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Cleveland's west side and inner ring suburbs have large Albanian community ~ 10-12k.
In regards to Slavic community in general, there are many throughout greater Cleveland. (Croatian, Czech, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Slovenian, Slovakian, Serbian, etc..
They have come in waves and most readily acculturate and those which have been here 3-4 generations tend to have blended in and not hold as strong to their traditions as can be expected. If they are first gen they stick to their community much closer. Albanian I met a few years back (from Shkoder) went back to homeland to find a wife. You can find most every Slavic community represented in heritage cultural centers and churches. As well as other non Slav countries.
The most recent emigres have been Ukraine (due to war), and from the Balkan nations due to 1990s conflicts. They will tend to be concentrated amidst communities: Albanians in Lakewood; Polish & Ukrainians in Parma and southwest suburbs; Russians in Mayfield / Beachwood on east side, Slovenians mostly east side, Croatians, mostly east side.
Many have readily moved on as the large scale manufacturing industries many of them were employed in (first two waves who came, pre-1900 and 1900-1938) had all but disappeared by 1970s-80s and the successive generations became better educated and have moved to where the jobs are. Pretty much standard M.O. of every ethnic group.
At one point in the 20th century, Buffalo was home to more Poles than Warsaw.
No. Even Chicago at its peak was only called the "second largest Polish population" after Warsaw, which outside the war years had over 1M people through most of the 20th Century.
I remember when I was living in Detroit in the 1970's, a big vendetta broke out among the Albanian residents, apparently from something that happened a over a hundred years ago back in Albania.
Nobody would talk to the police. They couldn't get it straightened out because everyone was afraid of talking to the cops. Who killed who? Who knows. You didn't go to the authorities......you worked it out yourself. Unfortunately, that could mean more bloodshed.
Finally, they brought an Albanian priest in from, maybe New York, to try to mediate the situation. He would only meet with the different factions if he had a sheet over his head, so his identity would be undisclosed. If one side thought he was favoring the other side, even his priesthood wouldn't protect him.
Connecticut Albanians. Went to school with one...told me ALL about it.
Most Albanians in Westchester and Connecticut got there from The Bronx... Like other ethnic groups that moved north. Connecticut shouldn't count since they are part of the NYC tri state area. Hartford is far - but its still spillover. One could argue Boston is closer - like Trenton/Philly... But still. I mean I knew people that commuted all the way up to New Haven. I know Albanians in Jacksonville, Florida - they moved there from The Bronx too - LOL. But still I don't think Connecticut can be separated from NYC.
St. Louis has a large Bosnian population. A small city nearby, Columbia, Mo, also has a large Bosnian population for a city its size.
I didn't realize Columbia had a little bit of a Bosnian population. I guess some of that population went to Mizzou, and decided to stay in Columbia? I knew St Louis had a Bosnian population, btw.
Most Albanians in Westchester and Connecticut got there from The Bronx... Like other ethnic groups that moved north. Connecticut shouldn't count since they are part of the NYC tri state area. Hartford is far - but its still spillover. One could argue Boston is closer - like Trenton/Philly... But still. I mean I knew people that commuted all the way up to New Haven. I know Albanians in Jacksonville, Florida - they moved there from The Bronx too - LOL. But still I don't think Connecticut can be separated from NYC.
This sounds like revisionist history.
Hartford isn't spillover from NYC; Hartford is/was stand-alone a major advanced manufacturing center for centuries.
Jamaicans and Puerto Ricans came here directly from those islands to work in the tobacco fields of the CT River Valley during the 1940s. (most of which was north of the city limits btw) It looks like spillover, but it's really not.
I'd have to assume the same for Albanians/Poles/Slavs, as they tend to settle in interior northeastern manufacturing areas (Buffalo, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Worcester). Boston is much closer to Hartford in every way. It is not like New Haven, which is New Haven is an hour away from Hartford and well outside of commutable distance from NYC.
Waterbury, you have more of an argument, but it's still a stand-alone manufacturing Center like Hartford. It's as much spillover from NYC as Boston is spillover from NYC. The Housatonic River enabled growth, immigration, and development way before NYC commuter trains and so on. CT developed as its own entity (well it was founded by Bostonians..) and Hartford never got wrapped up in the much later NYC cultural and infrastructure expansion due to it being much further from NYC than Trenton ... (105 miles just to the Bronx)
Last edited by BostonBornMassMade; 05-08-2024 at 09:32 AM..
