Everyone’s favorite newspaper (and no, it ain’t the Hanky) has a piece on the sudden rise of a new Korea-town:
Atlanta, the home of CNN, Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines, is quickly emerging as a new Korean stronghold in the southern U.S. Following L.A., New York, Miami, and Virginia, Atlanta is becoming home to the next biggest Korean community.
As it turns out, many of the Koreans in Atlanta (or more accurately, the Atlantian suburb of Duluth) are secondary migrants from other parts of the US, especially L.A. and New York. So what made them decide to pull up stakes other than the chance to eat grits at the local diner; money, of course:
In New York or L.A. a four-bedroom house may cost US$700,000-800,000 — in the Atlanta area, it’s only about 300,000, and the money saved can be used to buy a store or gas station.
I also think the chance to avoid drive-bys and muggings might have also been a factor.
24 Comments
Atlanta has twice the crime rate as LA and thrice that of NYC as of 2003, so you may want to re-think that last sentence.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004902.html
Yeah, but Koreans arn’t hanging out in the crime-infested part, as they are in LA or NYC, are they? It’s not like Duluth is parked next to South Central L.A. or Jamaica, NYC.
So there is no need for rethinking.
About that chart…
I’m not one to defend Atlanta (I’ve been there a few times and it is not my favorite place on Earth.), but that chart clearly only counts areas within the city limits. The Atlanta metro area has about 4,917,717 people while the city itself has only 470,688. I think that the crime rate for the Atlanta metro area would be lower since the central city (like the central parts of many cities outside of France) has a larger share of crime.
It may have something to do with cost of living but there is a Major “white flight” taking place out in California. California is losing 20,000 US citizens a year while 170,000 Mexicans are moving in. That State is already lost and bankrupt.
There is a white flight taking place in Atlanta too, mostly to the outer suburbs though. Back in the early ’80’s, it was the Cambodians and Laotians that settled into that part of Duluth/Buford Hwy. The Koreans have pretty much taken over the entire area. One thing the article forgot the mention is all of the Korean bars, seedy kareoke joints and massage parlors in that area too. Honestly the place is a bit of a dump. There are also a couple of strip clubs in the area where the customers must go through a metal detector at the door because of past shootings and stabbings. I take the wife to the big market down there for her kimchi and shin ramen but we only go during the day time.
Well then, it seems that I was wrong about Duluth.
Atlanta is an ideal location to establish a new hub of human trafficking in the United States.
The Southwest, Northeast, and Eastern Seabord have gotten too hot as of late…time to move on to a new horizon. The authorities have been so busy trying to crack down on underage African-Americans in the Bible Belt that they have overlooked the Asian massage parlors that radiate in every direction from Atlanta along the highways every 15 miles or so, and seem to be spreading like kudzu. The sexual repression of the Bible Belt has made it an ideal market for the Koreans.
Atlanta is also an epicenter of military bases in the southeastern US, and has its own PX and commissary (Fort McPherson). This is especially useful for Ms. Joe Snuffy when he comes home from Iraq/Afghanistan to find all his assets liquidated and a new Korean extended family under his roof. The funy thing is that rather than legally divorce, they often simply arrange to separate, especially if the marriage occurred in Korea and there is no US state record of it. Although some stay close to whatever base their husband broght them to, most will choose Atlanta, especially if their parents/siblings which have been brought over from Korea see how “backwards country” the Southeast is and desire a more urban setting to remind them of the fatherland. Big-city Korean churches are also useful to conduct business transactions and arrange marriages to bachelors of pure blood.
Location, location, location! That’s the Paul Harvey of the Korean flock to Atlanta. Of course, you can always believe the Korean press if you would prefer.
Yeah, but Koreans arn’t hanging out in the crime-infested part, as they are in LA or NYC, are they?
Your misinformation about NYC would probably be difficult to overstate.
You mean, sometime in future, Georgia will be known for its kimchi instead of peach?
Peach kimchi.
What Origami said–Mexicans in L.A. used to tell me they were “taking back” California, even though it was Spain that first took Calif. from the native indians before the Mexicans arrived, but whatever. The state is going down the toilet anyway.
