NATION Florida communities attract an influx of black families

Florida tops the list of states with an increasing black population.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
ORLANDO, Fla. -- There is a new South for blacks.
Not the clich & eacute;d hanging moss of Mississippi or the tobacco fields of Virginia or the rocky foothills of Alabama.
Rather, the sun and sand of Florida, a state that's not considered culturally Southern.
The most popular choice in Florida, even if it seems an unlikely one: Orlando.
As part of a massive reverse migration to the South, blacks have moved to Orlando during the past decade more than any other metro region with a black population of 200,000 or more, according to a study released last year. The study showed that Orlando's black population grew by 62 percent in the 1990s. Three other Florida metropolitan areas, including Miami-Fort Lauderdale, made the top 10.
"For blacks, Florida is a whole new territory, a whole new South," says demographer William Frey, who wrote the study. "Up until lately, Florida was not part of the traditional black belt, but that has changed."
The Orlando metro area -- Orange, Seminole, Lake and Osceola counties -- gained about 89,000 blacks for a total of 232,000 -- or about 14 percent of the total population. Atlanta, considered a black mecca, ranked No. 2 in percentage gain.
Miami-Fort Lauderdale, whose numbers are driven largely by Caribbean immigration, is ranked No. 3, with a gain of about 241,000 -- for a total of 798,000. Tampa and Jacksonville also made the top 10.
Among states, Florida leads the list of black gains with 674,119 -- about the population of Austin, Texas.
The draw
In Orlando, the migration of newcomers -- professionals, working-class people and retirees -- is part of a growing trend fueled largely by good weather, corporate and service-sector jobs, affordable housing and a family environment.
"You have a growing economy and an attractive climate, so unlike a Georgia or South Carolina, where people may be moving to reconnect with parents or grandparents, the move to Florida is for blacks new and part of the larger attraction to Florida," says Frey, of the University of Michigan's Population Studies Center.
For Adonis and Telethia Willis, Orlando is the right kind of place to raise a family. The couple met here in 1995 and got married the next year.
"We have two young sons, so obviously we are looking for a place that is family-oriented," said Willis, 30, an electrical engineer.
Willis points to the school system, low crime and affordable housing as signatures of a good place to raise a family.
Add to that the numbers from the census, and the appeal is clear: Of Florida's major metro areas, only Jacksonville has more black integration than Orlando. The average black person in metro Orlando lives in a neighborhood that is 40 percent black -- down from 60 percent black in 1980. The average white person lives in a neighborhood that is 73 percent white -- down from 90 percent white in 1980.
The Willises bought a modest home in Oviedo, just east of the city, which like other Orlando suburbs has seen a large increase in its black population -- 71 percent from 1990 to 2000 (from 1,360 to 2,325). With its paved sidewalks, coiffed trees and children playing contentedly, the neighborhood is a tangible ode to the magic of greater Orlando among blacks.
"You are really starting to see a professional circle develop here. Doctors, lawyers, engineers -- you name it, it runs the gamut," says Adonis Willis.
Across the region
The Willises' move to Orlando mirrors the reverse migration being seen in other parts of the South, reversing the trend of the last century when many blacks fled to the North. In that way, Orlando is very much Southern.
"Right after World War II, you had all these black veterans come home to these Jim Crow laws. They weren't putting up with it, so they headed to the northern cities," says Lance DeHaven, a political science professor at Florida State University.
"At one point, so many blacks were leaving that then-Gov. Leroy Collins argued the state needed to modify its segregation laws because it was actually hurting the economy. People don't think of Florida as Southern, but we had the Rosewood massacre [in which the town was burned to ruins and at least eight people were killed]; we were the third to secede [from] the union; we had the highest lynching rates [before the 1920s] and a very active KKK. Politically, this was a Southern state."
There are costs -- or, at least, growing pains -- involved in moving to an area where blacks haven't had much historical clout. The region still hasn't firmly established a solid black infrastructure -- socially, culturally or politically.
But there have been gains.
Cultural connections
Downtown Orlando boasts the Florida A & amp;M University Law School. On Fridays, professionals mingle at happy hour at the Lua Loa, or dance the night away at Roxy's. In January, the predominantly black Eatonville, 10 miles north of downtown, hosts its Zora Neale Hurston Humanities Festival of the Arts, drawing some 150,000 people.
The city counts at least three large black churches, which help blacks create a sense of community. But mostly, the social scene is driven by fraternities, or civic or professional organizations such as Jack & amp; Jill of America. The oldest black organization in the nation, it promotes family values for black children and their parents.
Benjamin Parker, 44, was recruited here from Atlanta to work as a project manager for Walt Disney World.
"The biggest reason I am here is because of corporate downsizing in Atlanta. I had no intention of coming here, but the job market was tight," Parker says.
"When I got here, I realized this is a beautiful place to live, good weather, a good place to raise a family and a melting pot of cultures, but I still struggle to find things to do. You have to make your own entertainment. We are still lacking a mature social scene."
Still, it's better than just a decade ago.
"I used to do 'drive-bys' -- looking for blacks. I don't have to do that so often anymore," says Adonis Willis.
Telethia Willis, 32, a college instructor, adds: "It's definitely gotten better over time. We have found a great church and are seeing some real opportunities for blacks. We are seeing blacks who are trying to build a community here."