Worked in a charter middle school in the Bronx, and in middle and high schools in Danbury, Stamford, Norwalk and Bridgeport, CT. Saw Albanian kids in all of them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Allthatsfit
Most Albanians in Westchester and Connecticut got there from The Bronx... Like other ethnic groups that moved north. Connecticut shouldn't count since they are part of the NYC tri state area. Hartford is far - but its still spillover. One could argue Boston is closer - like Trenton/Philly... But still. I mean I knew people that commuted all the way up to New Haven. I know Albanians in Jacksonville, Florida - they moved there from The Bronx too - LOL. But still I don't think Connecticut can be separated from NYC.
I'll half agree with this, I've seen it with other groups (Hispanics, Haitians, Jamaicans, Nigerians, etc.) in the schools I've worked in as well. But Hartford is very much it's only standalone city/metro area with minor league baseball/hockey teams and it's own set of TV stations. However a lot of people from poorer/immigrant gorups moved to Hartford from the NYC area for cheaper housing so I'll say you're right from that angle, though as someone else said decades ago their Puerto Rican and Jamaican population came there straight from the islands and not from NYC and is more about current migration.
And Hartford is 100 miles from both NYC and Boston, so it's not so much a similarity to Trenton vs Philly
Worked in a charter middle school in the Bronx, and in middle and high schools in Danbury, Stamford, Norwalk and Bridgeport, CT. Saw Albanian kids in all of them.
I'll half agree with this, I've seen it with other groups (Hispanics, Haitians, Jamaicans, Nigerians, etc.) in the schools I've worked in as well. But Hartford is very much it's only standalone city/metro area with minor league baseball/hockey teams and it's own set of TV stations. However a lot of people from poorer/immigrant gorups moved to Hartford from the NYC area for cheaper housing so I'll say you're right from that angle, though as someone else said decades ago their Puerto Rican and Jamaican population came there straight from the islands and not from NYC and is more about current migration.
And Hartford is 100 miles from both NYC and Boston, so it's not so much a similarity to Trenton vs Philly
Wow! Those were a lot of school districts...
Ironically the only reason I ever started to go up to Hartford was because of Jamaicans that I knew who moved there from NY. They didn't get there direct from the island. One a nurse and one and accountant. Both actually went to college in The Bronx and later took jobs up there. Then that is how chain migration happens. They then bring others. The nurse used to go back down at least 2 weekends a month because everyone she knew was back down... Until she recruited a few to move up there. The accountant ended up moving to Florida because he could never get used to cold.
To be clear - I don't know any Albanians in Hartford. But I would not be the least surprised if it was a similar thing. Allentown PA is almost 100 miles from NYC... Many of the Latinos did not go there directly... They are transplants from NY. A fair number (well at least before the pandemic) commuted still. I'm not saying there is a direct comparison between Allentown and Hartford - but that doesn't doesn't really mean that much.
All of New York and New England had West Indian migration from the colonial days and onward. People moving from NYC is a much more recent phenomenon and not unique really to Connecticut. It’s definitely not the source of most Jamaicans in CT- having live there for 4 years and gotten to know date and befriend many Hartford Jamaicans I know this not to be true.
If you really want to learn more about the originals of West Indians in CT, UConn has a ton of information
It’s less spill over from New York and more CT and Southern New England in general have the same climactic and topographical conditions as the New York City area and a similar industrial and immigrant based city usually around rivers (Providence River, Connecticut River, Mystic River, Housatonic River, Charles River, Merrimack River, Hudson River, East River) that supplied the energy, transit and water sources to create cities like Lowel, Waterbury, Paterson, Hartford, Providence, Fall River, Central Falls etc…
It’s not like every major NYC group is present to the same extent in CT, certain groups find certain cities and more or less skip over other ones.
https://zipatlas.com/us/city-compari...-community.htm
In the case of Albanians, funnily enough 3 of the top 10 cities for Albanians are in Massachusetts- Boston, Worcester and Quincy. Worcester being just ahead of Waterbury (but a much larger city). Hartford , Bridgeport, and Stamford dont rank though.
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