Ethiopian communities/neighborhoods... (Washington: live, restaurants, stores)

[Tiger Beer]

I heard U STREET in DC...and SILVER SPRING MD?

Are there other areas?

Which one is larger...

What are the neighborhoods like? Interesting? Vibrant? Mixed with what other communities? Many Ethiopian-owned businesses, etc.?

[Stephen 81]

Columbia Pike in South Arlington also has a sizable Ethiopian community.

U Street is what most Washingtonians think of when asked where the Ethiopians are, but the restaurants there have mostly non-Ethiopian patrons. U Street is an incredibly vibrant neighborhood, and probably one of the most mixed (in terms of race, sexual orientation, taste in music, etc.) in the city. It's probably the first neighborhood I would take someone to if I wanted to show them what makes DC great.

That said, for Ethiopian-owned businesses patronized by Ethiopians and Eritreans, Silver Spring and South Arlington are your best bets.

[Mrs. 14th & You]

There is an area along U Street known as Little Ethiopia. The center seems to be the intersection of 9th and U Streets. However, there are a number of restaurants that radiate out for blocks from the Queen of Sheba at 9th and P Streets NW, to Lalibela at 14th and Rhode Island NW, to Meskerem and Fasika's in Adams Morgan. In terms of land area covered, this niche of NW DC seems to be one of the larger, if not the largest, Ethiopian area, even though it is far from being exclusively an Ethiopian neighborhood. However, most of the businesses are restaurants. There are a few Ethiopian owned stores sprinkled in the mix as well.

[sbhaskar002r]

Just curious as to why there are so many ethiopians in the area? I've never seen that in other cities I have lived/ visited. Also the first time I ate ethiopian food was when I moved to DC. Its pretty good though a tad bland for my taste.

[Mrs. 14th & You]

Originally Posted by sbhaskar002r

Just curious as to why there are so many ethiopians in the area? I've never seen that in other cities I have lived/ visited. Also the first time I ate ethiopian food was when I moved to DC. Its pretty good though a tad bland for my taste.

If you had bland food, you probably ordered the wrong stuff. Common seasonings in Ethiopian dishes are tumeric, onion, and jalapeno.

As for the cluster of immigrants, it's not unusual for various ethnic groups to end up in a particular area. Think about Somali town in Columbus; the Greeks who settled in NYC, Lowell, and Chicago; and Scandinavians in the Great Plains. It seems that a geographic region may be convenient or attractive to initial settlers. Subsequent immigrants then often want to be close to people who share their culture. From what I've read, DC does have the largest population of Ethiopian immigrants in the United States. However, LA, Dallas, and Atlanta also have a number of Ethiopian immigrants.

[btsilver]

There are a lot Traveling down from Silver Spring to DC on Georgia Ave.

[slim04]

The reason why there are so many Ethiopians in the area is because the country had a violent, oppressive dictator in the 1980's and early 1990's, so many fled to the U.S. under protection of our asylum laws. Ethiopia then was in some sort of civil war which led to the creation of Eritrea, with both sides committing lots of atrocities creating more asylees.

Most settled in either NYC or DC because they were the main air gateways from Africa to the U.S. Those areas also had a lot of human rights groups or organizations that would help them get established. DC was particularly popular because there was much less competition for service sector jobs, as the area didn't have as many other poor ethnic immigrants to typically do these types of jobs. Plus, the Ethiopians were able to create communities closer together, while they were much more dispersed in NYC.

As new waves of immigrants come, they typically first integrate with the first community before branching out. The initial waves of Ethopians are mostly U.S. citizens now, so they are able to get visa for relatives.

[citypatrol610]

The area in Uptown DC north of Missouri Ave has a large Ethiopian population.

[DC's Finest]

^^^^Brightwood!

[BKmachine]

Silver Spring and Wheaton