Philadelphia Chinatown is a predominantly Asian American neighborhood in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation supports the area. The neighborhood stretches from Vine Street on the north; Arch Street on the south; North Franklin Street and North 7th Street on the east; to North Broad Street on the west.
Unlike some traditional Chinatowns, the Philadelphia Chinatown continues to grow in size. Ethnic Chinese population, as Philadelphia, PA itself is, as of 2018, experiencing significant Chinese immigration from New York City, 95 miles (153 km) to the north, and (as of 2019) from China, the top country of birth by a significant margin sending immigrants to Philadelphia.
History
In the mid-late 19th century, Cantonese immigrants to Philadelphia opened laundries and restaurants near Philadelphia’s commercial wharves. This led to the start of Philadelphia’s Chinatown. The first business was a laundry owned by Lee Fong at 913 Race Street; it opened in 1871. In the following years, Chinatown consisted of ethnic Chinese businesses clustered around the 900 block of Race Street. Before the mid-1960s, it consisted of several restaurants and one grocery store.
In the mid-1960s, large numbers of families began moving to Chinatown. During various periods of urban renewal, starting in the 1960s, portions of Chinatown were razed to construct the Vine Street Expressway and the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation was formed in 1968. This gave community and business leaders more say in matters of local development. Pest Control Kings
Cityscape
Vine Street is the northern boundary of Chinatown. Restaurants and shops, with apartment units located above, are in the buildings south of Vine Street, within Chinatown. Factories and other industrial properties are located on the other side of Vine Street. Filbert Street serves as the southern border. Chinatown includes a core area that has seven city blocks. Many of the residents of the block were, as of 1998, recent immigrants.
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