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There’s been Chinatown, Korea town and Little India... but what’s the best Little Saigon? Out of all ethnic enclaves, this one seems to be the latest trend of them. I’ll try to add most of the notable ones, but I added some of the largest ones on the poll.
Imo, tier 1s are Houston, Orange County, and San Jose. They seem to have the largest of all by a good margin.
Tier 2 would be San Diego, Tacoma, and some others.
Then you have Chicago, Philly, NYC and all others. Thoughts?
Do most of those cities really have bigger/denser Viet neighborhoods?
Haven’t been to Boston so I personally don’t know. But Houston and all the West Coast places (particularly OC and SJ) yes by far and it’s not close. There’s others that I considered adding such as Dallas has a “Cali Saigon Mall” but it’s also very small considered to these here.
Here’s someone driving around Houston’s. The final portion ends in Chinatown
Haven’t been to Boston so I personally don’t know.
Here's the data for CSA (might follow up with MSA or city proper if or when I have the time or energy):
Boston: 60,015 Vietnamese, 10.2% of all Asians, 0.7% of CSA
Chicago: 32,859 Vietnamese, 4.4% of all Asians, 0.3% of CSA
Houston: 142,393 Vietnamese, 23.5% of all Asians, 2.0% of the CSA
Los Angeles: 381,967 Vietnamese, 13.0% of all Asians, 2.0% of the CSA
New York: 46,046 Vietnamese, 1.8% of all Asians, 0.2% of the CSA
Philadelphia: 42,664 Vietnamese, 9.2% of all Asians, 0.6% of the CSA
San Fran & Jose: 251,993 Vietnamese, 9.7% of all Asians, 0.3% of the CSA
Seattle: 79,426 Vietnamese, 10.6% of all Asians, 1.6% of the CSA
Washington: 87,309 Vietnamese, 9.0% of all Asians, 0.9% of the CSA
So, by raw numbers:
1) Los Angeles
2) San Francisco
3) Houston
4) Washington
5) Seattle
6) Boston
7) New York City
8) Philadelphia
9) Chicago
By % of all Asians
1) Houston
2) Los Angeles
3) Seattle
4) Boston
5) San Francisco
6) Philadelphia
7) Washington
8) Chicago
9) New York City
By % of all people
1-tie) Los Angeles
1-tie) Houston
2) Seattle
3) Washington
4) Boston
5) Philadelphia
6-tie) San Francisco
6-tie) Chicago
7) New York City
Here's the data for CSA (might follow up with MSA and city proper if I have the time/energy):
Boston: 60,015 Vietnamese, 10.2% of all Asians, 0.7% of CSA
Chicago: 32,859 Vietnamese, 4.4% of all Asians, 0.3% of CSA
Houston: 142,393 Vietnamese, 23.5% of all Asians, 2.0% of the CSA
Los Angeles: 381,967 Vietnamese, 13.0% of all Asians, 2.0% of the CSA
New York: 46,046 Vietnamese, 1.8% of all Asians, 0.2% of the CSA
Philadelphia: 42,664 Vietnamese, 9.2% of all Asians, 0.6% of the CSA
San Fran & Jose: 251,993 Vietnamese, 9.7% of all Asians, 0.3% of the CSA
Seattle: 79,426 Vietnamese, 10.6% of all Asians, 1.6% of the CSA
Washington: 87,309 Vietnamese, 9.0% of all Asians, 0.9% of the CSA
So, by raw numbers:
1) Los Angeles
2) San Francisco
3) Houston
4) Washington
5) Seattle
6) Boston
7) New York City
8) Philadelphia
9) Chicago
By % of all Asians
1) Houston
2) Los Angeles
3) Seattle
4) Boston
5) San Francisco
6) Philadelphia
7) Washington
8) Chicago
9) New York City
By % of all people
1-tie) Los Angeles
1-tie) Houston
2) Seattle
3) Washington
4) Boston
5) Philadelphia
6-tie) San Francisco
6-tie) Chicago
7) New York City
So, yes. You messed up by leaving out Boston, and I'm only a little offended..
I’m talking specifically about Viet Towns. Not overall communities. You left out Dallas big time. Dallas has lots of Viets but no neighborhood comparable to Houston or OC. Not sure about Boston because I never went
I’m talking specifically about Viet Towns. Not overall communities. You left out Dallas big time. Dallas has lots of Viets but no neighborhood comparable to Houston or OC. Not sure about Boston because I never went
YOU LEFT OUT DALLAS
I only compared Boston to the cities in the poll. And Fields Corner is very much a "Viet Town" for Boston.
Anyway, I voted Houston. Highest % of all Asians and tied for % of all people.
Depends what you mean by “best” and “nice”. In terms of just having a high concentration of Vietnamese restaurants, shops, temples, etc. I don’t think you can go wrong with the Big 3 (OC, SJ, Houston). But these enclaves also share the characteristic of being sprawling, auto-dominated by blocks and blocks of low-slung strip malls which aren’t all that pleasant to navigate on foot. On the other hand, with the urban Viet enclaves they’re rarely situated in the most affluent/desirable part of town. Larkin St in SF (next to the Tenderloin) and Argyle in Chicago (within Uptown) are fine enough but certainly rough around the edges.
I voted OC in the poll, just because that one’s the largest, but I certainly see an argument for the others aside from simply the numbers game.
Also, does NY have a Little Saigon? I could only find one source referencing that and what is describes is like 2 shops.
Depends what you mean by “best” and “nice”. In terms of just having a high concentration of Vietnamese restaurants, shops, temples, etc. I don’t think you can go wrong with the Big 3 (OC, SJ, Houston). But these enclaves also share the characteristic of being sprawling, auto-dominated by blocks and blocks of low-slung strip malls which aren’t all that pleasant to navigate on foot. On the other hand, with the urban Viet enclaves they’re rarely situated in the most affluent/desirable part of town. Larkin St in SF (next to the Tenderloin) and Argyle in Chicago (within Uptown) are fine enough but certainly rough around the edges.
I voted OC in the poll, just because that one’s the largest, but I certainly see an argument for the others aside from simply the numbers game.
Also, does NY have a Little Saigon? I could only find one source referencing that and what is describes is like 2 shops.
Hmmm. You’re right it looks pretty weak. I could’ve replaced this one with Dallas.
Haha yeah, that one just looks like a couple Vietnamese stores ended up in the middle of Chinatown (A lot of Chinatowns have this - especially considering Chinese-Vietnamese are a big part of the immigrant population.) Surprised a city like NY couldn’t sustain a larger commercial area, even with the % of Viets being as low as it is.
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