San Francisco has China Town, Los Angeles has Korea Town, and now the time has come for San Jose City in California to officially recognize Viet Nam Town, a community of about 85,000 Vietnamese people.
San Jose boasts the nation’s largest Vietnamese population. Story Road, near Highway 101, has been known as Viet Nam Town for a long time, yet remains unrecognized officially by local authorities.
According to a local newspaper, Madison Nguyen, who became the first Vietnamese-American elected to the city council in 2005, plans to ask the council within the next few weeks to designate a one-mile strip along Story Road as the city's first "Vietnamese Business District."
San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, who supports the plan, said that designating an area that is already home to nearly 200 Vietnamese-owned businesses merely “recognizes the facts on the ground.”
Like San Jose’s Japan Town and similar community business districts in Los Angeles, the official designation of a Viet Nam Town will impart some momentum toward the development of strong local businesses.
It will also attract more visitors, both Vietnamese and foreigners, to the city for shopping and touring.
Ms. Nguyen also plans to ask the city authorities to erect monuments on Story Road to mark the boundaries of the area as well as hang banners to celebrate the cultural heritage of Viet Nam’s three regions – north, central and south.
Story Road is home to many Vietnamese businesses ranging from confectionery shops, restaurants and video stores to law firms, doctors’ offices and supermarkets. A 100,000-square-meter mall which will offer 256 businesses will be set up on the road as the centerpiece and will be called Viet Nam Town.
The recognition will help businesses and will be significant because Vietnamese American people will be recognized as an important community of the city, Ms Nguyen added.
Lap Tang, the developer of Viet Nam Town who also owns the Grand Century mall next door, said, “It’s an important milestone for the Vietnamese community in America, not just San Jose, because in America we’ve never had a Viet Nam Town.”
With Mayor Chuck Reed’s backing, the plan is hoped to pass muster.
