to be? Not according to a recent report by the U.S. Census Bureau, "Characteristics of the Black Population." The new top five metro areas for African Americans, when ranked by median income, are: Washington, Newark, N.J., Los Angeles, Baltimore and Atlanta.

The twist, however, is that black professionals have moved to the outlying suburbs surrounding these cities, while continuing to work downtown. But, as more businesses abandon the inner cities for suburban office complexes, these urban centers are in danger of losing out. For now, their diversified economies, educated and skilled workforces and easy accessibility continue to make these five metro areas attractive places to live and work.

BLACK ENTERPRISE revisits the top metro areas then, and looks at how African Americans are faring there now.

ATLANTA

Many people have dubbed Atlanta the "Black Mecca" and the "Gateway to the South." Between 1982 and 1992, the Atlanta metro area saw its population surge by 35.7%. It has approximately 3.3 million residents today.

"Traditionally, we thought of the South as a bad place for blacks to live and work, but that's no longer true," says Franklin D. Wilson, director of the Center for Demography and Ecology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and a member of the U.S. Census Bureau Advisory Committee.

If you're looking to get rich, however, don't look to Atlanta. When ranked among the 13 metropolitan areas with the largest black populations, Atlanta places fifth in overall income with a median family income of $27,500. But when the householder works year-round full-time, the median family income rises to $36,090. Among married couples with both husband and wife working, the city ranks 10th, with a median family income of $45,900. Only 5% of African American Atlantans earn more than $75,000 annually.

"The Southeast may be the lowest on the economic pay scale," says Edward Irons, dean of Clark Atlanta University and a member of the BE Board of Economists, "but it is the fastest growing, and will be for the next two or three decades." And the cost of living there is relatively low.

CHICAGO

In 1987, Harold Washington had just ridden the crest of black political power into the Chicago mayor's office. He increased economic opportunities for African American entrepreneurs by setting aside 25% of the city's contracting business specifically for minorities.

But almost 10 years later, Chicago politics has returned to a familiar name and presence--Daley--and lost much of its African American dominance. Blacks still live relatively well with an overall family income of $39,020; and $51,840 when both husband and wife work. But the city has lost some of its cachet as a great place for African Americans to live and work.

Today, Chicago is retooling itself, from an old-line manufacturing base employing a large blue-collar workforce to a financial service center for the Midwest. "When the [private sector] jobs went south of the border, the jobs that could graduate you from blue- to white-collar were gone," says Russell Adams, Ph.D., chairman of the Afro-American Studies Department at Howard University in Washington.

Another way to interpret what happened to Chicago is to look at employment. As of 1990, only 53% of all African Americans in Chicago worked full-time, year-round. Among families where the householder worked year-round full-time, the annual median family income was slightly over $39,000.

Chicago is still a viable city for well-educated and highly skilled African Americans in white-collar service industries. "You still have a highly technical business services sector," notes Wilson. He points to major law firms and management and professional service firms that support the Chicago-based mercantile and commodities exchanges. And he notes that the headquarters of corporate giants also help maintain a well-paid black professional middle class.

LOS ANGELES

The City of Angels is still a good place for African Americans to live and work, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It ranks third among all households, with a median family income of $30,140. And it is third among households that have both husband and wife working, with a combined family income of $57,950.

One component of the city's success is its highly educated and highly skilled black workforce. Los Angeles ranks fourth in the nation among black college graduates and second among black high school graduates.

Even the area's urban sprawl, with a five-county population of 18 million, works to its residents' advantage. "Los Angeles covers a lot of ground, and not just territory," says Margaret Simms, director of research for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and a member of the BE Board of Economists. "There are opportunities across a range of career areas."

Although the downturn and layoffs in the defense industry have hit Southern California the hardest, theorists say the effects are cyclical. "There is more balance in a city like L.A.," says Simms, who points to Los Angeles' large seaport, its international trade relationship with Asia and Mexico, and its renown as America's movie capital and media center. Los Angeles' leading industries include aerospace, electronics, chemicals, food products manufacturing, motor vehicle assembly, medicine and research, apparel, agriculture, tourism and entertainment.

PHILADELPHIA

After teetering on the brink of insolvency in the late '80s and early '90s, Philadelphia manages to hold its own among the top 10 metropolitan areas for African Americans. No longer in the top five of black affluence when defined by income, Philly has been pushed down to seventh place.

The median income for all black families in Philadelphia was almost $38,210; among married couples with both spouses working, the city came in seventh with a median family income of $50,460.

"Philadelphia is another of those big cities that once had a more industrial-based economy. It lost parts of it as industry changed from a manufacturing component," says Wilson.

To keep its economy thriving, Philadelphia has turned to the service industries, which now provide 33% of all area jobs. "Major industries were lost a long time ago; now education-based institutions are the large employers," says Dennis Baxter, president of the African-American Chamber of Commerce of Philadelphia.

Included in its switch to a service base is the city's new focus on tourism. Philadelphia is a key black convention city, but it struggles to get overnight tourists, which would generate even more jobs in the hospitality sector.

But "Philadelphia is on the right track," says Baxter. "It had to decide what it wanted to be, and its growth will be in the tourism and health care industry."

WASHINGTON

Despite glaring headlines that proclaim murder and mayhem in its streets, the nation's capitol is the capital of affluence for African Americans. The Census Bureau's survey shows that the D. C. metro area has the highest median income among all black families, at $38,900; and among black married couples with both spouses working, $58,970. Almost one-quarter of black families here have annual household incomes in the $50,000 to $75,000 range, the highest nationally. And D.C. has the highest number of black families, 14%, with annual family incomes of over $75,000. A magnet for the highly skilled, the area also leads the nation in black high school graduates, 71%, and black college graduates, 17%.

Since the District is the seat of the nation's magistrate, it's natural that the single largest employer is the federal government. Of the 2.3 million wage and salaried workers in the Washington area, government accounts for 618,800 jobs.

"Washington is not the place for everybody," says Franklin Wilson. "It's more specialized and in need of highly skilled workers."