Post by admin1 on Feb 7, 2008 23:47:03 GMT -5
from groups.google.com/group/HoustonStrategies/browse_thread/thread/7cc0e2069ee99a5b
Over the holidays, the LA Times ran an interesting piece on the mass
migration of Vietnamese-Americans from southern California to Houston
(hat tip to Joel). Lots of good excerpts in here. Bold highlights
mine.Vietnamese Americans are lured to the Texas city by cheap real
estate, a lower cost of living and a burgeoning cultural
enclave....Nguyen is one of many Vietnamese Americans from California
who have flocked to Houston, lured by cheap real estate, a lower cost
of living, bountiful business opportunities and a thriving, growing
Vietnamese community. Houston offers a slice of the American Dream to
Vietnamese Americans who couldn't find it in California.In San Jose and
Orange County, home to the country's largest Vietnamese enclaves,
skyrocketing rents and staggering housing prices -- even in a down
market -- have become too much for some."At first, we thought
California is the best," Nguyen said. "It's sad to move from a place we
know so wel. But here we own a beautiful house and are very
comfortable."Vietnamese business owners from California have followed,
expanding or moving their operations to take advantage of the
burgeoning community and the lack of heavy competition that defines the
teeming streets of Orange County's Little Saigon.The Vietnamese
American migration to Houston is a typical California story,
particularly in immigrant communities where residents found their first
footing in the Golden State but left for places where the cost of
living was lower and the opportunities more abundant.The exodus of
Vietnamese Americans is part of a larger shift in California: As the
economy weakens, more people are leaving. An annual study by the state
Department of Finance released Wednesday showed that 89,000 more people
moved out of California than moved in from elsewhere in the U.S. in
fiscal 2007. Houston's Vietnamese community, now the third largest in
the nation, numbered about 5,000 in 2006 -- up a third in just six
years, according to U.S. Census figures. (HAIF says 160-180K in the
Houston metro; enclaves ranked here)Community leaders and real estate
agents in Houston say they started seeing an upswing in Vietnamese
Americans from California five years ago, driven mostly by the city's
cheaper housing. Although Hurricane Katrina brought in displaced
Vietnamese Americans from Louisiana, residents say the California
migration is much larger.As people have flocked in, Houston businesses
have capitalized, reaching out to Vietnamese Americans in California.
Real estate agents have advertised houses in California's Vietnamese
newspapers. Developers have tried to persuade businesses to expand to
Houston. And talk shows on Radio Saigon Houston have spread the word of
the booming community in simulcast shows picked up on California
stations.Houston is no longer the Vietnamese community's "best-kept
secret," said Thuy Thanh Vu, the raio station's co-owner.Houston's
housing tale is remarkable. Real estate agents boast of clients who
sell their California homes, pay for new ones in Houston at a third of
the price and have enough left to invest....The median price for a
single-family home in the Houston area is $145,390, according to the
Houston Assn. of Realtors. In contrast, Westminster's median housing
price is $520,000 and Garden Grove's is $475,000, according to
DataQuick Information Services. In San Jose, it's $640,000. "For what
you pay for your mortgage in Houston, you can only afford a rat's hole
in California," Vo tells clients.Vo makes sure to put Houston's best
face forward. She picks up prospective California clients from the
airport and puts them up in hotels -- free of charge -- for a few
nights. She drives clients around the Vietnamese areas, stopping at
restaurants she's sure will impress them....Vietnamese businesses have
sprouted in pockets throughout Houson, with most concentrated on a
four-mile stretch of Bellaire Boulevard in the city's southwest area.
