Chinatown ( or ) is a community in Southwest Houston, Texas, United States.
There is another Chinatown called "Old Chinatown" located within the East Downtown Houston district near the George R. Brown Convention Center.Patel, Purva. "Pay-for-visa plan could revive Houston's Old Chinatown ." Houston Chronicle. August 18, 2008. Retrieved on January 20, 2009.
It is also called "Bellaire" (after Bellaire Boulevard).
History Houston's Chinatown first started in the early 20th century, but became more organized in 1951 with the Chinese Merchant's Association. Back then Chinatown was not located in the Bellaire region Chinatown is present in today. Early Chinese supermarkets and restaurants were opened around East Downtown or "EaDo" and most spoke Cantonese. Chinatown wasn't just a cluster of businesses for economic purposes, rather it was a social and cultural meeting place with a cohesive and complex identity that prospered from the 1950s to 1970s. However, Chinatown was not limiting the boundaries of Chinese life. Eventually, the Chinese community spread, which contributed to Chinatown's new location. Old Chinatown began declining and many Chinese businesses moved to around Bellaire Boulevard not only because of downtown urban development projects such as the George R. Brown convention center but also because of internal community decentralization.
The first businesses of the new Houston Chinatown opened in 1983.Gray, Lisa. "Branding Chinatown: Neighborhood transforms ." Houston Chronicle. January 8, 2008. Retrieved on August 11, 2011. In the 1980s increasing numbers of Chinese were living in Southwest Houston and Fort Bend County and those residents were further away from the old Chinatown in what is now East Downtown.Rodriguez, Nestor, p. 39. Diho Square (), home to a Diho Supermarket chain outlet, was built, followed by Dynasty Plaza () in 1986 and 1987, a complex developed by a Singaporean friend of Diho Supermarket operator Tsang Dat Wong; the latter invited the former to build in Houston. Developers at the time bought land, inexpensive due to the recession, in hopes of prosperous development later.Knapp and Vojnovic, p. 354 (PDF p. 11/27). From the 1980s until the 2000s, the census tracts housing sections of Chinatown saw decreasing income levels and real estate values.Knapp and Vojnovic, p. 357 (PDF p. 14/27).
The new Chinatown began to expand in the 1990s when Houston-area Asian American entrepreneurs moved their businesses from older neighborhoods, especially the "Old Chinatown" on the eastern end of Downtown Houston (in the process of redevelopment), in a search for more inexpensive properties and lower crime rates. Hong Kong City Mall (), owned by an ethnic Vietnamese man named Hai Du Duong, opened in 1999. In 2004 Nancy Sarnoff of the Houston Chronicle described it as a westward shift for Chinatown.
In 2005, Christy Chang, a tour operator who operated tours into Chinatown, said, "This area is not just Chinatown anymore. If anything, it's Asia Town" due to the presence of various ethnic groups that began establishing themselves in the community.Rodriguez, Lori. "Opinions vary over naming the growing Asian community on Houston's southwest side" (Archive). (Archived on May 15, 2008). Alternate version without Chinatown map: "DIVERSITY DEBATE / Chinatown outgrowing name / Opinions vary over naming the growing Asian community on Houston's southwest side." Houston Chronicle. Wednesday May 9, 2007. A1. The Asian American Business Council estimated that between 2004 and 2008 the land values along Bellaire Boulevard () in Chinatown increased between 25 and 50 percent. In 2008, the group estimated that in construction would appear within two years, including high-end condominiums. Lisa Gray of the Houston Chronicle wrote that the development of the remaining acreage would likely cause rents to increase and that, compared to many other Chinatowns in the United States, the Houston Chinatown is still relatively inexpensive.
In 2007, there was a debate on what to call the community, as it had multiple ethnic groups.
In 2008, the Asian American Business Council placed a contest to design a "landmark monument" to be placed on Bellaire Boulevard between Beltway 8() and Gessner Road () to increase visibility among Asian Americans and non-Asian Americans and to beautify the area.
Xenophobia stoked during the COVID-19 pandemic caused a steep decline in customers, as malicious people spread rumors about Chinese-Americans in Houston. Jusgo owner said to KTRK-TV (ABC 13) that grocery stores and restaurants in Chinatown were deeply affected by false rumors that one of his employees had COVID-19. He reported declining foot traffic and lower sales.
By 2025 it also became known as Asiatown; Erica Cheng of Houstonia reported that this alternate name is controversial.
Cityscape
The Southwest Management District (formerly Greater Sharpstown Management District) defines it as being roughly bounded by Redding Rd and Gessner Rd to the East, Westpark Dr to the North, Beltway 8 to the West, and Beechnut St to the South. The Greater Sharpstown Management District defines Chinatown within its borders as being a area."Chinatown." (Archive) Greater Sharpstown Management District. Retrieved on December 4, 2012. Map image, Archive " Chinatown GSMD-MarketZones-Chinatown Population: 29,993 Area: 2.37 Square Miles"
According to the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau (GHCVB), Chinatown along with Little Saigon (just west of the neighborhood) combine to form a combined Asiatown. The combined border roughly bounded by Fondren Road, Beechnut Street, State Highway 6, and Westpark Drive, and lies between Alief and the city of Bellaire. The naming is disputed as other ethnic groups are within the expanded boundaries. Chinese businesses tend to be inside the Beltway while Vietnamese businesses tend to be outside of the Beltway.
