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Wednesday, November 19, 2014

The Top 10 U.S. States Where Chinese Are Investing in Real Estate

I am surprised, I expected California to stop New York, especially by more than 400% . And I did not expect Illinois to be #3. Texas, due to it's high growth makes sense.


The Top 10 U.S. States Where Chinese Are Investing in Real Estate - WSJ

There is some correlation with the historic Chinatowns of the US:

Chinatowns of the United States and Canada - Childbook.com

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Monday, September 29, 2014

Chinatown Bus Update

Chinatown Bus Pioneer Fung Wah Strangled by Federal Bureaucracy - Reason Magazine
The company has burned through $3 million, as regulators spend a year and a half deliberating its fate.

And some history on what happened:
Why the Government Was Wrong to Shutdown Fung Wah Bus Company - Reason Magazine

My guesses:

  1. High profile traffic accidents made for great copy by journalists, and created a perceived emergency where the government had to act.
  2. It's easier in the government, and less risk, to do nothing, than make a decision. Think what would happen if an agency approved Fung Wah operating again, and there was a big accident.
  3. The large competitors, Grey Hound, etc. are politically connected and are helping regulators to reduce competition.
  4. The ethnic Chinese owned companies due not understand how the political game is played. Campaign contributions, when done legally and to the right people, seem to help the process in government.

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Thursday, May 8, 2014

WalMart in LA's Chinatown

I am surprised some local community groups kept on fighting the WalMart in LA's Chinatown, even after it had opened. Looks like Walmart is going to stay in LA's Chinatown for a while.

My 2 cents, this was more about local politics, than about the residents. Most residents are very happy to have lower prices and higher quality goods. Walmart is not forcing local residents to use their store. In the Rowland Heights area we have a huge Walmart, and lots of Chinese stores in the area. This way residents get the best of both worlds, and have a choice on where they want to shop.

On a personal note, when I go into the Rowland Heights Walmart, I often seem to get a headache. I am not sure if it's the lighting, the video at checkout, or the store feels claustrophobic to me. I don't have this problem in target.

Chinatown Walmart benefits from legal battle | The Breakdown | 89.3 KPCC



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Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Rowland Heights School Board Election Results

Anne Ma lost the school board election by 83 votes, which surprised me. She has some connection with a local property management company, and she seemed to spend more than anyone else.  So why did she lose? I did get two robocalls from the person who won, with an endorsement. It seems the person who won got more endorsements.

And there was some controversy over the selection of a superintendent. And one incumbents lost the election, and another decided not to run. The teachers union was unhappy, and there was also a parents group formed due to frustrations with the lack of budget transparency.

References:

Rowland Unified voters elect two new faces to school board - SG Tribune
Rowland Parents and Educators Association
Rowland Kids group asks RUSD for transparency, integrity - SG Tribune
ballotpedia on RUSD Elections

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Thursday, September 19, 2013

WalMart in LA's Chinatown Opens

I am amazed that WalMart even managed to open their store in LA's Chinatown. There has been a huge amount of political pressure against it. I have mixed feelings about it. One one hand I understand how small businesses in the area may be hurt, but on the other hand it will help locals save a lot. For the small businesses, they need to focus on selling items that WalMart does not carry. In the Rowland Heights area their is a WalMart, Target, Sam's Club, and Costco and local Chinese owned businesses still succeed. How they do is by focusing on selling items so they are not competing with the generic super stores. There are so many grocery items for the Chinese market, the a generic superstore does not carry. The article also mentioned a 99 Market used to be located there, but closed. I would see the same type of issue of competition for small businesses.

Walmart’s Chinatown Store Opens … Under a Cloud - City Watch

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Thursday, September 5, 2013

Battle heats up among Chinatown bubble tea shops

Typical - where one shop can do OK, then more open since the first is doing great. And then everyone suffers usually. I have seen this a couple of times. A family friend's Taiwanese restaurant had a competitor open next door to them, so they got into a pricing war. The family friend was furious that the property management company would allow a competitor next door. The end result was the other company finally closed, and my friend then sold their restaurant and the new owners had to close it. And the spot is still empty at that mall, so the property management company also lost.

Sometimes, it can actually be good to have a cluster of businesses in an area and it actually helps everyone. An example of that is all the Chinese wedding photography studios in Temple City.

Battle heats up among Chinatown bubble tea shops - Philly.com

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Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Bug Bombs Chinatown Explosion

I have a huge amount of empathy for this. When ever my family has moved into a new place, we set off bug bombs. We open up all the cabinets and let it sit overnight, after being very careful to make sure all the pilot lights and such are off. I had nightmares about my house burning down. At least now I know my nightmare was based on real issues. I believe we used 4 for a house, so using 20 is a lot of overkill. Especially when there are shared walls and such. When ever poison is being used, I always worry about where it going. And this was the 2nd use of bug bombs, so a total of 44 were used.