The thoroughfare has striking similarities to Bolsa Avenue, Little
Saigon's main drag.There are Vietnamese supermarkets, large Catholic
Vietnamese churches, Buddhist temples and restaurants hawking bowls of
noodles that to visitors taste as good as those served in Little
Saigon's pho houses. There are Vietnamese-speaking doctors, lawyers and
real estate agents. Even the hottest Vietnamese pop stars stop in
Houston.Some Vietnamese-owned businesses from California see Houston's
thriving enclave as an untapped market and have expanded their
businesses....But Ho saw many open fields in Houston, which he believes
will one day be home to new stores. Plus, the rent for opening a
warehouse in Houston is about a third cheaper than in
California.Vietnamese American investors also are pumping millions of
dollars into the area, which still has plenty of pen space to build
shopping complexes and housing subdivisions.Developer Luu Trankiem is
planning to open the New Saigon Shopping Plaza next year, a high-end
center on 32 acres near Bellaire Boulevard. The plaza's seven high-rise
buildings come at a price of about $300 million."You cannot afford to
build something like this in California," he said, estimating it would
cost three times as much in Southern California....Trankiem said he saw
more opportunities for new businesses in Houston than in Little Saigon,
which is congested with thousands of nail salons, restaurants and
mom-and-pop shops in fierce competition."Houston is the last frontier
for investment in the Asian community in the United States," Trankiem
said.Beyond Vietnamese-run business, prospective stores for the plaza
also include Ann Taylor and Starbucks, mainstream shops that Little
Saigon developers would have trouble luring to its worn-out strip
malls. Houston's Vietnames enclave also benefits from its diversity.
It's next to a long strip of Chinese businesses. Korean, Latino and
Pakistani stores also pepper the area. In contrast, Little Saigon
caters mostly to Vietnamese Americans.Trankiem believes Houston's
Vietnamese enclave could one day be the bigger, better, higher-end
sister to Little Saigon.Even so, Houston has its challenges. The
oppressive humidity forces many to stay indoors during the summer, and
some people who have bought homes for investment purposes have had
trouble finding renters. But those who have made the move have found
the American Dream at near-bargain rates.Nguyen's parents, who still
rent in California, plan to move to Houston when they retire.And she's
thinking about opening an insurance business. She never thought that
was a possibility in Little Saigon, where renting office space is
expensive and there are too many competitors."Over in California,
you're just average people," Nguyn said. "But here, you become upper
middle class. You have more money than people over here. You can buy
houses and do business."More support for Houston as an Opportunity
City. And it's not just SoCal Vietnamese-Americans. Has anybody else
noted the surge in out-of-state license plates driving around lately?
They're coming from all over. The secret is getting out.
Over the holidays, the LA Times ran an interesting piece on the mass
migration of Vietnamese-Americans from southern California to Houston
(hat tip to Joel). Lots of good excerpts in here. Bold highlights
mine.Vietnamese Americans are lured to the Texas city by cheap real
estate, a lower cost of living and a burgeoning cultural
enclave....Nguyen is one of many Vietnamese Americans from California
who have flocked to Houston, lured by cheap real estate, a lower cost
of living, bountiful business opportunities and a thriving, growing
Vietnamese community. Houston offers a slice of the American Dream to
Vietnamese Americans who couldn't find it in California.In San Jose and
Orange County, home to the country's largest Vietnamese enclaves,
skyrocketing rents and staggering housing prices -- even in a down
market -- have become too much for some."At first, we thought
California is the best," Nguyen said. "It's sad to move from a place we
know so wel. But here we own a beautiful house and are very
comfortable."Vietnamese business owners from California have followed,
expanding or moving their operations to take advantage of the
burgeoning community and the lack of heavy competition that defines the
teeming streets of Orange County's Little Saigon.The Vietnamese
American migration to Houston is a typical California story,
particularly in immigrant communities where residents found their first
footing in the Golden State but left for places where the cost of
living was lower and the opportunities more abundant.The exodus of
Vietnamese Americans is part of a larger shift in California: As the
economy weakens, more people are leaving. An annual study by the state
Department of Finance released Wednesday showed that 89,000 more people
moved out of California than moved in from elsewhere in the U.S. in
fiscal 2007. Houston's Vietnamese community, now the third largest in
the nation, numbered about 5,000 in 2006 -- up a third in just six
years, according to U.S. Census figures. (HAIF says 160-180K in the
Houston metro; enclaves ranked here)Community leaders and real estate
agents in Houston say they started seeing an upswing in Vietnamese
Americans from California five years ago, driven mostly by the city's
cheaper housing. Although Hurricane Katrina brought in displaced
Vietnamese Americans from Louisiana, residents say the California
migration is much larger.As people have flocked in, Houston businesses
have capitalized, reaching out to Vietnamese Americans in California.
