Asian population in Houston? (Dallas, Fort Worth: hotel, shops, moving to)

[JL]

I'm one of the early Vietnamese boat people generation and i can tell you that midtown was where all Vietnamese gathered on the weekends due to grocery stores, barbershops, restaurants, clubs,etc. I also remember the old Chinatown right near the GRB convention center. My parents used to shop around there too and i would hang around that movie theatre. Once the new Chinatown started in the Bellaire area, the old one became less frequented, but still had a few places that die hard regulars would visit. There weren't that many Vietnamese at the time, but i could tell back then that it would grow fast with info that Houston was a good place to start a biz and find a job. Many Vietnamese worked very hard to make their businesses successful.

It is no surprise to me that the Vietnamese population here has boomed just in the past few years. My mother's friends from Cali have flocked here in droves. I, personally, have five friends who moved here in the past three years from L.A. There is also a growing number of Vietnamese foreign students in Houston...well, actually it has been growing for quite a few years.

[Wonderful Jellal]

Originally Posted by LAnative10

How about I put some number together on Asians in America for the record?

Atlanta does have the largest Korean community in this side of the country. It is the city de' jour for Koreans (so to speak) the same way Dallas is with Indians and Houston is with Vietnamese. The only difference is that the Indian community in DFW and the Vietnamese community in Houston are almost double the size of the Korean community in Atlanta.

You misread my number for NY's Koreans. I said about 175,000. It turns out its actually 173,989. So you will have to forgive me.

As for total Asians, lets go by ACS numbers from 2007 and see what happens:

As of 2007, by metro area. Ill include all Combined Statistically Areas with over 250,000 Asians:

1) Los Angeles/Orange County: 2,054,062
2) New York City/Newark: 1,907,689
3) San Francisco/San Jose: 1,580,282
4) Washington/Baltimore: 564,571
5) Honolulu/Oahu: 543,423
6) Chicago/Naperville: 507,283
7) Seattle/Tacoma: 374,197
8) Boston/Worcester: 356,242
9) Houston/Galveston: 336,008
10) San Diego: 310,345
11) Dallas/Fort Worth: 309,994
12) Philadelphia/Camden: 260,127
13) Sacramento: 257,505

For reference, the Atlanta CSA has about 231,000 Asians since that was brough up earlier.

Houston surpassed San Diego (impressive) and Philly in asians
And soon they'll surpass Boston/Seatlle because Houston receives more asians now.And I think this decade Houston will have a better asian growth because many will come from hard-hit area as Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and more asian immigrants too because the city becomes much more famous.

[Wonderful Jellal]

Originally Posted by Fairlady Z

I kinda disagree. According to my parents, when my parents (Vietnamese) emigrated here in 1981, there were plenty of us here already and that grew throughout the decade. I can't speak for the other nationalities, but are presence here was definitely not established within the last decade or even during the 90s. Midtown used to be where a lot of Vietnamese hung out until New Chinatown was established and Midtown started gentrifying. Some of are presence is still there with some of the street signs in Vietnamese. Houston had the 3rd largest Vietnamese population in 2000, and will likely keep that title. Only LA and the Bay Area can lay claim that they have a larger population, but that's natural given California's location and history of attracting Asians.

I do agree that are Asian population is growing quite fast due to many Californians (as well as other states) moving here for economical reasons and will probably continue like that until California fixes itself. We definitely aren't established as the California cities, NYC, Hawaii, and Seattle, but we are making some big strides.

No, but Houston is near Seattle in asian numbers

[Wonderful Jellal]

Originally Posted by HtownLove

wow, nice list. I see some irregularities though. The Asian pop in Honolulu in 2000 was 620K though. Why is it less now.
Washington DC was ranked at number 9 in 2000 with an Asian pop of 379K, how did it by pass all those cities to jump to 4?

They listed San Fran, Oakland and San Jose separately. This was mainly for cities, not metros. I guess that is why Dallas and ATL did not make the list. Dallas and ATL are pretty wimpy cities when they alone.

Oh and I did not misread your list. The article I read had a typo for NY. I checked back to the 2000 census and found the correct figure for NY Koreans.

About Hawaii you don't dream, the numbers of asians are lower than in 2000.Many of them leave Honolulu to the mainland because the cost of living is very high, it's small and jobs opportunities aren't so great, it's most of all the tourism industry there.If you are asian and want to become scientist, informatician, businessman or lawyer, the mainland is better, and Texas becomes interesting for them, because they know the California's problems.

