Asian Ethnoburb, Malls, and Self-Segregation

Much has been written about how San Francisco is in a doom loop, with the emptying San Francisco Centre Mall in downtown as a sad example.  Yet at the same time, another mall in San Francisco, Stonestown Galleria, is thriving in stark contrast, seemingly by transitioning to catering to Asian Americans.  One interesting take on this situation:  seeing the that most of the people there at the mall were Asian American, one writer concluded that the large Asian Americans presence in Stonestown Galleria is because of self-segregation. This article led me to think about other questions. If I am shopping in my neighborhood H-Mart or Ranch 99 or living in an Asian ethnoburb, and I am also indulging in self-segregation?  Are Asian Americans deliberately self segregating themselves or our non-Asians leaving the areas of large Asian American populations (aka “white flight”)?  I found a data-driven study by Samuel Kye that looks at these kinds of questions.

One obvious reason that Stonestown Galleria has so many Asian American shoppers is that it is in surrounded by heavily Asian American neighborhoods and schools.  Schools full of Asian Americans are close by, such as Lowell High School, San Francisco State, and the Chinese American International School.  For years, I never thought of Stonestown Galleria is being an Asian American mall, but rather as regarded it as a convenient place to stop and use the bathroom (lots of parking – unusual for San Francisco) if I was had to go and was in the area or passing through.

The nearby Asian American population doesn’t necessarily explain the near absence of non-Asian people at Stonestown.  I remember one time when I was there, I saw a white family, probably tourists, looking somewhat stunned, perhaps by the sheer “Asian-ness” of the place.  So are non-Asians scared off by this?  That’s where Samuel Kye’s paper, “The Rise of Asian Ethnoburbs: A Case of Self-Segregation?” is particularly relevant.  He found that Asian ethnoburbs in the US spring up not because Asians are seeking to move to be around other Asians – growth happens the most in white majority areas.  But once Asians become the majority in an area, then white flight starts kicking in. This analysis matches some of the previous articles on white flight that we have published, best summarized by the statement that  “Asians are only the model minority when they are a minority.”

This doesn’t mean that Asian Americans don’t self segregate?  This happens to an extent, as a student from the Silicon Valley suburb of Saratoga wrote about quite elegantly. Still, I agree with Kye’s study that most Asian Americans don’t move to an Asian Ethnoburb simply to be around other Asians.  I live in an Asian ethnoburb, and a desire to be around other Asian Americans was not on my list of motivations for moving there.

While many malls in the US are having problems, Asian American themed malls tend to be doing very well. That’s a lot better than the fate of San Francisco Centre  – my family and I used to shop there occasionally before the pandemic, it is sad to see it in its current state.   There are some signs that non-Asians are frequenting Asian American stores more often.  I have noticed this myself when going to my local H Mart.