|
|
|
|
|
GOLDSEA |
ASIAMS.NET |
ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
San Diego: Asian American Boomtown?
an Diego doesn't have much of an Asian American history. That could be one reason it may have the brightest future of any Asian American city.
Between 1992 and 2002 the area's Asian American population jumped a spectacular 44%. Its current AA population of 360,000 -- the nation's 10th largest -- is only 12% of the 3,000,000 in the San Diego metro area, but the growth trajectory remains strong due to a steady influx of Asians drawn to the area's paradisial climate and growth potential.
AA Boomtown?
|
The area's emerging prominence as the nation's biotech capitol promises to be an growth engine and a powerful magnet for ambitious young Asian Americans. La Jolla, the city's ritziest neighborhood, is home to talent incubators like the Scripps Research Institute, the nation's biggest private research organization. La Jolla is also home to UC San Diego, a top bio engineering power. It doubled its Asian enrollment from 22% of undergraduates in 1991 to 43% in 2002, nearly equal to Whites (44%). The balance is tilting toward Asians. The 2001 freshmen class is 46.5% Asian and 42% White.
The area is also attracting a disproportionate share of other growth industries like software, communications, defense and entertainment, accelerating the escalation of housing prices, not to mention its traffic congestion.
Perhaps because of its blue-sky economic climate and white-collar demographics, San Diego seems to have been hospitable to Asian success. A Corean American architect named C. W. Kim designed several prominent features of its sparkling seaside skyline, including the Emerald Plaza, the Marriott and the First National Bank building.
The city's first Asian success story was Ah Quin, a Chinese immigrant who made a name as a merchant and labor broker during the 1880s when only a few hundred mostly male Chinese made up the city's entire Asian population. Many of those early settlers came to dominate a thriving fishing industry that supplied not only San Diego but Chinese communities on both sides of the Pacific. Today all that remains to commemorate that first small wave of Asian immigrants is the Chinese Museum near Marina Park in the Gaslamp District.
The majority of Asian San Diegans arrived with the wave that began in the late 1960s. Today the city's Asian presence is most visible in the Convoy area located in a triangle formed by the I-805 to the west and Highways 52 and 163 respectively to the north and east. Convoy, Clairemont Mesa Blvd and other streets are lined with Vietnamese, Chinese, Corean, Japanese and Thai eateries, markets, pearl tea shops and business offices. Making up nearly a third of the area's Asians, and its fastest-growing Asian population, Vietnamese have established visible commercial stretches as well in the El Cajon and Mira Mesa districts.
Is San Diego an Asian American boomtown in the making? Or is it destined to become just another L.A. South?
This interactive article is closed to new input.
Discussions posted during the past year remain available for browsing.
CONTACT US
|
ADVERTISING INFO
© 1996-2013 Asian Media Group Inc
No part of the contents of this site may be reproduced without prior written permission.
|
|
|
|
WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:56:55 PM)
La Jolla,
I agree. San Diego is very segregated. The Asians are packed away in parts that are further from the Ocean. I had freinds visit and when were walking around all the main spots, they couldn't believe how homogeneously white the population is.
No, san Diego is not an Asian Boomtown.
Sardines
Wednesday, July 10, 2002 at 08:05:15 (PDT)
TSJ,
Yeah, but the Whites boys who sport the same accessories do not tell everyone that they are Hawaiian.
About you saying that you see culture, not race, that is interesting!
You said that if you went to NY, people would see that you were Californian because you did not "fit in". How can they know this until you act?
Contrast this with how you look. Say, for example, you were asleep on the flight from CA to NY and someone said that a passenger is snoring loudly. If they were asked to describe the person, you think "Oh, s/he is the Californian person sitting in the rear of the aircraft" Would that suffice?
No.
What would suffice is a description mentioning your Chinese features, We don't care if you, the Chinese person are from NY, CA, Seattle, Montreal, Hamburg, Dublin or Hong Kong. The racial description is what he all unboubted see and identify with, firsthand. "The Chinese fellow in the rear of the aircraft is snoring too loudly".
I certainly do not take it as a compliment that Filipino people want to be Hawaiian. Of course, their identity crisis is their own cross to bear. However, when that identity problem results in me being mistaken for another race, that is something I have to correct.
Once, I was in a class of 40 people, 38 whites, me and 1 Filipino person. We talked during the break and he did tell me that he was a Filipino, born in CA. Anyway, halfway through the course, the guy never came back. Then during a break, someone wondered out loud, "Hey, does anyone know where the Hawaiian guy went anyway?" I said, "I am right here", the guy responded, "No, i mean the Hawaiian, guy, you are Samoan, right?" I said, "No, who told you that"? He said that the "Hawaiian" guy told him that he was Hawaiian and that I was Samoan.
There is nothing wrong with being Samoan. And there is nothing wrong with being Filipino. So before I am asked if I was insulted be being taken for a Samoan (I was not), the question needs to be asked, was it insulting to be Filipino in the first place?
San Diegan
Monday, July 08, 2002 at 17:56:32 (PDT)
"2. Cars owned by Filipino youth are easily recognizable. They have Hawaiian print care seat covers and a Hawaiian War helmet hanging from the rear view mirror.
3. Young Filipino people love to wear Hawaiian puka shell necklaces. They even wear kukui nut leis with sportswear (In Hawaii, such leis are worn at weddings, graduations, etc, not in the gym). Once, some guy was wearing one in the gym. I asked him where did he get it from because that same lei can be bought at the Manila store for 4 dollars. He immediately took it off."
Hahaha... you are so right about this. I think it goes for all races though. I see white boys with the war helmets on their rear views too. However, isn't that a Filipino thing too? How about those "buff guy" t-shirts that everyone wears? They have some that say Tongan, Hawaiian, Samoan, Filipino, etc., and all have that war helmet symbol on it.
The necklaces are just a fashion accessory though. It's the same as Chinese dragon tattoos. I'm Chinese, and born in the year of the dragon, but because they are so played out, I never got a dragon tat. People who are obviously not Chinese put them on just to look cool. Put it this way... take it as a compliment that soooo many people wish they were you. All these white boys and black guys thinking they are Bruce Lee only makes Chinese people look better.
"A Californian, a Texan and a Floridian are examples of people who reside in those states without regard to race."
Yeah, but each state has it's own distinct culture, even though the races may not be the same. If I went to NYC, people would recognize me as being from CA because I would not fit in. Texas people stand out from the crowd too. When I look at people, I see their CULTURE, not their RACE. For instance, a 943543234th generation Chinese American who can't speak a lick of Chinese is no more Chinese than the country white boy down on the farm.
Here in Norcal, it's pretty easy to differentiate the pure Hawaiians from Filipinos. Hawaiians have more of a golden brown tan, as opposed to the more dull dark look of Filipinos. Cambodians and Indonesians have an even darker, duller look.
TSJ
Eric@KristinKreuk.net
Sunday, July 07, 2002 at 18:02:22 (PDT)
NEWEST COMMENTS |
EARLIER COMMENTS
|