Quote:
Originally Posted by gunadic
The urban Chinatowns in San Francisco, New York and Philadelphia are relics of the past where racism played a large role in where Asian entrepreneurs could set up shop. Now that those barriers are gone, those little asian grocery stores are being replaced with massive strip centers just like the mom and pop grocery stores got wiped out by HEB, Krogers and Walmart.
I'd love for us to have an urban Chinatown, but considering how spread out the Asian population in SA is, its really just not practical. I'd much rather have a bustling shopping center out by 1604 or 410 than a dead Chinatown near downtown that would soon be replaced by cheap taco joints.
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You're right and wrong.
It is true that they used to set up where they could, and that the population is spread out here in SA, but they are far from gone; they are still very much a part of urban life in many larger cities in the US. Go near
Flushing-Main St. station in Jamaica, Queens or (for a suburban version,) Little River Turnpike in Annandale VA and you will see that they still exist where there is a large concentration of such groups, which is key. We don't have the concentration or density.
The point is, they still appear organically, which is why this will not happen and if it does, it will not work.
If we had a large(r) population of Paki-Indians near Parliament/West Ave., guess what would happen to the retail in the area? If we had a large(r) population of Indian around Fredericksburg/Wurzbach, what would we see more of?
An urban one in SA is also a bad idea. If we had an older Chinatown area to be redeveloped like Gallery Place-Chinatown, DC was(which we don't,) at least the Chinese lettering on new signage wouldn't be TOO fake considering there used to be a Chinatown there.
"Fill-in-the-blank"-towns don't happen because someone developed them into that, they happen because the existing area is dominated by a concentration of that specific group.
Is the bustling shopping center going to have a Panda Buffet?
The cheap taco joints would pop up because it is Tex-Mex-town; something we do have a concentration of.