How come we never hear much about Chinatown? (Chicago, Arlington Heights: transplants, apartment)

[Army_Guy]

all the thread here on CD Chicago and we never hear much about Chinatown good or bad. Is that a good or bad thing?

I lived there for a few years back in the 90's and the place has grown a lot the subsequent times I've visited.

[Alacran]

90% of posts are from people wanting to move here.
And everyone suggests some neighborhood along the redline north.

No one on here talks about real neighborhoods.
No one here is from "ethnic enclaves"
They see it from the outside.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by Army_Guy

all the thread here on CD Chicago and we never hear much about Chinatown good or bad. Is that a good or bad thing?

I lived there for a few years back in the 90's and the place has grown a lot the subsequent times I've visited.

There have been a number of threads about Chinatown, and I've written a pretty good number of long, descriptive posts in them.

I wouldn't say it's very frequent to come up, but it does come up.

Chinatown in Chicago is, in my opinion, not nearly as good as Chinatown in San Francisco, or in New York, but after that it's probably in the top five for the Mainland U.S. That says more about the sad state of affairs for other cities' Chinatowns than the wonders of Chicago's, however Chicago's is certainly better than any other in the Midwest, and I think it's better than Boston's, Seattle's and Portland's, too, which is pretty impressive considering those are all cities with ports on or near the ocean.

Though it's not as dense as the Manhattan or San Francisco ones, the Chinatown in Chicago is a real Chinatown with Chinese-owned restaurants, Chinese-owned non-food businesses, Chinese-focused doctors and lawyers, Chinese social service agencies, Chinese churches and, of course, lots of actual Chinese residents.

[chet everett]

The weird thing about Chinatown is that it is less "ethnic enclave" than "anachronism" at this point. There are almost certainly more folks of Chinese heritage living in western and northern suburbs, and the folks that do live in such areas are less likely to have friends / relatives in Chicago's Chinatown than in places like Vancouver, Champaign-Urbana, Chapel Hill N.C., Palo Alto or other college towns...

When it comes to folks from any Asian nations they can find unique groceries from their native lands as easily at stores in Westmont or Arlington Heights as easily they can in Chicago's Chinatown. The same is absolutely true of herbalists / traditional medical practioners, Chinese bankers, and lawyers familiar with both Hong Kong/ UK land issues and those of modern mainland China -- all of those can be found in the suburbs, probably with better parking and easier access than in Chinatown. Heck even inside Chicago the variety of shops and restaurants that have ties to immigrants from Vietnam, Korea, or Malaysia are more likely to be found on N. Broadway than along Cermack...

There are certainly some interesting spots to eat and shop in Chinatown but it has not evolved as much as other areas. Part of this is by design, as the business owners that want the area to remain a "draw" for out-of-town tourists as well as folks from within the metro region have a stake in keeping true integration / assimilation at bay.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Alacran

90% of posts are from people wanting to move here.
And everyone suggests some neighborhood along the redline north.

No one on here talks about real neighborhoods.
No one here is from "ethnic enclaves"
They see it from the outside.

If someone says, "I'm Chinese, and want to live around other Chinese people in Chicago's center for Chinese culture", then Chinatown would probably be the first response. But instead we usually get people who are like 20-nothing from Michigan and who want to move to the city to party and meet girls/guys. Or they are older ask about good schools, and that limits the neighborhood choice quite a bit as well.

[marothisu]

I suggest Chinatown sometimes. The problem with suggesting Chinatown is that it's sometimes hard to find an apartment there, but on Zillow there are some under Armour Square. There are some really nice places down there actually. Some are pretty cheap (3 bedroom, $1250/month, 1990s construction), and others are really nice and about the price of a Lincoln Park apartment but much better.

I do love Chinatown though and am there quite a bit. Not for everyone and I've had a few non-Chinese friends who have lived there. I have considered moving down there before too. As Emanthias said, it's not as good as SF or NYC, but it's probably top 5. I found it better than Honolulu's FWIW. Also, Chinatown had a survey a month or two ago about suggestions to expand Chinatown as they're making a place into 2030-ish for it. I'm not sure if the survey is still available but it's great they're doing that.

[gomexico]

How come we never hear much about Chinatown?

Why? Because people posting here aren't that interested in Chinatown.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by gomexico

Why? Because people posting here aren't that interested in Chinatown.

I wish more people were. The thing I find interesting is that Chinatown has a decent handful of restaurants open very late night, especially on the weekends, and is good food usually, but most people have no idea. It's on the f'ing red line which runs 24 hours and people still don't get down there for this. I have to admit that it's great if you're drinking in River North, Gold Coast, or South Loop and need a lot of food after for cheap. It's 10-15 minutes on the red line and you could be at a restaurant at 3am or 4am to get a big plate of Chinese food for under $9. I think Ming Hin has dim sum until 2am too, and there's another place that may have it until 6am.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by gomexico

Why? Because people posting here aren't that interested in Chinatown.

I don't think that's a fair assumption to make. The forum activity here is largely guided by people asking questions from outside Chicago.

I go to Chinatown multiple times each year, and bring the kids. We bring out of town guests. It's a lot of fun. It just doesn't come up very often on this forum because it's not a very common place for transplants to move to (unless they are Chinese immigrants).

We do get a lot of dumb generalizations about the South Side on this forum, as if it's just one large ghetto. I'll give you that.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by Army_Guy

all the thread here on CD Chicago and we never hear much about Chinatown good or bad. Is that a good or bad thing?

I lived there for a few years back in the 90's and the place has grown a lot the subsequent times I've visited.

No news is good news!