Asian Americans Moving Into Certain NYC Areas
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I don’t know which Asian American site found this article first, AAM or 88’s. It’s about certain New York neighborhoods where Asian Americans are beginning to move and to become a disproportionate part of the population. The story has several profiles of Asian American 1.5 gens who grew up in Asian areas like Chinatown and are now moving out and gravitating towards the same high-end neighborhoods. (I’m guessing they’re 1.5 since the brokerages are targeting the foreign language media–though not all 1.5′ers speak their mother tongue.)
Peter Kwong makes an interesting observation:
Historically, American-born Asians have been encouraged to move out of the ethnic enclaves where they grew up, said Peter Kwong, a professor of Asian-American studies at Hunter College. But they have tended to move to suburban communities on Long Island and in New Jersey, where they can find good schools, enough ethnic markets to cater to their needs and, when the time comes, enough space to accommodate aging parents, he said.
“Until now, buying a home tended to be very family oriented,” he added, “and living in a nice building with a lot of amenities was not as stressed.” So the fact that young Asian-Americans are now buying in condo high-rises that come with fitness centers, spas and swimming pools is a shift, “and in some ways becoming more mainstream.”
Given the discussions that have taken place recently, I couldn’t help but think about young PUAs doing the PUA thing in those fitness centers, spas, and swimming pools. “Hey…hey…hey…I live right upstairs! Just ask the doorman to dial 888!”
No, seriously, I think this is a good thing. One of the problems with Asian America is that individuals tend to be very diffuse, which means that we have a community which doesn’t have much face-to-face social capital, which means that we’re often not much of a community at all. With suburban areas, it often doesn’t matter who your neighbors are, since in many suburban neighborhoods, people tend to stay inside their homes. This new urban migration could be a good thing. From these new developments, perhaps the concentration of Asian Americans will give rise to new ideas, new social institutions, and new experiences.
By the way, do we have any 44s who live in any of these areas?
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kwak76
3:35 am | Aug 20, 2008I read this in NY times. I think this is great news. I fall under the 1.5 generation. My parents are first generation. I live in Bayside, Queens and well my parents live close by. My sister lives in Flushing which is also close by so I could relate with the article except that I don’t live in Long Island city.
It is too soon to say if Long Island City will become a Asian American community but it’s a good sign.
THX1138
6:11 am | Aug 20, 2008A couple of points:
The people in that NY Times article seem to represent Asian American elites with 6-figure incomes. The article quotes some prices of units like:
“One-bedrooms with 738 square feet are selling for $531,000 to $631,000, and 654-square-foot studios are listed for $458,000.”
Damn. But that’s New York, I guess.
Secondly, the article also depicts this development NOT as a case of Asian American communities expanding into different areas but rather assimilating and becoming part of the Mainstream.
There are several passages in that article that emphasize this point … almost like it’s reassuring the (White) reader that this development is nothing to worry about in that these upwardly mobile Asians are just following the (approved) path of Italian and Jewish immigrants of the past.
BlackCalAlum
8:45 am | Aug 20, 2008This is an OK article. Reading it, I kinda got the impression that Asian Americans are the only ethnic group so far that does not appear to be hit by the ongoing economic crisis in this country.
Everywhere I look, my white, black, hispanic, and even Jewish friends have either been laid off or were forced to cut back expenses b/c of inflation and the economic crisis. Conversely, my East Asian friends (Chinese and Koreans) seem to be doing well. They’re the only group so far not to have been hit by the economic crisis.
I think that while articles like this might reinforce the stereotype of Asians as the model minority (especially since they focus on Asians here being six figure income earners working professional jobs), I think the article also hints at how well Asians have fared in comparison to other people during the economic crisis. Like I said, of all the people I know, it appears that East Asians are the only group to have been immune to the economic crisis in the US.
But all that could change though. I do know one Chinese couple who had their son turn down Stanford to go to UC Berkeley b/c of money issues (getting a near full scholarship to Berkeley didn’t hurt though). Of course, they are probably just planning ahead.
kwak76
4:29 pm | Aug 20, 2008THX1138,
Now that I think about it you hit value points. New York City is expensive to live in. The real estate market in Manhattan is a different creature compared to the rest of USA but they want to move into Long Island City which is still part of Queens but a developmental condo that they want to move into.
The article talks about up and coming Asian Americans preofessionals. The down side is that it does stereotype that Asian model minority myth that BlackCalAlum points out.
Not all Asian Americans are professional or making whole lot of money. The article mislead that part.
Well…I like to think that the Young Asian American professional will develop a community of their own and grow by marrying among themselves. It is still too soon to say if that is the current trend but the article does point out young professional wanting to stick with their roots (which is their family and the old neighborhood that they grew up in.) I think that is good news.
who cares what white people think. As long as Asian Americans re-populate and know their roots and hopefully grow a 2 generation Asian American community that is good news.