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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.
San Diego
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?

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WHAT YOU SAY

[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]

(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:56:51 PM)

"Yes, you are wrong. So i'll correct you as you asked.

If the club is "bias" over Southern vs Northern CA, then why would it show that Las Vegas NEVADA is the number one spot?"

Okay, so where is the correction? You didn't mention what city it is based in. I assume you are trying to "correct" my assumption that the Southern California Automobile Club is based in LA.

"Which city did your family run from anyway?"

Obviously, you are implying that Cute Filipino Guy is a recent immigrant, which he may or may not be, but just to let you know, Mr. Patriotic soldier boy, Filipinos have been in America long before Japanese even knew what the hell it was. And no, I'm not talking about Hawaii. I mean the mainland. Cantonese and Filipinos were the first Asians in North America.

"I agree with you that Filipino guy is right when it comes to yours and his opinion. But your opinions, standing alone, do not make it fact."

Well, I guess that makes two against one then, huh?

"The Automobile club says so."

Oh wow. Because one organization has some stats, it makes it carved in stone fact. It sounds like you have been watching too much wrestling, old timer. "... and that's the bottom line cuz Stone Cold said so!"
TSJ
Eric@KristinKreuk.net    Monday, September 09, 2002 at 23:47:38 (PDT)    [67.116.230.35]

So how come Rancho Santa Fe (San Diego) is the most expensive city to live in in the Nation if San Diego is no match for the "world stage"?

Compare that to Marin, Palo Alto, Manhattan, Beverly Hills, Georgetown (Washington DC) or the North part of Chicago. Isn't housing in New York and the Bay area the most expensive in the country?

Get a clue!

SD is still second class:

Sacramento / San Francisco
New Jersey / New York
Portland / Seattle
Tampa / Miami
San Diego / Los Angeles (HA HA HA)

Get the idea?
A Cute Filipino Guy Who Knows
   Sunday, September 08, 2002 at 23:17:59 (PDT)    [198.81.17.58]
How about San Diego, over Cebu, Olongapo, Iloilo, Pangasinan, Ilocos Norte, Cavite and Pampamgas?

Those are about the only types of cities that SD could beat out!

Ha!!! Isn't the whole point of coming to America is to have more opportunity. Thats why people leave those places outside the US.

Thats pretty funny that you try to compare SD to a small city in the Philippines. Why can't you compare it to a city that is the same size. Or why can't you compare it to another city in the US? Can you compare it to a "world class city"? Isn't SD big enough population wise? SD is second class compared to most other major cities in the US.

So are you going to tell me, that SD is better than Mobile Alabama, Jackson Miss, Billings Montana, or Omaha Nebraska? WOW What a comparison!!! Like I said...Those are the only cities that SD could beat out.

Theres a difference between first and second class. Major city and small town. Boring and exciting. Get the idea?
A Cute Filipino Guy Who Knows
   Sunday, September 08, 2002 at 23:01:43 (PDT)    [198.81.17.58]
Yes, you are wrong. So i'll correct you as you asked.

If the club is "bias" over Southern vs Northern CA, then why would it show that Las Vegas NEVADA is the number one spot?

Would that not be against their interest? Yes it would. But the fact that they showed Las Vegas as the number one destination, and as such, it is against their interest, this shows that it is not biased in favor of CA over NV let alone SD and LA.

I agree with you that Filipino guy is right when it comes to yours and his opinion. But your opinions, standing alone, do not make it fact.

The Automobile club says so.
San Diegan
   Sunday, September 08, 2002 at 12:51:01 (PDT)    [144.141.248.97]
So how come Rancho Santa Fe (San Diego) is the most expensive city to live in in the Nation if San Diego is no match for the "world stage"?

Yes, the automobile club is to be taken seriously since they are a California entity and represent the entire state INCLUDING LA and San Francisco. They would have no unterior motive to favor San Diego over LA or SF. But they did. Instead of you arguing the merits of their decision, is is easier to just say that they cannot be trusted.

Why should you be trusted in your assessment?

Here, we were talking about cities in CA. Now you want to expand nationwide as well as internationally by adding Toronto and Moscow? How far must you "reach" to try and make your point when international cities were not even discussed??!!!

Ok, lets!

How about San Diego, over Cebu, Olongapo, Iloilo, Pangasinan, Ilocos Norte, Cavite and Pampamgas?

I see no San Diegans desiring to move over to those specific cities. I wonder why? Which city did your family run from anyway?
San Diegan
   Saturday, September 07, 2002 at 08:14:40 (PDT)    [144.141.248.97]
"During this last Labor Day, the Automobile Club of Southern California reported that the first destination of choice that motorist head for is Las Vegas. Second? San Diego.

Maybe the Automobile Club can tell us why motorist prefer SD over LA."

Uhh... correct me if I'm wrong, but might the SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Automobile Club be based in... hmm, I don't know... LA?! So, why would they include their hometown as a destination? So, for a short day trip from LA, what places could they cover? Las Vegas and San Diego! What did you expect them to say? Salton Sea?!

Filipino Guy is right. San Diego is seen as nothing more than a city forever mired in the shadow of LA, much like Sacramento is to the Bay. Shoot, even Sac gets more recognition since it's the capital city of the world's 5th largest economy (info based on recent Bill Simon campaign ads).
TSJ
Eric@KristinKreuk.net    Friday, September 06, 2002 at 13:07:13 (PDT)    [209.162.48.252]

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