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ASIAN AMERICAN
DEMOGRAPHICS
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. Vote and continue this and related discussions at the new Interactive Area. --Ed.]
60,000 Filipinos in Houston is a lot........considering that there were only like 15 in 1970. In a 30 year turnaround, what would you say the rate of growth would be since then in the year 2002? And Filipinos are still pouring into Houston.
In 1982 when I got to Houston, there were no Filipino businesses on Bissonnet St. Now there are like 20 or so. Balikbayans, cafes, video stores, grocers and the like. Unlike LA or California.........this Filipino district shares and overlaps with Pakistani and Nigerian. This makes Houston an interesting study.
Besides, when we discount California..............Houston compared to Boston, Miami, Philly, Cincinnati, Kansas City, etc............there's a viable Filipino scene going on there.
The growth rate of Asians in Houston has been 76% since 1990. It's reaching close to 300,000 Asians in an area of 5 million. Not too bad...............considering Houston did not have the 100 year advantage of the Pacific Coast.
The settlement patterns of Houston is quite vastly different than that of LA.
Downtown Houston's Chinatown was never a residential area unlike LA's downtown variant.
Houston has a commercial variant of suburban Chinatown very similar in look to Monterey Park/Alhambra/Rosemead, etc. But that is vastly an Asian tract. Except for a few Latino workers............one does not notice too much mixing up there along Valley Blvd.
But Houston's New Chinatown has that dominance of Chinese and Vietnamese businesses along Bellaire.........but Nigerians and Pakistanis are very close by in setting up there businesses.
Have you ever seen an African art gallery or food store along Valley Blvd?
If you like sheer numbers and compacted specialization, then LA is still the place.........but for a newgrowing flower of eccentric international mixing unusual for a big US city, Houston is the new choice.
worldlyman
Thursday, November 21, 2002 at 20:21:31 (PST)
[199.182.14.224]
Wordlyman:
"As another example, there is no Filipino branch of Manila's Chow King or Jollibee's in Houston like in California.......but there are still 60,000 Filipinos in Houston."
I don't mean to rain on your parade, but 60,000 isn't a whole lot, considering the size of a city like Houston. Shoot, I think there are more Filipinos in Daly City alone.
"Vancouver and San Francisco are not Sunbelt type cities like those three which is why I mentioned only Houston and LA."
What is your definition of sunbelt? Much of California would be considered sunbelt, including the Bay Area. Daly City and western San Francisco are quite foggy, but the rest of the area is rather temperate. You go up farther north to places like Sacramento and Redding, and it is still very warm, if not downright sweltering, year round.
"In other words, if mainland Chinese and Taiwanese are flocking to Houston now, why not the Hong Kongers?"
Traditionally, it's been the other way around. Cantonese and HK'ers paved the way for Chinese to come to America. My parents are from HK, and they came in the mid 60's. That's right after Kennedy passed the new immigration laws, allowing more Chinese to come over. Taiwanese didn't start coming en masse until the mid 80's. Mainlanders are just a recent phenomenon. Up until last year, I have never met a single mainlander in the States, even in the heavily Chinese populated Bay Area.
The Taiwanese went to cities close to where the HK'ers lived, but not in the same neighborhoods. The Monterey Park phenomenon was founded by a Taiwanese American guy who marketed the city to Taiwanese as a "tropical paradise." If you go to SGV, you will see that it is mainly Mandarin speakers, and not too many Cantonese/HK'ers. The same kind of thing happened in San Jose, Cupertino, and Fremont. All the Cantonese/HK'ers are in San Francisco and the East Bay, while the Taiwanese are in the South Bay. I can't speak for Vancouver or Toronto, but whenever I go to VC, all I see are HK people.
"One of the biggest land tycoons of Asian extraction in Houston is from Hong Kong."
Is this the same guy who built that miniature China theme park in Texas? I saw a feature about him on the Discovery Channel.
TSJ Eric@KristinKreuk.net
Wednesday, November 13, 2002 at 12:29:28 (PST)
[209.244.106.48]
To TSJ:
I don't know exactly how large the Hong Kong community is in Houston but considering the mass influx of Chinese from the mainland and Taiwan there..........it's reasonable to assume that Hong Kongers would follow them there.....just as they follow them to LA or Vancouver or San Francisco).
In other words, if mainland Chinese and Taiwanese are flocking to Houston now, why not the Hong Kongers?
One of the biggest land tycoons of Asian extraction in Houston is from Hong Kong.
The Filipinos in the newspapers of California almost never mention Houston.....but that doesn't mean anything. Houston has a very sizeable Filipino population that's growing fast.
Houston's New Chinatown is so startlingly huge in scope that I'm sure there are a lot of Hong Kongers there. Even if there is no "Sing Tao" that I know of. But that does not mean that there might not be a sizeable Hong Kong population in H-town.
As another example, there is no Filipino branch of Manila's Chow King or Jollibee's in Houston like in California.......but there are still 60,000 Filipinos in Houston.
Usually I attach LA and Houston because of their relative similarities, especially when considering San Diego as relative.
