The Process

National Study

I approached the national study with two questions. How many Chinatowns are in the U.S.? Did their Chinese population change over time?

To answer the first question, I was able to obtain a list of 83 identified Chinatown communities from a StoryMap article by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Then I compiled the longitudinal and latitudinal data of each community into an Excel .csv file. Using QGIS, I loaded a .shp file of the United States broken out by state from the 2016-2020 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates as well as the longitudinal and latitudinal .csv data.

To answer the second question, I retrieved historical Chinese population data between 1870 to 2010 by state from the U.S. Census and compiled the data into an Excel .csv file. Within the file, I populated it with GEOID and GEOID_Data data, the U.S. Census unique identifier across all census geographies, and I calculated the changes within the population data. Using QGIS, I loaded the change in population .csv data and joined it to the .shp file of the United States from the last step. Finally, I created and designed choropleth mapping to show the decrease and increase of the Chinese population of each state from 1870 to 2010.

Three Case Studies

I selected Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and New York City as case studies due to recent press coverage of rapid development within their Chinatowns. For each city respectively, I identified the recent drivers of rapid development: the Capital One Arena (formerly the MCI Center), a proposed 76ers arena, and a proposed 40-story jail complex.

Next, I wanted to define the borders of their Chinatowns. The issue was that even across major U.S. metropolitans, there is and has been no standard way of defining the borders of Chinatowns despite their cultural and economic impacts. The closest I could get to defining the borders was by the census tracts the Chinatowns were placed in, which could also include other non-Chinatown neighborhoods.

I used Social Explorer as the mapping program for the case studies. For each city, I drew a border of the Chinatowns, placed a pin for each driver of rapid development, and visualized U.S. Census data of the Chinese population for the years 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2010.

Final Results

National Study

There are 83 Chinatown communities across the United States identified by the National Trust for Historic Preservation based on a 2018 framework by Emily Kent and Robert Aronson. The diversity of these locations show that no two Chinatowns look the same where the current health of the communities range from thriving to having been extinct for some time. The methodology included “modern and historic newspapers, local community projects, academic journals, and oral histories” (Yee). The 83 identified Chinatowns from the National Trust for Historic Preservation pale in comparison to the National Register of Historic Places’ 19 recognized Chinatowns (Yee). This discrepancy plus the methodology highlight the lack of preservation efforts of Chinatown communities at a national level, often leaving the preservation work to local community leaders who might lack the needed resources.

When looking at the change in Chinese population by comparing the 1870 and 2010 U.S. Census, the most significant growth is seen in California (+1,100,929) and New York (+559,487) while there are decreases in Idaho (-453) and Montana (-722). As U.S. Asian population is projected to grow to 46 million by 2060, a question arises to how future increases and migration patterns in the Chinese population plus rapid development will impact Chinatowns across the country (Budiman and Ruiz). We can look at three case studies of Chinatowns that have faced or will face rapid development to glimpse at the possible challenges ahead.

Case Study #1: Washington D.C.

In 1997, a sports/entertainment complex formerly called MCI Center, now known as the Capital One Arena, opened at the cost of $200 million (Flynn). To Richard Wong, chairman of the Chinatown Service Center and a director of the 1882 Foundation, the opening of the arena was a turning point for the decline of Washington D.C.’s Chinatown. Many of its residents moved to suburban areas due to the loss of low-income housing and family-run businesses in order to make room for large developers (Kaplan). Most of the large developers ended up filing for bankruptcy because the storefronts couldn’t survive the loss of foot traffic from sporting events during the pandemic, leaving behind nearly a ghost of what once was a thriving Chinatown (Xiao).

A spatial analysis of Census data showed that the Chinese population within the census tracts of Chinatown dispersed following the opening of the arena. In 1980, the population was 693. In 1990, the population rose to 736. In 2000, the population grew to 917. In 2010, the population increased to 1,246. While there was a +79.8% increase in the population between 1980 and 2010, it became less concentrated. Focusing on Tract 58, where the arena is located, the population fell from 484 to 390 between 1980 to 2010. Some sources say that the population used to be higher in the thousands before the 1970s but further research would be needed to confirm.

Case Study #2: Philadelphia

In July 2022, the Philadelphia 76ers announced a new NBA arena, called 76 Place, that was anticipated to cost $1.3 billion (76ers PR). The proposed location would be two blocks south of the city’s Chinatown census tracts with demolition scheduled to start in 2026 and construction to finish by 2031. Citing the outcome of Washington D.C.’s Chinatown post-arena, many Philadelphian community leaders and Chinatown businesses including an advocacy group of two dozen restaurants are opposing the proposed arena. The Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation “found that 93% of business owners, 94% of residents, and 95% of visitors oppose the arena” (Griffin).

A spatial analysis of Census data showed that the Chinese population has been substantially growing within the census tracts of Chinatown. In 1980, the population was 703. In 1990, the population rose to 1,018. In 2000, the population grew to 1,289. In 2010, the population increased to 2,026. There was a +188.2% increase in the population between 1980 and 2010. The question is that given the substantial rise in the Chinese population within the area, how will the community be supported or affected if the 76ers move ahead with the plan?

Case Study #3: New York City

In 2017, former Mayor Bill de Deblasio announced a plan to replace the jail complex on Rikers Island and proposed to replace it with a network of four smaller complexes across the city except on Staten Island at an estimated cost of $8.7 billion (Poon). One of the proposed jail complexes would be a 40-story building in Chinatown, also known as a “mega jail”, which is estimated to finish construction between 2027-2028. As of this writing, if the construction were to finish at its proposed height, it would make it the tallest jail in the world. Many residents and community leaders have been protesting and urging lawmakers to divest the funds towards mental health services, affordable housing, and senior care programs (Ishak, Russell and Kung). “Chinatown remains one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city. Together with the Lower East Side, the area has a median household income of $46,000 and 26.5% of residents living in poverty…Some 2,100 units are expected to expire from various low-income housing programs between 2022 and 2027, according to the NYU Furman Center” (Poon).

A spatial analysis of Census data showed that the Chinese population has recently decreased the census tracts of Chinatown. In 1980, the population was 17,142. In 1990, the population rose to 19,226. In 2000, the population grew to 19,955. In 2010, the population dropped down to 15,591. While there was a -9.1% decrease in the population between 1980 and 2010, the drop was especially significant between 2000 to 2010 at -21.9%. What is driving the decrease in the Chinese population within the Chinatown census tracts? How would the proposed mega jail impact the Chinatown community?