without immigration, Boston would shrink

Percentage of immigrants in msa's from 2005 update.

Boston 16.0

providence 12.7

Hartford 11.2

Worcester 10.3

Manchester 9.7

Portland 3.7

Bridgeport 18.6

Augusta 2.1

Barnstable 8.0
 
Immigrants just keep coming, hundreds of thousands have entered since 2000, instead of settling in the traditional immigrant areas some are moving into smaller towns.

From the Andes to Milford: The latest immigrant wave

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Milford, Mass. -
Editor's note: In the past three years, Milford has experienced a boom in immigration from Ecuador. Today's story explores why some of the thousands came to this area. Next Sunday we look at family life of these immigrants and how it has been portrayed by some Milford officials.

Until three years ago, Segundo Calhuana made a meager living growing potatoes, corn and wheat and tending cattle in a small village in the Ecuadorian Andes.

These days, he earns close to $800 a week repairing roofs of houses around New England. Although sometimes work is scarce, Calhuana manages to send $200 or more per month to help his wife and three children back home.

"There aren't jobs down there," said Calhuana in Spanish at an Ecuadorian convenience store on Main Street. "Life is hard here with my family away, but it was harder down there without work or money to feed them."

Calhuana, 36, is part of the newest wave of immigrants in Milford. It's a wave that follows in the steps of immigrants from Portugal, Italy and Brazil who, like the Ecuadorians now, came here seeking a better life.

But the Ecuadorians' rapid growth over the past three years, from an estimated 300 to more than 2,500, has some in town worried. Officials said Ecuadorians are straining town resources, raising health and safety concerns, and having trouble assimilating. Many are here illegally.

Ecuadorians are feeling the heat. They said they're being targeted by police, who often send them to court for driving without a license, and by the town, which has passed regulations to crack down on overcrowding.

The tension between local residents and newcomers is high, but it is part of the immigrant experience, said Peggy Levitt, a sociologist at Wellesley College who has written "God Needs No Passport," a book on how immigrants are changing the nation's religious landscape.

"When Irish and Italians first came to Boston they were greeted the same way," said Levitt. "Every wave of newcomers is greeted by some people with open arms and excitement about the energy, entrepreneurship and innovativeness immigrants bring and by others who see them as a threat to the status quo. But as history shows, waves upon waves of immigrants become part of this country and assimilate."

Still, some in Milford worry that Ecuadorians may face more challenges in adapting than Brazilians because most hail from the mountains of Ecuador, speak Quechua, a native dialect, besides Spanish, and seem too attached to their culture by keeping to themselves and having little interaction outside their group.

"The fact that they come from the Andean region doesn't make them any more foreign than immigrants who hail from the rural parts of Brazil or the Dominican Republic," said Levitt. "It's a new group to learn from, watch and help in the process of assimilation."

From the Andes to Milford

Most Milford Ecuadorians come from the mountains, with large numbers hailing from the province of Canar and smaller groups from the Chimborazo and Azuay provinces, all located in the central part of the nation of 13 million.

In those provinces, marked by the presence of the Andes, it is common for people to speak Quechua as their first language. About a third of Ecuador's population is indigenous, and many speak both Quechua and Spanish.

In those regions, poverty is endemic. Basic services such as clean water, education and family planning are hard to find. More than 70 percent of the population of Canar lives in rural areas, where people make a living from farming or working tracts of lands that belong to others. Many Canar natives migrate to other provinces within Ecuador looking for jobs. Growing numbers are immigrating to the United States.

One is Cecilio Castro, 24, who came here to join his brother, uncles and cousins seven years ago, shortly after the Ecuadorian economy collapsed amid dropping oil prices, bad weather and other outside factors.

"I was working in Canar, but we didn't earn much," said Castro, who has been living in Milford since 2004. "After the crisis, the money was nothing, and my relatives in Newark told me to come here."

Like Castro, many Ecuadorians in Milford are in their second migration, from Newark, N.J., where an estimated 5,000 live. Until recently, Wilson Valdez was one of them. Valdez, who came to the United States in 1994, owned three convenience stores in Newark and sold them all to come to Milford.

In 2004, he began seeing Ecuadorian customers from Milford in his Newark stores, and decided to venture into Milford. First, he would come every Sunday with his van full of products to sell at the local fields after the volleyball games. In 2005, he opened the first store in town.

"I came here following my clients," Valdez said.

The same thing happened with Victor Villasis, who opened a store on Main Street a year and a half ago.

