Slavic/Eastern European communities in NA

[Docere]

What is the Slavic/Eastern European presence in your city? Most Europeans who have arrived in the last 30 years or so have probably come from east side of the old iron curtain. Obviously there's wide variation between say the Parma and Cheektowaga-type "Polish American" suburbs and recent immigrants.

I get the sense that beyond the immigrant generation Slavs seem less distinctive and blend into the "white mainstream" more than say southern European groups like Italians or Greeks (or obviously Jews).

[Centropolis]

little bosnia or bevo, but the community has spread to the southern suburbs of st. louis. its supposed to be the largest population of bosnian immigrants and people of bosnian decent in the u.s. close to 100,000 now. this wave started in the 90s so is quite recent.

nytimes.com

[Steely Dan]

^ wikipedia says chicago has one of the largest bosnian populations in the US after st. louis.

apparently 40,000 refugees came here from the war in the '90s, but they were mixed into an existing bosnian community that had been here since the early 20th, so the total number gets a bit fuzzy, what with assimilation, intermarriage, and all of that.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

^ wikipedia says chicago has one of the largest bosnian populations in the US after st. louis.

apparently 40,000 refugees came here from the war in the '90s, but they were mixed into an existing bosnian community that had been here since the early 20th, so the total number gets a bit fuzzy, what with assimilation, intermarriage, and all of that.

ive also heard/seen bowling green, ky anecdotally. not sure why although the corvette plant went there from st. louis.

[Crawford]

In Metro Detroit, Slavs & Eastern Europeans mostly live on the Eastside, so mostly in Macomb County, and bordering parts of Oakland County (Troy, especially). There's also a community in some Wayne County suburbs, especially Downriver around Wyandotte and in Livonia. There's also small Russian (Jewish) community in West Bloomfield (Oakland County).

There's no significant Metro Detroit Slavic/EE immigration in recent years. The EU put an end to that. There's some Albanian and Romanian immigration, but not Slavic.

In the NY area, it's too complicated to detail, but generally speaking, you'll find Slavic/EE presence in working class white ethnic areas throughout the tri-state, and some of it will be of more recent vintage. Really sizable, visible communities are still present in Brooklyn and Queens. Places like Greenpoint, Ridgewood, Middle Village, Glendale, Maspeth. The former Soviet communities are elsewhere, but most visible in Southern Brooklyn and Central Queens.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Docere

I get the sense that beyond the immigrant generation Slavs seem less distinctive and blend into the "white mainstream" more than say southern European groups like Italians or Greeks (or obviously Jews).

for poles in chicago, that's been my experience.

after a couple generations, they're just regular old white people for the most part, though some can still get weirdly proud of their polish heritage (kinda like some "irish" folks).

what is a bit different, is that chicago still does get some immigration from poland (a drop in the bucket compared to the old days, but still there) to keep things in the polish community a tiny bit "fresher" than say for the italians or greeks, whose immigrant wells have gone dry.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

for poles in chicago, that's been my experience.

after a couple generations, they're just regular old white people for the most part, though some can still get weirdly proud of their polish heritage (kinda like some "irish" folks).

what is a bit different, is that chicago still does get some immigration from poland (a drop in the bucket compared to the old days, but still there) to keep things in the polish community a tiny bit "fresher" than say for the italians or greeks, whose immigrant wells have gone dry.

yeah, i’ve worked with younger people FROM poland in my chicago office.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

yeah, i’ve worked with younger people FROM poland in my chicago office.

yeah, i've got two friends in my wider social circle who were born in poland. both came to chicago with their families as kids back in the '80s/'90s.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

for poles in chicago, that's been my experience.

after a couple generations, they're just regular old white people for the most part, though some can still get weirdly proud of their polish heritage (kinda like some "irish" folks).

what is a bit different, is that chicago still does get some immigration from poland (a drop in the bucket compared to the old days, but still there) to keep things in the polish community a tiny bit "fresher" than say for the italians or greeks, whose immigrant wells have gone dry.

Looks like we cross-posted.

Yeah, Italian and Greek immigration pretty much completely dried up 40 or 50 years ago, so most of the immigrants are senior citizens at this point. Their cultural distinctiveness depends less on immigration as the case of Eastern Europeans I think. Irish and Poles may be a good comparison. Proud of their heritage, yes, but you only know about that heritage because they tell you.

