Why is there a huge Asian-American population in the Seattle area? (Tacoma: university, place to live)

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by Ira500

And given the lack of regular sunshine, sometimes blindingly so.

Lol!

[slomodan]

Hmm, interesting thread. I find it interesting that Filipinos are so well represented, and I've been craving some food from that area for a long, long time.

Coming from the midwest, it seems pretty diverse to me. And I love that. I never even had Phở until I moved here, let alone heard of it. Not that I like Asian culture for the food only.

[CaliforniaMary10]

But why do they drive so bad???? Why....Why....Why????

[Swigchow]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaMary10

But why do they drive so bad???? Why....Why....Why????

lol!

[Backstrom]

Originally Posted by NaturalUrbanBalence

To Gentoo:

Yeah.
Based on what it says in this link.
America's most Asian cities@Everything2.com

Seattle: 13.1% 27th most asian place in North America

San Diego: 13.6% 26th most Asian place in North America

Los Angeles: 10% 37th most asian place in North America

Bellevue, Washington is even higher on the list: 17.4% 19th most Asian place in North America.

Places such as Oakland, Berkeley, and Sacramento are at 15-17%, so barely a difference from Seattle.


Even though Seattle is at 27th place, that is still very impressive considering that there are at least tens of thousands of cities/towns in North America

That looks like very old Census data. The most recent ACS puts Bellevue as having some 27% Asians.

Originally Posted by Ira500

But it may be the whitest city for it's size in the US.
Looking at the largest cities in the 20 largest metropolitan areas in the US, only Phoenix and Miami have a larger percentage of whites, and Miami is 69.4% Hispanic, which includes a lot of Hispanic whites, and Phoenix, which is 77.2% white, but is 42.1% Hispanic.
Seattle is 71.3% white, 5.6% Hispanic.

On top of that, there are large sections of Seattle that are largely ignored or dismissed as either ghetto, unhip, or dangerous. These neighborhoods are truly diverse, but when you get into Seattle's " desirable" hipster areas, the numbers change.
The Capitol Hill 98102 zip code is 80.5% white, the capitol Hill 98112 zip is 82.9% white, the Fremont/Wallingford/Greenwood/Phinney 98103 is 85.5 white, and Queen Anne 98109 is 86.5% white...
So while some people here praise Seattle's diversity, they don't actually want to step foot in a neighborhood that's less than 75% white.

Portland is whiter than Seattle.

[415_s2k]

I love how this is rapidly degenerating into an argument of what city is whiter than another

[mikebillak]

You are all quite correct and have hit the nail on the head as far as the Seattle area. I live in the city and we have a huge Asian population both in the city and in the outlying cities in the metro area. Why do Asians like living in Seattle? I found out these were the most given answers (amongst others):

1) Mild weather as compared to many of their home cities in Asia or similar weather to their home cities.
2) High quality of education, number of colleges and majority Asian population at each college and university.
3) Large and recognized medical and hospital community.
4) Largest tech community thanks to Microsoft (next to the Bay Area).
5) Liberal political leaning that accepts all races openly.
6) Very low crime rate and the lowest murder rate of any large city (only 7 so far this year).

Granted Seattle was based and founded on Scandinavians and has been one of the whitest cities in the US (next to Portland, OR), the influx of ALL Asian groups has been changing the population rapidly. Seattle has a diminishing African American/Black population (only at about 7%) and has never had a large Latino/Hispanic population (currently at 6%). Census reports are predicting a 20% API (Asian Pacific Islander) population for 2010. Surrounding cities such as Bellevue could hit 25%. I believe the state of Washington has the 3rd highest population of Asians at just over 8%.

The Asian population in the Seattle is the most diverse in the country. It seems as all Asian countries are well represented. Seattle also has a huge mix of multi-racial couples as well and is the largest in the country. Seattle's International district (also known as The ID/Chinatown), does consist of a Chinatown, Japantown and Little Saigon. This is also a living, breathing and growing area that (unlike many in the US), is not just a tourist destination. The city is interested in seeing this area improve.

Federal Way, Shoreline and Lynnwood tend to have large Korean populations. Bellevue has a huge Chinese (HK and Taiwan) population, Vietnamese, Cambodian and Lao live in the Kent/Renton/Auburn area, Filipinos and Japanese are spread out all over the place, as are the Thai, Malay, Indonesian and Singaporean populations. Within the city (on my block alone in southeast Seattle), I have nearly every single Asian (and Pacific Islander) nationality living on it including Guamanian, Nepalese and Mongolian.

One final thought...mainland China is invading Seattle. Not only is there now 2 Beijing to Seattle non-stops every day though Hainan and Delta Airlines, but our community colleges, regular colleges and UW are almost at majority Asian status, but also many rich Chinese investors are eyeing Seattle. In the Seattle Times last month, it detailed how wealthy Chinese businessmen not only want to bring their companies to the US (using Seattle as a gateway), but also want to build housing where mainland Chinese immigrants could live. Korean businessman are doing the same in Federal Way.

The joke was have about Seattle (which isn't far from the truth) is that we are Scanda-Asian here. The cultures of both groups lend itself to Seattle's very laid back image. With all this said and all the comments before mine, I think it’s wonderful. I have attended countless Buddhist temples and ceremonies and have loved getting to know each and every Asian person brought into my life. The Asian culture has made Seattle an amazing city.

[JesseJB]

Originally Posted by Backstrom

Portland is whiter than Seattle.

I was just at the Ballard Seafood Fest yesterday. Never saw such whiteness in my life. And Im from Scandinavian descent! I don't know...theres just something off-putting to me about a certain type of "whiteness"- the really smug, pet-obsessed, marathon-enthusiast, spandex biker, gluten-free, trustafarian type whiteness.

[415_s2k]

Originally Posted by JesseJB

I was just at the Ballard Seafood Fest yesterday. Never saw such whiteness in my life. And Im from Scandinavian descent!

Me too! You know, Ballard used to be all Swedes and Norwegians, which is why I lived there as a kid.

I don't know...theres just something off-putting to me about a certain type of "whiteness"- the really smug, pet-obsessed, marathon-enthusiast, spandex biker, gluten-free, trustafarian type whiteness.

Yeah, I know the type of whiteness you're talking about.

[LookinForMayberry]

Sounds like you stayed near Chinatown. The concentration isn't that high in other areas.

If you go further south and east, you will find high concentrations of African Americans.

Whites tend to live in the very nice parts of town, like Madison Park, Madrona, Magnolia, Bellevue, Blue Ridge, Queen Anne.

There are exceptions in every area, but mostly Seattle tends to self-segregate. I'm not sure why. Everyone purports to be very liberal, but they live amongst themselves. It seems that their liberalism extends beyond their own neighborhood.

I know many that are very eager to describe their efforts to help people in other nations -- very far away from their own neighborhoods.

Of course, everyone that lives in Seattle because they like it. It's a nice place to live, except for a few downsides.