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by LAnative10

I know, it threw me for a loop, so I looked it up and sure enough, the Twin Cities are the 2nd favorite after LA for Thai immigrants. Alot of Thais we know in LA ended up there for the cheap cost of living. Minneapolis/St. Paul is also home to the largest Lao American community in the US! Who would have though? Most of them are Hmongs.

Lao & Hmong are two different cultures though they share some similarities. Hmong people live in the mountains. Lao people live in the city & rural areas of Laos. The language is entirely different. Laotian is basically like informal Thai.


[SIZE=4]TOP 50 METRO AREAS BY LAO POPULATION

[/SIZE][SIZE=4]Compiled by Mark E. Pfeifer, PhD

[/SIZE]US CENSUS 2000

1. San Francisco--Oakland--San Jose, CA CMSA; California - 11,545

2. Sacramento--Yolo, CA CMSA; California - 9,814

3. Los Angeles--Riverside--Orange County, CA CMSA; California -7,626

4. Minneapolis--St. Paul, MN--WI MSA - 7,576

5. San Diego, CA MSA; California - 7,002

6. Dallas--Fort Worth, TX CMSA; Texas - 6,642

7. Seattle--Tacoma--Bremerton, WA CMSA; Washington - 6,572

8. Fresno, CA MSA; California - 6,381

9. Portland--Salem, OR--WA CMSA - 4,502

10. Boston--Worcester--Lawrence, MA--NH--ME--CT CMSA - 3,857

11. Atlanta, GA MSA; Georgia - 3,596

12. Chicago--Gary--Kenosha, IL--IN--WI CMSA - 3,564

13. Nashville, TN MSA; Tennessee - 3,535

14. Stockton--Lodi, CA MSA; California - 3,054

15. Providence--Fall River--Warwick, RI--MA MSA Rhode Island - 2,939

16. Washington--Baltimore, DC--MD--VA--WV CMSA - 2,801

17. Visalia--Tulare--Porterville, CA MSA; California - 2,617

18. Milwaukee--Racine, WI CMSA; Wisconsin - 2,362

19. Denver--Boulder--Greeley, CO CMSA; Colorado - 2,071

20. Salt Lake City--Ogden, UT MSA; Utah - 1,944

21. Merced, CA MSA; California - 1,890

21. Charlotte--Gastonia--Rock Hill, NC--SC MSA - 1,890

22. New York--Northern New Jersey--Long Island, NY--NJ--CT--PA CMSA - 1,867

23. Des Moines, IA MSA; Iowa - 1,829

24. Philadelphia--Wilmington--Atlantic City, PA--NJ--DE--MD CMSA - 1,790

25. Honolulu, HI MSA; Hawaii - 1,778

26. Fort Smith, AR--OK MSA 1,768

27. Tampa--St. Petersburg--Clearwater, FL MSA; Florida - 1,765

28. Modesto, CA MSA; California - 1,627

29. Redding, CA MSA; California - 1,557

30. Rochester, NY MSA; New York - 1,408

31. Grand Rapids--Muskegon--Holland, MI MSA; Michigan - 1,402

32. Houston--Galveston--Brazoria, TX CMSA; Texas - 1,355

[Wonderful Jellal]

I know they're not "Asian" racially speaking but Houston had a boom in its population from Iran, Iraq and Egypt ! Hundreds of iraqis refugees have been installed in Houston in 2009, and apparently that will be more than 1,000 this year.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

Lao & Hmong are two different cultures though they share some similarities. Hmong people live in the mountains. Lao people live in the city & rural areas of Laos. The language is entirely different. Laotian is basically like informal Thai.


[SIZE=4]TOP 50 METRO AREAS BY LAO POPULATION[/SIZE]
[SIZE=4][/SIZE]
[SIZE=4][/SIZE][SIZE=4]Compiled by Mark E. Pfeifer, PhD[/SIZE]
[SIZE=4][/SIZE]
[SIZE=4][/SIZE]US CENSUS 2000

