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===1970sβ1990s=== Beginning in the 1970s, middle-class ethnic [[Asian Americans]] and Asian immigrants began settling in the west [[San Gabriel Valley]], primarily to Monterey Park.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pierson |first=David |date=January 23, 2023 |title=Monterey Park transformed the Chinese American experience. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/23/us/monterey-park-history-chinese.html |access-date=January 24, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>Horton, John. ''The Politics of Diversity: Immigration, Resistance, and Change in Monterey Park, California ''. Temple University Press, 195. p. 80.Chapter 4</ref> The City Council of Monterey Park subsequently tried and failed to pass English-only ordinances.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-feb-07-cl-21953-story.html|title=A Chronicle of Triumph, Pain in Chinese American Community|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=February 7, 2001| first=Jonathan|last=Kirsch|access-date=January 18, 2016}}</ref> In 1985 the Council approved drafting of a proposal that would require all businesses in Monterey Park to display [[English language]] identification on business signs.<ref>Arax, Mark. "Stronger Rules on English in Signs Pushed by Council." ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. December 5, 1985. [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-12-05-ga-633-story.html 1]. Retrieved on March 29, 2010.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-03-31-me-748-story.html|title=Pride or Prejudice? : Monterey Park Debates Mayor's Plan to Erect Washington Statue|last=Hudson|first=Berkley|date=March 31, 1989|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=April 8, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}}</ref> In the 1980s, Monterey Park was referred to as "Little [[Taipei]]" or "The Chinese Beverly Hills".<ref name="asianweek">{{cite web |author=Eljera |first=Bert |date=May 1996 |title=The Chinese Beverly Hills |url=http://asianweek.com/052496/LittleTaipei.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609165853/http://asianweek.com/052496/LittleTaipei.html |archive-date=June 9, 2010 |access-date= |website=Asian Week }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-feb-28-me-montereypark28-story.html|title=A city tries to find itself|last=Pierson|first=David|date=February 28, 2008|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=April 8, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035 }}</ref> Frederic Hsieh, a local realtor who bought land in Monterey Park and sold it to newly arrived immigrants, is credited with engendering Monterey Park's Chinese American community.<ref name="Frederic Hsieh, 54.">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/20/us/frederic-hsieh-is-dead-at-54-made-asian-american-suburb.html|title=Frederic Hsieh Is Dead at 54; Made Asian-American Suburb|first=Christian|last=Berthelsen|date=August 20, 1999|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=July 5, 2018}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-04-06-mn-135-story.html|title=Monterey Park : Nation's 1st Suburban Chinatown|last1=Arax|first1=Mark|date=April 6, 1987|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=April 8, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035 }}</ref> Many businesses from [[Chinatown, Los Angeles|the Chinatown in downtown LA]] began to open up stores in Monterey Park. In the 1970s and 1980s, many affluent ''[[waishengren|waisheng ren]]'' [[Taiwan]]ese immigrants moved abroad from [[Taiwan]] and began settling into Monterey Park.<ref name="temple.edu">{{cite book |first=Timothy P. |last=Fong |url=http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/997_reg_print.html |title=The First Suburban Chinatown |publisher=Temple University |isbn=978-1-56639-262-4 |year=1994 |access-date=June 21, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616085841/http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/997_reg_print.html |archive-date=June 16, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Mandarin Chinese]] became the most widely spoken language in many Chinese businesses of the city during that time, displacing [[Cantonese]] that had been common previously.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Park |first1=Jeong |last2=Smith |first2=Doug |date=January 23, 2023 |title=Lunar New Year shooting: A grim moment in Monterey Park, America's first suburban Chinatown |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-01-22/lunar-new-year-mass-shooting-a-grim-moment-in-monterey-park |access-date=January 23, 2023 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Cantonese has dominated the [[Chinatowns in Canada and the United States|Chinatowns of North America]] for decades, but Mandarin is the most common language of Chinese immigrants in the past few decades.