Many followed the money to Milford.

Construction jobs were getting scarce in New Jersey, he said. When word spread that there were jobs with better pay in Milford, many moved. A roofer can earn as much as $25 an hour.

Most Ecuadorians like Milford. Compared to sprawling, crime-ridden Newark, Milford, with 26,000 people and its quaint downtown, is paradise.

"I like everything about Milford," said Sandra Ortega, 20, as she breastfed her 3-month-old baby girl in a convenience store where she works. "It's so nice and peaceful."

Visible presence

Ecuadorians have become the town's third-largest immigrant group after the Portuguese and Brazilians, something Census 2000 didn't detect. According to Census 2000, there were 15 Ecuadorians in Milford.

Groups of Ecuadorian men play volleyball in public parks; young women with long, black hair push carriages with small children around downtown; and a handful of small businesses bearing Spanish names have sprouted on Main Street next to Brazilian-owned stores.

At Variedades Ecuatorianas, owned by Villasis and his wife Cristina, customers find products from home such as mote, a type of dried corn; mellocos,' a kind of tuber similar to potato; and a popular Ecuadorian soda called Tropical.

At Saldana Cargo Express, people can wire money to Ecuador, and buy phone cards, CDs and DVDs featuring Ecuadorian singers of cumbia or music typical from the highlands of Ecuador.

Until its recent closing, a restaurant called Anoranzas Latinas offered dishes such as "guatita," tripe with rice; "salchipapas," fried hot dog and French fries, and "caldo de bagre," catfish soup.

At Unienvios, owned by Wilson Valdez, customers call home in phone booths, buy work gloves, volleyballs and other products. From the store, they mail packages with photographs, videos and clothes back home.

On a recent morning, Maria Morocho came to Valdez's shop pushing a stroller with her 19-month-old son Charles to make a call home. Morocho, 34, who came to Milford two years ago after four years living in Newark, said she misses her three children she left behind. They are 15, 12, and 8 years old, and are being cared for by her mother-in-law.

"They know their brother from pictures we send," she said. "There isn't a way for them to come or for us to bring them here."

Like many Ecuadorians, Morocho is here illegally. She boarded a boat in an Ecuadorian port that took her, her husband's brother and dozens of people up the coast to Guatemala, where they continued the journey by cars and vans to the U.S.-Mexican border. The journey took her 23 days since she left her village in the Andes of Ecuador, and cost her $7,500, she said.

In Newark, Morocho worked in a factory, but in Milford she takes care of her son and does housework. Some Ecuadorian women clean houses, work as housekeepers in hotels or janitors in fast-food restaurants. Most stay home because they lack papers or a second car.

Men work in construction, and often as sub-contractors, which allows them to get around the lack of papers. Most work as roofers, a type of job in which they have excelled, so much so that they're in high demand by American contractors, said Marisol Carper, an owner of a Brazilian convenience store who often helps Ecuadorian customers with translation. Half of Carper's customers are Ecuadorian.

"They're good workers," she said. "Americans who hire them like them a lot. They do a good job and are very hardworking people."

Most are also devout Catholics and attend Mass in Spanish at St. Mary's Church. Others attend services at Family Worship Center, a 400-member Protestant church that caters to Hispanics. The center has seen the number of its Ecuadorian members jump from seven to 30 in only two months, said member Rosy Nova.

When they relax, they throw parties where they eat dishes of their homeland, listen to music and talk about the old country. Their favorite pastime is volleyball.

On a recent afternoon, a group of young men traveling in a car slowed down when one of the passengers recognized a friend who was walking downtown and yelled at him saying, "Hey, let's go play volleyball."

"They work all the time," said Valdez at his multi-service store. "They don't go out. To have fun, they play volleyball."

Valdez said his people have strong family values, are hardworking and honest. They came here looking for opportunities they couldn't find back home.

Valdez, 47, who grew up in Quito, Ecuador's capital, said the situation in those small towns is desperate.

"Many of them worked in the fields," he said. "They come from provinces with large indigenous communities, which have been long forgotten by the government."

Like many immigrants, Ecuadorians come here with plans of going back home in a few more years. With money they earn here, many plan to build homes in their villages and save enough money to open businesses to secure a life down there.

That's the dream of Calhuana, the roofer who wired $200 to his wife on a recent morning, but he's not sure when he can achieve his dream. After he was charged with driving without a Massachusetts driver's license, things are more difficult. He doesn't drive and depends on friends to drive him to work. He lives with two other men in a small apartment to split up the $900 rent and save money.