Expert: Chinatown Building Explosion Shows Danger Of Bug Bombs - CBS Local
20 Bug Bombs Were Used In Building This Week, Officials Say

NYC Women Sets Off 44 Bug Bombs, Blows Up A Chinatown Building - Opposing Views

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Wednesday, July 10, 2013

San Franscisco's Other Chinatown - The Real One

Great article! Older Chinatowns do have two faces, the real one vs. the tourist one. One has the usual tourist junk, and the other one is where the local people live, eat, and shop at. I have seen this in LA's Chinatown also.

San Francisco’s other Chinatown — the real one - The Seattle Times

Take a walk or a tour in a historic, bustling neighborhood.

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Monday, May 13, 2013

Chinatown Buses - Statistics were wrongly calculated?

This quote from Mark Twain comes to mind:

  "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

Government Assault on the Chinatown Bus Industry Fueled By Bogus Federal Study - Reason Magazine
An influential report by the National Transportation Safety Board used the wrong data and committed "statistical malpractice."


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Monday, April 22, 2013

Diamond Bar, Rowland Heights rooftop bank burglaries

I had heard of the East West bank robbery third hand. The story I heard was a lot of the money was unreported, so there was no insurance on it. Five suspects were arrested, all Hispanic.

Suspects arrested in Diamond Bar, Rowland Heights rooftop bank burglaries - SG TRibune
Officials ID suspects said to have taken $6 million in cash, jewelry

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Sunday, April 7, 2013

Here’s How to Buy a Fake Bag in NY's Chinatown

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Chinese Moving To East Harlem


Chinese Moving to East Harlem in a Quiet Shift From Downtown - NY Times

30% more Asian's in NY since the last Census. 10% of NYC is Asian in the 2000 Census, with about half of those Chinese. By 2008 this rose to 11.8% per Wikipedia

By 2010 it was 13% Asian for NYC. You need to this web site, download an Excel File, and do a quick formula to calculate it. It has information on the changes in each of the different neighborhoods.
http://www.urbanresearchmaps.org/plurality/

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Feds vs. Chinatown Bus. Company - Who's winning?


The company has been told to not operate their bus fleet, so they got buses from a charter company. Very entrepreneurial.

Cheap Bus Fare Lures Riders Despite Company’s Troubles - NY Times

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Monday, February 18, 2013

The Bag Men of Chinatown

Fakes in Chinatown are a fact of life. It's amazing how the vendors have changed how they do business.

The Bag Men of Chinatown - NY Times Blog

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Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Lunar New Year Scams


Basically people having valuable blessed in a bag, and then are switched.

Chinatown Residents Warned About Lunar New Year Crimes - SF Appeal

Officials warn of 'blessing' scam targeting Chinese seniors in western San Gabriel Valley  - Pasadena Star News

And a slightly different scam:

Ravelling back in time through Bangkok’s Chinatown - BBC

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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Best Restaurants in LA Chinatown?

Lots of non Chinese restaurants, and some of them are not even in Chinatown...  The comments are great!

Zagat's 11 Best Restaurants in Chinatown

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Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Creole Cuisine in Rowland Heights

There are 5 Creole type restaurants in the Rowland Heights area! Seafood is always a big thing with Chinese I have noticed. I am surprised at the amount of Creole type restaurants in the area. My guess is sea food and slightly spicy. Boiling Crab seems to be the biggest creole sea food place in the area, I always see lines out the door.

I did a quick search on Yelp looking for a local restaurant that had cat fish for an employee who wanted some. Her family is from the Southern US.

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Thursday, November 8, 2012

Taiwanese Burger?

Something I have not heard of before:

A Groupon Deal

Bun Bun – Arcadia

Taiwanese Burger Meal for Two or Four with Fries, Potato Balls, and Drinks (Up to 53% Off)

 
My translation - basically a cheese burger, with the meat with some Taiwanese spices in it.
 
My dear wife vetoed getting this one :-)

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Monday, October 22, 2012

39th Congressional District race gets nasty

Good write up, it's the congressional district where I live, and the mailings have gone negative on both sides. The incumbent has been playing up his pro-Taiwan policies, and has done mailings in Chinese to my home. My bet would be on the incumbant Royce, since Jay Chen is being outspent 4 to 1. Jay Chen's focus has been on the ethnic Chinese vote from what I can see.

39th Congressional District race gets nasty - OC Register

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Friday Night Nightmare Traffic in Rowland Heights

There was an accident on the 60 Freeway in Diamond Bar, the city next to where I live that closed down the freeway. Boy was traffic bad going home. The surface streets were packed going both ways. It's the worst I have ever seen it in Rowland Heights.

60 Freeway partially reopens after fatal crash, closure - latimes.com

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