Unlike other established enclaves however, Filipinotown in Los Angeles isn't a Filipino enclave in the strictest sense. In fact, Latinos comprise the majority of inhabitants here. Of the 200,000 Filipino-Americans living in Los Angeles, only about 10,000 call Filipinotown their home. The rest of Fil-Ams are widely dispersed in the greater Los Angeles area, preferring to mix with others in the suburbs. Which pretty much sums up the way Filipinos live in New York - scattered in the boroughs of Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island and, if they can afford it, Manhattan. In other words, you could point any area in Los Angeles county, be it Cerritos, West Covina, West Hollywood, Artesia, Carson, Eagle Rock, places where Pinoys abound and where Pinoy businesses thrive and it might as well be another Filipinotown.
Even as a new immigrant, I remember how, during the process of getting my Social Security number at the office in Asheville, North Carolina, I was introduced by this Caucasian officer to an Asian woman behind the counter who happen to be a Fil-Am. Her first line: "Nice meeting you, I'd like to invite you to become a member of our Pinoy Association here". How could I possibly be homesick when I've got embracing arms already welcoming me to this land filled with multi-colored skin? And how would I know that in that little mountain town of Asheville, Pinoys have already bonded into their own Filipinotown?
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