Who Will Inherit Chinatown?

Chinatown is one of the few Manhattan neighborhoods (actually, the only one) that retains its strong ethnic identity. Little Italy barely exists anymore (it's basically just a couple of blocks of restaurants now), Harlem is now majority non-black, and Spanish Harlem and Washington Heights have a huge number of non-Hispanic residents. Gentrification has basically rendered asunder the "ethnic" Manhattan neighborhood.

Except Chinatown. Strong communities activism, community boards, and real estate owners have kept this part of Lower Manhattan identifiably Chinese.

Small family businesses have played a huge part of this ongoing legacy as well. Generation after generation of Chinese Americans have inherited their families restaurants, clothing stores, supplies stores, laundromats, eye glass stores, you name it, and kept them going.

But for how much longer? Will young, highly-educated Chinese people from Chinatown who maybe want to make their fortunes in other businesses, in other industries, maybe even (gasp) in other cities, want to keep family businesses like this going? And, if they don't, will this erode the life and community of Chinatown?

Perhaps but some young people do want to keep their family businesses in Chinatown, and Chinatown itself, going. Sometimes family and community and continuing a legacy are more important than money.