I heard Flushing is the (relatively) new K-Town for NYC.
TheBDF,
Are you saying that crime is evenly spread throughout NYC? If not, then WTF are you talking about?
As far as I know, Koreans and their Indian neighbors are clustered in pleasantly middle-class residential Queens, and there is a tiny Koreatown of sorts in mid-Manhattan, just blocks from the Empire State Building, not exactly seedy. I can’t imagine what that real estate is worth.
Andy
I think TheBDF was referring to the part about Koreans not living in crime-ridden areas. AFAIK, Koreans in NYC *are* a part of the crime scene… Not all of them, sure, but the Korean mafia is doing well there.
still mass emigration from Koreans. It means that Korea is not a good country. koreans are so weird. they are so arrogant, nationalistic and so on about their country and people, but then they immigrate. koreans are still weird, they are so proud of korea but buy Japanese cars and Japanese products after they immigrate and not buy their own country`s products. what the hell are koreans thinking? koreans only help Japan and not their own country. weird.. very weird…. Also, koreans need to stop littering. their country is very dirty. trash all over the place. koreans are weird. they are so proud and nationalistic of their country, but they do not make their country better. weird..
dda,
I see. Thanks.
koreans, clean up your country. stop littering. is that why koreans immigrate so much?
Flushing is the big area for Koreans in NYC, I was there this past summer and saw for myself. In L.A. Koreans with money tend to live in Orange County now. There are more Hispanics, mostly from Central America, in Koreatown nowadays. That said, the crime rate is not that high in Koreatown.
I’m originally from Oakland, California, and there’s a fantastic little Korea town sprouting up there, right next to the Chinatown. It’s mostly groceries and gimbap joints, but spans 5×5 blocks There’s the occasional bar or norebang, but no massage parlors. Most of those are in San Francisco.
In any event, slamming the high crime rate of NYC and LA is about as out of date as the movie “Colors” or an old Rush Limbaugh book from the late 80s. Atlanta has one of the highest crime rates in America. The highest is in Phoenix. The new American metros have far higher crime rates than NY or LA.
why koreans immigrate so much? not proud of korea anymore? because korea is dirty? korea is dirty because koreans do not put garbage in garbage can.
i`m Japanese. sometime my English has mistakes. like tenses.. but I hope my information makes sense.
just koreans, clean up your country. it is very dirty. why koreans in U.S.A. buy so many Japanese cars and Japanese products? thank you koreans. you koreans so proud, but have no faith in korean products and cars.. strange…
treesjess,
Cut that out.
About the crime thing,
Perhaps I am working on old information (say, 1990s) on Koreans dealing with crime, so I will accept corrections.
I know that Koreatown shifted north towards Hollywood after the LA rights destroyed many Korean businesses, but I have also heard that muggings have recently picked up in the new and improved K-town because the thugs have heard that Koreans tend to carry a lot of cash on them.
As for New York, I am operating on the assumption that the mom ‘n pop shops that many Koreans operated in relatively rough parts of town are still open. They usually did not live in the places where they kept their shops. Perhaps the Koreans have moved on and those places are now run by a new group of immigrants.
As for crime rates, using the general crime rate for a city is pretty useless. Crime is (was) a big issue for Koreans because many of them operated in or near the high-crime parts of town. I lived in DC (one of the most dangerous cities in America) for a year, walked around at night and never witness any crime (although one of my classmates was once mugged by a couple of kids). But then, I lived in Adams Morgan in the NW. The high crime zone started a few blocks to the east and got progressively worse as you got closer to the SE.
koreans, put the garbage in the garbage can. stop littering
put cigarette butts in the ash tray.
koreans, also stop cutting in line.
koreans must know what manners are.
“koreans must know what manners are”
And I have a feeling that you are just the person to teach them.
In treesjess, defense, I am in his country at this very moment and I find the Japanese to be very polite. Better food and drink as well. Sho chu is far better than the lighter fluid we drink in Korea.
And one more item, I took in the Eric Clapton show last night at the Budokan and afterwards I walked across the street to Koasumuzmis favorite shrine…….Bad expat!!!!!