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Originally Posted by the urban politician
^ Interesting...and unexpected. Cook/Chicago seems to be becoming a more recent magnet for Chinese immigration.
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Yes, a big reason is because real estate is cheaper whether downtown or in an area like West Elsdon, Bridgeport, etc. A lot of Chinese buyers for homes in areas like West Elsdon, Brighton Park, Archer Heights, etc in the last handful of years. You can get a house for pretty cheap. Or you can buy a 2 or 3 unit building and rent out too..cheaper buildings. Areas like South Loop, Streeterville, West Loop/near Pilsen, parts of River North, and also parts of Lincoln Park have seen big uptick in the Chinese population. There's actually a handful of legitimately authentic Chinese restaurants in Lincoln Park now.
The authentic Chinese food quality has become noticeably better in the last decade. There's also a massive new Chinese grocery store on Jefferson near Cermak now like you'll find on the west coast. Bunch of restaurants and housing coming there. It's a big deal for the Chinese community. New hotel coming around there too. Pretty much a major geographic expansion of Chinatown.
I've seen chatter on whether it can handle it. Quite literally Chicago is in the top 3 cities in America lately for people from China. The born in China population growth in the city proper alone will end up being around +20,000 between 2010 and mid 2020, potentially more.
Only issue of late is as crime has spiked, the reputation has gone down a little. There's a reason though why lower cost metro like Chicago and Philadelphia have increased for this population. Housing costs play a big role.