Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach, nicknamed “Little Odessa,” is an area distinctly known for its distinct Russian culture and large Russian population. Brighton Beach sits at the southern tip of Brooklyn, bordered by other neighborhoods of Coney Island and Manhattan Beach.
This location puts Brighton Beach right at the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, resulting in many of things the neighborhood is known for. For some people in our group, Brighton Beach was like a second home, or, a place for nostalgia. For others, it was a like a whole new world where we felt like foreigners.
When we chose to study Brighton Beach for our neighborhood project, we chose it just because some members of our group were familiar with the area and because of its distinct Russian food culture. We visited there with the intention of just studying the area and the restaurants in it. However, through our secondary and primary research on Brighton Beach and its food culture, we realized that there was more to Brighton Beach than a strong Russian culture. One of us realized that Brighton Beach was a stepping-stone for immigrants into America. One of us found that Brighton Beach was used as a medium to grow accustomed to American culture, while one of us studied how Russian culture in Brighton Beach is distinct in fusing both Russian and American culture. One of us was intrigued to study the similarities and differences between Soviet Union Russia and Brighton Beach and what exactly drew people to live in Brighton Beach. One of us also studied how Brighton Beach has become a world of its own as the food practices and the neighborhood’s Russian culture help sustain each other.
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Through both our primary and secondary research, we realized that there was more to Brighton Beach than “a strong Russian culture.” We learned that Brighton Beach is a “Little Odessa,” as it is preserved by a desire and need to re-create a culture that many immigrants left behind.
