Boston foodies are a lucky bunch. Why? Because when we crave dim sum, hot pot or ramen, there’s no need to travel farther than our very own Chinatown. Walking through the pedestrian filled streets, lined with ethnic grocery stores, bubble tea shops and dumpling cafes, you immediately feel the vibrant energy in the midst of the old and new neighborhood dichotomy.
According to The Atlantic, though, this very real authenticity might be suffering some growing pains in select cities.
Chinatowns in American cities, they say, are “gentrifying at an alarming rate.” In Boston, buyers are “turning to new developments at an unprecedented rate,” reports Curbed. And – you guessed it – many of these new luxury towers and developments happen to be in the heart of Chinatown, with more reportedly on the way.
But with an ever-increasing number of luxury condos and high-end real estate breaking ground in Chinatown, is the neighborhood losing its traditional flavor? While many Chinatown residents posit yes, other locals would disagree, arguing that growth and economic development are, in fact, good for Boston residents as a whole.
Last month The Boston Globe reported that residents of Chinatown fear that as developers capitalize on the area’s prime location and build “new luxury apartments,” they will be become “casualties of increased property values and rents.”
We talked with Carmen Chan, director of development at the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, who shared her own concerns about the neighborhood’s gentrification. Chan claims that “most people who live here in Chinatown are new immigrants. But many of them will be forced to move out to Quincy because there is so little home ownership opportunity in Chinatown.” She continues, “there’s no way these Chinatown locals can afford a luxury condo.”
Many argue that without Chinatown locals and Chinese businesses, the neighborhood could, both figuratively and literally, lose its authentic flavor.
Fortunately for Boston, more than half of the restaurants in our Chinatown are indeed, Asian. And, as The Atlantic points out, restaurants are actually a “good indicator of Chinatowns’ ability to serve local and regional Asian immigrants.” But this local restaurant landscape could even be changing due to the influx of a new, higher socioeconomic group of Boston residents.
The report also found a rather noteworthy statistic, showing that between 2000 and 2010, the Asian population in Boston’s Chinatown “dropped from 57 percent … to 46 percent.”
But where, if one exists at all, is the silver lining?
Jon Martin, vice president of Colliers International in Boston, tells us that “while there has been significant residential development in the area,” it is actually this development that is “providing potential business” for the neighborhood shops and restaurants.
He continues, “the larger restaurant community in Chinatown now has a wonderful opportunity to cater to those with slightly more disposable income, possibly providing greater sales and profits.”
Likewise, Chan also offered a positive side-effect: “The new development is a good thing … it has clearly helped to clean up the neighborhood more. And we’ve seen improved infrastructure.” Jon points to other areas of Boston like Fort Point and the South End, which similarly benefited from investment and development in the past.
“In the end,” he said, “we have to remember we live in a world class city that’s going through significant transformation and from a macro level, that is a great thing for all of us.”
What do you think … Will the business boom help or hurt Chinatown?