After the immigration reform bill died again on Thursday in the U.S. Senate, Calhuana said he has no hope his life will improve.

"The only thing that keeps me going is that some day I'll be with my family," he said. "God willing, we'll be together soon."

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/archive/x1104007152
 
.S. Hispanic population to triple by 2050
By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY
The U.S. population will soar to 438 million by 2050 and the Hispanic population will triple, according to projections released Monday by the Pew Research Center.
The latest projections by the non-partisan research group are higher than government estimates to date and paint a portrait of an America dramatically different from today's.

The projected growth in the U.S. population ? 303 million today ? will be driven primarily by immigration among all groups except the elderly.

"We're assuming that the rate of immigration will stay roughly constant," says Jeffrey Passel, co-author of the report.

Even if immigration is limited, Hispanics' share of the population will increase because they have higher birth rates than the overall population. That's largely because Hispanic immigrants are younger than the nation's aging baby boom population. By 2030, all 79 million boomers will be at least 65 and the elderly will grow faster than any other age group.

The projections show that by 2050:

?Nearly one in five Americans will have been born outside the USA vs. one in eight in 2005. Sometime between 2020 and 2025, the percentage of foreign-born will surpass the historic peak reached a century ago during the last big immigration wave. New immigrants and their children and grandchildren born in the USA will account for 82% of the population increase from 2005 to 2050.

?Whites who are not Hispanic, now two-thirds of the population, will become a minority when their share drops to 47%. They made up 85% of the population in 1960.

?Hispanics, already the largest minority group, will more than double their share of the population to 29%.

?Blacks will remain 13% of the population. Asians will go to 9% from 5%.

?The gap between the number of working-age people and the children and seniors who depend on them will widen as boomers age. There will be 72 young and elderly for every 100 people of working age by 2050 compared with 59 in 2005. The gap would widen more if immigration slows because immigrants tend to be of working-age, the report said.

The projections are based on detailed assumptions about births, deaths and immigration levels based on recent trends. Those trends can change. For example, a new immigration policy could substantially limit the growth.

"Immigration has long-term consequences on the make-up of the country and the size of the population and we need to take those results in account when we make immigration policy," says Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that promotes limits on immigration. "Growing our population by 100 million more than we would otherwise is a choice. Immigration is a choice. ? It's all up to us."

The ethnic and racial profile of the nation could change because of inter-marriage. It's not clear how the children and grandchildren of multiracial and multi-ethnic unions will identify themselves in the future.

"We've assumed that the definitions and categories that are being used today will continue to be used in the next 50 years," Passel says. "Fifty years ago, we didn't have the definition for the Hispanic population."

Adds Krikorian: "Will that category of who's white be redefined? What is a non-Hispanic white?"

link
 
"Will that category of who's white be redefined?"

Dedefining it would be a better idea. The concept means less and less as populations mix together.
 
Patrick, it's kind of funny that you seem to think that MAINE of all places is a hotbed for immigrants...this coming from a state that has the HIGHEST percentage of non-hispanic whites (98+%) according to the census. Just because Portland and Lewiston get a couple thousand refugees from an African country does not make it a melting pot of cultures...also regard the way those Somalis have been treated in those cities with all the hate crimes. People aren't ready for something like that in Maine. I've been up to Maine since I was a kid and it's about as lily-white as it comes. I think there are 3x more Brazilians in Mass alone then there are PEOPLE in Lewiston and Portland combined. That should say something. Theres no way the numbers are wrong for Mass as well, if you've been in the past years whites are leaving and immigrants are coming from all corners of the globe. Boston is minority-majority and Worcester is on it's way. If anything, they are underrated. Cambridge, MA is a true melting pot if you've ever been here.
Sorry to say but Maine is thousands of LIGHT years away from anything even remotely melting pot.
 
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^^
Don't get me wrong, I'm a Mass. resident who is wrapping up his fourth year in Portland as a student. Maine is a lot of things, but diverse isn't one of them. However, you have to say that for small towns (Portland has about 64,000 people and Lewiston has about 35,000) they do alright. Not great, but alright. Lewiston is 95% white while a town of a similar size in Mass., Dartmouth (31,000) is 90% white While Gloucester (30,000) is 96%white (keep in mind, for fairness sake, I'm not going to compare anything in Maine with Boston or it's IMMEDIATE suburbs). So you could say, Lewiston, in comparison with counterparts in MA is similarly as diverse.

