Suburban ethnic enclaves

All that's left of DC's Chinatown is this ceremonial gate, a couple restaurants and stores, a nonprofit or two, and a public housing development for Asians with fewer than 300 residents.

Last year I wrote a piece, "Sometimes you've got to recognize reality and let things go: the diminishment of DC's "Chinatown" as an authentic place," saying DC should accept that demographic trends means that the city's "Chinatown," is no more.  

What happened is that over the decades succeeding generations moved to the suburbs, and today new immigrants move to the suburbs directly without first stopping to live in the city.

The decline of ethnic enclaves in cities is widely recognized: few Little Italy's, or Germantowns, or Polish or Irish-dense neighborhoods (there's apparently a great Polish buffet in Chicago, "Just in time for Casimir Pulaski Day: The Red Apple Buffet, filling stretchy pants since 1989," Chicago Tribune), Welsh, etc.

Today, cities, at least those with lagging real estate markets, do see new immigrant enclaves form around Portuguese (Massachusetts), Somali (Minneapolis-St. Paul), and Latino cultures.

One of the things that keeps an enclave going is people continuing to speak their native language.

This isn't entirely new.  Dearborn, not Detroit, is home to an Arab-American majority, the largest outside of the Mideast ("Dearborn, Michigan: A visit to the first Arab-majority city in the US," BBC).

The city of Mississauga, Ontario, has imposed steep fines on the companies that own the plaza for failing to stop gatherings with fireworks and loud music. Nearby residents also complain about heavy traffic.Credit...Ian Willms for The New York Times

Toronto.  The reason I write this is the New York Times has an article ("The suburb that won't sleep") about the Ridgedale community and how a major shopping center there is a focal point for people from the Mideast and near parts of Asia--speaking Arabic and other languages, legacy populations find this unnerving.

A graduate planner who wrote her thesis on the community has an op-ed in the Toronto Star ("This Mississauga plaza has been called ‘chaotic’ and a ‘nuisance.’ Its critics are missing what makes it great").  She makes the point that cities ought to want these kinds of thriving business communities.

A comment on her LinkedIn calls attention to Dragon Centre in Scarborough, now I think it's demolished but over time it became the area's first Chinese-centric mall of significant size and heft.

Note that because of the development of such shopping centers as hubs, there is a planning effort aimed at helping them to strengthen their community hub characteristics ("s").

DC area.  It's seen as an anomaly, but thriving retail districts in these places happen because of immigrant-related commerce.  Decades ago, Washington Post food writer Tim Carman reported on ethnic food finds in obscure shopping centers in the suburbs.  

Later I wrote a couple entries about how buildings are envelopes, that even dull strip shopping centers can have thriving businesses (in fact, a few weeks ago I ate at the only decent Ethiopian restaurant in Salt Lake, located in such a place.

-- "Millennials and suburban hipness and Montgomery County, Maryland," 2013
-- "More thoughts on suburban hipness (it's really about commercial hipness generally, not urban vs. suburban)," 2013

In the DC area, Latinos are especially concentrated in Takoma Langley Crossroads and Wheaton, Asians in Annandale (after a couple stops in Clarendon and Bailey's Crossroads)

Eden Center functions similarly to Ridgeway Plaza, while Ethiopians and Eritreans are more dispersed across DC's suburbs, although Ethiopians first "landed" in DC proper.  

The city still has a number of decent Ethiopian restaurants, even for breakfast.

-- "A New Chapter for the Eden Center?," Arlington Magazine
-- "At the Eden Center, historic businesses stand tall and new ones plant roots, ARLNow
-- "New Tools for Keeping Immigrant-Owned Shops in Place," (University of) Maryland Today

Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San José) of the 25th Assembly District, left, and Assemblymember Tri Ta (R-Westminster) of the 70th State Assembly District unveil the Little Saigon Freeway sign at a section of the 405 Freeway Friday, April 18, 2025. (James Carbone)

Orange County, California is home to a large Vietnamese community, strong enough to have had Vietnamese elected to Congress ("CSUF Economists Analyze Little Saigon, Largest Vietnamese Community Outside of Southeast Asia," "Here's a look at the history of Little Saigon," "CSUF report on Little Saigon inspires revitalization and growth," Orange County Register).  From the article:

Orange County’s Little Saigon comprises parts of Westminster, Garden Grove, Santa Ana and Fountain Valley and is the largest Vietnamese community in the United States. Cal State Fullerton’s 2024 profile highlighted data about businesses, employment, education, rents and mortgages, among many other factors that characterize life for the multigenerational residents of Little Saigon.

Data presented in the report was intended to help guide decision-making by community leaders. “It offers cities, small businesses, nonprofits, educators, chambers of commerce and investors credible information to support thoughtful economic development decisions,” Nguyen said.

... Ever since refugee families began arriving in Orange County from Vietnam in 1975 in the first of several waves, Little Saigon has grown organically. The CSUF report now offers a guide for strategic growth for the future of its many communities.

Conclusion.  The paper, "The politics of Chinatown development in American cities" (Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies) discusses the real estate development dynamics faced by Chinatowns in a set of US cities, creating a set of types, based on the Growth Machine thesis.

I realize the dynamics of ethnic district shrinkage are likely the same for other types of "districts" in cities be they ground-up developed arts districts that lose out to real estate development, working ports that are replaced by waterfront entertainment districts, New York City's garment district, etc.

It would be interesting to develop a similar framework for suburban ethnic enclaves in terms of their development, growth, continued growth, or decline.