[Docere]

I guess the difference in Chicago is that the Parma/Cheektowaga equivalents are actually filled with immigrants.

[ilcapo]

Appearantly quite alot of people with background in the former Yugoslavia (Mainly Serbs) live in the town of Juneau, Alaska.

I heard a few Serbs also stayed in New Yorks Hells Kitchen back in the days.

Also parts of Chicago and Eatonville in Toronto

[Docere]

Chicago is known for its Polish population, and Polish immigrants continued to arrive in very large numbers until very recently. Polish American enclaves have a lot of Polish immigrants still. I suspect the descendants of the earlier waves are mostly living in the collar counties and aren't particularly distinctive at this point though.

[bossabreezes]

I know you mentioned North America, but my family has some slavic roots via South America.

Brazil has millions of Polish and Ukrainian descendants. If I'm not mistaken, the largest Ukrainian diaspora in the world is in Brazil. They are sprinkled throughout the country, but have a very dominant presence in places like Curitiba and the rest of Paraná state. There are also lots of Russian descendants, including Russian mennonites in the Savannahs of Mato Grosso state (Primavera do Leste).

Personally, I have Ukrainian ancestry mixed in with a bunch of others via Rio de Janeiro. Rio has a good population of Ukrainians who fled during the War, a big percentage of who are Jewish. This is restricted to Rio mainly, as the rest of them are Catholic or Orthodox.

The slavs in metropolitan settings have fully integrated in Brazilian society, but those in rural settings/towns are still very traditional and most people are bilingual Ukrainian/Portuguese. Below is the city entrance to a town mainly of Ukrainian ancestry in Paraná.

[craigs]

San Francisco has a legacy Russian enclave in the Richmond District, but I've read that the Sacramento area has a much larger and more recent Russian/Ukrainian diaspora.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by craigs

San Francisco has a legacy Russian enclave in the Richmond District, but I've read that the Sacramento area has a much larger and more recent Russian/Ukrainian diaspora.

Not sure how “legacy” it is. I encounter Russian-speaking folks around town—especially on Muni—surprisingly often suggesting there’s still some Russian immigration.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

Not sure how “legacy” it is. I encounter Russian-speaking folks around town—especially on Muni—surprisingly often suggesting there’s still some Russian immigration.

When I lived in the Richmond District I had a Russian-American doctor. I was the only non-Russian speaker I ever saw in that whole suite. Local emigres would get all dressed up to the nines when they came to their appointments--one older lady wore a fur coat, which I had never before seen in SF. Anyway, the waiting room featured both of Northern California's Russian diaspora newspapers, which I found fascinating. That said, the last time I saw population figures, which I cannot currently confirm, Sacramento's Russian community was twice the size of San Francisco's.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by craigs

When I lived in the Richmond District I had a Russian-American doctor. I was the only non-Russian speaker I ever saw in that whole suite. Local emigres would get all dressed up to the nines when they came to their appointments--one older lady wore a fur coat, which I had never before seen in SF. Anyway, the waiting room featured both of Northern California's Russian diaspora newspapers, which I found fascinating. That said, the last time I saw population figures, which I cannot currently confirm, Sacramento's Russian community was twice the size of San Francisco's.

Sacramento indeed does have a large Eastern European community. It's where my parents drive to (from Reno) to buy goods.

[sopas ej]

Los Angeles has what seems to be a big Russian community, mainly centered in West Hollywood, though I read an article some years ago that this community has started to dwindle... I'm assuming they're moving on from West Hollywood? You still see "аптека" signs, though, and I believe there are still some Russian banyas around.

My partner and I both have worked with Russian immigrants. His Russian co-worker, she was a hoot! My Russian co-worker was nice, but she reeked.

[Segun]

You’ll find the lions share of Polish and Eastern European businesses in Chicago on the NW Side and NW suburbs.

[dave8721]

Miami's NE suburbs grow more Russian by the day though its always hard to pin down the exact population since so many are wealthy individuals who generally live part time in Russia and the US. Sunny Isles Beach is the center of the Russian community but it also extends into Aventura and Hollywood and Hallandale Beach as well.