Porltand (64,000) is 91% white. Massachusetts cities comparable in size are Taunton (56,000) , Framingham (66,000), and Haverhill (59,000). Using those cities for comparison's sake, Taunton is also 91% white, Haverhill is 89% white, and Framingham is 79% white (however, Framingham is more closely associated with the Boston area than the other two). So in comparison to cities its size in MA, Portland holds it's own in terms of diversity.

My biggest beef with Maine and its diversity (from personal interactions and experiences) is that the "diversity" is limited to two areas; Portland and Lewiston. Outside of those towns, it's as white as ever. See, Diversity in MA is not limited to (the outside perception) what's in Boston. There are large Asian populations, huge Brazilian populations (many of which are in Framingham) and on the South Coast, there is a massive Portuguese population (Cambodian and Guatemalan are settled heavily here as well), Springfield has a large Latin American influence as well.

The problem with Maine's diversity, is that if it weren't for the Somali refugees, they'd be in pretty rough shape. And I've debated this in another thread, but more needs to be done in these areas to embrace these races. I thank The Bostonian for showing me photos of 3 or 4 Asian markets in Portland that I otherwise would never have known existed, but there's nothing other than that that really says, "WELCOME!" to immigrants. One argument was, "Well, they just embrace hip-hop culture, blow their welfare checks on cars, blast music and keep amongst themselves." I know it's frustrating to see a minority group do that, but what would you do if you were one of 9% non-blacks living in Mogadishu (the Somali capital), how comfortable would you feel? Chances are, you'd keep to your kind and not have the easiest time branching out.

Steps need to be taken in Maine for their small immigrant population to be more recognized, for sure. It is however, hard to argue that Portland and Lewiston are far behind (or "light years away") similarly sized Massachusetts cities.

*EDIT*
All statistics are from Wikipedia. Similar ones can be found on Epodunk.com
 
^^
Don't get me wrong, I'm a Mass. resident who is wrapping up his fourth year in Portland, Maine is a lot of things, but diverse isn't one of them. However, you have to say that for small towns (Portland has about 64,000 people and Lewiston has about 35,000) they do alright. Not great, but alright. Lewiston is 95% white while a town of a similar size in Mass., Dartmouth (31,000) is 90% white While Gloucester (30,000) is 96%white (keep in mind, for fairness sake, I'm not going to compare anything in Maine with Boston or it's IMMEDIATE suburbs). So you could say, Lewiston, in comparison with counterparts in MA is similarly as diverse.

Porltand (64,000) is 91% white. Massachusetts cities comparable in size are Taunton (56,000) , Framingham (66,000), and Haverhill (59,000). Using those cities for comparison's sake, Taunton is also 96% white, Haverhill is 89% white, and Framingham is 79% white (however, Framingham is more closely associated with the Boston area than the other two). So in comparison to cities its size in MA, Portland holds it's own in terms of diversity.

My biggest beef with Maine and its diversity (from personal interactions and experiences) is that the "diversity" is limited to two areas; Portland and Lewiston. Outside of those towns, it's as white as ever. See, Diversity in MA is not limited to (the outside perception) what's in Boston. There are large Asian populations, huge Brazilian populations (many of which are in Framingham) and on the South Coast, there is a massive Portuguese population (Cambodian and Guatemalan are settled heavily here as well), Springfield has a large Latin American influence as well.

The problem with Maine's diversity, is that if it weren't for the Somali refugees, they'd be in pretty rough shape. And I've debated this in another thread, but more needs to be done in these areas to embrace these races. I thank The Bostonian for showing me photos of 3 or 4 Asian markets in Portland that I otherwise would never have known existed, but there's nothing other than that that really says, "WELCOME!" to immigrants. One argument was, "Well, they just embrace hip-hop culture, blow their welfare checks on cars, blast music and keep amongst themselves." I know it's frustrating to see a minority group do that, but what would you do if you were one of 9% non-blacks living in Mogadishu (the Somali capital), how comfortable would you feel?

Steps need to be taken in Maine for their small immigrant population to be more recognized, for sure. It is however, hard to argue that Portland and Lewiston are far behind (or "light years away") similarly sized Massachusetts cities.


