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work that city: chinatownprevious|next
Boston's Chinatown is the 3rd largest in the U.S. Invariably, people go "no way!", but after a moment's thought, realize that only San Francisco and NYC have larger Chinatowns. Chinatown is bordered by two major freeways, the Expressway (I-93) on the East and the Mass Turnpike (I-90) on the South. Bisecting it, there are two major medical centers: New England Medical Center and Tufts Medical Center (along with its medical school). A few blocks away are Boston Common/Gardens and Downtown. Following the completion of the transcontinental railroad, Boston's Chinatown was established around 1870 by Chinese railroad workers who immigrated primarily from Taishan (Toisan) village in the Guangdong province of Southern China. Due to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which banned the immigration of Chinese laborers to the United States, Boston's Chinatown was a bachelor community, until immigration reopened in 1965. (As late as 1940, there were only 75 women!) Chinatown is also the site of the Liberty Tree, where the Sons of Liberty convened before and during the American Revolution, and the Quincy School, the first graded multi-room school in the US in 1847. The former is now a tavern in the Combat Zone, and the latter is a Chinese Cultural and Language School. The People 1990 Census showed that residents of Chinatown were 70% Chinese (up to 85% in the core area of Chinatown), 2% Vietnamese (many more Vietnamese in the Fields Corner area in Dorchester), 1% Thai, 16% White, and 8% African-American. 55% are foreign-born Chinese. Many inhabitants speak Cantonese or Toysanese, languages of Southern China. Mandarin is the "educated," official language of China. In some quarters, there is tension between Mandarin speakers and others. 2000 update: Although we don't have the exact numbers, the Asian population in Boston has grown by 45% in the past 10 years. That number reflects in part the growing Vietnamese, Korean, and Indian populations, which all doubled within that time. Homes and work: Immigrants come first to Chinatown proper and work in low-paying service sector jobs, some working in sweatshops in Chinatown. (One such sweatshop is located in a well-kept building over Sovereign Bank in Chinatown.) After acquisition of English skills, some people land better-paying jobs and move out into Allston-Brighton, Newton, or Malden. A particularly high percentage also move to Quincy. Because of the limited space in Chinatown, families are sometimes forced to move out of Chinatown as their children get older and they need more space. However, many others choose to stay in Chinatown (especially older people) or remain trapped in low-paying employment. In Chinatown, the unemployment rate remains higher than in Boston as a whole. The Chinatown Community Assessment Report writes that "the majority of male heads of households have been employed in the restaurant industry where the typical work week has been six 10-hr days. Many fathers work until 2 or 3 am. This rigorous schedule has left little time for family interaction. With men earning only low or moderate wages… and not having health care coverage, women entered the workforce by necessity. The absence of both parents for long hours created a contradiction for the traditional family unit. Children go into day care, or remain at home for long periods of time alone." It is tricky to define the "Chinatown community" because of the large populations who commute in and out of the area daily to work - including Chinese residents who have left Chinatown but return there to work, and residents of Chinatown who wait early each weekday on the streets to catch a car ride to work outside of Chinatown. So, social services, such as local ESL classes, serve both residents inside and outside of Chinatown proper. Also, the "community" is sometimes fragmented because of the different interests of residents of Chinatown and the business-owners in the area. Education: Only 1/3 of Chinatown residents identify themselves as speaking English well. Even among the children born in the U.S., many have Chinese as their first language and speak rather poor English. Many of the children trail other Americans significantly in reading and writing skills. Chinatown and the greater Boston Asian population have many contradictions. For example, compared to the general population, Asians are simultaneously more likely to hold a graduate degree and much more likely to have never attended high school. Vietnamese population: The face of Chinatown is changing. The number of Vietnamese is growing significantly (see the intersection of Tremont and Stuart for new Vietnamese restaurants). The Chinatown Coalition (see below) recently secured a grant from the Reilly Foundation, the same folks who funded the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, to study the needs of the community. Community Residences and Organizations Housing: While in Chinatown (and in other business-filled neighborhoods) take some time to look above the street level to the stories above the restaurants and stores - you'll be looking at the apartments where many people live. Toward the southern side of Chinatown, you will also see rowhouses with multiple floors of apartments in them. Within a few blocks of each other along Tremont/Oak Street, on the South of Chiantown, are the main housing developments: Mass Pike Towers, Tai-Tung Village, and Oak Terrace. They are rented primarily by ethnic Chinese. The former two, built by the City of Boston, were built as "mini-villages" housing day care, shops, and subsidized/public apartment housing. The third was built by the Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC), which also has its offices in Oak Terrace. Community Groups: Among the numerous organizations within Chinatown are ACDC (with leaders such as Douglas Ling and Jeremy Liu), the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA, with the deeply respected longtime activist Lydia Lowe as executive director), and the Campaign to Protect Chinatown (CPC) - described in more detail on the project site info sheets. The Chinatown Coalition (TCC) is a board of advocates for Chinatown; TCC provides a well-organized, almost "corporate" umbrella organization to funnel funds and support into Chinatown and to focus grass-roots sentiments. CNC, the Chinatown Neighborhood Council (not to be confused with BCNC, the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center), is a city-organized group that often represents business or development interests; CNC and CPA have a history of tensions - Bill Moy of the CNC, for instance, says that those in CPA "try to hold down the growth in this community." The Chinatown Resident Association (CRA) - with leaders such as Henry Yee and Marie Moy (co-chairs) and Michelle Yee -- formed a few years ago to give a greater voice to the residents of Chinatown. Finally, the bilingual Sampan Newspaper provides one voice to the community - its English-language section (which, oddly, contains different articles than the Chinese-language section) often agrees with the views of Chinatown activists, although it also presents other perspectives. Quincy School: The Quincy School has one of the only two-way bilingual education programs in Massachusetts for Chinese and English in which classes are conducted 50/50 in each respective language so that (according to proponents) students develop true fluency in both. Since the passage of Question 2, Boston has also designated the Quincy school as a "language center" for Chinese where K-8 students interested in continuing bilingual education in Chinese may transfer to this school so long as they apply for waivers and they are approved. Two-way programs were exempted from Question 2 by an amendment. Community Issues and Activism: Space Much of the local activism in Chinatown centers around space. Some say that Chinatown is the victim of "geographic discrimination": it is not allowed to expand and is instead forced to become more vertical and more crowded. (More generally, neighborhoods throughout Boston face a variety of environmental justice issues.) During the urban renewal era of the 1950s and 60s, Chinatown was cut off by the two freeways that now border it, because (writes one FUP leader) "it was the only area that didn't have the political clout / representation to keep highways from going through the middle of the community." Because of Chinatown's prime location - next to Downtown Crossing and so close to the financial district - it constantly struggles with development issues. In addition, the development of Tufts and New England Medical Centers have exacerbated the squeeze for space. (Keep your eye out for them while you walk, they're hard to miss!) Perhaps to their credit, both academic institutions claim to be trying to cooperate with the community to build better relations, perhaps forging a new model of educational institution-community partnership. Individual students also try to partner with community groups - for instance, Tufts student volunteers have partnered with Asian Community Development Corporation to develop ESL materials relating to political power and Chinatown issues. Chinatown has 20 to 100 times less open space per person than any other neighborhood in Boston. In fact, only one real "playground" exists in Chinatown, next to the gate across from where Mass Pike lets out. There is 1/2 acre of open space for 5,000 residents. The highest levels of carbon monoxide and some of the city's most dangerous intersections also mark Chinatown. Four examples of past and present development battles include:
-Millennium Place and Liberty Place: These are two examples of recent condominium complexes thrust onto Chinatown with little warning. Now being built is Liberty Place, a 28-story development with 400 units of market-rate housing. Groups have been trying to fight the development and force the developments to include more affordable housing. -The Combat Zone: Located roughly near and along Washington Street between Boylston/Essex St. and Stuart/Kneeland St., this area was once rife with drug traffic, prostitution, and X-rated theaters. These activities increased in Chinatown after they were displaced from Scollay Square (where Government Center is now) in about 1974 during urban renewal. Recently, these activities have largely decreased but not fully. Prostitutes are still based in the area, and there are two strip clubs: the well-established Glass Slipper and the newly opened Centerfolds. Attitudes toward the Combat Zone are mixed: people dislike it because it is a dingy and seedy area, but at the same time it brings some business to the area. -Parcel C, now the Metropolitan: This plot of land, located on Oak Street across from Oak Terrace, was slated in the mid-1980s to become a parking garage for New England Medical Center. Chinatown residents and groups opposed the proposal and organized painting a mural on an existing wall there. The mural, which continued to stand there until recently, chronicled the history and community struggles of Boston Chinatown. Along with some community input (with ACDC as co-developer) the space is being developed; the plan includes community space, open space, elderly housing, and about 46% affordable housing. However, the development has been a source of high tension within Chinatown for several