Real estate agents have advertised houses in California's Vietnamese
newspapers. Developers have tried to persuade businesses to expand to
Houston. And talk shows on Radio Saigon Houston have spread the word of
the booming community in simulcast shows picked up on California
stations.Houston is no longer the Vietnamese community's "best-kept
secret," said Thuy Thanh Vu, the raio station's co-owner.Houston's
housing tale is remarkable. Real estate agents boast of clients who
sell their California homes, pay for new ones in Houston at a third of
the price and have enough left to invest....The median price for a
single-family home in the Houston area is $145,390, according to the
Houston Assn. of Realtors. In contrast, Westminster's median housing
price is $520,000 and Garden Grove's is $475,000, according to
DataQuick Information Services. In San Jose, it's $640,000. "For what
you pay for your mortgage in Houston, you can only afford a rat's hole
in California," Vo tells clients.Vo makes sure to put Houston's best
face forward. She picks up prospective California clients from the
airport and puts them up in hotels -- free of charge -- for a few
nights. She drives clients around the Vietnamese areas, stopping at
restaurants she's sure will impress them....Vietnamese businesses have
sprouted in pockets throughout Houson, with most concentrated on a
four-mile stretch of Bellaire Boulevard in the city's southwest area.
The thoroughfare has striking similarities to Bolsa Avenue, Little
Saigon's main drag.There are Vietnamese supermarkets, large Catholic
Vietnamese churches, Buddhist temples and restaurants hawking bowls of
noodles that to visitors taste as good as those served in Little
Saigon's pho houses. There are Vietnamese-speaking doctors, lawyers and
real estate agents. Even the hottest Vietnamese pop stars stop in
Houston.Some Vietnamese-owned businesses from California see Houston's
thriving enclave as an untapped market and have expanded their
businesses....But Ho saw many open fields in Houston, which he believes
will one day be home to new stores. Plus, the rent for opening a
warehouse in Houston is about a third cheaper than in
California.Vietnamese American investors also are pumping millions of
dollars into the area, which still has plenty of pen space to build
shopping complexes and housing subdivisions.Developer Luu Trankiem is
planning to open the New Saigon Shopping Plaza next year, a high-end
center on 32 acres near Bellaire Boulevard. The plaza's seven high-rise
buildings come at a price of about $300 million."You cannot afford to
build something like this in California," he said, estimating it would
cost three times as much in Southern California....Trankiem said he saw
more opportunities for new businesses in Houston than in Little Saigon,
which is congested with thousands of nail salons, restaurants and
mom-and-pop shops in fierce competition."Houston is the last frontier
for investment in the Asian community in the United States," Trankiem
said.Beyond Vietnamese-run business, prospective stores for the plaza
also include Ann Taylor and Starbucks, mainstream shops that Little
Saigon developers would have trouble luring to its worn-out strip
malls. Houston's Vietnames enclave also benefits from its diversity.
It's next to a long strip of Chinese businesses. Korean, Latino and
Pakistani stores also pepper the area. In contrast, Little Saigon
caters mostly to Vietnamese Americans.Trankiem believes Houston's
Vietnamese enclave could one day be the bigger, better, higher-end
sister to Little Saigon.Even so, Houston has its challenges. The
oppressive humidity forces many to stay indoors during the summer, and
some people who have bought homes for investment purposes have had
trouble finding renters. But those who have made the move have found
the American Dream at near-bargain rates.Nguyen's parents, who still
rent in California, plan to move to Houston when they retire.And she's
thinking about opening an insurance business. She never thought that
was a possibility in Little Saigon, where renting office space is
expensive and there are too many competitors."Over in California,
you're just average people," Nguyn said. "But here, you become upper
middle class. You have more money than people over here. You can buy
houses and do business."More support for Houston as an Opportunity
City. And it's not just SoCal Vietnamese-Americans. Has anybody else
noted the surge in out-of-state license plates driving around lately?
They're coming from all over. The secret is getting out.