And there is evidence to say that there are Hong Kongers in LA and Houston (which both have two Chinatowns) compared to San Diego which does not have a real Chinatown.
(Vancouver and San Francisco are not Sunbelt type cities like those three which is why I mentioned only Houston and LA.)
worldlyman
Friday, November 08, 2002 at 20:53:30 (PST)
[66.81.160.37]
Worldlyman:
Are there really that many HK people in Houston? Not to sound ignorant, but I didn't know. When HK people come to (North) America, traditionally the most popular destinations have been the Bay Area, LA, New York, Vancouver, and Toronto. These four places are mentioned in movies all the time. I have never once heard Houston brought up. Maybe it's mostly Taiwanese in Houston? As far as I know, there isn't even a branch of the HK newspaper "Sing Tao" in Houston.
I think you answered your own question about tapioca shops in San Diego. San Diego is mostly Pinoys, and less Chinese.
TSJ Eric@KristinKreuk.net
Friday, November 08, 2002 at 00:54:26 (PST)
[67.116.231.150]
I recently returned to San Diego where we currently live after taking a trip home to Houston.
It's really scary how huge the Asian population has grown in Houston. That's meant in a good way, of course. Houston has become like a California city in that you see Asians casually anywhere and all the time:
Montrose, downtown, Medical Center, Champions Forest, River Oaks' hangouts.......it's way real.
Houston's New Chinatown area in the SW is rivalling Monterrey Park and Alhambra in loudness and neon Asian flashiness already. And then there's the mushrooming Asian shopping strips along Veteran's Memorial in NW Houston. And then the Asian presence skyrocketing in Sugar Land to the extreme SW.........it's really happening out in H-town.
Convoy and Mira Mesa don't really look as big (Convoy is like San Diego's Little Korea, Little Saigon and Chinatown rolled into one).
But I still appreciate having the Convoy route here in San Diego. It's a very doable area.
There are far more many tapioca tea houses in Houston than in San Diego........yet the Asian population is supposed to be larger in SD. How is that?
(For some reason, Houston does lack the noodle houses that have been a mainstay in Cali......but then does Cali have Asian-Cajun cafes?)
I suspect that for some reason Taiwanese and Hong Kongers live in Los Angeles and Houston en masse.......while Filipinos comprise the bulk of San Diego's Asian percentage.
I'm sort of a maverick Filipino-American dude. While my wife definitely loves San Diego for its great Filipino cafes and shops........I still tend to think it's better to have lesser Filipino cafes when I can have abundant Pakistani, Lebanese and Malaysian cafes to complement them in Houston. That doesn't happen in San Diego. It's just Filipino and Mexican in the South Bay.
In San Diego, you can eat all the Filipino styles you want whereas in Houston I can eat at a couple of decent but not great Filipino cafes but still be able to walk next door to pick up some Pakistani pistaccio ice cream to wash down a zesty caldereta lunch. I see no Pakistani grocers in San Diego (but there's gotta be one or two somewhere).
But construction is at its crescendo in Houston and progress has been surprisingly decent. The revival projects look great but it's better to live in San Diego to "fast forward" for now before going back home to H-town.
worldlyman
Sunday, November 03, 2002 at 01:19:26 (PST)
[199.182.12.42]
To Joe,
"San Diego is okay. But San Francisco is awesome. Houston is fabulous too. Aren't we supposed to be united? I guess not. Well anyway, Houston is absolutely better than San Diego. But San Francisco is equal to Houston. texas and california are both great!!! alabama sucks!!! Actually, it depends if you are near the FOB side or 5 generation side."
So what is the best city for the 5th generation side??? Anyone can answer this. Please. I don't like to live anywhere that people are impressed by my lack of an accent among other annoyances. I like integration. Any thoughts?
Guy without a name
Thursday, October 17, 2002 at 06:22:28 (PDT)
[128.210.107.101]
Well I don't necessarily agree that just because a city has a lot of Asians, it makes it great for other Asians. Some places have a lot more to offer in terms of activities, jobs, etc.
Besides, "Asians" is too broad of a term to use. I'm pretty sure a Chinese guy would not be as comfortable with the "Asians" in LBC (Cambos, Laos) as he would with "Asians" in SGV (Chinese). Futhermore, Toronto or anywhere in Ontario is waaaay too cold and Houston much too hot and muggy for a Cali boy like me.
TSJ Eric@KristinKreuk.net
Thursday, September 05, 2002 at 12:16:26 (PDT)
[209.162.48.35]
Yeah I did kind of mix up small suburban areas with big cities, but I think many of these cities do have their own identities. I think I should of put Honolulu higher on the list.
What are the worst Asian cities, well thats easy. Cities with fewer Asians or were Asians are ignored.
Im always right
Monday, September 02, 2002 at 08:31:45 (PDT)
[24.112.5.22]
-LA/OC's: Little Saigon
-LA: K-Town
-NY: Chinatown + suburbs,
-SJ/Oakland areas
-Houston
All should be on the list.
007
Friday, August 30, 2002 at 00:20:38 (PDT)
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