Little Saigon Case Study

One of the great importance to the growth of Little Saigon, was the strong sense of community that was established by the Vietnamese Americans. It was likely that the socioeconomic diversity of the Vietnamese population played an instrumental role in creating such an interconnected occupational structure and enabling them to build a community. They were lumped together as downtrodden “refugees,” which masks their internal differences, such as how they escape, arrived, and the variations in their social economic status. Although as refugees, they did lack material capital, but they however came with a range of human and social capital, most notably the first wave that arrived in 1975. Nonetheless, to see such capital in action, we first have
Buchoz convinced the city council to continue issuing business licenses, to the delight of Vietnamese Americans. This was because of the fact that, during the 1980s, Vietnamese businesses in the County generated $300 million per year in annual sales. The Vietnamese rapid economic growth and its contribution to Orange County was too good for Buchoz to turn down, even at the cost of losing a White Suburbia. Even Buchoz’s successor, Chuck Smith, followed the same course. A U.S. Census data even indicated that between 1982 and 1987, the number of Vietnamese-owned businesses increased from 4,989 to 25,671, a massive 415 percent rate increase, which far exceeded the 135 percent increase in their population during the same period. No other Asian American group saw such a dramatic rise in their business sector. While under Smith’s watch, Little Saigon would soon be officially recognized and designated as a Special Tourist Zone. In June 17, 1988, at a ceremony held at Frank Jao’s Asian Garden Mall, California Gov. George Deukmejian would officially designated “Little Saigon” as a 3-square-mile business district bordered by Westminster Boulevard (north), Bolsa Avenue (south), Magnolia Street (west), and Euclid Street (east). That year, a sign designating a route to Little Saigon was
In addition, having a less educated and lower-skilled class with limited English-speaking skills that depend on the ethnic economy for employment and services, played an instrumental role in creating and sustaining Little Saigon. This range of socioeconomic classes has been crucial in stimulating the continuing growth of the community. In the end, Little Saigon became an example of a contemporary, flourishing Asian American suburb, which also lead it to becoming very influential as time went