Immigrant businesses, place-making, and community development: a case from an emerging immigrant gateway

Abstract

Immigrant businesses have become an increasingly important component in the US economy. However, very few studies have systematically examined the role of immigrant businesses in community development, except for some cases in established immigrant gateways such as New York and Miami. In this study, we explore how immigrant businesses are shaping physical, cultural, social, economic, and political landscapes in their local communities in the emerging immigrant gateway of Charlotte, North Carolina. Focusing on the case of a multiethnic retail corridor, we find that, as active place-makers, immigrant businesses have transformed deteriorating and abandoned street fronts into vibrant and well-frequented urban environments conducive for further development. Through a systematic approach to understanding the place-making process of immigrant businesses, findings from this study call for more in-depth integration of immigrant and ethnic economies in local policies and planning strategies for neighborhood revitalization. These findings are particularly pertinent in the context of the continuous ethnic diversification of our neighborhoods and cities.

Keywords:

• immigrant entrepreneurship
• community development
• place-making
• North Carolina

Notes

1. A-priori categorization of immigrants as ethnic groups needs to be cautioned (see Wang 2012 for a review). However, in many cases in the USA, the identity of being foreign-born and belonging to an ethnic minority group often overlaps. This is particularly true in new immigration destinations like Charlotte. Thus, at times we discuss both in this study.

2. Foreign-born migrants are arriving in Charlotte directly from their countries of origin as well as from other US states.

3. The City of Charlotte identified five corridors with 11 market areas for focused economic investments, each radiating outward from Center City into older suburban neighborhoods. Based on 38 locally derived statistical variables, the Central Business corridor is the most international and contains 665,840 total retail square feet, 80,634 total office square feet, and 83,536 total warehouse/light industrial square feet (Metropolitan Studies Group 2010).

4. Census CDs with 1970, 1980, and 1990 data were available through the University of North Carolina at Charlotte's library. 2000 and 2010 data was retrieved from the U.S. Census Bureau (www.census.gov).

5. Since 2000, UNC Charlotte’s Metropolitan Studies Group (MSG) has produced bi-annual Quality of Life assessments. The reports assess a range of variables for social, economic, crime, and physical dimensions for each Charlotte Neighborhood Statistical Area (NSA).

6. As indicated in note 4, NSAs refer to the neighborhood unit that is used by the Charlotte Quality of Life study. NSAs are based on US Census block group and block boundaries, and were designed and updated by the city’s Planning Commission staff with input from neighborhood organizations and community groups to reflect the geography of neighborhoods in cities. Data from these units is used to facilitate local decision-making.

7. Interviews were conducted in person by going door-to-door to all businesses in this intersection on five occasions within a two-month timeframe and interviewing owners who were available and willing to participate.

8. The concept of a “hypergrowth” city was suggested by Suro and Singer (2003) to describe Latino destinations that experienced Latino growth rates of over 800% between 1980 and 2000.

9. Measured by the percentage of unoccupied commercial space.

10. Transitioning NSAs often have social, physical, crime, and economic dimensions around the city average, but also have weaknesses on one or more of these dimensions. Stable NSAs exhibit few neighborhood-level problems.

11. Newsom (2008) argues that old-fashioned zoning standards in older, suburban-style business areas like Central Avenue restrict urban retrofitting and revitalization.

12. Traditional financial institutions are full service bank branches and credit unions, whereas nontraditional ones include check cashing, payday loan, and pawn shop locations.