Why is there a huge Asian-American population in the Seattle area? (Bellevue: fit in, neighborhoods)

[415_s2k]

I spent most of my childhood in Seattle or the Seattle area, and had a lot of close school and family friends who were Japanese-American. For the most part, they're pretty well-integrated into general society, probably moreso than a lot of Chinese-American/Vietnamese-Americans. Not a lot of Japanese folks emigrate to the US these days; there were bigger influxes prior to and after WW2, and a lot of the ethnically Japanese people in the Seattle area are descendents of people who moved here over 50 years ago. They're American as anyone else born and raised in the States.

At one point, most of the stalls in the Pike Place Market were maintained by Japanese farmers and ranchers. Then, the government threw them in concentration camps in WW2. When they were released, they were generally unable to get their farms, ranches, houses, or other property back from the State, the Feds, or the people who had bought said property from the government. Many Japanese Americans from Washington ended up moving down to California, and settled in or around San Francisco and Los Angeles - both of which have substantially-larger Japanese-American and Japanese expat communities.

Seattle is basically the closest city to Asia on the American mainland (Hawaii is closer, and incidentally, has more Asians - the state is over half Asian), and this is a large reason that there are so many Asians who immigrate there: it's cheaper than getting to New York, Boston, or even California.

I've lived in CA for 7 years of my adult life, and lived in WA for 1. After having lived in LA and the Bay Area, Seattle seemed lily-white to me, a sentiment shared by my friend and roommate who is Taiwanese-American, from LA. I found the Asian communities to be much less-integrated than those in CA - not due to racism or anything sinister, it just seemed like they had their communities, and they existed next to but not necessarily intertwined with the greater community.

[eskercurve]

The International District areas are generally keeping to themselves, but since there is a large dominant white population surrounding the area, and since the area has lots of wonderful little shops and restaurants, and are close to the stadiums, they just seem integrated since a lot of people go strolling through there. The area is also known for petty crime since there's some derelict bars, a bus/train station, and abandoned buildings in the area which breed crime. A little to the north is also the Pioneer Square area, which has lots of federal courthouses, offices, and parks where bums like to congregate.

The perception that Seattle is very white isn't far off the mark. Around 75% of the city is white. However, I think white people are generally less crazy here than the rest of the nation, and today are just more open to new ideas and people.

If you go to Bellevue and Kirkland, you'll see more Asian populations, especially Japanese and Indian and Chinese.

If you really want large Asian populations, go to CA, or go to Vancouver, BC, in Canada. The number of Hong Kong Chinese people there exploded after China took control over the state when Britain's lease on the land expired.

To eskercurve:

The International District and Pioneer square are awesome. I dont know why you didnt mention the positive things about both those areas,especially for Pioneer square. I wish Seattle expanded on great old architecture such as the kind of old architecture that can be found in Pioneer Square, just like it is with more modern architecture.

Just because Seattle is 75% white doesnt mean its "very white." If it was 90%+ that would be very white. That percentage I think is roughly the national average for whites, and Seattle seems to have roughly the national average for Blacks, Hispanics, and slightly above the national average for Asians.

When my Mom and sister came here from New York City to visit me they were surprised by how diverse Seattle is. Its not as diverse as New York City but they still thought it can be a great place for someone that wants a city with great urban amenities, a great city feel, enough diversity, and being cosmopolitan-friendly enough, and I agree with them too. They actually would love to live here.

The Seattle area is a great place for someone that wants a large asian population , even if it may not be as large as Vancouver, Canada or parts of California. Seattle has the same percentage of asians as Los Angeles and San Diego, actually. Washington state has somewhere around the 4th-7th highest percentage of Asian out of all USA states.

I dont know why you have such a condescending attitude about Seattle's diversity and cosmopolitanness compared to other places and make Seattle sound like it doesnt have any diversity and things like that. I can give you many many positive examples related to Seattle's diversity, and cosmopolitaness.

And in the future, Seattle and Washington state will become even more diverse.

Do you even live in Seattle? Sometimes when someone people describe Seattle, I feel like they are describing some other city and not Seattle.