reasons. Hailed by some as an affordable housing victory, others point out that it is only "affordable" by government standards rather than for working-class Chinatown residents. Some are also angry that ACDC sold some development rights to private co-developer Edward A. Fish, saying that this allowed the development to become so high rather than fitting the community vision of a neighborhood-friendly development; others say that such decisions were necessary to make the project financially feasible. CPA has also been working to acquire a permanent home in the Metropolitan; whereas ACDC has space there, CPA does not have a space that was originally drawn into development plans, and it now claims that Edward A. Fish is overcharging them. Finally, some feel that the history of the community struggle for the land has been forgotten - at the recent grand opening, for instance, the city did not honor requests from activists at CPA and the past Parcel C struggle to speak, and speakers highlighted the role of the mayor, Edward A. Fish, and ACDC more than the past struggle. -Mass Pike Towers II: Trinity Financial planned to build a 13-story market-rate building on land next to Mass Pike Towers II. The Mass Pike Towers Tenant Association (MPTTA) opposed the plan and rallied other organizations to write letters protesting it, claiming that the plan illegally violated the terms of Trinity's past purchase of the MPT land, and arguing that the new building would harm the quality of life for MPT residents. In April, Trinity temporarily pulled back its proposal due to pressure from residents and the city. -Boston University Medical Center's National Biocontainment Laboratory: See "Boston in 2004" section for details. Although not in Chinatown, activists in Chinatown have expressed concern over the planned laboratory. -Rose Kennedy Parkway: The highway area to the east of Chinatown will be developed into a green parkway that will serve as a "gateway" to Boston, greeting people who arrive from South Station. Another important community effort in Chinatown is voter education and registration work. CPA has led an effort to dramatically increase the number of registered voters in Chinatown and other Chinese-heavy precincts such as in Mission Park, and they have worked to address voter intimidation issues in Chinatown where machine politics sometimes continues to influence elections. In 2004, Chinatown held its first City Council Candidates' Forum at the Quincy School. CPA (in conjunction with other voter groups across Boston) is currently working on educating and mobilizing residents for the local September 2004 elections and the November 2004 elections. CPA Executive Director Lydia Lowe serves on the steering committee of The New Majority, a Boston-wide coalition building power for communities of color, based on the new 2004 statistic that now more than 50% of Boston residents are of color. Some point to development fights and voter efforts as evidence that the Chinatown community is gaining political power in Boston as it is able to exercise more clout against developers and to influence elections. Culture: Restaurants, Landmarks, and Celebrations At Kneeland and Hudson St., you will see the building of the Chinatown Merchants Association. Building with a large, ornamental pagoda on top. This building was cut in two by the construction of the highway to the east. Also notice the Taiwanese flag - a political statement about China and Taiwan even though few residents of Chinatown are Taiwanese. At the east end of Beach St. facing Atlantic Ave. is the Chinatown Gate guarded by 4 stone lions. On one side of the gate are 4 characters about moral conduct; facing outward from Chinatown, the four characters read, "All people under Heaven should serve the public." -Fung Wah Bus: A cheap $10 ride between Boston and New York ($20 round-trip). Ask Cisco about the time some woman careened over to his seat on the right side of bus, explaining - "The wheels on the left side of the bus just fell off." Then ask him about the hourlong teetering wait for a Fung Wah rescue bus that followed. -Beach St. (east-west) is the main restaurant street in Chinatown (which does not make it the main street in Chinatown). FUP lore says that the cheapest, fastest meal is at Chow Chau's. China Pearl is the restaurant for Dim Sum, Cantonese-style brunch -- a fantastic outing on the weekend. Waiters wheel carts loaded with various kinds of dumplings, buns, rolls, noodles, etc. in between the tables, letting customers pick out their food as it passes by. There is tons of food and an amazing variety. All veggie FUPpies, note Buddha's Delight. -Sun Sun Market, a very small store front that opens up into a very long store. In fact, go into any of the stores - be prepared to be pressed between a crate of live crabs and an 80-year-old grandmother who knows to shove and use her elbows. Try the "Pocky" candy. -Chinese pastries and desserts are great. Check them out in many of the hole-in-the-wall joints. Recommendations include the egg custard, pork buns (these are sometimes hidden in an oven, so look closely), red bean buns, mooncakes, and rice-in-bamboo-leaves. You can also try some bubble tea in Chinatown, if Lollicup in Harvard Square doesn't do it for you. -Festivals include the New Year's Festival (typically in February - come see lion dancers and exploded cabbages), the Dragon Boat Festival on the Charles (in June), and the August Full Moon Festival (in, well, August). Chinatown Links: -Chinatown Banquet -Campaign to Protect Chinatown -Boston Chinatown Heritage Trail -PBHA Chinatown Committee Programs -City of Boston -Parcel 24 -About Parcel C previous|next |
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