Taunton has a huge Portuguese population. I'd say that goes to a lot the "white" in that demographic. Also has a huge Cape Verdean population. They are mixed for the most part, I have a friend who is Cape Verdean stock and he says some say they are white. I'd also like to add that lots of the "white" population in Maine is mostly of French, Irish or English origin. This is also the case in Portland and Lewiston. In fact Maine has the second highest French-American % behind New Hampshire. However If you look at the European/white backgrounds of Mass towns, you'd see much, much more countries such as Greece, Italy, Poland, Ukraine, Sweden, Russia and many others included. Thus more diverse.
 
Immigrants entering in 2006

Boston CSA

Dominican Republic 3,581
China 2,928
Brazil 2,924
Haiti 1,841
Cape Verde 1,636
India 1,547
Guatemala 1,307
Colombia 1,288
Vietnam 1,017
Albania 832
Cambodia 824
El Salvador 781
Ghana 762
Philiphines 682
U.K 658
Kenya 604
Morocco 562
Liberia 560
Canda 541
Nigeria 482
Jamaica 438
Ethipia 429
Russia 406
Lebanon 374
Korea 343
Peru 327
Egypt 322
Portugal 320
Pakistan 301
Mexico 299
Uganda 283
Ireland 245
Germany 244
Thailand 232
Soviet Union(former) 230
Ukraine 230
Bangledesh 227
Japan 215
Somalia 214
Other Sources 7,051

got this from Urbanguy.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=153654&page=6
 
Well, this looks messy, but if you can follow it, it shows where the most immigrants came from, in 1980, 1990, and 2000, courtesy FAIR

(For Massachusetts as a whole, of course, not just the city of Boston)

Rank -- Country -- 1980 -- Country -- 1990 -- Country -- 2000

1 Canada 78,211 Portugal 70,814 Portugal 66,627

2 Portugal 75,077 Canada 52,438 Dominican Republic 46,744

3 Italy 55,461 Italy 38,288 Canada 40,247

4 U.K. 30,610 U.K. 26,807 China 39,255

5 Ireland 23,155 China 20,367 Brazil 36,669

6 Greece 17,801 Ireland 20,224 Haiti 33,862

7 Poland 16,923 Dominican Republic 19,514 Vietnam 30,457

8 Soviet Union 16,170 Haiti 18,804 Italy 28,319

9 Germany 15,158 Soviet Union 15,350 India 28,086

10 China 9,868 Germany 14,229 U.K. 25,403

? All Others -- 162,548 -- All Others -- 276,898 -- All Others -- 397,314

? Total 500,982 -- Total -- 573,733 -- Total -- 772,983
 
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I know the Portuguese population is large down here on the South Coast, but given that over 136,000 have immigrated here since 1990, there have to be other enclaves. Does anyone know of any??

Thanks for sharing, Jimbo, I find this stuff fascinating.
 
More about Quincy's Asian population and demographics.

Market share: At Quincy's large Kam Man, a new American melting pot has a distinctly Chinese taste - By Robert Knox, The Boston Globe

Wan Wu ducks out of the small office he shares with his employees and heads out into the bustling Kam Man Market, the emporium that anchors Quincy's President Plaza.

"You've probably never seen this before," says Wu, the manager, pointing to one of a score of green vegetables not seen in mainline supermarkets. The swimming shrimp also catch the eye. Even the Chinese takeout food challenges the familiar with offerings such as "spicy stoma" (pig stomach) and chicken feet.

Such are the choices at Kam Man Market, said to be the largest Asian supermarket in New England. Food and condiments from many Asian cultures (Korean and Japanese, to Cambodian and Thai) are represented. Throw in some Hispanic and Caribbean canned goods, a dash of Indian cuisine, and a few requisite American staples, and you've got a classic American melting pot, Chinese-style.

On weekends, Asian shoppers come from as far as Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and the Cape. "They bring the whole family," says Wu.

Kam Man Market, and the eclectic and colorful Asian shops clustered around it, are an adventure to newcomers.

"It's a great show to go in there," says Peter Forman, president of the South Shore Chamber of Commerce, who recently made his acquaintance with the 40,000--square-foot supermarket when his wife needed ingredients for a recipe learned in cooking class.

"It shows us how narrowly we confine ourselves by just shopping for the usual American vegetables."

New York based-Kam Man brought its wide world of food to Massachusetts in 2003 after concluding that Greater Boston had a significantly larger demand for Asian products than supply. The company had opened its first grocery store in Manhattan's Lower East Side more than 30 years earlier, then moved to New Jersey when it needed more space.