[Redline]

mod cut: baiting removed

My $0.02:

I think the Asian and other immigrant populations here keep to their own here more than other major cities. Not as much interracial intermingling going on so some of them don't even have to speak (or learn) english. I've been to parks on the eastside and hear more foreign languages being spoken than english a lot of the time.

I'm also going to attribute the Seattle Freeze a little bit to this diversity. Whenever I try to look someone in the eye and say hi they look away immediately. I don't know if it's because they don't speak english but I wouldn't be surprised. I think when this happens enough to people around here they just stop trying because at that point they will consider it normal.

PS. I'm Asian so not trying to be racist or anything.

[Inkpoe]

Actually NUB, WA is #3 after California and Hawaii (NY is #4 and IL is #5).

Maybe for me because I am half Asian I "see" more Asians. But in comparison to other cities (discounting CA and Hawaii), The Asian influence can be felt in the Seattle vibe. How many other cities can outdo Seattle in that aspect? For the adults, Microsoft certainly adds in more flavors than any other companies here.

One only has to look at the schools here to see how Asians (and other races) are very well integrated.

ETA: Redline, most Asian cultures find it rude to look directly into a stranger's eyes.

[Redline]

Originally Posted by Inkpoe

ETA: Redline, most Asian cultures find it rude to look directly into a stranger's eyes.

Yup, I know. I think that's been common knowledge for a long time now.

To Inkpoe: So do you agree with me that Seattle is more diverse than some people think? That was my point. Wow, so Washington state has the third highest percentage of Asians out of all USA states, and there are still people that think Washington state doesnt have that much diversity.

And also, from what I remember, Los Angeles and San Diego California actually have roughly the same percentage of Asians as Seattle. Only the Bay area in California seems to have a larger percentage of Asians than the Seattle area out of places in California.

To redline: Seattle is rated one of the most interracially friendly cities in America, has one of the highest multiracial percentage.

[mrsincredible]

Regarding the "Seattle Freeze"... yeah, I think it has to do with the long Asian influence in the area. Asians, and Japanese in particular, are very quiet, tend to keep to themselves and eye-contact/staring is considered impolite. Japanese very much consider themselves to be socially polite people. There are a lot of social rules and etiquette related to social ranking for Japanese culture. It's my opinion that that kind of just trickled down into a regional thing. Like how New York/East Coasters are known to be in a hurry/impatient because time is money. Or Hawaii people are always tardy because they're on "Hawaii time".

Americans value a strong handshake and a trustworthy, upright posture and straight on eye contact. I think someone wrote a book about how that's the complete opposite of what Japanese culture values. If you give a strong handshake in Japan, you're looked at as being obnoxious like you are trying to assert dominance.

BTW, not sure why we've gotta own up to our ethnicities just to claim we're not racist (??) but FWIW, I'm from Hawaii and I have hapa (half white/chinese) kids.

Here's an interesting web page (and I found it somewhat humorous as well as informative) Japan FAQ--Japanese Manners and Etiquette

Avoid excessive physical and eye contact--forget the back-slapping,
prodding, and pointing directly at someone with your finger (use
your hand to point, if you must).
Japanese often use silence for communication as much as speaking.

To mrsincredible: Personally, I dont think the Seattle "freeze" exists.

So how do you feel about Seattle's diversity? Do you think it is relatively diverse?

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To everyone on this thread: By the way Im Romanian/Russian, but I just identify myself a lot more with aspects of Asian culture and am more interested in aspects of Asian culture than Eastern European culture...(Particularly Indian, Chinese, and Thai).



























mod interpose: further conversation that generally has to do with the "freeze," please add to the dedicated thread "The Official Seattle Freeze Discussion Thread"

[Inkpoe]

Nub, Its more of the social fabric of Seattle has a lot woven into it, its more accepting of other culture influences. For that whole Asian statistic, I should've clarified, its actually amount of Japanese.

Redline, generally when there are articles talking about the Seattle social retience, they always mention the Norwegian and Japanese influence. Perhaps thats why the Asians like it here better. But I dont agree that people in the ID keep to themselves-- I never had a problem interacting with anyone. Its like the whole Seattle Freeze, its all relative.