An Acquired Taste for the Suburbs.

But perhaps the biggest change in African-American demographics nationwide is the move south, a bit farther south than Federal Way. Frey told CBS News that "for the first time in the 1990s, the South is gaining more blacks than it's losing." More than 50 percent of all blacks now live in the South, drawn to growing metro areas by family ties, warmer weather, lower real-estate prices, and a more-tolerant atmosphere. King County blacks may also contribute to this trend: The African-American parents interviewed for this article encouraged their children to consider historically black colleges. Experience in places with greater black populations often proves appealing, and the kids don't come back. In addition, more of their elders are retiring to the South, partly because that's where they grew up and partly because they want to be close to their children.

P.T.