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Boston’s definitely looked suburban and automobile centric. But still far more dense than Houston’s K Town. Store fronts just were remenicent side by side minus the density.
But developers are beginning to bulldoze some of the older buildings and building larger more modern ones. Most of this gentrification is done by the same Korean developers, so it’s still keeping its Korean identity. I walked into one of the newer 7-Elevens there and all workers were Korean. This one here was a recent development:
Boston’s definitely looked suburban and automobile centric. But still far more dense than Houston’s K Town. Store fronts just were remenicent side by side minus the density.
But developers are beginning to bulldoze some of the older buildings and building larger more modern ones. Most of this gentrification is done by the same Korean developers, so it’s still keeping its Korean identity. I walked into one of the newer 7-Elevens there and all workers were Korean. This one here was a recent development:
suburban is the absolute last thing Fields corner is. Its extremely urban. It's all Multifamily homes and apartment buildings with a major subway station and multiple bus routes running through it about 5 miles from Downtown Boston. Hence the street views. The majority of Dorchester households do not own a car so I don't think its very automobile-centric. I think you're underestimating how many people live in these triple deckers and two families. Because its textbook urban. The wood may give a suburban look though-if you haven't been there eon the ground.
What you're showing in Houston doesn't look like a neighborhood. Looks like an exurban strip.
suburban is the absolute last thing Fields corner is. Its extremely urban. It's all Multifamily homes and apartment buildings with a major subway station and multiple bus routes running through it about 5 miles from Downtown Boston. Hence the street views. The majority of Dorchester households do not own a car so I don't think its very automobile-centric.
What you're showing in Houston doesn't look like a neighborhood. Looks like an exurban strip.
We have that in Massachusetts but I'd never call that a "neighborhood". To me that implies a lot more than just being a space that exists.
How is that a neighborhood though...there's like no housing, or anything other than strip malls. Its certainly not nice. It looks like the area you drive through before you get to the interstate.
I don't think compare to a Philly or Boston, or Ktown in LA. I don't see any foot traffic or anything of note. This type of scene is indicative of a "neighborhood" not just an "area" Elevated train tracks, multicultural food, apartments in the distance, convenience stores, pedestrians. Its complete.
We have that in Massachusetts but I'd never call that a "neighborhood". To me that implies a lot more than just being a space that exists.
How is that a neighborhood though...there's like no housing, or anything other than strip malls. Its certainly not nice. It looks like the area you drive through before you get to the interstate.
I don't think compare to a Philly or Boston, or Ktown in LA. I don't see any foot traffic or anything of note. This type of scene is indicative of a "neighborhood" not just an "area"
Again, Texas. It’s one of the results of a place being so automobile centric. While you certainly have neighborhoods in Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, etc that have foot traffic, theyre few and far in between. Entire shopping and recreation centers are specifically tailor built for people to drive there and all the foot traffic that goes there is just for each individual development. Boston wasn’t built automobile centric. Here’s one of the more popular plazas in Houston’s Chinatown for example:
People drive to the plaza, and perhaps go from store to store and that makes for some foot traffic. But much less then Boston. And no matter how close the next place you’re going, if it’s a separate plaza, it only makes sense to drive there because crossing the road is a hazard.
That’s how automobile centric cities work. In the inner core such as Rice Village, Midtown, etc you actually get “true” foot traffic. But your suburban developments don’t work that way.
Again, Texas. It’s one of the results of a place being so automobile centric. While you certainly have neighborhoods in Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, etc that have foot traffic, theyre few and far in between. Entire shopping and recreation centers are specifically tailor built for people to drive there and all the foot traffic that goes there is just for each individual development. Boston wasn’t built automobile centric. Here’s one of the more popular plazas in Houston’s Chinatown for example:
People drive to the plaza, and perhaps go from store to store and that makes for some foot traffic. But much less then Boston. And no matter how close the next place you’re going, if it’s a separate plaza, it only makes sense to drive there because crossing the road is a hazard.
That’s how automobile centric cities work. In the inner core such as Rice Village, Midtown, etc you actually get “true” foot traffic. But your suburban developments don’t work that way.
I've been to plazas like this in Florida and Georgia. It just seems weird to think of it as a neighborhood, I've never called them anything but plazas. Even weireder that that's in Houston proper and “the city”. But if people live there I guess it is a neighborhood right? Seems likea boring type of neighborhood though. Where's the authenticity, texture, dynamism, history? Truly parking lots and uniform beige facades...
I'm in coastal Massachusetts suburbia. I'm a few hundred yards from what used to be the electrified trolley line between the coastal village and the city from 1898 to 1935. It was replaced with bus service but I can still walk to the nearest bus stop and catch a bus every 30 minutes.
My initial thought was that the best Little Saigon would have the most and nicest Vietnamese amenities. I only said that I could be wrong about that in deference to your defense of the population statistics as being a good resource. Personally I was hoping to get more out of this thread than posting population statistics and telling people to google but that’s just one mans opinion.
I didn't know that this had became city-anecdotes.com, but I can do that too.
One of my best buds from college was Vietnamese from Long Island, and he said that whenever his folks picked him up or dropped him off, they'd stock up on goods that they had a hard time finding back in NY. Or how about I tell you about how I bonded with my 60-something Vietnamese supervisor at work about a fantastic bahn mi shop on Dot Ave that's been there for over 25 years and is a neighborhood staple? I also could tell you that whenever his sister would visit from Philly*, they'd have to go to Saigon Chicken House cuz she had a hard time finding Napoleon Beef back home. I could tell you how my best friend from high school was Viet from Field's Corner.
But why is any of this better than cold, hard facts?!
I told you that Boston proper has 6,388 fewer Vietnamese than New York City, despite a difference of 7,644,217 people and 254.36 square miles! I could point out that one of the main characters of fairly-well-known show Bojack Horseman is a Vietnamese woman from Boston!
And instead of "oh heck! my bad! if i could remake the poll, i would", I got "i mean iiiiiiiive never heard of a vietnamese enclave in boston! maaaaaaybe it deserves a mention, i have no idea! i certainly can't look it up, nor can i trust the opinion of people who grew up there and know the city intimately! i know about the major ethnic enclaves of every other major american city, but to know the same about boston would be just. too. much."Givemeabreak!
*I may have misremembered the city. If you know any Viet restaurants in Philly that serve bomb bò né, lmk!
Last edited by Boston Shudra; 04-11-2021 at 09:01 PM..
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