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Originally Posted by ardecila
^ I guess that goes to my question, though - how realistic is it that continued Chinese growth will accrue to the "Chinese corridor" along Archer, or will people start moving to the suburbs if they want a house and cars? I get the sense that a lot of it is driven by recent immigrants, whether poor or middle class, who want to establish a foothold in the US and save money while living cheaply. But for other immigrant groups, the place to "live cheaply" is increasingly in the suburbs, wherever there is a concentration of 1960s-1970s apartments.
For the people that are in the "Chinese corridor", those people will want a house in Naperville or Arlington Heights in a place with good schools, right? The schools in the "Chinese corridor" are... not great, to say the least.
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Based on what Marothisu is observing, and a sense that I’m getting, Chinese people even of good means are actually choosing to invest in and build homes in the “Chinese corridor”. I mean, I just don’t see a big concern about them decamping to the suburbs en masse when they reach a certain stage, as long as LL and the crew keep crime and riot related activity under control.
This is not to say there aren’t a lot of Chinese/Koreans and others out in the burbs. Even our little sprawly neighborhood in Libertyville (including our next door neighbor) has a decent number of them. They are most concentrated in the NW area like Arlington Heights, Schaumburg, etc. Probably a ton in western regions like Naperville environs as well, but those places are so damn far away that I can’t comment from personal experience.
That whole dynamic is very different from Indo-Pak people. As a whole you just aren’t seeing them take roots in the city in masse and creating a whole “Desi corridor” like the Chinese are. They may conduct commerce at Devon but the American dream is in the burbs. Even the huge growth in the central area has mostly been young techies, young couples, etc. Few are sticking around after that.
The reason is cultural. Indian cities are crowded, dirty, full of homelessness and stray dogs, etc etc. There continues to be a preference for new construction and a lot of space because of that. Hence the burb preferences.