F.Y.I. - Koreatown (2013, live, shop)

[quixotic59]

An interesting short article on Koreatown:

8 things to know about L.A.'s Koreatown - CNN.com

[ccm123]

Loved eating Korean food late at night when I lived in Southern California, in Koreatown.

[415_s2k]

I knew all that ten years ago, but nobody would listen to me...

[PDF]

And you don't have something like this in NYC?

[Spikett]

Anthony Bourdain's has a new show on CNN - the next episode is LA Koreatown.

[moonsparkle]

I've heard before that basically all Asians like to be mistaken for Japanese, or they usually don't mind it at least.

Sort of how Hispanics like to be mistaken for Argentine, Portuguese, Spanish, or Italian.

[Nightscape]

Originally Posted by PDF

And you don't have something like this in NYC?

Not in the form of a Koreatown.
LA's Koreatown is pretty unique, theres no where else in the states that's comparable in terms of Korean ammenities. It's probably the most 24 hour portion of all of LA.

[pbergen]

Originally Posted by trancedout

I've heard before that basically all Asians like to be mistaken for Japanese, or they usually don't mind it at least.

Sort of how Hispanics like to be mistaken for Argentine, Portuguese, Spanish, or Italian.

hell no. at least not those of us who are self-respecting and comfortable in our own skin.

[red4ce]

Originally Posted by trancedout

I've heard before that basically all Asians like to be mistaken for Japanese, or they usually don't mind it at least.

Sort of how Hispanics like to be mistaken for Argentine, Portuguese, Spanish, or Italian.

It hasn't been cool to be Japanese since the 90s

[pbergen]

Originally Posted by PDF

And you don't have something like this in NYC?

what nightscape said is totally on point.

the LA area has the largest korean population in the u.s., and LA koreatown is the nation's preeminent enclave for korean food, shopping, entertainment, and nightlife. sure, there are plenty of korean residential and commercial enclaves in other parts of the country such as the nyc area, but none of them are even remotely comparable to LA's koreatown in scale or in the quality/quantity of korean amenities. the closest thing outside of socal would probably be the unofficial koreatown of the flushing-murray hill-bayside corridor in northeast queens, but it's definitely not in the same tier. neither is the one in the palisades park/fort lee area of northeastern nj, across the river from upper manhattan. and 32nd street in midtown (the "official" koreatown in nyc) is a joke - those of us who grew up in the nyc area like to deride it as "kblock" because it's so small. the truth is, most other "koreatowns" in this country are pretty lame, even in comparison to the suburban ktowns of the LA area.

while korean culture isn't necessarily mainstream for the average american of non-asian descent, koreatown is still a major draw for a fairly diverse range of folks throughout LA because it's such a huge enclave, is located in a central part of town, and is the closest thing to a 24 hour district, as nightscape already mentioned.

think about it this way:
when tourists visit nyc and want to sample some of the preeminent local ethnic food and culture, italian/pizza and jewish delis/bagels are probably at or near the top of the list. even though you can get these things in other cities, people still want to experience them in nyc because of the city's longstanding reputation for these foods and cultures and the huge presence of their respective populations. of course, i'm not equating the korean presence and influence in LA with that of the italians and jewish in nyc; just making a general comparison.