Why doesn't West Palm Beach have more asians? Why doesn't all of Florida as a matter of fact? (Tampa: crime, employment)

[allenk893]

So I'm currently in the process of deciding what I'm going to do regarding moving to West Palm. I'm still in the process of searching for all the stores and restaurants I like and if they are around and if there's jobs. So there seems to be abundance of asian restaurants but barely any asians! What's up with that? Out of the counties of Palm Beach, I expected the most asians would reside in West Palm Beach. The city that actually has a downtown and the city the county is based off of. But I find that there's barely 3% of asians in WPB. I just recently visited GA and there were more asians in one county there than any in Florida. Gwinnett County has 7% asians!! I went to a mcdonalds in some city there and it was filled with asians! Matter of fact, it was RUN by asians! I've never seen anything like it in Florida. Why? I don't get that. What does GA have that FL doesn't that attracts asians and other nationalities there?! Surely it can't be the weather. GA has worse heat and humidity than us. With no proper beaches with coastal winds to carry into the cities. We have both the gulf and the atlantic. Not to mention our close proximity to many carribbean islands. Florida's tech industry is thriving better than GA's. Tampa is leading the state with that. And we have better universities. We have less crime I think. There's so many nice areas in FL. I don't know what it is that attracts asians to GA more than FL but it must be something magnetic. I like West Palm Beach alot. I don't know why more asians don't live there. Detroit, Philly, & Baltimore have way more crime than WPB.

[ra1007]

And, no offense to Detroit, Philly, or Baltimore, WHICH I LOVE, but more beautiful, and we are meeting the nicest people here! South Florida has such nice people! They smile in the supermarkets! They say THANK YOU! ))))

[exmbdude]

Originally Posted by allenk893

So I'm currently in the process of deciding what I'm going to do regarding moving to West Palm. I'm still in the process of searching for all the stores and restaurants I like and if they are around and if there's jobs. So there seems to be abundance of asian restaurants but barely any asians! What's up with that? Out of the counties of Palm Beach, I expected the most asians would reside in West Palm Beach. The city that actually has a downtown and the city the county is based off of. But I find that there's barely 3% of asians in WPB. I just recently visited GA and there were more asians in one county there than any in Florida. Gwinnett County has 7% asians!! I went to a mcdonalds in some city there and it was filled with asians! Matter of fact, it was RUN by asians! I've never seen anything like it in Florida. Why? I don't get that. What does GA have that FL doesn't that attracts asians and other nationalities there?! Surely it can't be the weather. GA has worse heat and humidity than us. With no proper beaches with coastal winds to carry into the cities. We have both the gulf and the atlantic. Not to mention our close proximity to many carribbean islands. Florida's tech industry is thriving better than GA's. Tampa is leading the state with that. And we have better universities. We have less crime I think. There's so many nice areas in FL. I don't know what it is that attracts asians to GA more than FL but it must be something magnetic. I like West Palm Beach alot. I don't know why more asians don't live there. Detroit, Philly, & Baltimore have way more crime than WPB.

I can't speak to all your points but people "follow the money" so to speak and perception of place often becomes a reality. I think FL has a rep as a retiree state which isn't totally unfounded. Yes, WPB and PBC has a lot of offer but it isn't economically diverse and a lot of the economy is rooted in the service industry or medicine. As to the point about IT, there isn't really much in the way of IT in PBC or further North. Granted, there are some large companies but IT isn't their primary focus but they employ a substantial staff to keep things running. The number of companies that are purely IT are very few and I think word gets around. I think GA has far more opportunities in this area - even with a distressed economy - than FL on the whole.

[Zayetz]

Gwinnett County is relatively close to Atlanta which is a huge travel and employment hub. That is going to attract more diversity. West Palm doesn't compare to the Atlanta area in that regard. And I think there is some tendency for immigrants to chose areas that already have a population of immigrants from their own country - for whatever historical reason. First generation, etc, tend to care less. Which Asian country of origin are we talking about?

[dreamofmonterey]

Originally Posted by allenk893

So I'm currently in the process of deciding what I'm going to do regarding moving to West Palm. I'm still in the process of searching for all the stores and restaurants I like and if they are around and if there's jobs. So there seems to be abundance of asian restaurants but barely any asians! What's up with that? Out of the counties of Palm Beach, I expected the most asians would reside in West Palm Beach. The city that actually has a downtown and the city the county is based off of. But I find that there's barely 3% of asians in WPB. I just recently visited GA and there were more asians in one county there than any in Florida. Gwinnett County has 7% asians!! I went to a mcdonalds in some city there and it was filled with asians! Matter of fact, it was RUN by asians! I've never seen anything like it in Florida. Why? I don't get that. What does GA have that FL doesn't that attracts asians and other nationalities there?! Surely it can't be the weather. GA has worse heat and humidity than us. With no proper beaches with coastal winds to carry into the cities. We have both the gulf and the atlantic. Not to mention our close proximity to many carribbean islands. Florida's tech industry is thriving better than GA's. Tampa is leading the state with that. And we have better universities. We have less crime I think. There's so many nice areas in FL. I don't know what it is that attracts asians to GA more than FL but it must be something magnetic. I like West Palm Beach alot. I don't know why more asians don't live there. Detroit, Philly, & Baltimore have way more crime than WPB.

In Palm Beach County and Broward to Dade County there is alot of diversity. We lived in Boca Estates (PBC) 9 years. One of our neighbors was Asian and there were alot of Thai restaurants and people moving in, which was nice since we relocated from NY.

Now in middle america, lack of diversity and culture is reason we are moving.

Personally I would never live in GA. Atlanta is not my idea of a city. Kind of like Nashville. JMO.

[TriMT7]

There was an "Indian (Asian Indian) Cultural Festival" in West Palm Beach last month or the month before. There were LOTS of Indian people in attendance... more than I thought there would be!

Let's remember that the majority of PBC is suburban or country... just because you don't see them, doesn't mean they aren't there. Actually means good integration of certain populations.

[laidbackhippie]

for some reason Lake Park seems to have a lot of Asians

[carrypositive]

There is a very large Desi and Bengali community in Palm Beach County. If you're asking why aren't there more East Asians do you know any Chinese people that can pronounce Loxahatchee or Kissimmee? (I'm kidding... or am I?)

[laidbackhippie]

Originally Posted by carrypositive

There is a very large Desi and Bengali community in Palm Beach County. If you're asking why aren't there more East Asians do you know any Chinese people that can pronounce Loxahatchee or Kissimmee? (I'm kidding... or am I?)

most Chinese (in the US and around the world) speak Chinese AND English.

That's one and a half more than most Americans.

[allenk893]

Originally Posted by carrypositive

There is a very large Desi and Bengali community in Palm Beach County. If you're asking why aren't there more East Asians do you know any Chinese people that can pronounce Loxahatchee or Kissimmee? (I'm kidding... or am I?)

Alot of you are mentioning middle easterners. I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about asians from the orient countries like China, Japan, Korea, etc. And I think you are being quite discrimitory announcing what you think chinese people can and can't pronounce. First of all, not all asians are Chinese. Second, most asian I have met know at least 3 languages compared to your average white american and third, stop grouping others into your box based on what you think you know about them. This is why we need more asians in West Palm Beach. I'm tired of close-minded people bringing nothing but xenophobia and bias to Palm Beach County.