The Bellaire Chinatown is about southwest of Downtown Houston. It is over , making it among the largest automobile-centric Chinatowns in the Southern United States. The Chinatown is located on a mostly treeless plain.Schilcutt, Katharine. "Top 10 Restaurants In Chinatown ." Houston Press. Wednesday June 16, 2010. Retrieved on June 17, 2010. The community is between Westchase and the City of Sugar Land. Katharine Shilcutt of the Houston Press said that Chinatown was "straddling Beltway 8 on the southwest side like an entire city unto itself." Sarnoff said that historically the intersection of Bellaire and Corporate Drive () served as the center of Chinatown, though that this was moving to the west by 2004.
Much of the land of Chinatown is owned by private entities, so there are relatively few public areas. The new Chinatown is located within a residential area of single-family houses and apartments, and its spread-out nature differs from the East Downtown Chinatown, which was in a relatively compact area. Many of the surrounding residential areas and office developments were built in the 1990s and 2000s.
The businesses within the new Chinatown include a mall, supermarkets, shopping centers, restaurants, and bakeries. The street signs have Chinese characters. Knapp and Vojnovic identified Hong Kong City Mall as the "symbolic center", and "visual center", as it houses the paifang (Chinese arch).Knapp and Vojnovic, p. 356 (PDF p. 13/27).
The Bellaire Chinatown has many "retail condos", shopping centers in which spaces are owned instead of leased. Many East Asian people prefer to own shopping places instead of renting them. In the United States "retail condos" are rare outside areas populated by East Asian Americans.Kaplan, David. "Houston Chinatown tries 'retail condo' concept ." Houston Chronicle. May 16, 2009. Retrieved on May 19, 2009. The community has restaurants serving many kinds of cuisines, including Chinese, Hong Kong and Taiwanese, Filipino, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Malaysian, Thai, and Vietnamese. In addition it has restaurants operated by ethnic Vietnamese that serve Louisiana-style crawfish. The community also has many fusion cuisine restaurants. Shilcutt said that "the restaurant density in this area is roughly equivalent to the population density of Vatican City."
Lisa Gray of the Houston Chronicle stated that this Chinatown resembles newer Chinatowns that opened in automobile-oriented metropolitan areas in the United States such as suburbs in Greater Los Angeles and the Silicon Valley, as opposed to older, uniformly Chinese, pedestrian-oriented Chinatowns in New York City and San Francisco. Gray said that in older Chinatowns immigrant businesses cluster together by ethnic group, while in newer automobile oriented Chinatowns retail operations from different ethnic groups move in next door to each other.
Demographics As of 2012, according to the Greater Sharpstown Management District the portion of Chinatown within the boundaries of the Greater Sharpstown district has 29,993 people. The clientele of this Chinatown tends to be middle class.
Government and instrastructure
Two Houston City Council districts, F and J, serve the new Chinatown.City of Houston, Council District Maps, District F ." City of Houston. Retrieved on November 5, 2011.City of Houston, Council District Maps, District J ." City of Houston. Retrieved on November 5, 2011. District J was created to allow Hispanics to more easily elect representatives who cater to them.Shauk, Zain. "Hispanic-opportunity district draws three candidates ." Houston Chronicle. Friday October 14, 2011. Retrieved on November 4, 2011.
The new Chinatown is served by two Houston Police Department patrol divisions, the Midwest Patrol Division and the Westside Patrol Division, of the Houston Police Department."Crime Statistics for Westside Patrol Division." City of Houston. Retrieved on November 29, 2008."VOLUNTEER INITIATIVES PROGRAM – Citizens Offering Police Support ." City of Houston. Retrieved on September 23, 2008."Police Stations and Neighborhood Storefronts ." Houston Police Department. Retrieved on May 27, 2010. The Midwest division operates the Ranchester Storefront ( "Chinatown Police Office") in the Diho Square complex."Home ." Diho Square. Retrieved on July 27, 2010.
Fire stations located within Chinatown's boundaries include Station 10 Bellaire ( "Fire Brigade #10") and Station 76 Alief Community, both a part of Fire District 83."Fire Stations ." City of Houston. Retrieved on May 7, 2010. Station 10, previously located in what is now East Downtown, moved to its current location in 1985."Fire Station 10 ." City of Houston. Retrieved on May 8, 2010."Welcome to EaDo ." East Downtown Management District. Retrieved on August 1, 2009. Station 76 was built in 1985."Fire Station 76 ." City of Houston. Retrieved on May 8, 2010.
Economy
Nearly a dozen banks, including overseas Chinese banks and mainstream banks, are located along a less-than- stretch of Bellaire Boulevard, near Beltway 8. The clientele of these banks include area residents and Asian American entrepreneurs. Robert Lee, an executive vice president of MetroBank, said, "They call it the Wall Street of Chinatown."Moreno, Jenalia. "Houston's 'Chinatown' near Beltway 8 sparks banking boom." Houston Chronicle. Sunday February 18, 2007. Retrieved on October 16, 2011.