Ethnoburbs

Features of Ethnoburbs

Ethnoburbs possess a number of features. They attract immigrants from both high-income educated backgrounds and low-income unskilled backgrounds. Compared to ethnotowns, which tend to have strictly defined boundaries, ethnoburbs possess less clear boundaries. They are more ethnically diverse, are comprised of more recent immigrant generations, and are car dominated. Here, ethnic groups have the ability to maintain their traditional cultural identities and practices relating to language, education, and religion. This can facilitate community cohesion and the adaptation of new immigrants to their surroundings. Yet, it can also limit their ability to completely assimilate into the U.S. culture. Ethnoburbs also tend to focus on facilitating the needs of one particular ethnic group, and less on those from other groups living in the same space.

The varied socioeconomic makeup in ethnoburbs develops in a number of ways. With the globalization of the economy, and the key role of multinationals in this process, there comes a rise in the demand for highly skilled and educated immigrant professionals to work in financial, information technology, and a range of other globalized firms. These professionals tend to migrate to more tolerant, ethnically and racially diverse suburban neighborhoods. This inflow of middle-and upper-middle-class immigrants leads to a demand for an ethnic-based service industry, with restaurants and other local businesses serving the local population's needs. It is the creation of this service industry that facilitates opportunities for low-income unskilled immigrants from the same ethnic/language group and thus leads to stratification in class. These suburbs function as social networks and hubs wherein immigrants may do business with one another and in turn with the wider globalized economy.

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