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Looking west from Washington Street at Grant Avenue

New “Chinatowns” in the Bay Area

Within the city of San Francisco

Because of aforementioned conditions in Chinatown, several Chinese enclaves or “new Chinatowns” have sprung up across the city. Most notable are a section of Clement Street between Arguello Boulevard & Park Presidio in the Richmond District, Irving Street between 19th Avenue and 25th Avenue, and Noriega Street between 19th Avenue and 25th Avenue; between 30th Avenue and 33rd Avenue, both in the Sunset District. Another is sprouting up in the south end of the city on San Bruno Ave. between Silver Ave and Bacon St.

Unlike in most Chinatowns in North America, ethnic Chinese refugees from Vietnam have not established businesses in San Francisco’s Chinatown district, due to high property values and rents. Instead, many Chinese-Vietnamese - as opposed to ethnic Vietnamese who tended to congregate in larger numbers in San Jose - have established a separate Vietnamese enclave on Larkin Street in the heavily working-class Tenderloin district of San Francisco, where it is now known as the city’s “Little Saigon” and not as a “Chinatown” per se. As with historic Chinatown, Little Saigon plans to construct an arch signifying its entrance, as well as directional street signs leading to the community.

Surrounding areas

Countless suburban strip mall alternatives to the original Chinatown in the city of San Francisco proper have been developed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and these are considered the most notable and provide comparative ease and conveniences to immigrant shoppers thus reducing the incentive and necessity for immigrants to go into traffic-plagued Chinatown. This is partly to be attributed to the aggressive growth of the highly popular 99 Ranch Market chain of south California in recent years and putting them in direct competition with the older established Chinatown enclaves, which have more mom-and-pop operations. Often, unlike the traditional Cantonese-speaking Chinatowns in San Francisco or Oakland as populated by mostly old-timers, Mandarin Chinese is the lingua franca of these communities.

Outside the San Francisco area, suburban Cupertino in the San Jose area has emerged the major Taiwanese cultural and retail center in the Bay Area, especially with a major shopping center titled Cupertino Village anchored by the supermarket chain 99 Ranch Market. A similar, but larger shopping center by the name of Milpitas Square, also featuring 99 Ranch Market, can be found in Milpitas, adjacent to the northeast corner of San Jose. These plazas contain variety of regional Chinese cuisine and other varied Asian cuisine restaurants (namely Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, and so on), book stores, boba tea shops, bakeries, and upscale boutiques.

A smaller Chinese commercial district lines Castro Street in the suburb of Mountain View where immigrant businesses now occupy once abandoned 1950s-era downtown storefronts. (Source: San Francisco Chronicle)

Other suburban communities in the San Francisco Bay Area with a large Chinese presence include Foster City and Daly City (also home to a large Filipino population) in San Mateo County and Fremont in Alameda County. All of these cities have Chinese-themed shopping centers anchored by 99 Ranch Market. In addition, the Warm Springs district of Fremont includes a shopping center known as “Little Taipei” anchored by Lion Supermarket. More Asian-oriented strip malls can be found in the San Francisco and Oakland working-class suburbs of Richmond, California (’Pacific East Mall anchored by 99 Ranch Market) and San Pablo (San Pablo Marketplace anchored by Shun Fat Supermarket).