Hayden Zeller
2048623
Seminar Race/Power/Resistance
Final Paper Assignment
Navigating the Complexity of Chinatown Chicago must be understood as a multiethnic city; a city that harnesses a diverse group of individuals and neighborhoods. Dating back from the 1850s, it has been known for being a melting pot of cultures, races, and nationalities. One neighborhood in particular, Chinatown, has a unique history and culture and has developed it into one of the largest concentrations of Chinese Americans in the United States. Chinatown is known for its people, food, architecture, parks, and location among many other things. It is an important part of the city of Chicago and has been around for over one hundred years. Chinatown Chicago is unlike any
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The Chinese community moved for a multitude of reasons, but primarily for lower housing costs. This put them in a less affluent part of Chicago and Chinatown has experienced issues as the neighborhood struggled with poor housing and crime. According to Niche, Chinatown has a D- housing grade which means they are struggling with overcrowding, high prices, funding, and cleanliness (Niche). They also received a C in crime and safety; Chinatown experiences more violent crimes than the national average by a significant margin (Niche). Although these can be startling, one problem Chinatown hasn’t experienced, unlike many other ethnic neighborhoods experienced in the United States, is gentrification. An article written by Anna Clark titled, “The Unlikely Boom of Chicago’s Chinatown” discusses the lack of gentrification. In this article, she interviewed a Chinese American living in Chicago’s Chinatown, “Chicago Chinatown is the only one in the country that has not been gentrified and also has been expanding,” said resident Wong (Clark). Gentrification has been a pressing issue recently, especially in Chicago neighborhoods such as Pilsen, but Chinatown has grown into a neighborhood with a strong sense of community that has helped it grow and keep its unique culture inside neighborhood …show more content…
While Chinatown may be located in Chicago, it feels far from it. The neighborhood takes you in and gives you experiences that you won’t have anywhere else. Every time I have visited I’ve felt new sensations. This one was more surreal than the others. I failed to capture this perfect image, it felt like something West Anderson would love but I can still concretely see it in my mind. I’ve been into the many stores of Chinatown but haven’t fully taken them in before this trip. The cultural differences are so vast and it took me until this trip to fully understand. The stores in Chinatown are made to suit the needs of anyone at any time. I would love to visit again and focus on a different ethnic feature instead of food. The languages, architecture, community centers, and shrines all interest me and make me curious about just how different a neighborhood twenty minutes from me can be from the rest of the United
While San Francisco has a convoluted ranked-choice system allowing for instant runoffs, the result was not too much in doubt, with Lee beating progressive candidate John Avalos by nearly 30,000 votes. Of course, much of this was due to high Asian-American turnout, with Rose Pak estimated that “80% of Asian-Americans would vote for Lee”. Shortly after this Mayor Lee began to transform from the boring bureaucrat that he was mostly known for. To explain this change, one must take a look at the demographic changes currently roiling San Francisco. Rose Pak’s official title is “Consultant to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce”, essentially meaning that she is an advocate for Chinese-Owned businesses, which tend to be more blue-collar, who end up living in lower-income areas, such as Chinatown.
Mike Mosko Urban Anthropology Field Study: Sidney’s Saloon Neighborhoods are changing -- fast -- often moving at a rate to quick to keep pace with. Everyday we walk down streets we’ve traversed thousands of times -- or will-- and everyday they get a little bit different, a collection of faces passing us by, old and new. I am one of those new faces, a recent New Orleans transplant. While I can 't speak to the impact of changes this city and its residents have gone through, being from heavily gentrified Oakland, CA, I can certainly relate to the twisted mess of pride, politics, and pain that comes with the feeling of being a newcomer in your own city.
Living with people of the same nationality comforted and brought a sense of reassurance to the new life of the immigrants. The police often found themselves dealing in conflicts between different ethnic groups. “These 'dangerous classes' of New York compelled recognition” because of their vast size and possible wealth (209). The recognition turned to power, but the tenants lacked money. The tenants often looked to other, sometimes illegal, ways to earn money and provide for their families, creating ethnic gangs.
The Chinatown-Lake Merritt area is very populated. There was a variety of many different kinds of people- differences that ranged from race to gender, from age to height, and from dressing style to personalities, and from transportation to job. Laconically speaking, the greatest difference of the Chinatown-Lake Merritt area was the transportation. Near American Indian Public Charter School II were two people sorting luggage in the trunk of their car. There were many different kinds of cars and trucks on the hectic streets.
As the population kept increasing, families from different countries would travel over to find the rest of their family members and congregate together in the same housing units. This trend created communities that were primarily composed of people of the same ethnicity which gave rise to nicknames like “Chinatown” and “Jewtown” for these specific areas. These areas attracted more and more people from the same ethnic background which furthered the degree of overcrowding. The rapid growth of New York is ultimately what led to the poor conditions of the tenements. Riis described the over crowdedness of the tenements certain disgust saying, “something like forty families are packed into five old two-story and attic houses that were built to hold five.”
