Italian neighborhoods in North America

[dc_denizen]

back around 1950, the prime minister of Italy pleaded with the US sec of state to allow more immigration into the US. To solve the population bomb in that country.

[dc_denizen]

I would not want to be young and jobless in Italy. the US can offer plenty of work.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by mousquet

Otherwise, you won't see any more Italian immigrants to your country, 'murikans.

Well the main reason you won't see a lot of Italian immigration to the U.S. is because they can't immigrate. Since the 1965 immigration reform act it's quite difficult for Europeans to immigrate to the U.S., while Italians can obviously move almost anywhere within Schengen almost the same as moving within Italy.

So even if the U.S. loosened immigration rules, and even if the Italian economy fell further, it isn't likely that Italians would be streaming to the U.S. They would probably go to economically healthy nearby places like Germany, which already has a very large Italian migrant population.

[Docere]

There was a 1950-1975 wave that was in many respects a continuation of the early 20th century wave (mostly southerners and with low levels of education) and heavily skewed towards the New York area. They settled in Italian neighborhoods and helped reinvigorate Italian life in the US from a total meltdown.

Since the 1980s the trickle that have come have mostly been affluent, highly educated professionals from the urban north who likely don't relate much to the Italian American community.

[brickell]

http://migrationsmap.net/#/ITA/departures

[Lipani]

Originally Posted by mousquet

Their northern provinces are productive and wealthy enough

Not for younger Italians. London's Italian population has exploded over the last few years, the majority of whom are from Milan, Veneto or Rome.

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by Lipani

Not for younger Italians. London's Italian population has exploded over the last few years, the majority of whom are from Milan, Veneto or Rome.

Yes, well can we be serious here for a minute? The whole of northern Italy hasn't all moved to London as far as I know. London attracts specialists of all kinds in great numbers; the Arts and Finance, Management, Media and Education among others will continue to bring in people from rich and poor countries. Nothing to ring a bell about.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

either im lazy or missed the stats...i wonder what toronto and montreal look like? one of them is probably a sleeper and blows boston or whatever out of the water. who knows.

Montreal has about 265,000 people of Italian origin. About 60,000 were born in Italy.

Toronto has about 475,000. About 125,000 of them were born in Italy.

[Lipani]

Originally Posted by montréaliste

Yes, well can we be serious here for a minute? The whole of northern Italy hasn't all moved to London as far as I know. London attracts specialists of all kinds in great numbers; the Arts and Finance, Management, Media and Education among others will continue to bring in people from rich and poor countries. Nothing to ring a bell about.

You're greatly exaggerating my post. I never said all of northern Italy is moving to London. Italy's brain drain is very well-documented and London is a natural destination due to the numerous opportunities in the city. To simply dismiss hundreds of thousands of highly educated Italians leaving the country as "nothing to ring a bell about" shows how ignorant you are on the subject.

[SPonteK]

Originally Posted by Lipani

Northern Italian immigration to America tends to be greatly overlooked. They outnumbered Southern Italians in San Francisco and that might be partly why there's not a bigger discussion on their communities in the city.

I believe St Louis' Italian population was largely (or at least significantly) Northern Italian as well. My moms family is from Lombardia, and they always complain about the Sicilians in KC.

[mousquet]

I really wouldn't offend anyone here. Those who know about my kind of posts also know I'm a faithful supporter of the US. It's not like I would ever be any stinky anti-American butthole.

We're just a bit tired of the sometimes patronizing tone of the English-speakers to us. And I certainly couldn't disconnect France from Italy since our countries are widely similar culturally speaking. They are our next door neighbors, right?

Yes, we know northern Europe is doing better than we are and that Germany's ruling the EU. We're being told every day. And we're aware of our problems, like some sort of addiction to excessive state welfare and regulations that won't do it in this globalized free market.

But really, implying that today's Italy would be some kind of impoverished country that people would leave for NA is a mere joke. It's just untrue, and that is actually offensive.

