Why lots of Polish, but few Czechs in Chicago area? (wage, living in)

[Tex?Il?]

Curious:

Does anyone have any idea, why Chicago still attracts large numbers of Polish immigrants, but I think I have may have met only one person ever born in Czechoslovakia (yes I know they're separate countries, but I combine them to make a point).

Chicago early on had a large Czech population decades ago, but not since, while Poland still exports large numbers of people to the Chicagoland area (as it did back then).

Now, the two countries have a fair amount in common, similar slavic language, much of their history being part of a more powerful European empire, and with an economy still recovering from over 50 years of communism (hence: reason to emigrate to U.S.) So does anyone know why this is?

[surlycue]

It isn't just Polish, Chicago has a large number of immigrants from former USSR bloc countries. Most young women from Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia etc are nannies and students. I'm sure they come here and to NYC (which also has a large Eastern European population) because they have family and extended relatives in the city or were told by friends of friends that these cities are hospitable to new comers. Chicago being a sanctuary city probably also sets their minds at ease that as long as they don't require public services or break the law they can reside here basically as long as they'd like and make a pretty good wage at that.

[Lookout Kid]

I keep running into lots of Romanians. They are all over the place.

Sometimes people just assume that all eastern Europeans in Chicago are Polish. I was at the park the other day talking to a Mexican nanny who was trying to learn Polish (she enjoyed languages), and she tried speaking Polish to another nanny who she just assumed was Polish. The other nanny just looked at her confused and said "I'm Serbian!".

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by surlycue

It isn't just Polish, Chicago has a large number of immigrants from former USSR bloc countries. Most young women from Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia etc are nannies and students. I'm sure they come here and to NYC (which also has a large Eastern European population) because they have family and extended relatives in the city or were told by friends of friends that these cities are hospitable to new comers. Chicago being a sanctuary city probably also sets their minds at ease that as long as they don't require public services or break the law they can reside here basically as long as they'd like and make a pretty good wage at that.

I've known many people from Ukraine. Although not really from the central Asian republics (the "Stans") But Polish immigrants no doubt do constitute the majority.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

I keep running into lots of Romanians. They are all over the place.

Sometimes people just assume that all eastern Europeans in Chicago are Polish. I was at the park the other day talking to a Mexican nanny who was trying to learn Polish (she enjoyed languages), and she tried speaking Polish to another nanny who she just assumed was Polish. The other nanny just looked at her confused and said "I'm Serbian!".

I've known a few Romanians, and several Serbians, including a good acquaintance (whose family got caught up in the war there, they were ethnic Serbs on the majority muslim Bosnian side).

Personally, I do ask people their ethinicity before assuming anything. But Polish immigrants are still I'm half of eastern European immigrants. I'm just suprised that I haven't run into any one from Czechoslovakia (again, I know they are two countries) or Hungary.

I have known several people from Albania however. They were and are still in every respect the poorest country in Europe. Their dictator really isolated them until the fall of Communism.

[Irishtom29]

Maybe the Bohemians are doing OK at home, now that the Hapsburgs are gone.

[Rexor]

Poland has four times the population of the Czech Republic and the Poles are generally much more adventurous and courageous than the Czechs when it comes to moving abroad for seeking new job opportunities. The Poles migrate in huge numbers to get jobs in Western Europe, which is not the case with the Czechs.
One's desire to improve his or her financial situation is not a sufficient reason to be granted the American citizenship so that the collapse of communism has decreased rather than increased the chances to move to the U.S. from Central and Eastern Europe. As far as I know, there's still quite a lot of recently coming Czechs in Chicagoland - mostly people from poorer parts of the Czech Republic (i.e. Northern Bohemia and Northern Moravia and Silesia). Many of them are illegal and as such they prefer not to make much noise about their own presence I'd guess.

Just my two cents, maybe there are better reasons for what the OP is describing. As someone with zero first hand experience with Chicago, I just wanted to point out the fundamental difference between the Czech and Polish attitude to economic migration - I believe that's the bottom line.

[Rexor]

Originally Posted by Irishtom29

Maybe the Bohemians are doing OK at home, now that the Hapsburgs are gone.

Aargh, Czech does not equal Bohemian!
But yeah, there are way more poor rural areas in Poland which may motivate people to move abroad in larger numbers. This could be another cause.

[Lookout Kid]

My great grandfather emigrated from Czechoslovakia to Chicago just before World War I (then part of the Ottoman Empire). But he was an ethinic Hungarian living in Slovakia, not a Czech. His living relatives have since been in touch with my mother, and they seem quite happy staying in Slovakia.

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by Rexor

Aargh, Czech does not equal Bohemian!

I know, but in Chicago it does (or did). There used to be zillions of Bohemians around Chicago, indeed the first mayor of our current Democratic political machine was a Bohemian, Anton Cermak. The Machine was the result of an alliance between Chicago's Irish and Bohemian politicians, the Bohemians being a more politically astute group than Chicago's other central and eastern European immigrants with the possible exception of Jews from eastern Europe.