1. San Francisco--Oakland--San Jose, CA CMSA; California - 11,545

2. Sacramento--Yolo, CA CMSA; California - 9,814

3. Los Angeles--Riverside--Orange County, CA CMSA; California -7,626

4. Minneapolis--St. Paul, MN--WI MSA - 7,576

5. San Diego, CA MSA; California - 7,002

6. Dallas--Fort Worth, TX CMSA; Texas - 6,642

7. Seattle--Tacoma--Bremerton, WA CMSA; Washington - 6,572

8. Fresno, CA MSA; California - 6,381

9. Portland--Salem, OR--WA CMSA - 4,502

10. Boston--Worcester--Lawrence, MA--NH--ME--CT CMSA - 3,857

11. Atlanta, GA MSA; Georgia - 3,596

12. Chicago--Gary--Kenosha, IL--IN--WI CMSA - 3,564

13. Nashville, TN MSA; Tennessee - 3,535

14. Stockton--Lodi, CA MSA; California - 3,054

15. Providence--Fall River--Warwick, RI--MA MSA Rhode Island - 2,939

16. Washington--Baltimore, DC--MD--VA--WV CMSA - 2,801

17. Visalia--Tulare--Porterville, CA MSA; California - 2,617

18. Milwaukee--Racine, WI CMSA; Wisconsin - 2,362

19. Denver--Boulder--Greeley, CO CMSA; Colorado - 2,071

20. Salt Lake City--Ogden, UT MSA; Utah - 1,944

21. Merced, CA MSA; California - 1,890

21. Charlotte--Gastonia--Rock Hill, NC--SC MSA - 1,890

22. New York--Northern New Jersey--Long Island, NY--NJ--CT--PA CMSA - 1,867

23. Des Moines, IA MSA; Iowa - 1,829

24. Philadelphia--Wilmington--Atlantic City, PA--NJ--DE--MD CMSA - 1,790

25. Honolulu, HI MSA; Hawaii - 1,778

26. Fort Smith, AR--OK MSA 1,768

27. Tampa--St. Petersburg--Clearwater, FL MSA; Florida - 1,765

28. Modesto, CA MSA; California - 1,627

29. Redding, CA MSA; California - 1,557

30. Rochester, NY MSA; New York - 1,408

31. Grand Rapids--Muskegon--Holland, MI MSA; Michigan - 1,402

32. Houston--Galveston--Brazoria, TX CMSA; Texas - 1,355

I saw data that put MSP at the top as of 2008. Ill try to dig it up.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by RenaudFR

If you are asian and want to become scientist, informatician, businessman or lawyer, the mainland is better, and Texas becomes interesting for them, because they know the California's problems.

Most Hawaiians (when they move to the mainland) gravitiate toward the West Coast and even Alaska. Texas is not a huge destination for Hawaiians moving to the mainland.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by RenaudFR

Houston surpassed San Diego (impressive) and Philly in asians
And soon they'll surpass Boston/Seatlle because Houston receives more asians now.And I think this decade Houston will have a better asian growth because many will come from hard-hit area as Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and more asian immigrants too because the city becomes much more famous.

For Boston, I do think so. Their Asian growth has not been as strong the last few years. However Seattle will always be a magnent for Asians and probably match Houston in Asian growth. It might be some time before Houston passes Seattle (if ever). One thing Houston does have over Seattle is that it is a larger magnent for Indians and Pakistanis. If it does pass Seattle, that will be why.

Houston and DFW passed Philly a long time ago.

From LA, for every Asian that leaves, many more come. LA will always be the undisputed king of Asian immigration.

As for Vegas, the only significant Asian community there is the Filipino one. That is HUGE. About twice the size of Houstons. That probably wont change. A very large number are in the gambleing industry as dealers and work for the hotels. They still come to Vegas and as the economy recovers there, that will excelerate. Vegas doesnt have another significant Asian community.

[Cowboys fan in Houston]

Originally Posted by Awesome Danny

I am positive they are banking off that Detroit connection. Even by airport, many would never imagine Detroit to have such a great one at that, in which it has a superb airport.

And I honestly would have never imagined it that they have more connections to Asia than DFW, Houston, & Atlanta.

It came off as a fun fact nearly in the fact that after reading it I spent a few minutes thinking "how is this possible?".

Its all related to the Automobile industry which has huge numbers of traffic to Asia. Its not VFR (visiting family and relatives). As a bonus, here is some data. These are the largest markets from US to Asia in air traffic (traffic is from 2009 and is in millions):

Los Angeles - 7.3 million
San Francisco - 3.9m
Honolulu - 3.7m
Guam - 2.6m
New York (JFK and Newark) - 2.3m
Chicago - 1.9m
Detroit - 1.2m
Seattle - 0.8m
Washington DC - 0.8m
Boston - 0.7m
Las Vegas - 0.7m
Houston - 0.5m
Dallas/Fort Worth - 0.48m
Philadelpha - 0.4m
Miami (FLL and MIA) - 0.35m
Atlanta - 0.3 (mostly to Korea and Japan)

I had my numbers a bit off, but Detroit is almost the same size as the DFW, Houston, Atlanta, and Miami's Asia air traffic markets.