From that experience, Kam Man's owners knew they wanted a location outside Boston where parking was available and rents were lower. Quincy's large Asian population - more than a fifth of the city - made it a natural location.

Kam Man set up shop in a former Bradlee's store in moribund President Plaza.

"Right away it was a smash success," says Wu. And it has grown since then.

Kam Man rents part of the onetime Bradlee's space to several Asian-themed stores. The lineup includes Wellcome Herb Shop, clothing shops, a bank, Migun Thermal Massage Bed, Jubilee Imports, a Buddhist society that offers free books, the Lollicup TeaZone, a Vietnamese sandwich shop, a video store, and phone stores.

The decor is heavily Chinese, and a knowledge of the language helps a visitor read signs and labels, but there are plenty of English postings to help a non-Chinese reader. Non-Asians make up 30 percent of Kam Man's customers, says Wu.

The supermarket's appeal also attracted restaurant tenants to the shopping plaza, including Jazz Moon Karaoke Box and China Pearl, the Boston-based dim sum restaurant that opened in Quincy last year.

Kam Man last year opened its own retail store at one end of the defunct department store. With the competition nearby, Wu says, Kam Man seeks its own niche, not selling "anything you can find in Wal-Mart." Big sellers include the Japanese-made Hello Kitty product line and Webkinz. Traditional American brand names share space with Asian specialty products. Some products are labeled in both Chinese and English.

The combination makes for one-stop shopping for Asian customers, according to real estate broker Kai Lau of Cantonese World, who handled Kam Man's Quincy deal.

"It is a very good setting for us to welcome Americans," Lau says. "It's a platform, a showplace to display our products in the state of Massachusetts."

As Lau sees it, those products include not only the supermarket's fresh foods and baked goods, but items such as the porcelain vases on display this month in Kam Man from the Jindezhen region of Jiangxi province. Jindezhen, China's "porcelain city," has had a reputation for producing China's best decorative ceramics for almost a millennium.

"Maybe Americans will like them, too," says Jing Ouyang of China, who leased aisle space in the supermarket to display the vases. "We don't know, but we want to try."

Dean Rizzo, director of Quincy 2000, the city's economic development agency, is also betting on Kam Man's crossover appeal. He says, "To have a regional company located in the city of Quincy is a great example for other companies."

His agency is using Kam Man to promote the city in a new business recruitment DVD.

"It's a crossover market for people from all cultures to visit all cultures," says Rizzo. "Once you go there, you're going to go back."

Wu, who was brought into the company by his brother to manage the Quincy store, proudly shows off the store's range. He points out the bakery section offering sponge cake, fruit tarts, elegantly decorated American-style wedding cakes, and Chinese steamed buns.

Then it is on to the prepared food section: barbecued chicken and duck; roasted pig; live grouper, catfish, and bass swimming "in peaceful co-existence"; an extensive produce section with its large roots, football-sized radishes, various varieties of bok choy, and wide selection of greens.

The grocery aisles include 20 kinds of rice, Asian sweets, and frozen food items. Wu says he hasn't tried everything himself.

The tastes and demands of the region's Asian population, largely Cantonese, drive the marketing decisions, the store manager says. British Hong Kong's influence on the Canton region on China's southern coast is responsible for those Western-style cakes, Wu said. Chickens barbecued in the Hong Kong manner are very popular, he said, and roasted pigs for parties may be ordered in advance.

Lau says the state's growing Asian population and Kam Man's success mean the region can expect more Asian-themed businesses. He cites a proverb: If you have more chickens you'll have more eggs. If you have more eggs, you'll have more chickens.

"Right now we have more eggs," Lau said. "We expect more chickens."

Robert Knox can be contacted at rc.knox@gmail.com.
 
The Feds raid Kam Man every so often enforcing intellectual property laws. Lots of "Louis Vuitton" and "Rolex" goods confiscated.
 
Oh yea I got my mother the expert shopper to pick up a knockoff coach bag for a girlfriend, she loved it. Dont worry I eventually told her it was fake.. the little voice got the better of me. little bastard.
 
ryanandtoby-1-1-1-1.jpg


Important Toby Tip to my young friend:

European content labelling laws are very lax. Many "luxury goods" actually are made in China. European content laws often are satisfied by attaching, for example, a "Made in Italy" tag. This allows the traditional fashion houses to continue their bushwa about "passion, emotion and fine European hand craftsmanship". The only handcrafted items are the label and the stitching to attach it. Otherwise the bag that left the front door is the same as the one that went out the back.

