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That's the thing though...it is completely different. It's not like any ordinary urban city. It's a place where Asians live, work and play. It's not just a Walmart area. If the weather is nice enough, I make the walk from the Hancock Tower to South Station every day after work, which brings me right through Chinatown. As soon as I'm there, everything looks and acts differently. There are street vendors all throughout Boston, but in Chinatown the style of it all is much different. It's hard to explain just through words, so if it's nice enough to walk today, I will take some pictures of what it looks like.
I will try to post some pictures of what the streets look like on the way to Chinatown, and then what it looks like when I'm actually in Chinatown. You will notice that much of the street life is much different in this neighborhood in comparison to others.
I have pictures of Manhattens, Washington's, Boston's and Philly's on my home computer. I would love to post them. I lived in Denver. Their Chinatown was nothing like the ones on the east coast. It wasn't a neighborhood difference like you mention above. It was just stripmalls filled with chinese restaurants. Yeah, chinese imigrants worked there, but it was nothing the same.
So now, according to some, a "real" Chinatown is more about how dense and how old its architecture is? Some of you are way too obsessed with aesthetics a and completely disregard more important characteristics that make a place what it is. What is the difference between the same exact Chinese restaurant located in a newer strip mall or an old, urban neighborhood? Does the density make the food taste better or more authentic?
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Originally Posted by tmac9wr
It's a place where Asians live, work and play.
So apparently Asians ca only live, work, and play in strictly urban environments and they cannot do the same thing in a suburban environment?
No I've never seen the Chinatown in Houston. I was talking about places like this:
If that's what Houston's Chinatown looks like, then I wouldn't consider it to be a Chinatown. It's just a Chinese-themed Walmart. When I said "Walmart" in my previous posts, I wasn't meaning a literal Wal-Mart. I was meaning a big-box retailer that just has Chinese characters on it.
I'm not trying to bash Houston by any means, we've just got different ways of measuring these sorts of things.
No I've never seen the Chinatown in Houston. I was talking about places like this:
If that's what Houston's Chinatown looks like, then I wouldn't consider it to be a Chinatown. It's just a Chinese-themed Walmart. When I said "Walmart" in my previous posts, I wasn't meaning a literal Wal-Mart. I was meaning a big-box retailer that just has Chinese characters on it.
I'm not trying to bash Houston by any means, we've just got different standards and parameters.
Well Houston's Chinatown is definitely suburban, but big. Very vibrant, because you see people out walking and riding bikes.
So now, according to some, a "real" Chinatown is more about how dense and how old its architecture is? Some of you are way too obsessed with aesthetics a and completely disregard more important characteristics that make a place what it is. What is the difference between the same exact Chinese restaurant located in a newer strip mall or an old, urban neighborhood? Does the density make the food taste better or more authentic?
So apparently Asians ca only live, work, and play in strictly urban environments and they cannot do the same thing in a suburban environment?
I've always thought of a traditional "Chinatown" to be the emulation of an Asian city and lifestyle within a larger American city (a city within a city). To me, the strip mall-style of Chinatown is just an area where a bunch of Asian people live an American lifestyle. I'm not trying to sound so negative about these cities, but they're just not the same as the traditional Chinatowns.
This thread is about the best/most vibrant Chinatowns. What is so vibrant about a strip mall?
I've always thought of a traditional "Chinatown" to be the emulation of an Asian city and lifestyle within a larger American city (a city within a city).
Yep!
And it's the denser Chinatowns that come closest to emulating a typical neighborhood within an Asian big city that have the best, most authentic food overall anyway.
Quote:
This thread is about the best/most vibrant Chinatowns. What is so vibrant about a strip mall?
I went to the China Wall, a all you can eat Chinese buffet out here in the exurbs where I work. We call it our "Chinatown". It is just like strolling through the Chinatown in lower Manhatten! I even bought a cheap knockoff purse for my girlfriend there.
I've always thought of a traditional "Chinatown" to be the emulation of an Asian city and lifestyle within a larger American city (a city within a city). To me, the strip mall-style of Chinatown is just an area where a bunch of Asian people live an American lifestyle. I'm not trying to sound so negative about these cities, but they're just not the same as the traditional Chinatowns.
This thread is about the best/most vibrant Chinatowns. What is so vibrant about a strip mall?
Well obviously not all Chinatowns are "traditional" in that sense but that doesn't mean they are not a "Chinatown". Again, you seemed to be stuck on aesthetics. Just b/c Chinese people are living their lives in and around American style buildings doesn't translates into an "American lifestyle". What is "American" about patronizing primarily just Chinese businesses and hanging onto Chinese culture and traditions?
Explain to me the difference between the same Chinese restaurant or shop in a strip mall and one in a dense, older urban neighborhood? Is the food different? The products different? The Chinese customs and traditions different? Do these things differ based on how a building or neighborhood looks?
And I'm not saying the more suburban Chinatowns are the "best" or most "vibrant" but I am just saying they are still Chinatowns and have much in common with older, more urban ones. Too many people on here are way too obsessed and take too much stock into how something looks. Ehtnic neighborhoods come in all shapes and forms, not just "traditional" urban ones. Some of you don't get that though.
Just read in our Washington Post Express paper, dated July 8, 2009, that Washington ranks 2nd to Los Angeles among the cities that teeter near gridlock twice each day. Wasted Hours Per Year (in traffic): LA = 70; Washington, DC = 62; Atlanta, GA = 57; and, Indianapolis, IN = 39.
Probably not too much of a waste if we have some good solid entertainment or learning experiences in the way of books on cd, language learning on cd, the news?
Well obviously not all Chinatowns are "traditional" in that sense but that doesn't mean they are not a "Chinatown". Again, you seemed to be stuck on aesthetics. Just b/c Chinese people are living their lives in and around American style buildings doesn't translates into an "American lifestyle". What is "American" about patronizing primarily just Chinese businesses and hanging onto Chinese culture and traditions?
Explain to me the difference between the same Chinese restaurant or shop in a strip mall and one in a dense, older urban neighborhood? Is the food different? The products different? The Chinese customs and traditions different? Do these things differ based on how a building or neighborhood looks?
And I'm not saying the more suburban Chinatowns are the "best" or most "vibrant" but I am just saying they are still Chinatowns and have much in common with older, more urban ones. Too many people on here are way too obsessed and take too much stock into how something looks. Ehtnic neighborhoods come in all shapes and forms, not just "traditional" urban ones. Some of you don't get that though.
The food is no different, neither are traditions, etc. Point taken. You feel I'm placing too much emphasis on aesthetics, and I don't think you're placing enough emphasis on them.
I suppose what I'm thinking is that while even the most urban Chinatowns in the US aren't as dense as most Asian cities (Boston's density is over 28,000 people per square mile in Chinatown), it is an emulation of what a traditional Asian city is like. Tiny, super-dense neighborhoods throughout the streets. Tacky neon signs, dead rabbits, ducks, etc hanging upside down in the window of a fast-food resaurant. Dirty streets, dirty people, and if you're not Asian (like me), a general feeling of "am I still in Boston? (or NY, or SF, etc depending on where you're living)
I don't see how you'd get that sort of atmosphere and feeling in a strip-mall.
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Some of you are way too obsessed with aesthetics a and completely disregard more important characteristics that make a place what it is. What is the difference between the same exact Chinese restaurant located in a newer strip mall or an old, urban neighborhood? Does the density make the food taste better or more authentic? 
