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ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
Is Orange County the Asian American Dream Come True?
o understand Orange County's unique place in the Asian American consciousness one must reconcile several seemingly conflicting images. First, Orange County has traditionally been one of the state's richest, whitest and most conservative counties. Second, it is home to UC Irvine, easily the most prestigious university in which Asians actually outnumber Whites 2-1 (54% to 28%). Third, it hosts the nation's largest Vietnamese population (145,000). Fourth, it's the home of the import-car racing craze, prompting some to dub UCI the University of Civics and Integras.
Home of the Asian American Dream?
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Stroll around Costa Mesa's South Coast Plaza, the nation's toniest shopping center, and you will question the Census figures that place the Asian/Pacific Islander American population at only 460,000 (or 15.3%) of Orange County's 3 million. The crowds of Chinese, Corean and Vietnamese shoppers will convince you it must be 30% or more. In some ways you would be correct. Demographic trends suggest the County's white population is downright geriatric and shrinking at accelerating rates. Including white Hispanics, it is nominally 64% of OC population but it fields barely 44% of public school enrollment.
The fastest growing segment of the population is Asian, with a staggering 65% growth between 1990 and 2000. Already Orange County is the sixth largest AA metro area and is headed toward the number 4 spot by the next census. For one thing Westminster's Little Saigon is the mecca for Vietnamese Americans, one of the nation's two fastest-growing Asian nationalities. In the wake of Saigon's fall in 1975 the first big wave of Vietnamese refugees and immigrants began their American lives in nearby Camp Pendleton before building Little Saigon on parcels of what were once Japanese American strawberry fields and orange groves. Today Little Saigon is easily Orange County's most spectacular ethnic enclave.
Chinese Americans are a distant second in terms of OC's Asian population, with a population of 65,000. Most are professionals who tend to meld into picture-perfect communities like Irvine (30% Asian), Anaheim Hills, Laguna Hills and even ritzy Lemon Heights and Newport Beach. Many are former LA and Bay Area residents fleeing traffic and crime. In the process they helped turn the County into Silicon Valley South.
Not far from Little Saigon is Orange County's own Koreatown stretching over a half mile along Garden Grove Boulevard. With a 60,000 strong community, Coreans are OC's third largest AA population. Like the Chinese, most lead suburban lives, whisking their kids to highly-rated schools in the hushed comfort of Benzes and oversized utes. The County also attracts significant but less visible populations of Filipino, Japanese and Indian Americans. Collectively, Asian Americans are the County's most affluent segment, buying homes valued at twice the county average.
Is Orange County the embodiment of the Asian American dream? Or is it the place where the AA identity goes to die? Or both?
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:57:57 PM)
I was born and raised in Orange County. I lived there until I departed for college. It was a slightly sheltered life but I enjoyed it and you still met a wide range of people. I do remember that it was a fairly conservative place and lot of younger folk rebelled against. Some because they were liberal at heart, others just because it was "cool". It felt like a relatively safe place crime-wise as well. I wouldn't mind moving back there but real estate prices are a bit steep.
I wouldn't call OC the embodiment of the Asian American dream. Just a very large concentration of Asians. Whether or not your Asian American identity survives there depends on you.
Slider, Chinese American
Thursday, April 04, 2002 at 01:53:20 (PST)
I'm an attorney who works in Orange County (Irvine). I can say the Asian population has grown significantly over the last few years.
Places like Westminister has large Vietnamese populations; Garden Grove, Buena Park, Fullerton have large Korean populations; Irvine has a sizable Chinese and Taiwanese population. They now have two 99 Markets in Irvine, boba places are packed with young Asians on a Friday or Saturday night.
Some say OC is boring and segregated, but I like it in OC. Relatively speaking, I think it's cleaner and safer than LA. It's a great place to raise kids, schools are good in many parts of OC, many good jobs, and pleasant weather.
OC Attorney
Wednesday, April 03, 2002 at 21:41:21 (PST)
*Shudder*...sounds like the typical upper middle class Everytown, like the one in American Beauty. I bet it looks perfect at first but wipe away the veneer of wealth and excess and you'll find a dysfunctional subculture of disaffected youth and their self-absorbed parents (like the movie). Sounds like another Columbine if you ask me! Although I must ask, how can it be the graveyard of AA identity if there's still a thriving Little Saigon and Koreatown?
You materialistic West Coast freaks!
Wednesday, April 03, 2002 at 20:11:46 (PST)
Yup, OC is probably one of the best areas to raise a family. It's quiet, clean, nice and relaxing, tech-filled, safe, with wonderful schools. It's what true luxury is. I'm here for life. I just want the place to stop building more houses and cramming more people in!
luv 'n it
Wednesday, April 03, 2002 at 12:10:07 (PST)
I wouldn't exactly call it the "home" of the import racing craze. It started in SGV, not OC.
Toi San Jai (TSJ
Eric@KristinKreuk.net
Wednesday, April 03, 2002 at 00:17:04 (PST)
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