The heart of Chinatown is found at the intersection of Cermak Road and Wentworth Avenue. Many of these informal social service organizations or societies acted as safety nets started during the Chinese Exclusion Act era when immigrants had to navigate complex immigration laws and find jobs in a hostile environment.Ĭhinatown isn’t officially one of the city’s 77 recognized communities but is considered part of Armour Square.
As with many neighborhoods where a minority group was relegated and lacked resources, the community created informal networks to look after their own.
Now it’s an interesting (time)… we’re about to face some issues that nationwide other Chinatowns are going through with possible gentrification and tons of different (non-Chinese) influences,” said Milo Chan, Chinatown resident and manager of restaurant Go 4 Food.Ĭhinatowns came into existence because of forced and self-segregation due to discrimination, institutional or otherwise. “Chinatown, naturally for decades has been I think encapsulated with physical barriers, that kind of kept it from gentrification.