Asian residents displaced as affordability crisis grips Chinatown: report

For generations, Chinatown has drawn residents and visitors with affordable food, housing and goods. But community leaders say that legacy is rapidly disappearing. A new report from the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Mapping Chinatown, finds that more than 20% of Asian residents have been displaced from Chinatown over the past decade. The report also shows similar declines in Chinatowns in Boston and Philadelphia. Advocates point to a combination of factors, including outdated zoning laws, large-scale developments, vacant rent-stabilized apartments and the lingering effects of COVID-19, which forced many small businesses to close and coincided with a rise in anti-Asian violence.