Ethnoburb: The New Ethnic Community in Urban America

by Wei Li

Winner of the 2009 Book Award in Social Sciences, Association for Asian American Studies

This innovative work provides a new model for the analysis of ethnic and racial settlement patterns in the United States and Canada. Ethnoburbs―suburban ethnic clusters of residential areas and business districts in large metropolitan areas―are multiracial, multiethnic, multicultural, multilingual, and often multinational communities in which one ethnic minority group has a significant concentration but does not necessarily constitute a majority. Wei Li documents the processes that have evolved with the spatial transformation of the Chinese American community of Los Angeles and that have converted the San Gabriel Valley into ethnoburbs in the latter half of the twentieth century, and she examines the opportunities and challenges that occurred as a result of these changes.

Traditional ethnic and immigrant settlements customarily take the form of either ghettos or enclaves. Thus the majority of scholarly publications and mass media covering the San Gabriel Valley has described it as a Chinatown located in Los Angeles’ suburbs. Li offers a completely different approach to understanding and analyzing this fascinating place. By conducting interviews with residents, a comparative spatial examination of census data and other statistical sources, and fieldwork―coupled with her own holistic view of the area―Li gives readers an effective and fine-tuned socio-spatial analysis of the evolution of a new type of racially defined place. The San Gabriel Valley tells a unique story, but its evolution also speaks to those experiencing a similar type of ethnic and racial conurbation. In sum, Li sheds light on processes that are shaping other present (and future) ethnically and racially diverse communities.

The concept of the ethnoburb has redefined the way geographers and other scholars think about ethnic space, place, and process. This book will contribute significantly to both theoretical and empirical studies of immigration by presenting a more intensive and thorough "take" on arguments about spatial and social processes in urban and suburban America.

Genres: Nonfiction

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that I wish I knew existed when I was a kid growing up in the San Gabriel Valley, curious about history and the past and yet completely bereft of any way to understand why my particular community looked so different from the rest of America. I distinctly remember my middle school yearbook instructor giving us an assignment to learn about the history of our city as a way to fill the time between finishing the yearbook and the end of the school year - I wish that I had something like this book then. In the course of my research, I learned that our city was officially incorporated in 1960, and I learned about the namesake of the city, but I didn't have the know-how (or the access to age-appropriate resources) to learn more about my city - the one I recognized, with multilingual signage galore and spacious Asian grocery stores, the city that my immigrant parent (and all of my friends' immigrant parents) moved to and shaped. Although I knew that my hometown wasn't always 60% Asian American, I couldn't find any information on when the first Chinese immigrants began moving to the area, and what that process looked like. As a result, my understanding of my hometown's history was incomplete, just a fuzzy, vague understanding that most of America did not look like this, and that the community I grew up with was a new one that hadn't existed even a generation or two before me.

It wasn't until college, when I left the San Gabriel Valley, that I came to understand the gaps in my understanding of my own community. Why did it take until my late teens to learn about the Chinese massacre of 1871 in downtown Los Angeles? Why was reading this book the first time I learned about the expulsion of all Chinese from Pasadena in 1885, when I practically grew up in Pasadena? Frankly, I'm angry! I had no access to my history, and there are still things about my very own community that I'm learning about in the twenties that shock and amaze me.

This book may seem simple (and indeed, it does tend to repeat itself, and perhaps could have been summarized in a long journal article rather than a stand alone book) - but it's important. I learned so much about the formation of my community by reading this, and just having access to that in the form of a book like this was important for me as a product of this specific ethnoburb.

I do have a few quibbles: this book is on the drier, academic side (lots of statistics -interesting, but not the most stimulating thing to read). I also really wish that the final portion of the book took a more in-depth look into other ethnoburbs in the United States - the subtitle of the book makes it seem like an exploration of the phenomenon of ethnoburbs, but in reality, it's a look at one specific ethnoburb: the San Gabriel Valley. It only briefly named a few other ethnoburbs in North America, and most of them were also majority Chinese. What about ethnoburbs full of African immigrants, or Latinx communities, or Indian-Americans? Do they exist? In what ways are those communities similar to the Chinese ethnoburb of the San Gabriel Valley, and it what ways are they unique? Clearly, I have more research to do on this topic...

Originally marked as to-read on April 7, 2013.

[Joe Liang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written book giving the new vocabulary of ethnoburbs to describe the suburban semi-enclave areas where many immigrants move direct to today usually without having experienced living in dense enclaves or ghettos. They are often more integrated with the local American culture rather than insular, but they vary case-to-case. This book focuses pretty much only on San Gabriel Valley in LA, California. It gives a great framework for further research on the subject though.

I needed sources on the built landscape's reflection of local cultures, and this book was mildly helpful for that. It provides great background information though.

[Diane C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

a little dated but super insightful, good theory building

[Wei Cho · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as part of my sources for my research paper on ethnic enclaves from the Monterey Park, San Gabriel, and Alhambra cities from LA county in California. it was researched thorough amd very statistically heavy. this book was great in aiding my own research. it helped me understand how and when the ethnoburbs emerged, from where do the people come from, and towards where it is headed. this is a very optimistic book in the sense that Dr. Li has a good outlook on ethnoburbs. they are not entirely ghettos or ethnic enclaves or suburbs. but a mixture of all of it. and her term ethnoburb explains itself and it's a fitting term. Dr. Li uses a lot of statistical data that is useful, like the number of professionals in the area and how has it increased throughout the years. this only points out that some ethnoburbs are becoming affluent, such as Arcadia. it is nice to have someone understand these places and write it into a book. I love Los Angeles and reading a book that I relate to so much is nostalgic and gives me a sense of pride and belonging. BTW, I was reading this book while in Berkeley where I go to school.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

You only have to read it long enough to understand what an "Ethnoburb is." Other than that, it is well researched and important to the sociology of immigration.