Where’s Chinatown?

Chinatown, Los Angeles. Walking through there, it’s obvious that the neighborhood is struggling. With broken sidewalks, empty and abandoned stores, widespread vandalism, and a lack of commercial activity, it’s no wonder that hardly anyone walks through these streets. Though there are some cultural attractions and authentic Chinese cuisine, the region as a whole is a far cry from the ethnoburb San Gabriel Valley (SGV), where many affluent Chinese residents migrated to after the decline of Chinatown. Nowadays, Chinatown is one of the poorest regions of Los Angeles with some of the lowest median income and highest rates of poverty. Though there is some new development, the future of Chinatown is a tossup, and it is unclear if the neighborhood will prosper in the future, or wallow in poverty as it had for the past century. But how did we get here?

Located just north of Downtown Los Angeles, Chinatown was historically an important location for Chinese immigrants during the 19th century Gold Rush in the Los Angeles region. Thousands of Chinese immigrants came to Los Angeles to work on the first transcontinental railroad, settling in “Old Chinatown”, a small area consisting of just over a dozen streets in the southeast corner of today’s Chinatown. Though Chinese workers contributed heavily to the railroad industry in Southern California, such as the San Fernando Tunnel which LA’s Metrolink services run through today, their efforts were hardly rewarded. Instead, Chinese residents found themselves facing vitriolic racial discrimination and violence. In 1871, a mob of 500 people stormed Chinatown and killed around 18 people – 8 people were convicted, but those convictions were later overturned. The Chinese Massacre of 1871 would mark one of the darkest days in Chinese American history, but the violence didn’t stop there.

The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act forbade Chinese immigrants from becoming US citizens; later, the California Alien Land Law of 1913 prevented residents who were ineligible for citizenship from buying land, effectively disallowing Chinese residents to purchase land or become US citizens. Nevertheless, Old Chinatown continued to expand eastward, and the Chinese population grew as the economy shifted from agriculture to an urban economy marked by the service industry. The LAist remarked that Old Chinatown was at its peak around 1900, when it consisted of around 15 streets and 200 units across multiple buildings. However, this growth was about to come to an end with a new train station.

In the 1920s, Los Angeles residents voted for a new train station near Downtown. The new Los Angeles Union Station was constructed in the Chinatown neighborhood, and in the process, it demolished much of Old Chinatown. At the same time, the rest of Old Chinatown was demolished to make way for the 101 freeway during the 1940s and 50s. As a result, only a portion of one building from Old Chinatown remains: the Garnier Building, which houses the Chinese American Museum. Though Old Chinatown was effectively gone, the region would find a second life in a New Chinatown that brought revitalization to the area.

In 1938, New Chinatown was created by 28 people through funding from the Santa Fe Railroad. The iconic West Gate on Hill Street marked the entrance to New Chinatown, which saw increased population growth following WW2 and the end of the Chinese Exclusion Act. The neighborhood experienced renewed economic activity through cultural attractions, festivals, and the creation of Chinese owned financial institutions, such as the Cathay Bank and the East West Bank. New Chinatown found some success in the postwar era, thanks to the increase in immigration from China; however, like its predecessor, this success was not long lasting.

Going into the mid to late 20th century, Chinese immigrants began settling in other areas surrounding Los Angeles, primarily the San Gabriel Valley and more notably Monterey Park. Due to the suburbanization of Chinese immigrants, Chinatown was faced with competition from wealthier cities. The mass emigration of wealthy Chinese residents towards the SGV meant that Chinatown was left with less and less capital, residents, and economic productivity. With this continued decline, Chinatown became the region we know it as today: a diminished, broken down, isolated part of Los Angeles. However, given recent developments in the region, it may have a more positive future ahead.

In 2000, the Business Improvement District (BID) in Chinatown was voted in, which accrued the necessary funds for urban renewal projects such as graffiti removal and sidewalk sweeping. The BID was considered successful, with increased development taking place in the region. In addition, the construction of the A Line metro station in Chinatown brought further funding and investment into the region. The placement of the rail station has made the region more desirable as a place for lower rent apartments – being connected to the LA metro has made the area more accessible, especially to people who may not want to drive in Los Angeles. As a result, gentrification is primarily occurring near the eastern side of the neighborhood, closer to the light rail station. However, with this gentrification comes some downsides as well, primarily the challenge faced by the local, low income residents that have become a core part of the neighborhood demographics.

Although growth and development are preferable for the region, it did come at a cost of tearing down old, culturally relevant buildings. Alongside the increasingly gentrified eastern region of the area, recent developments have had a negative impact on the local residents, forcing them to relocate to other adjacent areas. There is high social inequality in the region, and should gentrification efforts continue, this inequality may grow in the future. Chinatown is in a period of modest growth, attempting to reclaim the importance it once had in Asian American history. However, the kind of modernist architecture being constructed in the region is taking away from the cultural importance of the region, replacing “New Chinatown” with buildings that hardly resemble anything like its namesake neighborhood.

The future of Chinatown remains uncertain; what was once a bustling center of activity for the first Chinese immigrants in the US has now been diminished to a dismal, forgotten corner of Los Angeles. Its people have moved out to wealthier regions in the SGV, and all that remains are those who are unable to, leading to a concentration of poverty in the region. Efforts to revitalize the region once more through new development has seen moderate success at best, and only in a small region of the neighborhood. If Chinatown wants to become a more desirable city in the future, it will need to heavily gentrify at the cost of its local residents. Despite struggling economically, Chinatown is still home to many cultural amenities and is a hotbed for authentic Chinese cuisine – for those unfamiliar with the region, it is definitely worth a visit.

(Photo Credit: Antoine Taveneaux licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.)