Originally Posted by sopas ej
Of course you had to pick 2 of the more "assimilated" ethnic suburban enclaves in the LA area. The Latinos who live in Whittier are one of the more pocho groups of Mexican-Americans in the LA area. And, some years ago, the Latino business owners and even the Latino city councilmembers of Whittier were anti taco truck. Whittier (and Downey) were traditionally white cities, and only became more Latino during the 1980s. Whittier and Downey were considered towns that working-class Latinos aspired to live in, and presumably, towns where they wanted/were expected to "white it up."
Diamond Bar is also a bad example of non-assimilated Asians in suburban Los Angeles. There are some Asian businesses there, but not as much as in neighboring Rowland Heights or even Hacienda Heights, and definitely you see plenty of non-assimilated Asians (mainly Chinese) in Alhambra, Rosemead, Monterey Park... In fact, there's a phenomenon of some Asians who like their hardcore Asian markets, restaurants, etc., but prefer that they go to them in the other neighboring towns where those types of businesses are already established---they don't want them in the "new, clean" area that they live in. It's almost their own form of "whitewashing."
The next time you're in the LA suburbs, all you need to do is actually get out of the car and walk around Huntington Park, Bell Gardens, Norwalk, Baldwin Park, El Monte, South El Monte, Rosemead, Monterey Park, Temple City, etc., and it's nothing like Whittier or Diamond Bar. There's nothing "apple pie/all-American" about walking into a La Michoacana Nieves Y Mas or Mian on Valley Boulevard and being greeted en español or Mandarin, respectively.
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