The Geography of Chinese Food Businesses in Greater Providence
The above map shows the locations for all restaurants and grocery stores covered in this online virtual tour of Chinese American food businesses in Greater Providence. But we can look at a much greater sample size of restaurants and grocery stores, from the 1950s and from today, to observe overarching trends which were influential for the restaurants and grocery stores that this tour documents.
1950s
The below custom Google Map was constructed using information from the Providence's Chinatown project about Providence-area Chinese food establishments in the 1950s. At the time, the majority of Chinese restaurants were located in the center of Downtown Providence.
Today (2018)
Providence
The following Google Map is based on restaurants that appear to serve Chinese cuisine in Providence in the present day. Compared to the 1950s map, the current distribution of Chinese restaurants in Providence is very scattered, with most located further away from the city center. Indeed, the downtown core now only has one restaurant, whereas in the 1950s most Chinese restaurants were located there.
Greater Providence
Using Google search, I identified all restaurants and grocery stores within an arbitrary limit of "Greater Providence" (based on my own travels) which appeared to feature Chinese cuisine or serve a Chinese clientele (based on my own arbitrary judgment), then mapped them onto this custom Google Map. The red markers indicate restaurants, while the yellow markers indicate grocery stores and supermarkets.
The considerable out-migration of Chinese American families and establishments during the 1970s and 1980s—motivated by various factors such as rent increases in the downtown area, the construction of malls in the suburbs and the centrifugal influence of the Interstate highways—led to a dispersal of Chinese food businesses and the Chinese community in Rhode Island in general. Most of my interviewees have identified Cranston as a major center for Chinese American life and business but, compared to the previous Chinatown in Providence, it cannot be called the primary center as a large number of businesses and important community organizations (such as Christian churches and the Rhode Island Association of Chinese Americans) are located in Pawtucket. Indeed, one of this virtual tour's main shortcomings is its failure to include any businesses or people located in Pawtucket.
