From 1990 to now, the predominate race in Chinatown is Asian. Chinatown was the ideal place for Chinese immigrants to settle because they could easily find people who spoke the same language and had the same culture as them. However, the increase in real estate prices and the influx of wealthier people from the Lower East Side, as a result of gentrification, has made Chinatown a less desirable place for Chinese immigrants to live. Chinatown has become more diverse as people of other races began to move in (shown in the two bar graph). Gentrification has caused numerous residents to leave Chinatown to look for cheaper housing elsewhere. The rise of luxury condos and apartments being built and the decrease in cheap, affordable housing 
has given into an exodus of many residents. As well, the cost of living in Manhattan is often too high and hard for new immigrants coming in to afford. The majority of these residents are flocking to other little Chinatowns such as Queen’s Flushing and Brooklyn’s 8th Avenue. As pictured in the graph below, as the total number of immigrants coming into Chinatown decreases, there is an apparent increase in the total number of immigrants going into Flushing. Because of gentrification, there is also a clear increase in the percentage of Whites residing in Chinatown. By 1990, less than 10% of Chinatown’s population was white but by 2006, it had increased to almost 25%.
More evidence of an influx of wealthier people are reflected in Chinatown’s schools and real estate.
The changes in the number of people residing in Chinatown has coincided with the costs of living in Manhattan as well as immigration law and reform in other countries. Beginning in the 1980s, there was a large influx of immigrants into Chinatown due to new legislation allowing more Chinese people to leave mainland China. Because there was an already established population of Chinese immigrants in Chinatown, many of these new-coming immigrants settled here alongside family and friends. The increase of residents in Chinatown continued rising until the 2000s. Events such as the 9/11 attack and the economic recession have prompted some residents of Chinatown to leave. The 9/11 attacks made business and life in Chinatown hard, especially due to health reasons. As well, because the costs of living in Chinatown and Manhattan continue to rise, many residents simply could not afford living here. As a result and as shown in the graph above, from 2000 to 2010, there was a decline in residents in Chinatown. Many of these residents have then moved to satellite Chinatowns such as the ones in Queens (Flushing) and Brooklyn (8th Ave).
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