These institutions were a way for Chinese immigrants to cling to their culture and allow them to seek economic and social improvement. “During the 1850s, Chinatowns in San Francisco was already a bustling colony of thirty-general merchandise stores, fifteen apothecaries, five restaurants, five herb shops, three boarding houses, five butcher stores, and three tailor shops” (Takaki, Pg.195). Certainly, these establishments exemplify the commitments made by the Chinese population as to developing an infrastructure for proceeding generations. These close net communities were often designed to establish social ties to the United States; ideally, the earlier mindset of many Chinese immigrants had changed; however, for some Chinese immigrants, they were uncertain of their future in the country and as a result “the Chinese tended to invest their money in personal property rather than in land, preferring to take long leases in order to sublet” (Chinese in America Life, Pg. 202). As this mindset was only the minority of the Chinese population, many immigrants contributed to the development of Chinatown by creating their own businesses.
Other organizations included the Chinese Baptist Church, which provided spiritual support and social services to the community. Despite the challenges and discrimination that Chinese immigrants faced in Denver, they were able to establish a vibrant and successful community in the city. Denver's Chinatown became a hub of activity, with markets, restaurants, and businesses catering to both Chinese and non-Chinese residents. The success of Denver's Chinatown was not without its challenges, however.
Willis Tower, The Bean, street food, Lollapalooza are common thoughts fleeting through one's mind when they hear, "Chicago. " As opposed to millennials and my peers, I have a different perspective on Chicago. My parents experienced a rough time dealing with several complicated immigration places. Seeing that at the time Chicago was considered a "safe city" for illegal immigrants, my family uprooted themselves to Chicago. It was a city where there were thousands of other people in our situation, a big difference from my hometown, Dublin, Ohio.
Thesis Statement The problem facing some of Chicago's neighborhoods is that they are plagued with gang activity and abandonment of tenants and by the their own city, Chicago. The city of Chicago is a wonderful place to live. There are countless interesting places to visit and there is always something for everyone.
In this article, “Gentrification”, by Sherman Alexie, the author tells a story about his neighborhood. The authors story was one where he thought he was doing the right thing but yet once he had done it, he did not feel good about it at all. The author shows how there is still racism in America and that can change the way people see things. The author shows this through a personal story that happened awhile back.
Anderson begins the section by explaining that there are two separate cultures in inner-city neighborhoods. The first are the “decent” this group is defined by commitment to “middle-class values,” (101). However, they are not mainstream in that they
Lance Freeman, an associate professor of urban planning in Columbia, wanted to investigate if there was any displacement going on in two predominantly black neighborhoods that was briskly gentrifying. Much to his dismay, he couldn’t find any correlation between gentrification and displacement. What was surprising to Freeman was his discovery, “poor residents and those without a college education were actually less likely to move if they resided in gentrifying neighborhoods”. (Sternbergh, 19) Freeman adds, “The discourse on gentrification, has tended to overlook the possibility that some of the neighborhood changes associated with gentrification might be appreciated by the prior residents.” (Sternbergh, 19)
There has to be a realistic solution that can be put into motion to benefit everyone involved. Referring again to his article “Is Gentrification All Bad?” Davidson argues that urban renewal, if done right, is not a monstrous custom that it is painted to be; nevertheless, he reasons that gentrification depends on who does it, how they do it, and why they do it. As a resident in New York, a city where gentrification is as widespread as the common cold in winter, Davidson speculates that those who go into a neighborhood with the intention to renovate houses, or abandoned buildings ought to have a good reason for it. The author points out that “Gentrification does not have to be something that one group inflicts on another…” (Davidson 349), rather, he suggests that everyone, the gentrifiers and the locals, be on the same page when it comes to developing their
In addition it illustrates the challenges of urban life. Chicago, as a booming industrial city, attracted a large influx of workers seeking employment. The story of H.H. Holmes underscores the challenges faced by individuals who migrated to the city in search of better opportunities. It sheds light on the vulnerabilities and dangers that workers and marginalized individuals faced in urban settings, emphasizing the social and economic disparities of the
Title: Gentrifying Chicago neighborhoods. General Purpose: To inform my audience of Gentrification in the Norther part of Chicago around the 1960s. Specific Purpose: At the end of my speech, the audience will understand the meaning of gentrification, how Puerto Rican families in the Northern part of Chicago lost their homes to Gentrification, how they fought against gentrification, and how gentrification is now occurring to Mexican families in the Southern part of Chicago. Thesis: Puerto Rican families lost their homes in the 1960s when Lincoln Park was gentrified despites their best efforts, and today Mexican families are losing their homes in Pilsen to gentrification. Introduction I. Attention: What would you risk in order to continue having a home?