Longtime Asian American residents raise concerns about DC’s ‘dwindling’ Chinatown

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As D.C. looks toward the future of its Chinatown neighborhood, some longtime members of the city’s Asian American community are concerned their voices are not being heard.

The Save Chinatown Solidarity Network hosted a town hall at the Chinese Community Church in D.C.’s Chinatown on Tuesday, during which some residents expressed concerns from the cost of housing to crime.

Yong Jian Chen lives at the Wah Luck House, an affordable housing building which is home to many elderly residents of the neighborhood. Chen said more needs to be done to address crime in the Chinatown neighborhood, which he said continues to get worse.

“The seniors living at Wah Luck House, when it’s getting dark, we’re scared to go out because we’re afraid there might be some dangerous situations,” Chen said through an interpreter.

The town hall comes ahead of the planned Saturday meeting of the Gallery Place/Chinatown Task Force which was established by Mayor Muriel Bowser after Ted Leonsis, the owner of the Washington Wizards and Capitals teams announced a move to Virginia in December. That deal died in the Virginia legislature and the teams have since announced they would stay in the District.

The Saturday meeting is slated to include Mayor Bowser receiving the recommendations from the task force.

Chen and other residents also blamed the city for not doing enough to involve neighbors in the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, claiming a recent meeting of the city’s task force and ANCs was poorly publicized and didn’t provide translation services for members of the Chinese community.

“I think that entire process has been very exclusionary to a lot of the residents who will be most impacted by decisions,” said Cassie He. “When decisions like that are being made [without transparency], it can lead to their interests not being heard.”

At the town hall, others claimed the city is prioritizing new development in the neighborhood, and they believe officials are not focused on helping residents remain in their homes or helping small Asian American-owned businesses keep their doors open.

“It is one of the fastest dwindling Chinatowns in North America, unfortunately,” said Zoe Li of the Save Chinatown Solidarity Network.

Read more about D.C.’s Chinatown:

One resident claimed the building he lives in is not seeing needed repairs to the elevators or other problems because the owners want to encourage residents to move out so the building can be sold.

Tracy Jen, another longtime Chinatown resident, said that over the years the neighborhood has lost several Asian grocery stores. That scarcity is forcing residents, many of whom don’t own cars, to travel more than an hour into Maryland or Virginia on public transit to get food that is an important part of their culture.

Jen also encouraged the city to think about events that highlight downtown D.C.’s Chinese community.

“Summer is here, the weather is beautiful. Can we actually start a night market in Chinatown? So people can look around at the night market. That can really help the economy,” Jen said through a translator.

Members of the Bowser administration were in the audience for the town hall, and organizers hope that hearing from the community will lead to city officials bringing Chinatown residents into future conversations about the neighborhood.

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