Chinatown and Little Italy, Edmonton
Encyclopedia
Chinatown and Little Italy is a business revitalization zone (BRZ), created by the City of Edmonton
, roughly comprising the informal Chinatown
and Little Italy
ethnic enclaves in the city's inner neighbourhoods. The boundaries of the BRZ includes only the "commercial strips" within those enclaves, and the BRZ itself strattles the official neighbourhoods of McCauley
and Boyle Street
.
Edmonton's current Chinatown consists of two parts, Chinatown South is the older part, easily recognized by the presence of the Harbin
Gate
and other Chinese-themed street furniture
. Chinatown North lies just to the north of its older counterpart. Chinatown North also includes a large Vietnamese presence
, and blends into the multicultural "Avenue of Nations" (107 Ave)
which runs east-to-west along the northern edge of both Chinatown and Little Italy.
The smaller enclave of Little Italy lies just few blocks to the east of Chinatown. By the early 21st century, it had ceased to be an area of major Italian settlement, but continues as a shopping district.
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
, roughly comprising the informal Chinatown
Chinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
and Little Italy
Little Italy
Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood.-Canada:*Little Italy, Edmonton, in Alberta*Little Italy, Montreal, in Quebec...
ethnic enclaves in the city's inner neighbourhoods. The boundaries of the BRZ includes only the "commercial strips" within those enclaves, and the BRZ itself strattles the official neighbourhoods of McCauley
McCauley, Edmonton
McCauley is an inner city neighbourhood in Edmonton, Alberta. It is named for the Matthew McCauley, the first mayor of Edmonton, and is located just to the north east of the downtown core...
and Boyle Street
Boyle Street, Edmonton
Boyle Street is a neighbourhood located in central Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, immediately east of the downtown core...
.
Harbin
Harbin ; Manchu language: , Harbin; Russian: Харби́н Kharbin ), is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...
Gate
Paifang
Paifang, also called pailou, is a traditional Chinese architectural gating style as an archway.The word paifang originally was a collective term used to describe the top two levels of administrative division and subdivisions of ancient Chinese city. The largest division within a city in ancient...
and other Chinese-themed street furniture
Street furniture
Street furniture is a collective term for objects and pieces of equipment installed on streets and roads for various purposes, including traffic barriers,...
. Chinatown North lies just to the north of its older counterpart. Chinatown North also includes a large Vietnamese presence
Vietnamese Canadian
Mainstream Vietnamese communities began arriving in Canada in the mid 1970s and early 1980s as refugees or boat people following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, though a couple thousand were already living in Quebec before then, most of whom were students...
, and blends into the multicultural "Avenue of Nations" (107 Ave)
107 Avenue, Edmonton
107 Avenue is a major arterial road in west-central Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It serves Edmonton's west side industrial distract, the old town of Jasper Place, the multicultural area north of Downtown Edmonton, Commonwealth Stadium, and adjacent park & ride transit centre...
which runs east-to-west along the northern edge of both Chinatown and Little Italy.
The smaller enclave of Little Italy lies just few blocks to the east of Chinatown. By the early 21st century, it had ceased to be an area of major Italian settlement, but continues as a shopping district.