Demographics
Los Angeles is known for its wide variety of neighborhoods that are very diverse. LA consists of separated neighborhoods mainly populated by a certain race, class, or culture. For instance, Boyle Heights is mostly populated by Latinos, Jews, and Japanese-Americans; East Compton mostly consists of African Americans; and Chinatown mostly consists of Chinese and Chinese Americans and newly Southeast Asian immigrants. These distinct neighborhoods have development of its own, but the focus of this section will be about Chinatown - as a case study of the unique neighborhoods and cultural representation in Los Angeles. This section will discuss the history, geographic location, and demographic trends that led to what it is known today as Chinatown.
Los Angeles is known for its wide variety of neighborhoods that are very diverse. LA consists of separated neighborhoods mainly populated by a certain race, class, or culture. For instance, Boyle Heights is mostly populated by Latinos, Jews, and Japanese-Americans; East Compton mostly consists of African Americans; and Chinatown mostly consists of Chinese and Chinese Americans and newly Southeast Asian immigrants. These distinct neighborhoods have development of its own, but the focus of this section will be about Chinatown - as a case study of the unique neighborhoods and cultural representation in Los Angeles. This section will discuss the history, geographic location, and demographic trends that led to what it is known today as Chinatown.
Chinatown
History
The history of Chinatown consists of characteristics due to Chinese, and more recently Southeast Asian population and growth. In the Early 20th century, this location of Los Angeles was deemed as a slum. It was the sight of poverty because it was dominated by immigrants. Chinatown was populated in the 1990s because it was attributed to global attraction of investments and immigrant labors. The community Redevelopment Agency and public officials have attempted to revitalize Chinatown because they consider Los Angeles as a Major Metropolis for businesses and commerce. In fact, they connected a train station called The Gold Line Metro Station Located in Chinatown to connect the location with other parts of the city. This brought easier and faster access to businesses, tax revenues, and trading system of demand and supplies to further enhance the economic growth of the city.
Location and Demographic Chinatown is located in the heart of Los Angeles and within the vicinity of areas such as Downtown, Lincoln Heights, and Echo Park. It is, what is known today as Olvera Street, which is one of the oldest street in the Los Angeles County. It was relocated in the area that was once Little Italy, and it is now bounded by East Cesar E. Chaves Avenues, Sunset Boulevard, Main Street, Alameda Street, Cottage home Street, and the 110 Pasadena Freeway. In addition, in the outskirt of Chinatown is where Dodgers stadium and Elysian Park located.
Chinatown’s population has increased from 1960 to 2000. This is due to the removal of immigration barriers and economic opportunities in Los Angeles during the rising industrialization in the United States in 1900s. By 2010, Chinatown’s population was 15,907 [1], according to the Census record. More than half of Chinatown are Asians and 25% of population is the Latino Population, implying that Chinatown has a large population of minority group. The population increase helped diversified the demographic trends in Chinatown, which is now consists of other minority of the working class group. In addition, the distribution of age in Chinatown has a wide gap. Less than one fourth of the population is under the age of 17, while majority is between the ages of 18-64. Almost a quarter of population in Chinatown are older people. This indicates that since there is a higher rates of elderly in Chinatown, there is a higher dependency ratio within the location than the county.
Today, Chinatown is known as an attraction for many tourists around the world. It consists of events, programs, restaurants, and gift shops. Currently, the location is celebrating the year of the Ram in Thien Hau Temple in celebration of the Chinese New Year. This miniature festival includes dragon dancing, street food vendors, and a beer garden. To find out more about the event, the website is http://www.chinatownla.com/index.php, where tourists and locals can find useful information about upcoming events, dining places that serves authentic Chinese cuisines, shopping areas, and much more.
The history of Chinatown consists of characteristics due to Chinese, and more recently Southeast Asian population and growth. In the Early 20th century, this location of Los Angeles was deemed as a slum. It was the sight of poverty because it was dominated by immigrants. Chinatown was populated in the 1990s because it was attributed to global attraction of investments and immigrant labors. The community Redevelopment Agency and public officials have attempted to revitalize Chinatown because they consider Los Angeles as a Major Metropolis for businesses and commerce. In fact, they connected a train station called The Gold Line Metro Station Located in Chinatown to connect the location with other parts of the city. This brought easier and faster access to businesses, tax revenues, and trading system of demand and supplies to further enhance the economic growth of the city.
Location and Demographic Chinatown is located in the heart of Los Angeles and within the vicinity of areas such as Downtown, Lincoln Heights, and Echo Park. It is, what is known today as Olvera Street, which is one of the oldest street in the Los Angeles County. It was relocated in the area that was once Little Italy, and it is now bounded by East Cesar E. Chaves Avenues, Sunset Boulevard, Main Street, Alameda Street, Cottage home Street, and the 110 Pasadena Freeway. In addition, in the outskirt of Chinatown is where Dodgers stadium and Elysian Park located.
Chinatown’s population has increased from 1960 to 2000. This is due to the removal of immigration barriers and economic opportunities in Los Angeles during the rising industrialization in the United States in 1900s. By 2010, Chinatown’s population was 15,907 [1], according to the Census record. More than half of Chinatown are Asians and 25% of population is the Latino Population, implying that Chinatown has a large population of minority group. The population increase helped diversified the demographic trends in Chinatown, which is now consists of other minority of the working class group. In addition, the distribution of age in Chinatown has a wide gap. Less than one fourth of the population is under the age of 17, while majority is between the ages of 18-64. Almost a quarter of population in Chinatown are older people. This indicates that since there is a higher rates of elderly in Chinatown, there is a higher dependency ratio within the location than the county.
Today, Chinatown is known as an attraction for many tourists around the world. It consists of events, programs, restaurants, and gift shops. Currently, the location is celebrating the year of the Ram in Thien Hau Temple in celebration of the Chinese New Year. This miniature festival includes dragon dancing, street food vendors, and a beer garden. To find out more about the event, the website is http://www.chinatownla.com/index.php, where tourists and locals can find useful information about upcoming events, dining places that serves authentic Chinese cuisines, shopping areas, and much more.
[1] The State of Chinatown Los Angeles. 2013. Retrieved 2015, from http://www.aasc.ucla.edu/research/pdfs/statect.pdf
IMAGES:
[Figure 1] retrieved from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinatown_gate,_Los_Angeles.jpg
[Figure 2] U.S. Census 2010, Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing/ Line Shapefile
IMAGES:
[Figure 1] retrieved from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinatown_gate,_Los_Angeles.jpg
[Figure 2] U.S. Census 2010, Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing/ Line Shapefile