Chinese American enclaves in the San Gabriel Valley
The Asian-American influx into the southwestern portion of the San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, grew rapidly when Chinese immigrants began settling in Monterey Park in the 1970s. Located just east of the city of Los Angeles, the region has achieved international prominence as a hub of overseas Chinese, or hua qiao. Although Chinese immigrants were a noteworthy presence in the establishment of Southern California from the 19th century, significant Chinese migration to suburban San Gabriel Valley coincided with a trend of white out-migration from the 1970s onward. This opened an opportunity for middle-class Asian Americans to begin settling in the San Gabriel Valley.
High property values, crime, and overcrowding in Monterey Park have contributed to a secondary movement away from that city, and the Chinese community is now spread over a cluster of cities in the San Gabriel Valley. Suburban cities in the valley besides Monterey Park with large Chinese populations, also called ethnoburbs, include Alhambra, Arcadia, Rosemead, San Marino, San Gabriel, South Pasadena, and Temple City and then eastward to Chino Hills, Diamond Bar, the City of Industry, Hacienda Heights, Rowland Heights, Walnut, and West Covina. Numerous Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Teochew, Shanghainese, and Cantonese speaking businesses have been established in these suburbs to accommodate the changing population.
History
The history of the San Gabriel Valley, like much of the American West, included Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, and south Asian settlers and pioneers in the mid-19th century. These Asian settlers worked the fields of grapes, citrus fruits, and other crops. They were also involved in the construction of early infrastructure for San Gabriel Valley. Due to the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, the 1942 internment of Japanese, and racial covenant laws, Asian economic and social assimilation were halted for many years. The only Asian cultural hubs were Chinatown and Little Tokyo in Downtown Los Angeles, though populations persisted elsewhere.In 1961, Alfred Song became the first Asian American elected to the California State Assembly, representing Monterey Park. Since the passage of the 1965 Immigration Act, there has been an influx of some 20 million Asian immigrants to the United States, many of whom settled in Monterey Park due to its close proximity to Chinatown, suburban appeal, and "superior public education" to LAUSD. This continued through the 1970s with the arrival of ethnic Chinese refugees from Vietnam, affluent waisheng ren Taiwanese, and Mainland Chinese.
While these San Gabriel neighborhoods contain prominent Chinese-language signage, these communities do not feature the Chinese-style gateways, or paifang, found in the original Chinatown. In 1988, Monterey Park passed an ordinance declaring a moratorium on new buildings, in an attempt to regulate the rapid growth the city experienced as a result of the influx of Asian immigrants. This moratorium was challenged and defeated in 1989, but it caused many Asian residents and businesses to move to the neighboring city of Alhambra, later spreading eastward to more communities.
By 1996, the population of Monterey Park was 65% Asian, primarily Chinese. Given the San Gabriel Valley's rapidly increasing population of Asian-Americans, several business districts were developed to serve their needs. By 2000, many Chinatown residents and businesses had moved to the San Gabriel Valley.
The creation of this major hub, which is a cultural center with many suburban cities, is an "Asian Pacific American phenomenon". Rather than solely being a significant Chinese American cultural center, the area is a hub of much more extensive "multigenerational and multiethnic Asian American diversity." In the 21st century, many of the ethnoburbs in the San Gabriel Valley have expanded and thrived, and are becoming increasingly diverse – as well as congested.
2023 Monterey Park mass shooting
Communities
There are several suburban Chinese-oriented ethnoburbs in Southern California, including those in the San Gabriel Valley. Unlike the official Chinatown in downtown Los Angeles, these "pocket" communities are not called "Chinatown" by the Chinese community there, but generally by the name of the city. Monterey Park has been called the "First Suburban Chinatown" due to it not being located in the downtown of a large city.The Asian communities in the San Gabriel Valley follow along a stretch of Valley Boulevard, covering the entire length of the valley, with Alhambra on the west side and Diamond Bar on the east side. Asian communities in the valley extend as far north as San Marino and Arcadia and as far south as Hacienda Heights and Rowland Heights.
San Gabriel has become a brand-name destination for Chinese tourists, especially in the business district around the San Gabriel Mall. This tourism boom is bringing about the construction of additional hotels as many Chinese tourists prefer to rent rooms in San Gabriel, even if they plan to visit typical Southern California tourist destinations.
The first generation of Chinese Americans in the area identify with 626 — the area code of much of the San Gabriel Valley. They are fluent in English but still identify with the culture of their parents. Many feel that something new has been created, such as songs mixing bits of dialect from across China with American hip-hop. The popularity of Boba, chewy tapioca pearls served in a drink of sweet tea, is a cultural touchstone of "626." Popular food festival 626 Night Market in Arcadia, California, was also named after the area code as a "mecca for the Chinese food-obsessed."
Monterey Park
From the 1970s on, Taiwanese immigrants began settling in Monterey Park and the nearby communities of Alhambra, and Rosemead. The area was not too far from the Los Angeles Chinatown commercial area and was becoming a Chinese-influenced community. This trend included affluent Chinese professionals, mostly from Taiwan. At that time, Monterey Park was being marketed by realtors in Taiwan and Hong Kong as the "Chinese Beverly Hills," to entice future investors. The crowded downtown L.A. Chinatown did not have room for the growing numbers of Chinese leaving Taiwan and Hong Kong for economic opportunities in America. Other Mandarin Chinese-speaking immigrants of the middle and working classes, from Taiwan and Mainland China, later followed. Settlement in the city picked up the pace in the 1980s, following opportunities created by the white flight from the San Gabriel Valley. Chinese shopping centers—with supermarkets serving as anchors—were developed to serve the new residents. As this unique phenomenon became known, Monterey Park was described as the "first suburban Chinatown" in North America, and was featured in Forbes magazine, Time magazine, Los Angeles Times, and The Atlantic Monthly. Monterey Park's effect on tourism in Los Angeles was featured on the "Life and Times" show on the L.A. former-PBS affiliate KCET.Image:Montereypark.jpg|thumb|left|Monterey Park, California
Little Taipei was an informal name given to the city of Monterey Park, California, in the late 1970s because of the large immigrant population from Taiwan. The city council had tried, and failed, to pass English-only sign ordinances, because of safety issues for police and fire departments. In 1985, the City Council of Monterey Park approved drafting of a proposal that would require all businesses in Monterey Park to display English language identification on business signs. According to the Monterey Park Chamber of Commerce, within the city's limits, there are more than 60 Chinese restaurants, more than 50 realty companies, several Chinese supermarkets, scores of dental, medical, accounting and legal offices, and dozens of shopping centers.
The Chinese American population in Monterey Park and San Gabriel Valley is relatively diverse in socioeconomics and region of origin, including overseas Chinese from Vietnam and Indonesia. In Monterey Park, 61.3 percent of the population is Asian American, In Alhambra, Arcadia, and San Gabriel, the Asian population was 48.91 percent, as of the 2000 census. Montebello is also included as it has had a significant Asian population for several decades after seceding from Monterey Park.