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Transcription: [00:38:08]
{SPEAKER=Woman}
Unless you have, you know, a high income. It seems impossible. So, but we do have people who do want to live there. They want to raise their families there. And there's no affordable housing. And low-income housing seems to be disappearing too. So, there's all sorts of problems and I really don't know what can be done, really.
[00:38:26]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 1"}
Yeah, my fear is that what we're going to end up having in DC—because of the gentrification and so forth—is that what we're going to end up having is a commercial Chinatown. Where we have very few residents living there. And that would be a real shame, really. I think in Las Vegas, they have what they called a Chinatown in a mall. To me, that is not a Chinatown, really. And I think it's incumbent upon the city to provide affordable housing. Right now, there's 3 billion affordable housing and one looks like it's on the chopping block. Because it's such a hot area, they want to turn that into a condominium. So, I don't really know what the answer is basically. I think at the very least what we need is an infusion of capital with... We have the foot trafficking area. The area is really a hot area now. But we need some entrepreneurs with some Chinese connections who's willing to invest in the area. Right now we have businesses like Panera, Starbucks, they're all coming in. But the Chinese entrepreneurs, I think, are unwilling to make the investment.
[00:39:36]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
Okay. Very good. I think I agree with all that. One point that I did want to emphasize on yours that, you know, I certainly don't want it to be a commercial Chinatown. None of us want a Disneyland atmosphere there for tourists to come in and gawk at the Chinese people there. And that's not a Chinatown. We want it to be meaningful. I think what they're saying is right. We're going to have help from the city planners to bring in the right businesses and make the right conditions there to make it work. [Clears throat] Excuse me. So, coming to the end here. So, again, I want to read again from this quote here 'cause I think it's very significant that what Bonnie Tsui says in his book here, says: The myth of America lies in its patchwork heritage. Though the United States hasn't always tolerated difference, it continues—to this day—to be built by immigrants. This contradiction in founding myths led to an ethnic awakening: the birth of cultural pride is still evolving. Visitors of Chinatown have a role—we all have a role—just as residents do in a bartering of culture currency. If there's authenticity to be experienced, it's that of an immigrant enclave that continues to be vital. This is a reminder of what makes America special. After a century and a half of Chinese immigration, Chinatown is still the first step for new immigrants into America and for American-born Chinese into their Chinese heritage. And so, thank you all for your attention today. And I thank Ted, Walter, and Shirley for their participation here. And really, I said you guys got your assignments today. You helped us out. Helped us with Chinatowns. You know, make it work for us. Make it work for you too. Thank you.
[00:41:38]