The New ‘Chinatown’

Bright colors and paper lanterns conjure up nostalgia for the “exotic orient.” – Photo courtesy Sgerbic (CC BY – SA 3.0)

By Roshan Perera

The name Chinatown conjures up images of pagoda style roofs, Fu Dogs or dragon statues, and bright, vibrant colored buildings lined with paper lanterns. That sort of Chinatown had a time and place, and it served a function for the community.

What happens when the Chinese immigrants are businessmen, instead of laborers, or if you are a third-generation Chinese family?

What you get is the “New Chinatown.” What you get is Valley Boulevard.

The first major influx of Chinese immigrants to the Los Angeles area can be traced back to the hiring of thousands of Chinese men from the Guangdong province in China by the Central Pacific Railroad Company in the early 1860s. These men were brought over to build the western portion of the first transcontinental railroad.

According to the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California the first Chinatown was situated near what is now Alameda Street and Cesar Chavez Avenue. In this area, the mostly male Chinese immigrant rail-builders, launderers, gardeners, and ranch hands lived and grew a community.

These Chinese immigrants faced laws prohibiting them from citizenship, which, in turn, made it impossible for them to own land. Every immigrant was a lessee, sub-lessee, or tenant to an American property owner.

Though hindered, the area grew and began to encompass the nearby streets. But without property rights, they were easy to displace when it came time to break ground for the new Union Station in 1931.

This breakup of the “Old Chinatown,” in the heart of downtown, signaled a new beginning for the Chinese in Los Angeles. Yes, the old Chinatown was gone and some elected to stay nearby in order to build a new Chinatown, but others chose to venture out. And funny enough, Valley Boulevard begins right outside the “Old Chinatown” area.

Valley Boulevard snakes its way through the lower part of the San Gabriel Valley, running through cities such as Alhambra, Rosemead, San Gabriel, and El Monte, just to name a few. Coincidentally, the U.S. Census Bureau shows that these cities have growing Asian populations. And it is not primarily immigrants that make up these communities. These communities are made up of second or third generation citizens.

We no longer have restrictions like the Chinese Exclusion Act to prohibit Chinese people from immigrating or discriminatory housing and business regulations that prohibit people of certain ethnic groups from owning property. Because of the hardships faced by early migrants, their children and those that came after them are left with a better life, with more access to the things that make our communities great.

Distinct historic neighborhoods had a function, to make new immigrants feel safe, to remind them of home. But now, we are all immigrants to some degree, especially those of us that live in Southern California. We are fortunate enough to live in a multi-cultural melting pot, where a having a sample of something new and exciting is easy. It is in your backyard, right down Valley Boulevard.

More from Arcadia Weekly