Why is the Asian population in Sonoma/Marin County so low? (San Jose: middle-class, unemployment)

[CyanideThistles]

Just wondering, because I've been thinking about it.

I'm half-Chinese and I was born 1993 in Santa Rosa, in Sonoma County, and lived here my whole life. The Bay Area definitely has a large population of Asians, especially Chinese and Filipino, but not up here. Santa Rosa is only about 5% Asian, and the other day I looked at my sister's middle school yearbook, which is where I went more than four years ago, and I noticed there weren't many Asian kids in it. Maybe 20 at the very most, and when I went there there were plenty more than that. It seems like they all moved away or went to the other school district in my city. I also remember when I was in my first elementary school K-3, there were not many Asian students if any, and thinking about that, it was kinda awkward haha...

I just don't know why Asian immigrants don't come up here often. I guess maybe one reason is that there are no major companies for them to work in, like there are in Silicon Valley, seeing as many Asians have the skill and desire to work in those types of companies. Also, a second reason may be that it's too far to commute from Santa Rosa to San Francisco and Oakland areas (at least one hour), and there are many jobs out there for Asian immigrants. Also there's no BART up here which is probably unappealing to any person thinking of moving up here.

Also, Marin County is on top of San Francisco, but there aren't a lot of people of Asian descent living there either. Some people say because it's too expensive for them to live in, but San Rafael and Novato are fairly middle-class cities but their Asian populations are only 6%, and they're only 30-40 minutes away from SF.

So I'm just wondering why Asians rarely ever immigrate up here in comparison to the rest of the Bay Area. This accounts for all types of Asians, like Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, etc. I mean there are many immigrants up here, but it's mainly from Mexico and much lesser from other parts of the world. It would just be cooler if it were more diverse but there's nothing I can do about it haha.

[Gentoo]

They probably don't want to live there.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

It is interesting to say the least. Places like the South Bay (and more recently a number of Peninsula cities) were not always the Asian havens they are now. When I was a kid the largest Asian groups in such areas were descendants of Japanese American farmers (many of which previously lost almost everything due to internment), descendants of the original Chinese immigrants from Guang Dong, more recently arrived Filipinos and Vietnamese and other SE Asian groups fleeing the Indochina War and its aftermath. We were just starting to see the influx of HKers in advance of the hand over and a trickle of Taiwanese (there were nearly no mainlanders). If I had to name one thing, it was probably these last two groups who created the nucleus of what we see now. They, unlike the earlier groups, brought substantial seed money. I think they picked where they picked to invest, and the rest is history. If they had picked the North Bay instead, things would be very different today.

[CyanideThistles]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

It is interesting to say the least. Places like the South Bay (and more recently a number of Peninsula cities) were not always the Asian havens they are now. When I was a kid the largest Asian groups in such areas were descendants of Japanese American farmers (many of which previously lost almost everything due to internment), descendants of the original Chinese immigrants from Guang Dong, more recently arrived Filipinos and Vietnamese and other SE Asian groups fleeing the Indochina War and its aftermath. We were just starting to see the influx of HKers in advance of the hand over and a trickle of Taiwanese (there were nearly no mainlanders). If I had to name one thing, it was probably these last two groups who created the nucleus of what we see now. They, unlike the earlier groups, brought substantial seed money. I think they picked where they picked to invest, and the rest is history. If they had picked the North Bay instead, things would be very different today.

Yeah, those places have never had the population they've had today of Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, etc. but there were still plenty of them back then, many of them being descendants of Japanese farmers and Canton immigrants, and Vietnamese refugees as you said. There was definitely more opportunity in the San Jose area it seemed.

I do wonder why the North Bay isn't or wasn't ever attractive to them though. It seems like a lot of people are moving out of here though, with high unemployment and expensive living nowadays.

[Obama12]

I dunno I dont think theres alot of white people in San Mateo but I dont trip off it.....

[CyanideThistles]

Originally Posted by Obama12

I dunno I dont think theres alot of white people in San Mateo but I dont trip off it.....

What? I've been to San Mateo, in fact I was there at least a week ago, and I saw all kinds of people, probably more white than anything else. Apparently half the city is white. It's not like it's East Oakland or anything.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by CyanideThistles

Yeah, those places have never had the population they've had today of Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, etc. but there were still plenty of them back then, many of them being descendants of Japanese farmers and Canton immigrants, and Vietnamese refugees as you said. There was definitely more opportunity in the San Jose area it seemed.

I do wonder why the North Bay isn't or wasn't ever attractive to them though. It seems like a lot of people are moving out of here though, with high unemployment and expensive living nowadays.

You answered your own question.

More opportunity elsewhere.

[CyanideThistles]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

You answered your own question.

More opportunity elsewhere.

True. I guess the only way more will come up here is if some major companies get built here, and there was at least one I believe in Rohnert Park that attracted Chinese and Indians. Now they all left. That was a shame.

My first Chinese relatives came to the San Jose area in the mid-80's, and then came to Santa Rosa. There were barely any Chinese back then, but not much less then there are now. Many of them moved back down there because they couldn't find jobs and they preferred a larger Chinese community, of course. I don't blame them at all.

I have a few distant Chinese relatives living in New York and Toronto, Canada, and I guess there's a lot more opportunity out there too than ol' Santa Rosa.

[mayorhaggar]

San Mateo County is expensive now but it still has a middle class feel here and there, especially in areas like Daly City or San Bruno. I imagine over the last 50 years it was an affordable option to Marin which made it appealing to immigrants who wanted to be near jobs in SF.

[mr bolo]

I heard the white people in Marin were racist towards asians, thats another reason, maybe they dont want them to move in their area? if your asian and go to a restaurant in Marin , they dont treat you very well

I went to a place called the RED LOBSTER near Hill Top mall, Richmand and they wouldnt even serve us and didnt acknowlege us when we came in, they finally sent a caucasion guy to be our waiter, the blacks didnt want to serve us