There are some crass copies. But a keen eye will easily detect them. You can have the real thing for less.

See, you needn't have let your misguided conscience trouble you!
 
^Learned that while visiting India. Bought some Prada shoes, sans logo for about 500 rupees ($20 at the time, probably more now). The company shipped the finished product to Europe to have the label stitched on.
 
A shifting population
Written by Noah R. Bombard
Tuesday, 05 August 2008
The face of our schools is changing

By Noah R. Bombard

It?s no secret ? students at Worcester Public Schools are getting poorer, with a surge of diversity teachers are encountering more and more students who do not speak English as a first language, budgets have increased and federal and state grants have decreased ? oh, and enrollment is dropping, too. What?s the good news? Standardized testing scores are going up. But if you think these are Worcester-specific trends, you?d better do your homework. It?s happening across the state.

As Worcester?s outgoing superintendent of schools, it?s not surprising that James Caradonio has an opinion or two on these challenges the city school system faces.

?We?re not an island unto ourselves,? Caradonio says.

Ask him about the difficulty of teaching students who don?t speak English well, the growing number of poor kids in the system or Worcester?s falling enrollment and he gets outright defensive.

?Enrollment is going down across the state. Why? It?s too goddamn cold,? he quips. He then goes on a short rant about being happy to break in a new reporter.

But behind the initial knee-jerk reaction that comes from being asked these questions a few too many times, Caradonio points to some credible statistics that show many of the issues confronting Worcester Public Schools are happening across the state ? Worcester, as the second-largest city in New England, just seems to be facing them on a larger scale. And as Caradonio bears down on his final weeks in office, he doesn?t mince words when expressing his opinions on these trends. Although, when has he minced words?

The new immigrants

If there?s one thing that has changed noticeably to Caradonio and superintendents throughout the state in the past few decades, it?s the actual face of the student body. Although the story of the United States is one largely shaped by immigrants, the most recent surge has brought the first real changes to the ethnic makeup of Massachusetts students in years. The faces (and languages) of student populations have been changing steadily throughout the Commonwealth over the past decade.

Go outside the city for a moment to a school system like Shrewsbury?s. In 1994 the district was 89.1% white with a small smattering of Asians, Hispanics and blacks. This year it was at 80.3% white. It?s a small demographic shift that brings with it a few extra students who speak something other than English. Move that over to a city like Worcester, where immigrant groups tend to land first and those percentages are much higher in the school system. In 1994 Worcester was 59.8% white. Today it?s down to 40.7%. Whites are now the minority in the city schools with the rest of the population being a cornucopia of languages and races.

What challenge does this create? Well, like most educational issues, Caradonio says it has a lot to do with money.

?We have to hire more teachers and give teachers more training,? Caradonio says. ?We?ve always had English-language learners. Our challenge has always been to do more with less.?

The problem that non-English-speaking students present to the schools is, the more students who don?t speak English, means more need for the type of resources it takes to bring those students to ever-increasing educational benchmarks. And they are increasing.

?The level of education you needed to plug into the American dream was much lower (in previous generations) than it is now,? Caradonio says. ?What you have now is this whole concept of 21st century skills. So many of these parents don?t understand this labor market; they come from agricultural societies. Some of the ethnic groups come in and see kids working in groups and that blows their minds. They?re used to seeing kids sitting in rows and wearing uniforms.?

Still, Caradonio says the costs for providing for multi-lingual students are ?not that huge,? saying the costs for special education programs far exceed any multi-language expenses. And the district, he says, is doing it on the cheap side.

?My regret is we don?t have enough money to get the technology to accelerate children learning English,? he says, referencing available computer programs that are more individualized and efficient in teaching English than the current book-centric approach.


Worcester Public Schools Superintendent James Caradonio.And having large cultural groups, Caradonio says, offers advantages to students.

?If you have a child and you want to get him ready for the global society, how do you do that? The Worcester public schools are the world,? he says. ?We have kids from 84 countries speaking God knows how many languages. Our children experience global diversity every day.?

The poor keep getting poorer

It?s an almost startling statistic. Nearly two-thirds of Worcester?s students (65.2%) are from low-income families. Ten years ago that percentage was slightly less than 48%. That number has inched up statewide, too, but not by as high a margin as Worcester has. Caradonio insists a large part of that has to do with families who obtain a higher standard of living wanting bigger homes and more land ? they find it in the suburbs and move out of the city. The poorer ones stay behind. State statistics also show the state?s population in decline ? with white middle class families leaving the Commonwealth more than other groups. They may be trickling out of Worcester, but they?re leaving the state, too.

