Italian neighborhoods in North America

[Docere]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Interesting about Norridge. It's basically a Chicago neighborhood that never joined the city. I always think of it as being heavily Polish, didn't know about the Italian component.

More than 25,000 Italian immigrants went to Chicago after WWII, according to this book:

https://books.google.ca/books/about/...QC&redir_esc=y

They by-passed the old Taylor St. Little Italy and went to NW Chicago and adjacent inner suburbs.

[Xing]

Little Italy in Albuquerque is probably somewhere between the Olive Garden and Pizza Hut. Lol.

I need to start acting nicer to my new city.

[Docere]

North End, Boston:

Italian ancestry: 2,435 35.6%
Speak Italian: 374 5.6%

Little Italy, Manhattan:

Italian ancestry: 1,222 9.5%
Speak Italian: 53 0.4%

North Beach, San Francisco:

Italian ancestry: 573 4.7%
Speak Italian: 69 0.6%

While keeping in mind the limitations of small samples, this does seem to confirm my impression, having been to all three of these "Little Italys."

I wonder why Boston's has held up so well (even taking into account that Boston is probably the insular of the three, and gentrification there wasn't quite as extreme).

[Shawn]

Providence's Federal Hill often gets left out of these discussions, but it is frankly more authentically Italian than Boston's North End; the New England Italian mob was/is run out of Federal Hill, not the North End.

Boston is an IRISH-Italian-other city, whereas Providence is an ITALIAN-Portuguese-irish-other city.

[Citylover94]

I think the one in Boston stood up so well because there has been a tendency by residents there to try and sell to other Italians and keep the neighborhood Italian. I don't know for certain if that is true, but that is what I have heard from people with connections to the area.

[brickell]

NY Metro, Syracuse(?), Providence and Ft Lauderdale...


https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...-by-County.svg

[Xelebes]

Edmonton's Little Italy is a ghost. It has a street sign, a grocery store, and two or three restaurants. The diaspora has moved elsewhere, or thinned itself out after having mixed itself. And as far as I can tell, it was ever only four or six blocks, just west of Church Street and north of the New Chinatown, both of which are much more substantial. New Chinatown of course the replacement of the dilapidated deserted area in East Jasper.

[McBane]

The % of people who speak Italian is interesting but probably only tells us where the old school Italians still live. I'm guessing 2nd gen Italians aren't speaking much Italian.

In NYC, as unfashionable as it may be, Staten Island, specifically the south shore is probably the most Italian neighborhood. I recall reading that Staten Island has the highest % of Italians than any other county.

In South Philly, the bakeries and shops are spread on random corners. But even though the area immediately around the Italian Market is no longer majority Italian, there are still plenty of butchers, pasta shops, bakeries, delis, etc. in and around 9th Street. Also a sprinkling of commercial activity along Oregon and Ritner Streets. Seems like a lot of the Italians have left for Washington Township, NJ.

[blorkishdork]

To add to what McBane said, you also get people from all over the region coming to the markets on 9th street to buy the specialty items which has kept the Italian community going even tho people to live there any longer. With that said, you are seeing plenty of third and fourth generation Americans with some Italian ancestry moving to the area (including my wife). I've even met people whose dad or mom grew up in the neighborhood and they themselves have moved back after growing up in Cherry Hill or Newtown Square. So even tho the area isn't 100% Italian any more, Italian culture still plays a huge role in the area. In-fact my lunch today was mostly bought at Sarcone's Bakery and Claudio's (cheese and deli shop).

[Docere]

Originally Posted by brickell

NY Metro, Syracuse(?), Providence and Ft Lauderdale...

Utica I think.

[McBane]

Originally Posted by brickell

NY Metro, Syracuse(?), Providence and Ft Lauderdale...


https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...-by-County.svg

What the eff is "American" ancestry? I don't think, based on the geography where yellow is most prevalent, that this means Native Americans.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by Shawn

Providence's Federal Hill often gets left out of these discussions, but it is frankly more authentically Italian than Boston's North End; the New England Italian mob was/is run out of Federal Hill, not the North End.

According to this site, Federal Hill is 20% Italian (out of a population of 7000). Just 77 Italian speakers (small sample size!) Still, it's probably one of the strongest Little Italies still going though.

http://statisticalatlas.com/neighbor...-Hill/Ancestry

[Docere]

Originally Posted by McBane

What the eff is "American" ancestry? I don't think, based on the geography where yellow is most prevalent, that this means Native Americans.

White Southerners, the vast majority of British descent. English ancestry was the largest reported ancestry in 1980 at about 50 million, but it dropped nearly in half as Southern whites started, effectively, writing "I'm AMERICAN Goddamn It!" on the census.

So today German ancestry is the largest reported and a myth has developed that white Americans are mostly of German rather than British descent.

[isaidso]

Vaughan, Ontario is quite 'Italian'. 94,970 of its 286,054 residents in 2011 were classified as 'Italian', or 33.2%. Woodbridge is part of Vaughan, right? Or as locals say 'Woooood-a-bridge-a'. Little Italy on College West was the original area, then it was Corso Italia, but now Woodbridge in Vaughan is the most heavily Italian. Corso Italia on St. Clair remains important for the Italian community though.

Toronto's Corso Italia after Italy's WC win


Courtesy of torontoist


Courtesy of theallrounder

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Vaughan, Ontario is quite 'Italian'. 94,970 of its 286,054 residents in 2011 were classified as 'Italian', or 33.2%. Woodbridge is part of Vaughan, right? Or as locals say 'Woooood-a-bridge-a'.

Wow; that's a very high % over a large geography. The Canadian Staten Island or New Jersey.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Wow; that's a very high % over a large geography. The Canadian Staten Island or New Jersey.

Yep. I'm always struck by how Italian it is. And they seem to have that same accent that Italians in the NYC area have. They sound like that 'Cake Boss' guy.

[montréaliste]

You can also gauge the presence of an Italian nabe by oncoming sports bars. Walked in one the other day for an espresso, a Guy was posted at the door, opened after I rang. They had a coupla pictures of Pacino in Scarface above the bar. No other Italian biz around.

There are so many of these Italian bars that when the saturation bothers the Big fish, they blow up a few. Most of them don't serve food, just coffee, liquor and poker machines.

[memph]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Wow; that's a very high % over a large geography. The Canadian Staten Island or New Jersey.

The Woodbridge portion of Vaughan (going by the electoral district, which has about 105,000 people) is 55% Italian origin, with about 1/3 speaking Italian and 1/4 having Italian as their mother tongue.

The other parts of Vaughan are Maple, which has a good number of Italians but also Pakistanis, and Thornhill which is Jewish/Russian with relatively few Italians.

Pretty much the whole NW corridor of Toronto from Corso Italia to Glen Park, Maple Leaf, Downsview, Humberlea, Emery/Humber Heights, Woodbridge, Maple, Bolton, King Township and parts of Richmond Hill have a significant Italian presence.

[Docere]

Woodbridge, Ontario and the South Shore of Staten Island are clearly the biggest suburban Italian enclaves in North America today.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by north 42

Via Italia (Erie St.) is the "Little Italy" in Windsor, but also for Detroit. It has grown organically and is still the Italian area of the city. Lots of shops and amazing restaurants, bars and cafes.

http://viaitalia.com

Windsor might have the most thriving "Little Italy" in Canada outside Toronto/Montreal.

Interestingly the average Italian Canadian Windsorite lives closer to downtown Detroit than the average Detroit Italian American does.