4 ms·

Yeah, sounds like this is basically by design. It's interesting that new immigrants aren't opening new restaurants to make up for the closures, but even that's

Yeah, sounds like this is basically by design. It's interesting that new immigrants aren't opening new restaurants to make up for the closures, but even that's not too surprising given the current state of things.

gyc 7y ago
There has been an explosion of Authentic regional Chinese restaurants in the U.S. in the last 10 years or so. Even if that can't replace the Americanized Chinese takeaways that are closing it is much easier to find high quality Chinese cooking these days than ever before. Heck, take a place like Minneapolis that's not a particular hot spot for Chinese-Americans and there are probably 4-5 pretty decent Sichuan restaurants.
- paleotrope 7y ago
  Yeah, the older polynesian themed chinese scorpian bowl places are closing here in Massachusetts, but those were always lounge/bars with food to get around local liquor laws.
- akimball 7y ago
  Minneapolis/St.Paul has (or had - my info may be as much as 10yrs old) the largest population of PRC national college & university students in the United States.
zdragnar 7y ago
I suspect that it is much harder and more expensive to open a new restaurant now than it was a few decades ago; the article does also mention a few things around some modern challenges (delivery app companies, online reviews, etc). New immigrants have more safety nets but fewer overall opportunities, I think, in particular if they came without professional skills. I recall the story of my grandfather and his brother who- during the great depression- drove halfway across the country on a small motorbike with nothing but a box of tools, trading a bit of mechanical work for some food and a night in a barn's hay loft along the way. They eventually stopped and worked as mechanics until they could open their own shop. That is the sort of thing that just seems unthinkable nowadays.
- solveit 7y ago
  Perhaps the skills just changed. Driving halfway across the country on a motorbike with nothing but a macbook and a phone to tether to, freelancing or remote working along the way doesn't sound so unrealistic.
  - kortilla 7y ago
    I think it’s the direct exchange of labor for room and board that’s the unrealistic part these days. Now with a MacBook, you work in a comfy coffee shop to earn enough to stay at a regular motel for the night and get a regular meal. Also, MacBook freelancing is a higher bar than handyman mechanical work. It requires literacy and training on some skill on the computer that puts you above the Mechanical Turk workforces in much cheaper countries.
- DaiPlusPlus 7y ago
  > New immigrants have more safety nets Please elaborate.
  - zdragnar 7y ago
    For full context, "more" was a comparison to what is available now versus when my grandparents came over. The department of health and human services runs 31 social benefit / welfare programs, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Medicaid, though they are not immediately available (5 years residence or 40 quarters employed). 26 states run their own programs as well which may or may not have different time requirements for accessing them. Per the most recent census, a majority of non-citizen households utilize some public benefit (most often medicaid and food assistance) likely due to the difference in education (63% at 10 years living here). If my grandparents had come here today, they would also certainly be making use of these programs. Since they came over roughly 20 years before the New Deal was passed, local community support was the best they had.
    - BoiledCabbage 7y ago

gyc 7y ago

There has been an explosion of Authentic regional Chinese restaurants in the U.S. in the last 10 years or so. Even if that can't replace the Americanized Chinese takeaways that are closing it is much easier to find high quality Chinese cooking these days than ever before. Heck, take a place like Minneapolis that's not a particular hot spot for Chinese-Americans and there are probably 4-5 pretty decent Sichuan restaurants.

paleotrope 7y ago
Yeah, the older polynesian themed chinese scorpian bowl places are closing here in Massachusetts, but those were always lounge/bars with food to get around local liquor laws.
akimball 7y ago
Minneapolis/St.Paul has (or had - my info may be as much as 10yrs old) the largest population of PRC national college & university students in the United States.

zdragnar 7y ago

I suspect that it is much harder and more expensive to open a new restaurant now than it was a few decades ago; the article does also mention a few things around some modern challenges (delivery app companies, online reviews, etc). New immigrants have more safety nets but fewer overall opportunities, I think, in particular if they came without professional skills. I recall the story of my grandfather and his brother who- during the great depression- drove halfway across the country on a small motorbike with nothing but a box of tools, trading a bit of mechanical work for some food and a night in a barn's hay loft along the way. They eventually stopped and worked as mechanics until they could open their own shop. That is the sort of thing that just seems unthinkable nowadays.

solveit 7y ago
Perhaps the skills just changed. Driving halfway across the country on a motorbike with nothing but a macbook and a phone to tether to, freelancing or remote working along the way doesn't sound so unrealistic.
- kortilla 7y ago
  I think it’s the direct exchange of labor for room and board that’s the unrealistic part these days. Now with a MacBook, you work in a comfy coffee shop to earn enough to stay at a regular motel for the night and get a regular meal. Also, MacBook freelancing is a higher bar than handyman mechanical work. It requires literacy and training on some skill on the computer that puts you above the Mechanical Turk workforces in much cheaper countries.
DaiPlusPlus 7y ago
> New immigrants have more safety nets Please elaborate.
- zdragnar 7y ago
  For full context, "more" was a comparison to what is available now versus when my grandparents came over. The department of health and human services runs 31 social benefit / welfare programs, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Medicaid, though they are not immediately available (5 years residence or 40 quarters employed). 26 states run their own programs as well which may or may not have different time requirements for accessing them. Per the most recent census, a majority of non-citizen households utilize some public benefit (most often medicaid and food assistance) likely due to the difference in education (63% at 10 years living here). If my grandparents had come here today, they would also certainly be making use of these programs. Since they came over roughly 20 years before the New Deal was passed, local community support was the best they had.
  - BoiledCabbage 7y ago