The superintendent rebuffs any claim that families are leaving for better school districts. Worcester?s educational system is strong, he says. Of course, few supers would describe their districts as weak. And most don?t deny that Worcester?s schools face some unique challenges ? even if only on a larger scale than some other districts.

?It?s not the quality of the school system that?s driving people out, it?s other things,? he says.

But keeping a strong middle class is essential to the city and the schools are one way to keep them here, says Roberta Schaefer, president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Research Bureau, which issued a report titled Choosing a New School Superintendent to Address Worcester?s Challenges in June.

?In order for the city to survive, we need to maintain a middle class ? and what are we offering those students?? Schaefer asks.

The district doesn?t keep any statistics on where students who leave the Worcester Public Schools system are moving to, making it difficult to track with any accuracy any flight of students from the city. And it?s movement of students within the city that Caradonio says is and will likely increasingly be a challenge to educators.

Caradonio cites a Journal of the American Medical Association study that addresses the effects of moving on a student.

?Middle class people are very mobile in the U.S.,? he says. ?It?s an economic social reality. ?Lower-income mobility is more chaotic.?

And it?s that lower-income mobility that serves as a constant frustration to the district, with students moving from school to school within the city as their living situations change. It?s something the district has sought to address by keeping a unified curriculum across the district, to lessen the disruption when a student lands in a new school.

If a lack of English-speaking skills presents challenges to educators, students from low-income family homes are challenged, too ? although for educators the topic often represents the elephant in the room.

?With the achievement of students in school, the No. 1 thing you can attribute it to is the mother?s educational level. The second thing is economic status ? but you can?t look at that,? Caradonio says.

It?s an example of one of the factors that, quoting Daniel Duke in an article in Phi Delta Kappan, Caradonio says in and of itself doesn?t cause a school to decline. Failing to address the challenge, however, can cause decline.

?The problem lies in not doing anything about it,? he says.

A poor student can excel and there are white middle-class students who do poorly, Caradonio says. At the same time, he acknowledges that factors such as a quality preschool experience and a family?s ability to provide stability and opportunities affect a student?s ability to cope with challenges.

Performance

Despite the increased challenges Worcester schools are facing, as Caradonio leaves the city school system he?s quick to prop up the district?s performance. But just how good that performance is depends on who you ask ? and which data you?re looking at. MCAS scores across the state have been rising steadily, as have the scores in this district.

Caradonio cites the district?s focus as a factor in making progress while resources decline.

But there?s a little more to the MCAS data than simply rising scores. In 2005, the state?s Education Quality and Accountability Board cited Worcester schools for insufficient improvement and put the school system on watch. Two years later, the board lifted the watch and reported ?student achievement in Worcester remains at low levels ....? But the report commended the school district for its improvements and for developing a ?systems-based approach to implementing policies, programs and practices that have likely laid the foundation for further improvement in student achievement.?

?There?s a challenge that you still have 75% of the schools that are still in some sort of under-performance,? says Schaefer.

The Research Bureau?s June report also raises the concern that 55% of Worcester graduates required at least one remedial course when they got to college compared to 37% statewide. Yet the same data, which comes from the April 2008 Massachusetts School-to-College Report, notes the average cumulative high school GPA in Worcester at 3.3, compared to 3.1 statewide.

There is one area where the district?s challenges seem to be showing some progress. Although Worcester?s student population continues to grow in diversity and the number of students improving in math and English on the MCAS tests are increasing, it?s the African American and Hispanic groups that are seeing the greatest improvements ? although their overall scores have yet to catch up to their white and English-speaking counterparts. According to stats compiled by the district, the number of Hispanic students attaining proficiency in math went from 10% in 2004 to 20% in 2007. African Americans went from around 14% to 27% in the same time period, while white students went from 33% to 46%. Worcester?s scores are below the state average, but are climbing.

?We know what to do,? Caradonio says. ?The challenge has always been to do more with less.?

The challenges are ones the next superintendent will have to dig into. With increased foreclosures on homes and the rising cost of living, the number of low-income students, Caradonio says, is likely to continue to climb. As the state deals with a student population that is poorer and more diverse, Worcester?s school system will likely deal with the same issues, but to a higher degree.

http://www.worcestermagazine.com/content/view/3069/
 

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