Comments on: Asian-Americans Flock to America’s Wealthy Suburbs

By: rohin

rohin — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 23:07:36 +0000

I am still not happy that Chinese seem to outnumber Indians. CHINA= strategic enemy of USA, INDIA= friend.

Our immigrants stats should reflect that.

By: Christina

Christina — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 21:48:23 +0000

I am from Saratoga and I heard that you were interesting in the racial relations of Cupertino. I am 19 years old now and went to public school in Saratoga and I am quite familiar with Cupertino- seeing as it is only a mile away. My elementary school at one time was 80% asian and there was only 1 white boy in my 4th grade class. I would say that in general racial relations are pretty good; however, there is a definite problem with asians and driving. The stereotype really has some truth in it, in fact my neighbor was hit by an Asian woman driver who was wearing a flip down mask (to protect their face from the sun so they don’t tan). My neighbor was in a crosswalk and flew about 15 feet. It is true that the Asians are moving into the area at quite a rapid pace, this term is often coined, “the Asian Invasion”. I have had 4 neighbors who were white move away within the past ten years and everyone of those houses was bought by Asians or Indians. I do like the influence of the Asian culture very much sometimes and I even refer to myself as Asian because of the large influence our 1st and 2nd generation peers have played on us. The city is changing and Asian shopping centers are going up everywhere. In fact, In the past year our Nob Hill turned into a Maxim Market.
I would like to point out something that I didn’t hear you mention. The Asian influence in Cupertino is increasing due to one reason- the school system. Cupertino and Saratoga are two of the best public school districts in the area and probably the state. That is a huuuuuge part of why the homes are so expensive. I have heard of families buying a modest house in Cupertino and then after their kids graduate they move to Milpitas and buy a mansion (in comparison) for the same price. Thank you for the article, I was glad to see some statistics on the issue. Now that I go to college and try to explain to people exactly how large the Asian influence is they don’t believe me but now I have proof. If there are anymore questions I can answer about Cupertino or Saratoga let me know.

By: Stephen Higley

Stephen Higley — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:01:42 +0000

The Devil is in the Details, Nolladog… I grant you that a mean household income of $100,000 doesn’t mean much in the higher end of California real estate. However, if you plow through the Methodology section you’ll see that the way the Census collects data severely limits how much a household can claim for an income. For all practical purposes, no household can claim for than about $1 million in income… even Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.

I am also aware that $1 million California dollars buys a $250,000 Dallas home.

You also point out as I have on my site that the 2006-8 American Community Survey was taken pre-Bush Bubble and you are probably correct in that many of the new arrivals in the upper-middle class that tried to leverage their way “in” have probably suffered much more than the secure upper-middle class (which is overwhelmingly Non-Hispanic White).

By: ForumReader

ForumReader — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:09:34 +0000

Steve, you are right about asian americans moving to wealthy suburbs however with regards to california, many asian americans have lost wealth due to the housing bubble, additionally while cost of living depends on circumstances, given that asian americans may buy a house, $100,000 is not much at all, additionally many neighborhoods you list have income around that mark, a home that is $800,000 will eat up nearly 40% or more of that income .

Another point you failed to point out is if the home is expensive, its probably not a “Grand home” or display of material wealth. In Silicon valley $800,000 gets you a mid range 2,200 square foot home, not too bad (the housing bubble made the home more expensive), but not “Grand’.

I do commend you for touching on the topic, recently there was talk about korean american’s moving to great neck by a friend, alas, that happens to be in north heampstead, which I forgot to double check but confirms your research. I can agree with you though, in parts of Texas and other places , there may be high worth asian americans, many of them prefer to deal with cash only transactions as a cultural thing, but not all, I would say that the california suburbs need to factor in the housing costs though.

By: cynthia curran

cynthia curran — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:50:52 +0000

True, the asian growth in Ca has helped to offset the hispanic growth in terms of income. Take the city of Anaheim, now about 54 percent hispanic an only 13.8 asian. Anahem income is only 56,000. Irvine shown above is about 94,000 and is probably now closer to about 37 percent asian and about 9 percent hispanic.