The booming 1990s saw a new demographic pattern emerging in the United States the shift of immigrants toward smaller towns and metropolitan areas in ethnically homogenous (or traditionally bicultural) areas. These places offer growing, specialized economies in need of unskilled or semi-skilled (and occasionally skilled) labor; they also offer, for some immigrants, a favorable physical and social climate. Immigrants Outside Megalopolis documents this trend with case studies including Hmong in Wisconsin, Iranians in Iowa, Mexicans in Kansas and Colorado, Vietnamese in coastal Louisiana, Mexicans in North Carolina and south Texas, Cubans in Arizona, Bosnians in upstate New York, Asian Indians in north Texas, and Ukranians and Russians in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Truly, this process is resulting in a cultural transformation of the U.S. heartland. The implantation of new features on the cultural landscape (businesses, homes, churches, schools, possessions, and the peoples themselves) is giving many Americans a world geography lesson at a time when increased world understanding is something the country cannot do without. This geography lesson comes at a cost, however: the difficult process of social adjustment, playing out on a daily basis between immigrant and host populations, which remains largely unresolved. This process is an important focus of Jones's book."

Immigration has expanded dramatically in both traditional and emerging receiving nations. This worldwide boom has profoundly altered urban areas as new arrivals have transformed inner cities and suburbs alike into bastions of new ethnic economic activity. Examining the essential role of space in assisting and modifying ethnic business activity, this book considers how ethnic economies are reshaping the urban landscape in the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada, Germany, and Italy. Each chapter explores the significance of urban space and local context in the development of an ethnic economy and how, in turn, ethnic economies have helped to recreate urban neighborhoods. With its international scope and rich case studies, this book will be invaluable for scholars and students alike in the fields of ethnic studies, urban studies, economic development, geography, and sociology.

Immigration has expanded dramatically in both traditional and emerging receiving nations. This worldwide boom has profoundly altered urban areas as new arrivals have transformed inner cities and suburbs alike into bastions of new ethnic economic activity. Examining the essential role of space in assisting and modifying ethnic business activity, this book considers how ethnic economies are reshaping the urban landscape in the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada, Germany, and Italy. Each chapter explores the significance of urban space and local context in the development of an ethnic economy and how, in turn, ethnic economies have helped to recreate urban neighborhoods. With its international scope and rich case studies, this book will be invaluable for scholars and students alike in the fields of ethnic studies, urban studies, economic development, geography, and sociology.

Ethnic diversity has marked the United States from its inception, and it is impossible to separate ethnicity from an understanding of the United States as a country and "Americans" as a people. Since the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, the United States has experienced watershed transformations in its social, cultural, and ethnic geographies. Considering the impact of these wide-ranging changes, this unique text examines the experiences of a range of ethnic groups in both historical and contemporary context. It begins by laying out a comprehensive conceptual framework that integrates immigration theory; globalization; transnational community formation; and urban, cultural, and economic geography. The contributors then present a rich set of case studies of the key Latin American, Asian American, and Middle Eastern communities comprising the vast majority of newer immigrants. Each case offers a brief historical overview of the group's immigration experience and settlement patterns and discusses its contemporary socioeconomic dynamics. All these communities have transformed-and been transformed by-the places in which they have settled. Exploring these changing communities, places, and landscapes, this book offers a nuanced understanding of the evolution of America's contemporary ethnic geographies.