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No one put New Orleans or San Francisco on this list.
Italians getting off the boat headed for either N.O., Galveston, or Houston, which surprised the hell out of me, is very much a thing of the past. San Francisco's TRUE Italian community, in terms of speaking the language and maintaining their customs, has either died or is very elderly. North Beach is a veritable tourist joke. There's nothing that Italian about restaurants like Alioto's, on Fisherman's Wharf, except for the name.
No one put New Orleans or San Francisco on this list.
Like Robertpolygot said most Italians in these cities have been in the U.S. for several generations (which actually seems to be true for most Italian Americans in all U.S. cities) and definitely cannot compete with some of the other cities being mentioned. But I do know there are some native Italians in New Orleans and some of the traditions/customs are still alive for the whole Italian-American population. Also if San Francisco or New Orleans were to be on the list, then so should a few mid-west cities too. But New Orleans definitely does have an underrated Italian community and it seems to almost be unknown to the rest of the country (as Robertpolygot also demonstrated).
From what I understand New Orleans was one of the biggest Italian immigration centers in the US *prior to* the great migration to Ellis Island (i.e. in the 19th century) but was largely bypassed after that. And it got practically zero postwar immigrants while thousands went to the New York area and Chicago. So the Italians in New Orleans I would assume are far more assimilated and there are practically no Italian speakers there at this point.
From what I understand New Orleans was one of the biggest Italian immigration centers in the US *prior to* the great migration to Ellis Island (i.e. in the 19th century) but was largely bypassed after that. And it got practically zero postwar immigrants while thousands went to the New York area and Chicago. So the Italians in New Orleans I would assume are far more assimilated and there are practically no Italian speakers there at this point.
Actually most Italians came during the late 1800s and early 1900s (which is similar to most cities). I believe New Orleans did have one of the largest (if not the largest) Italian population around the mid 1800s but most of the population came after that period. The lower French Quarter was basically the Little Italy during the early to mid 1900s and Italian Americans still own a lot of property there today. Plus there actually are still some Italian speakers today and Italian Americans still follow certain traditions and customs. In just about every U.S. city the Italian population seems to be fairly assimilated and there are few Italian speakers.
There were just 1500 Italian speakers in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish and 3700 in the state of Louisiana in 2000. In New York State it was 294,000 (obviously it's declined since then). But someone of Italian descent in NYS is more than 5 times as likely to be an Italian speaker as their Louisiana counterparts.
I'm pretty sure most of the Italian speakers in the US are descended from the 600,000 Italian immigrants who came between 1950 and 1970 (given that the "Ellis Island" immigration stopped in 1924 there can't be very many Italian immigrants from that time who are still alive, though presumably there are some 2nd generation Italian speakers who are 70+). While the early 20th century migration was obviously much larger, this second wave wasn't insignificant giving a boost to Italian ethnic communities. But they tended to settle in the New York area, Chicago, Boston, etc. and didn't have much impact in New Orleans.
However if Italian customs remain in New Orleans that's all the more remarkable given that it's more of an "old stock" community.
Last edited by King of Kensington; 10-27-2012 at 05:07 PM..
Belmar, New Jesey is a very Italian city outside of Europe. A lot of Italian kids wearing lip gloss, orange spray on tan, driving leased BMW's to DJ'ais for a night of fist pumping, debauchery and Jager bombs.
There were just 1500 Italian speakers in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish and 3700 in the state of Louisiana in 2000. In New York State it was 294,000 (obviously it's declined since then). But someone of Italian descent in NYS is more than 5 times as likely to be an Italian speaker as their Louisiana counterparts.
I'm pretty sure most of the Italian speakers in the US are descended from the 600,000 Italian immigrants who came between 1950 and 1970 (given that the "Ellis Island" immigration stopped in 1924 there can't be very many Italian immigrants from that time who are still alive, though presumably there are some 2nd generation Italian speakers who are 70+). While the early 20th century migration was obviously much larger, this second wave wasn't insignificant giving a boost to Italian ethnic communities. But they tended to settle in the New York area, Chicago, Boston, etc. and didn't have much impact in New Orleans.
However if Italian customs remain in New Orleans that's all the more remarkable given that it's more of an "old stock" community.
I never said New Orleans had a large Italian speaking population, all I said is there are "some". Plus I already acknowledged that New Orleans cannot compete with most of the other cities that have been discussed. All I was saying is that the Italians of New Orleans immigrated there at the same time as every other city in the U.S. (as in the late 1800s and early 1900s). Most Italian Americans in all U.S. cities trace their ancestors to that same time period (as in the late 1800s and early 1900s). But yes, some cities like New York did get (and maybe continue to get) more recent Italian immigrants/decedents but these newer immigrants/decedents still only account for a small percentage of the total Italian American communities in those cities (but still greater than cities like New Orleans).
Belmar, New Jesey is a very Italian city outside of Europe. A lot of Italian kids wearing lip gloss, orange spray on tan, driving leased BMW's to DJ'ais for a night of fist pumping, debauchery and Jager bombs.
Is you "knowledge" of Italy based on Jersey Shore?
None of the cities in the US I've been to looked or felt really Italian. Some neighborhoods had lots of "Italian" restaurants, but it's basically the same as putting up a Italian restaurant in Austria. The Italians in America assimilated pretty well, so I guess most of their culture/lifestyle is gone.
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