Chinatowns shrinking across the U.S., including in Philadelphia

Recent threats to some of the nation’s oldest Chinatowns — including ours — have raised concerns about displacement for Asian Americans as cities gentrify and look to maximize profit in their downtown centers.

Why it matters: Chinatowns have served as an ethnic and cultural marker since Chinese immigrants first arrived. Many Asian Americans see the neighborhoods as both a symbol of their resilience and a place of protection after anti-Asian hate.

Driving the news: The 76ers’ proposal to erect a new NBA arena on the southern border of Chinatown is the latest effort affecting a community that has long resisted large commercial enterprises.

• The neighborhood is split over the proposal.
• Proponents say an arena would stimulate the economy and create more jobs. Opponents argue it would hurt the neighborhood, increase traffic and displace long-time residents.

Of note: In Philly's Chinatown, the share of the overall population who is Asian has declined by 15% over the last three decades, according to census data.

What they’re saying: Xu Lin, who grew up there and co-owns the restaurant Bubblefish, two blocks from the proposed arena site, told Axios’ Shawna Chen that locals are concerned not only about the community’s safety from increased crowds, but also about the impact on businesses.

• He pointed to D.C.’s Capital One Arena, which largely forced Chinese residents and businesses out of that city’s Chinatown, as a cautionary tale. The neighborhood lost 41% of its Asian population between 1990 and 2020.
• “Every time a big project comes in and threatens our livelihood, we lose a part of our community, and then also the possibility of growing,” Lin said.

The big picture: Like many other marginalized communities, the Chinese immigrants who first came to the U.S. in the 1700s and 1800s faced hostility, segregation and exclusion.

• Chinatowns were both “an outcome of racism as well as a place for the community to gather,” Ian Shin, Asian American studies professor at the University of Michigan, told Axios.
• As the neighborhoods began to flourish into the 20th century, they also became sites of organizing and activism. Those “dueling forces” allowed Chinese Americans to see their community “as a source of strength and a source of pride,” Shin said.

Go deeper: Read about threats to San Francisco’s Chinatown, the country’s oldest

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that what has declined by 15% in Philly’s Chinatown is the share of the population that is Asian (not the Asian population itself).