@Lipani, same issue over both Spain and France. The youth is struggling to get their decent lives in our countries, which is an obvious and major issue to be urgently addressed. The Italian labor laws were actually reformed recently. They are now a bit more flexible and should allow youngsters to access the job market more comfortably.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by s.davis

I believe St Louis' Italian population was largely (or at least significantly) Northern Italian as well. My moms family is from Lombardia, and they always complain about the Sicilians in KC.

yeah, i always thought that too, but sometimes i'll stumble across "nonna's" this or that. but i had heard that they were largely from around milan. i don't know. i remember seeing pictures of immigrants and their final destinations at ellis island once, including laborers heading to st. louis from that area i think.

[Lipani]

Originally Posted by s.davis

I believe St Louis' Italian population was largely (or at least significantly) Northern Italian as well. My moms family is from Lombardia, and they always complain about the Sicilians in KC.

What's interesting is that northerners were the first Italians to immigrate to America.

[mousquet]

Here we go again, deadly disconnection between north and south. That's as old as the decadence and the fall of the Roman Empire.

It happened to myself to bear a Roman first name, so they taught the crap to me.

Originally Posted by Centropolis

yeah, i always thought that too, but sometimes i'll stumble across "nonna's" this or that. but i had heard that they were largely from around milan. i don't know. i remember seeing pictures of immigrants and their final destinations at ellis island once, including laborers heading to st. louis from that area i think.

My nonna is from Rome, but she didn't immigrate per se. She met my grandfather during WW2 and came back to St. Louis with him. They moved around a number of times between north and south St. Louis but never lived on the Hill.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by isaidso

In Canada, it's francophones in Quebec that put down 'Canadian' on the census. Anglophone Canadians are far more likely to still associate themselves with the country of their ancestry, be it Chinese, German, Italian, etc. With all the talk of Quebec separatism over the last 3 decades you'd think the Quebecois would be the last in Canada to write down 'Canadian'.

I

It's worth noting that Québécois who are doing this are checking off "Canadien" and not "Canadian".

This isn't really what they have in mind:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNRlcjz3acU

Or even this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRI-A3vakVg

[johnnypd]

Originally Posted by montréaliste

Yes, well can we be serious here for a minute? The whole of northern Italy hasn't all moved to London as far as I know. London attracts specialists of all kinds in great numbers; the Arts and Finance, Management, Media and Education among others will continue to bring in people from rich and poor countries. Nothing to ring a bell about.

Around 200,000 migrants from Spain, Portugal and Italy have moved to the UK in the past five or six years. While London does indeed attract specialists in all fields the ones from Southern Europe arriving more recently tend to be the young and unemployed who are more likely to fill low paid positions such as waiters, bartenders, shop assistants and so on. Not specialists. Italy is now the third most popular country of origin for EU migrants moving to the UK after Poland and Romania. Similar numbers of Italians are moving to Germany as well.

[Docere]

Interesting concept:

http://www.cityspoonful.com/enoteca-maria/

[Docere]

While the postwar Italians in Canada went mostly to Toronto and Montreal, a lot of early 20th century Italian immigrants to Canada worked in the mining industry in northern Ontario and to a lesser extent Cape Breton and parts of the BC interior.

Here's an article about Copper Cliff, now part of Sudbury, but for a long time a one industry town with a major Italian presence:

http://www.thesudburystar.com/2012/0...t-little-italy

The Italian Club still holds on today, but I haven't been to Copper Cliff so I can't attest to what it's like.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by STLgasm

St. Louis also had a large Italian neighborhood on the near north side of the city up through the middle of the 20th century. Italian Americans reside all over the metro, not just in and around The Hill. In fact, St. Louis' most famous local food, toasted ravioli, is a testament to the long-standing Italian influence in the region. Also, the only Italian language newspaper in the state, Il Pensiero, is published in St. Louis.

ah, great. this is what i wondered, if there were other italian neighborhoods there outside of the hill. i never knew this, but i figured there must have been.

btw cleveland's most famous nationally known italian product is one that every kid knows well, chef boyardee. the real chef, ettore "hector" boiardi, is a product of big italy downtown.