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pierson |first=David |date=January 3, 2006 |title=Cantonese Is Losing Its Voice |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jan-03-me-cantonese3-story.html |access-date=January 23, 2023 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> In 1983, [[Lily Lee Chen]] became the first Chinese American woman to be elected mayor of a U.S. city.<ref>Shyong, Frank (February 24, 2015) [https://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-race-monterey-park-elections-20150225-story.html "Monterey Park nears a demographic milestone, yet race rarely discussed"] [[Los Angeles Times]]</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-04-02-ga-1247-story.html|title=Too Long in the SPOTLIGHT : Monterey Park, Star 'Melting Pot,' Getting Fed Up With the Publicity|last=HUDSON|first=BERKLEY|date=April 2, 1989|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=April 8, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}}</ref> By the late 1980s, immigrants from [[mainland China]] and [[Vietnam]] began moving into Monterey Park. By the 1990 census, Monterey Park became the first city with an Asian descent majority population in the continental United States. Timothy P. Fong, a professor and director of Asian American studies at [[California State University, Sacramento]], describes Monterey Park as the "First Suburban [[Chinatown]]".<ref name="temple.edu"/><ref name=":0" /> In the 1980s, the second generation Chinese Americans generally moved out of the old Chinatown and into the San Gabriel Valley suburbs, joining the new immigrants from Taiwan and mainland China.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.raulareyes.com/Site/Monterey_Park.html/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314104458/http://www.raulareyes.com/Site/Monterey_Park.html/|url-status=dead|title=San Gabriel Valley Tribune|archivedate=March 14, 2012}}</ref> From that time, with a combined influx of Vietnamese, Taiwanese and [[Hong Kong]] immigrant students at the time, [[Mark Keppel High School]], constructed during the [[New Deal]] era and located in [[Alhambra, California|Alhambra]], but also serving most of Monterey Park and portions of [[Rosemead]], felt the impact of this new immigration as the student population increased dramatically, leading to overcrowding.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mkhs.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=62613&type=d&termREC_ID=&pREC_ID=97013 |title=Mark Keppel High School |publisher=Mkhs.org |date=December 31, 1999 |access-date=August 17, 2010}}</ref> Today, many students are second or third-generation Asian Americans.<ref>[http://www.hks.harvard.edu/aapr/doc/tsai76-98.pdf Harvard University]{{dead link|date=May 2018}}</ref> In 1988, the City of Monterey Park passed an ordinance declaring a moratorium on new building, in an attempt to regulate the rapid growth the city experienced as a result of the influx of Asian immigrants.<ref name="asianweek"/><ref>{{cite news |date=May 12, 1988 |title=Local News in Brief : Building Bans Imposed |work=Los Angeles Times |publisher= |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-05-12-me-4230-story.html |access-date=August 17, 2010}}</ref> This moratorium was challenged and defeated in 1989.<ref name="sfgate.com">{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/05/MNSG1DQ1BL.DTL |title=Whites in state 'below the replacement' level |publisher=Sfgate.com |date=June 5, 2010 |access-date=August 17, 2010 | first=Justin | last=Berton}}</ref> This controversial move caused many Asian residents and businesses to shift focus, establishing themselves in the neighboring city of [[Alhambra, California|Alhambra]]. When the potential loss of business revenue was recognized,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.docstoc.com/docs/48018067/The-First-Suburban-Chinatown |title=The First Suburban Chinatown |access-date=October 29, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918181333/http://www.docstoc.com/docs/48018067/The-First-Suburban-Chinatown |archive-date=September 18, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> "Monterey Park went through a lot of upheaval that a lot of people regret," and relocation back to Monterey Park was highly encouraged in the [[Asian American]] community.<ref>Quan, Douglas. "[http://www.pe.com/localnews/rivcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_D_asian07.25558b4.html Some in Chino Hills nervous about ethnic shift]." ''[[The Press-Enterprise]]''. Tuesday February 6, 2007. Retrieved on January 21, 2010.</ref> Since the early 1990s, Taiwanese people are no longer the majority in the city. The construction boom of shopping centers had declined, but plans for redevelopment sought to change that. High property values and overcrowding in Monterey Park<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ci.monterey-park.ca.us/index.aspx?page=726 |title=City of Monterey Park : Housing Needs |access-date=October 29, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717011110/http://www.ci.monterey-park.ca.us/index.aspx?page=726 |archive-date=July 17, 2011 }}</ref> have contributed to a secondary migration away from Monterey Park.
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