Cambodia Town, Long Beach, California facts for kids

Cambodia Town (also known as Little Phnom Penh or Little Cambodia) is a special area in Long Beach, California. It's about one mile long, along Anaheim Street between Atlantic and Junipero avenues. This part of the Eastside of Long Beach is full of Cambodian restaurants, clothing stores, jewelry shops, and donut shops. You can also find churches, temples, and places that help Cambodian Americans. Many other businesses, like auto repair shops, are also owned by Cambodian people. Long Beach has more Cambodians than any other city outside of Cambodia itself!

A Look Back: Before Migration

Before the Khmer Rouge group came to power in the 1970s, Cambodia was mostly a farming country. It had been ruled by France for 90 years. In 1973, the United States carried out bombing missions near the Cambodia-Vietnam border. These bombings were meant to fight communism from Vietnam. However, they caused a lot of fear and confusion for people in Southeast Asia, including Cambodia.

Some Cambodians then believed that the Khmer Rouge and a new political system would solve their problems. Pol Pot led the Khmer Rouge. This group wanted to remove all Western influences from Cambodia. They aimed to create a society where everyone was equal and focused on farming.

The Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia on April 17, 1975. This was around the time of the Cambodian New Year. Cambodia then became a country where people were forced to work 12 to 14 hours a day in labor camps.

Soon after taking over, the Khmer Rouge treated people who disagreed with them very harshly. They harmed Cambodians for not working hard enough, showing sadness, or being educated. It's estimated that between 300,000 and 500,000 Cambodians died during this time. The Vietnamese army removed the Khmer Rouge from power in 1979. During this difficult period, about 2 million out of 8 million people in Cambodia died. This was about a quarter of the country's population.

How Cambodia Town Grew: Waves of Migration

The first Cambodians to live in Long Beach arrived in the 1950s and 1960s. They were students from wealthy families who came to California State University, Long Beach. Some of these students stayed in Long Beach after finishing college. They were the first to create a Cambodian presence there.

The next group of Cambodians arrived in the mid-1970s. These were people who escaped when the Khmer Rouge first took over Cambodia.

The last big group of Cambodians came to the U.S. in the 1980s. This was after the Vietnamese army fought the Khmer Rouge in 1979. Most of these new arrivals were farmers from small villages with little schooling. They came to America to escape the fear and violence of the war and genocide. The Cambodian students who had settled in Long Beach earlier helped these new refugees. They offered support like mental health resources to help them adjust to American life.

Many Cambodian refugees settled in Long Beach to build a new Cambodian community. Their old communities had been destroyed by violence. Long Beach was a good place for them because property was affordable. This allowed many refugees to start their own businesses and keep their culture alive.

Who Lives Here: Demographics

As Cambodian refugees arrived in Long Beach, the number of Asian residents grew between 1980 and 1990. By 1990, about 35 percent of the people in Cambodia Town were Asian. This number has gone down since then.

According to the 2010 census, most people in Cambodia Town were Hispanic. Asians made up 20 percent of the population, and 70 percent of those Asians were Cambodian.

More than half of the Asians in Cambodia Town were born outside the U.S. About 60 percent of them are now U.S. citizens. This shows that the community is becoming a part of American society.

Starting Over: Resettlement

From April to November 1975, about 2,000 Cambodians found safety at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, a military base in Southern California. After staying there, many Cambodian refugees moved to Cambodia Town, Long Beach. They looked for support and a familiar way of life and culture.

Adjusting to American society was hard for many. They faced challenges like language barriers and dealing with past difficult experiences. Many Cambodians in Cambodia Town felt more anxious and fearful in their daily lives because of the violence they experienced from the Khmer Rouge. These individuals sometimes had trouble sleeping, experienced nightmares, or had headaches due to painful memories from the political unrest in Cambodia.

Difficult experiences from the past can also affect younger generations. This is called intergenerational trauma. It can sometimes lead to problems for Cambodian youth and create a gap between parents and children. These past issues can sometimes lead to more conflict within the Cambodian community in Long Beach.

When Cambodians came to Long Beach, they had a chance to rebuild their lives and community. At that time, Long Beach had many jobs that did not require speaking English. This made it easier for Cambodians to find work and earn money. Also, cheap and affordable property allowed some Cambodian refugees to combine money with their families. They used this to start small businesses, cultural centers, and homes.

The United Cambodian Community (UCC) was formed to help Cambodian refugees with housing, money, and food. These services helped shape the area. They created familiar food stores, pharmacies, and other shops for Cambodians. For example, pharmacies in Cambodia Town offered traditional herbal medicine from Cambodia.

As more services, stores, and people arrived, Cambodia Town grew. This growth created a local network where Cambodian residents could live their daily lives while still speaking Khmer, their main language. East Anaheim Street became the main street for these services, restaurants, and resources for Cambodians in Long Beach.

