Why Stockton for Asian Americans?

Stockton – a mid sized city in California’s Central Valley known for being one of the poorest, most dangerous cities on the West Coast. Whenever the name is mentioned, there is a negative connotation associated with it; being one of the most dangerous cities in California and least literate cities in the US doesn’t help its reputation either. The city also recently declared bankruptcy in 2012 which it exited later in 2015. Walking through Stockton, one can expect to see plenty of graffiti, boarded up windows, and fences around every piece of housing closer to the Southside – it’s a rather unpleasant place to be, a sentiment reflected by the decrease in population growth since 2020. Despite all these shortcomings and bad reputations, it still attracts a substantial amount of Asian residents however – in the latest census, Asian residents made up over 20% of Stockton’s demographics, being the second largest demographic after Hispanic or Latino residents. Given that Asian Americans are the wealthiest, most highly educated demographic in the US, surely they would have more options to settle elsewhere like the Bay Area or SoCal. This begs the question: why Stockton?

First, we must go through Stockton’s history to find an answer. The City of Stockton has its roots in the California Gold Rush as a location to rest and stock up on supplies before travelers reach the Bay Area. The city grew as a supply point for miners, its position near the San Joaquin River and its location as the northern terminus for the Stockton – Los Angeles Road contributed greatly to its significance. Alongside the Gold Rush came Chinese immigrants, who flocked largely to the Bay Area to search for gold. When prospects failed, these immigrants went to Stockton instead to work on railroad construction and land reclamation projects, later settling in Stockton permanently. Stockton soon became the home of the third largest Chinese community in California, with Asian residents accounting for 10% of the population by 1870 – a remarkably high rate at the time.

Stockton’s Chinatown had similar stories to those of LA’s Chinatown; following a rapid increase in Chinese immigrants, racially restrictive covenants were passed, forbidding further immigrants from entering while barring them from purchasing property. Residents faced violence and rampant discrimination, and on top of it all, urban development projects eventually tore down much of the Chinese owned buildings and establishment, displacing the residents and erasing it completely from the map. To this day, Stockton does not have an official Chinatown neighborhood unlike in LA. The area which used to be Chinatown does not have many Asian residents in it either. Compounding these events was the suburbanization of wealthier Asian immigrants towards the later 20th century, as they opted to live in places such as the Bay Area, the San Gabriel Valley, and Orange County where cities are more affluent and educational opportunities are better.

Alongside Chinatown, a Little Manila existed in the city as an ethnic enclave for Filipino agricultural workers in the 1930s. In response to the racial discrimination, the Manongs, (which is an Ilokano term given to the first born male in a Filipino family to denote respect), advocated for better working conditions on farms, better wages, and equal rights. This activism formed the first labor unions among Filipino workers in the Central Valley, which saw relative success throughout the 20th century. Although public opinion towards Filipino Americans improved following WWII, this didn’t change their reputation as being a second class citizen in a segregated America – in the 1950s-60s, much of Little Manila was destroyed as part of urban renewal projects, similarly to Chinatown. A publicly opposed freeway, now known as Crosstown Freeway, was constructed, and fast food restaurants displaced many local residents. Filipino locals who have lived here for generations suddenly found themselves having to move out.

Despite these demographic shifts, how has the Asian share of the population increased since the 1870 census? The main reason for this is that the suburbanization of immigration is largely tied to wealth – the people who can afford to live in the aforementioned areas oftentimes come from East Asian countries or India, while people from other regions of South and Southeast Asia find themselves in less amicable neighborhoods. Taking a look at the rates of immigration by country, Filipinos, Cambodians, and Vietnamese are the most populous demographics, a reflection of the city’s image of being a lower income community. Yet compared to other similar regions in the central valley, no city comes close to having the Asian population as does Stockton. So why is this the case?

Perhaps the biggest reason for this trend is Stockton’s proximity and accessibility to the Bay Area. Being serviced by the Altamont Corridor Express, a commuter train that takes residents from Stockton to Fremont and San Jose, highly educated and skilled workers can still make a livelihood in the Bay Area while living in a city that is significantly cheaper. Stockton’s other regional competitors, Sacramento and Modesto, don’t have both benefits; Sacramento, though being connected to the Bay Area through the Capital Corridor, is an affluent city in its own right and is not as affordable as Stockton. Modesto, on the other hand, is similarly cheap compared to Stockton, but does not have the benefit of having direct access to the Bay Area via rail, making it less convenient for commuter workers. These factors solidify Stockton’s status as a bedroom community for Bay Area commuters, which may work in the city’s favor as more people get priced out of the Bay Area and search for cheaper alternatives to live in.

For now, though the city has a poor reputation for being a hotbed of crime, locals and visitors can still enjoy Stockton’s Asian American History, abundant cultural diversity, numerous museums, cultural festivals, and catch a game at the Stockton Arena, home to the G-League basketball team the Stockton Kings. Besides its slew of negative rankings, Stockton is also in the “top 25 for positive momentum growth” in the US, 16th most fiscally solvent city, all the while retaining its top spot as the most diverse city in the nation. It seems things are trending in the right direction for Stockton; hopefully one day, the question will become: why not Stockton?

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