Blogging Social Difference in Los Angeles: Week 7

I commented on Robyn Monroe's blog for her week 3 post.
Link here: http://newdaynewplacenewcity.blogspot.com/2012/10/blogging-social-difference-week-3-ktown.html?showComment=1353121770635#c8981669775642397357

Comment:

Hello Robyn!

I’m going to comment on your Week 3 post about Koreatown. As of now I have written about both racial enclaves and gentrification for independent blog posts. Now with this comment I am able to combine both in my discussion of KTown and its increasing population of non-Korean residents. This discussion would add an element to the structure of the enclave that you discussed in your blog post.

As you discussed in your post, Ktown is right in the heart of downtown. This is an interesting characteristic for an enclave. This location is in a diverse densely populated area and this is the reason for the change in the racial proportion of the population of the enclave. When Koreatown developed as a enclave, it was densely Korean, but as the city grew around it, the need for people to live in an area near downtown forced many students and commuters to find living arrangements in this area. Many of the residents are students from the University of Southern California who need cheaper living arrangements. Along with people who serve the many businesses in the commerce prevalent area of downtown.

While most of the notable areas and sights of Koreatown are Korean establishments, like you mentioned, it is a popular cultural hang out spot for people all over LA. This has also slightly changed the focus of commerce in the enclave to appease the needs of outside (non Korean) tourism, to allow for maximum utilization of their business.

While the societal infrastructure of this enclave has changed, it is still a predominantly Korean hub. This change in racial proportion elucidated the resilience of the Korean community, and the openness of the city of LA to mix racial identities while still maintaining the integrities of these enclaves.