“ People left for the suburbs . Those areas , who picked them up ? It was the immigrants and refugees who were willing to take a bigger risk than others . And they have taken a big risk , and they have propped it up . So let ’ s start by acknowledging that .”
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SAMPSON BLVD
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FRUITRIDGE RD
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JANSEN DR
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MANMAR WAY
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TRAVELODGE MHP
ELDER CREE
ERIC GUERRA Sacramento City Councilman
a change that is still a work in progress . He petitioned the city to make the district ’ s name official in 2010 , not just to attract visitors but also because , to him , “ Little Saigon ” is an idea . It is a metonym of what he hopes Sacramento to be — a place where all newcomers start with a fair shot at making it .
What they have made , in Little Saigon , is about 200 small businesses , many of whose owners are Vietnamese , but also Chinese , Laotian , Indian , Salvadoran , Black or Slavic . As Pham puts it , what is true of the area is also true , ultimately , of the United States : “ We ’ re all from elsewhere .”
A mixed local economy
Many wind up in Sacramento because they were fleeing something — Southeast Asian war zones , Bay Area prices , the humdrum of Midwestern strip malls .
The latter applies , in part , to Jonathan Lam , who was born in Hong Kong and moved to the U . S . at 14 , shuttling around small towns from Illinois to
47TH ST
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50TH AVE
New Mexico . If he craved dim sum or pho , it required two hours of driving . Otherwise , the only options for miles were Dairy Queen , McDonald ’ s and gas-station fare . It was the same national brands , he says , town after town .
He was drawn to Sacramento for pockets like Little Saigon that he says add to the colorful identity of the Capital Region . In 2016 , Lam and his wife , Cynthia Aung-Lam , opened Pegasus Bakery & Cafe , which has its name on its building in both English and Chinese , out of a belief that small business-
LIVINGSTON WAY
DINGMAN CIR
50TH ST
SITTON WAY
51ST ST
STEINER DR
CORVET WAY
52ND ST
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VERNACE WAY
AUSTIN WAY
PRENTISS DR
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WELCOME TO
Little Saigon
STOCKTON BOULEVARD
OUSTON WAY
BURDETT WAY
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JIMOLENE DR
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October 2020 | comstocksmag . com 33