FILIPINOTOWNS / LITTLE MANILAS

Another example of a traditional enclave is Filipinotown or Little Manila. Ethnographer David Johnson10 explains that in the 1700s, Filipino sailors arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana, forming the first Little Manila and Bayou Cholas, the oldest Asian communities in the U.S. After the U.S. won control over the Philippines after the Spanish-American war, Filipino immigration to the U.S. increased and laborers came to work in agriculture in Hawaii and California. Although Filipino grocery stores, office complexes, schools and restaurants emerged in a concentrated area east of downtown Los Angeles in the 1900s, Frank Shyong of the Los Angeles Times explains that it wasn’t until 2002 that it was officially recognized as Historic Filipinotown, or HiFi11, giving the neighborhood a name and identity. At the same time, another Filipino enclave was forming 3,000 miles away in Woodside, Queens. New York based journalist Marjorie Cohen describes in an article12 for Brick Underground that Woodside’s Little Manila dates back to the 1970s, right after passage of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act. As Filipino doctors and nurses began to arrive in NYC, they settled near Elmhurst Hospital and formed a community on the strip of Roosevelt Avenue from 61st Street to 70th Street. Little Manila is home to many restaurants and mini marts.

JAPANTOWNS / LITTLE TOKYO

Like Chinatown and Little Manila, Japantowns have a long history, embedded with forces of racism and exclusion. San Francisco’s Japantown (JTown) or Nihonmachi, was created in 1906 when the number of Japanese on the U.S. mainland outnumbered Chinese. Urban Japanese businesses boomed in San Francisco and Los Angeles. However, when California passed the Alien Land Law in 1913, which prohibited “aliens ineligible for citizenship” from owning or holding long-term leases on land, Nihonmachis in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle provided space for Japanese-Americans to find housing and jobs. They became social hubs for Japanese immigrants.13

What do Japantowns look like today? JTowns can be found throughout the U.S., most notably in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Jose. The Japanese community in Los Angeles is centered near downtown and is known as Little Tokyo. This town emerged in 1886 when a former sailor, Hamanosuke “Charles Hama” Shigeta, opened Kame Restaurant on East First Street. Today, it is a neighborhood lined with old-school ramen joints and new craft breweries. Visitors can try out Daikokuya, if looking for a ramen spot, or Sushi Gen in the Arts District. Like many of the other enclaves, JTown is not only a cultural hub, but a culinary corner of the Asian-American experience.

Enclaves As Opportunity

The economic enclave is made up of ethnic entrepreneurs from newly arriving immigrant and refugee populations, such as South Asians, Koreans and refugees from Southeast Asia. Examples of these enclaves include Little Saigon in Westminster, California and Little India in Artesia, California. As these communities grow in size and attract individuals from other cities, the restaurant business flourishes.