Why does Portland have such a low Asian population compared to other West Coast cities? (living in, move)

[AAPI]

Asian population in each metropolitan area;
Los Angeles metro: 2 million+
Bay Area metro: 1.5 million+
Vancouver BC metro: 700,000+
Seattle metro: 350,000+
San Diego metro: 330,000+
Sacramento metro: 250,000+

Portland metro: 120,000

Why did Asians skip Portland as a destination to immigrate to or even to migrate to at this point?

[TDNY]

Why do you think that Asians are some sort of lemming-like group that does or doesn't do things for the same reasons?

Besides, according to the US Census, the Asian population in Oregon increased 39.4% from 2000-10. Which happens to be faster than the growth rate in Cali, although from a much lower base. I couldn't find data from 2010 for the the Portland metro area specifically.

2010 Census Data - 2010 Census

[sayulita]

Well, if your numbers are correct, then 120,000 Asians DID come here. Seems like a pretty good number. Why is it important to know this? Although I am not Asian, I'm sure they make life decisions pretty much the same way everyone does, including where to live. I don't understand why anyone would compile these numbers and ask such a question.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Maybe because all the cities listed are much bigger than Portland?
Try turning the numbers into percentages and then it might mean something.

[sayulita]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

Maybe because all the cities listed are much bigger than Portland?
Try turning the numbers into percentages and then it might mean something.

If it were 1% what would it mean? 9%? 32%? 78%? I still don't see what it matters or what it "means". Whatever it is, is what it is. Trying to read something into it seems an exercise in futility.

[CH14]

Originally Posted by sayulita

If it were 1% what would it mean? 9%? 32%? 78%? I still don't see what it matters or what it "means". Whatever it is, is what it is. Trying to read something into it seems an exercise in futility.

Mike is simply stating the OP is comparing apples to oranges. You can't begin to compare population figures of SF to Portland without looking at how the numbers are represented. Point taken that the inquiry is meaningless...

[khyron]

Originally Posted by CH14

Mike is simply stating the OP is comparing apples to oranges. You can't begin to compare population figures of SF to Portland without looking at how the numbers are represented. Point taken that the inquiry is meaningless...

Completely agree, and yet the OP seemed to curious about this I decided to bust out Excel and Wikipedia and take a (very rough "envelope math") stab at making the question more relevant:

LA 17,786,419 2,000,000 11.24%
Bay Area 7,427,757 1,500,000 20.19%
Vancouver 2,116,581 700,000 33.07%
Seattle 3,344,813 350,000 10.46%
San Diego 3,095,313 330,000 10.66%
Sacramento 2,127,355 250,000 11.75%
Portland 2,226,009 120,000 5.39%

PLEASE NOTE that I simply pasted in the OP's claims about "Asian" populations and make no claim whatsoever that the above is accurate to reality, but simply that it's relatively accurate to the assumptions given by the OP and the perceived "metro" areas of each city and their populations in recent years (data spans 2006 to 2010 data sources).

Okay, discuss!

[Nell Plotts]

One glaring difference is that all but Sacramento and Portland are major ports of entry for Asia. To immigrate to Portland you would land in one of those cities then move on to Portland.

Were I to guess Sacramento's Asian population is from San Francisco. Many firms with product development operations in the Bay area have manufacturing facilities in Sacramento because technicians can afford housing there (HP is a good example). While Sacramento is too far to be a bedroom community for the Bay Area it is a short trip to see family living in either community on the weekend.

[PNW-type-gal]

San Francisco, Seattle, Sacramento all had a major gold rushes and the establishment of huge Chinatowns in the late 19th century, which would have been a starting base for Chinese immigrants, followed by other Asian and SE Asian. Sacramento has a relatively large Asian population because of the Hmong resettlement as well.

Portland has a Chinatown, but it lacks the age and size of other cities. We weren't a major gold or railroad town, and those two things were the impetus for early immigrations.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Keep in mind that the OP did not state and we have no idea why the question is being asked.

For all we know it might be a completely innocent query for a reason we know nothing about...

Let's not jump to conclusions about the OP's intent, please.

Whether it's Politically Correct or otherwise.