The Chinese Exclusion Act was arguably the biggest influence on the formation of Chinatowns in the 1900s. These “old-timer” Chinese immigrants had a very hard time assimilating and were all but forced form their own organizations and attempt to survive in isolation. When the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed in 1943, everything began to change. Over the fifty years ending in 2010, the Chinese population in America grew at rapid rates, with almost forty percent of the 3.8 million Chinese Americans having immigrated by that time coming in the 2000s. During these fifty years Chinatowns began to appear in new places, such as Flushing and Sunset Park. The numerous Chinatowns in NYC, both new and old, each attracted specific groups of Chinese immigrants, with certain trends dating back to the 1980s. For example, the Chinese population of Flushing was of higher class than that of Sunset Park, and over the years it appears that many Fujianese have settled in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park, while immigrants from Taiwan have displayed a preference for settling in Queens, many having settled in Flushing. Were there any specific reasons why new Chinatowns formed specifically in Sunset Park, Flushing, Homecrest, etc.? That is, how coincidental were the choices of location? To follow up on that, did specific groups select one location over another as their place of settlement for any particular reasons?

I found it to be rather interesting that several decades before the Flushing’s development as a Chinatown began, Monterey Park in the San Gabriel Valley, just east of Los Angeles, began to develop into a Chinatown along a similar path. The white flight and the movement of Chinese immigrants into the area, through both migration from other parts of the respective cities and immigration to the U.S. from China, combined to yield a rapid growth in Asian population in the two neighborhoods. And yet, the two went on to become the homes of different groups of Asian immigrants, with Monterey Park housing many more Japanese Americans than Flushing, while Flushing is home to many Taiwanese. It also appears that Monterey Park had gotten more support over the years than did Flushing, and the two received funds from different groups. However, the neighborhoods are located on opposite sides of the U.S. It’s very interesting how such a phenomenon could have occurred. Perhaps seeing as Flushing and Monterey Park are both becoming overcrowded microcosms, we can conclude that the groups of Asian immigrants who inhabit the two neighborhoods, as well as other Chinatowns, have core similarities that have been just as influential in the development of the groups’ cultures as have been the numerous smaller differences.