Pueblo / Chinatown

Chinatown in Los Angeles simply does not have the attractions of Chinatown in San Francisco. It is simply not a as walkable as its Northern California. Los Angelinos and tourists simply don’t flock to LA’s Chinatown the way they do to the Chinatown in SF. This is not to say that LA’s Chinatown doesn’t have anything to offer. If you want to experience ethnically authentic Chinese food (I am told, I have never been to China), you certainly might go to Chinatown here. There are a number of Chinese (and even some Vietnamese) restaurants. As for recommendations, here are three: Spring Street Smoke House (a BBQ, as the name indicates), and Thien Houng and Hoan Kiem, both excellent Vietnamese places.

Of course, the time to come here is Chinese New Years.

But what I am curious about is the demographics of the place. Not so much the ethnic breakdown—it is actually what you would expect with almost ¾ being Asian and the rest being mostly Latino--but the crime to poverty comparison. Here is what is really strange. Usually when you get an area where the average income is below $40K (it is only $20K in Chinatown), the rate of violent crime sky rockets. If you look at the worst crime ridden neighborhoods, about half fit this demographic (while others are like Hollywood—places where people go to party and things get out of hand). In Chinatown, however, the crime rate remains about average. (The murder rate is actually even lower, or would be, if the county jail were not included in the statistics. LA County at the eastern end of the neighborhood accounts for 5 of the 7 murders that have occurred here in the last four years with 2007 being a particularly bad year when three murders happened at the prison.)

In addition, in low income areas, you usually find an area where people get packed in large apartment complexes—a neighborhood which tends to be dense. Chinatown on the other hand has lots of homes (despite the low per capita incomes) and only an average density for LA. 9/10 residents rent here.

The explanations for these anomalies would seem to be cultural as far as I can tell. But just as I am not sure what authentic Chinese cuisine tastes like, I also don’t claim to understand why these anomalies seem to hold true here.