Spatial Disparities in the Expansion of the Chinese Ethnoburb of Los Angeles

Abstract

Suburban Chinatowns are intriguing subjects for study and comparison. These ethnic suburbs, or ethnoburbs, have emerged to coexist or compete with the older downtown Chinatowns traditionally found in American central cities. Their growth since the 1960s challenges many traditional assumptions regarding the spatial and cultural assimilation of immigrants in U.S. society, namely that ethnicity would decline with the geographic and socioeconomic mobility of immigrants from the inner city into the suburbs. We examined recent growth trends in the Chinese ethnoburb of the San Gabriel Valley region of Greater Los Angeles, through analysis and mapping of U.S. Census data, and discovered ethnic persistence rather than spatial and cultural assimilation. We also discovered the ethnoburb is differentiated between a lower-class core and two middle-to-upper class fringe districts. Though there is some linguistic assimilation on the northwest fringe, the majority of the ethnoburban population continues to speak Chinese. Linguistic isolation is not a barrier to achieving a higher socioeconomic class position in the Chinese ethnoburb of Los Angeles.