Becoming Official: Official Designation

In 2000, there was a plan to officially name the area "Cambodia Town." But many local residents did not support it, so the idea was rejected. Some felt that people who didn't live in the area were trying to claim it. Some community leaders preferred the name "Little Phnom Penh." They felt it didn't suggest a single national identity, as "Cambodia Town" might. Some people also questioned any official name because Long Beach is very diverse. They worried that recognizing one ethnic group might cause problems between Cambodian and Latino youth.

Later, the founders of Cambodia Town, Inc. successfully worked to officially name East Anaheim Street as Cambodia Town. A key step was getting support from the community and important businesses along East Anaheim Street. The plan was approved by a city committee. Even with some concerns about other groups being pushed out, supporters argued that the name would simply highlight the neighborhood's unique features. They pointed to other established ethnic areas where different groups lived and worked together.

As a result, the Long Beach City Council officially approved the idea of Cambodia Town in 2007. This was on the condition that it would become a Business Improvement District (BID). A BID is an area where local businesses work together to improve the neighborhood.

Community Challenges: Racial Tensions

Some Latino community members felt uneasy as the Cambodian community grew quickly. Cambodians sometimes faced difficulties in low-income areas where resources were limited. Some young Cambodians joined groups to find a sense of belonging or to deal with feeling caught between American and Cambodian identities. A lack of support in the Long Beach school system for Cambodians also played a part.

Joining these groups was also linked to mental health. Unaddressed past difficulties among Cambodian youth caused many to look for support from these groups. About 67 percent of Cambodians have experienced post-traumatic stress, and 51 percent have experienced severe sadness.

Activity among these groups in Long Beach and Cambodia Town was highest from 1989 to 1995, leading to conflicts. One person said, "we had to protect ourselves," when talking about growing up in the United States. In a survey in Cambodia Town, more than half of the people said public safety was a big worry. However, the number of conflicts and problems has gone down in recent years. Groups like the UCC regularly work with younger generations to help them succeed in school.

Rich Traditions: Cambodian Culture

The Cambodian New Year is celebrated every year from April 14 to April 16. In Cambodia, this holiday traditionally marks the change from the hot, dry season to the monsoon rains. These rains wash away dust and bring life to the fields. It's believed that divine beings, called Tevoda, watch over this renewal in nature.

The Cambodian New Year festival in Cambodia Town is a big community event held in the streets. It includes a cultural parade. This celebration shows off traditional clothes and performances like classical dancing and drumming. You can also see flags and symbols of Cambodian pride, along with representatives from local groups and businesses. The event also shows the diversity of the area, often including monks, Cambodian and Black Christian ministers, and ice cream vendors.

Another popular local event is the annual Cambodia Town Film Festival. It was started by Cambodian American filmmaker Caylee So and hip-hop artist praCH Ly. The festival shows films from both well-known and new filmmakers. Their movies often explore the Cambodian experience. The festival includes film showings, discussions, and question-and-answer sessions with the people who made the films.

Local Spots: Businesses

The Cambodia Town business area stretches about 1.2 miles along East Anaheim Street. It's just north of Downtown Long Beach and east of the 710 freeway. You can get there by Long Beach Transit buses and the Los Angeles Metro A Line train. The area has Cambodian liquor stores, gift shops, jewelry stores, markets, and restaurants. There are also many businesses and restaurants owned by Latino people.

One of the most famous Cambodia Town restaurants is Phnom Penh Noodle Shack, which opened in 1985. It started as a small, family-run restaurant. But over the years, it has become very popular thanks to food critics and social media.

The markets in Cambodia Town show the many different Asian cultures in Long Beach. They carry important ingredients for various foods, including Cambodian, Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese food. These stores offer everything from ready-made Asian meals to cooking ingredients.

Learning and Growing: Education

Cambodia Town has a high rate of poverty. This is partly because of low employment rates, which are caused by language barriers and lower levels of education. In the United States, 54 percent of Asians have a bachelor's degree. But in Cambodia Town, only 10 percent of Asians have one. About 43 percent of Cambodians reported attending college but not finishing their degree, which means many drop out.

Overall, less than one-third of Cambodians in the United States have less than a high school degree. Sometimes, data about Asians is grouped together. Because other Asian groups have high education rates, the lower education levels of Cambodians can be overlooked. Cambodian youth may not get the specific help they need, like counseling or tutoring, for issues unique to their community.

Financial Struggles: Poverty

Because of their journey to resettle, the Cambodian community faces challenges like past difficulties and poverty. Poverty adds stress to people's lives, creating individual challenges like financial worry. These complex and connected issues can make it hard to break free from poverty and improve one's financial situation. Poverty makes it difficult to move up in society because other challenges, like education, are also affected by it.

The average household income in Cambodia Town is $34,000. This is lower than the $56,000 average income for Los Angeles County. Also, Asians in Cambodia Town earn about $14,600 less than Asians in Los Angeles County. About one-third of all residents live below the poverty line. This is about twice as high as in Los Angeles County.

Income and poverty are connected to jobs. The rate of people working in Cambodia Town is around 34 percent. As a result, Cambodia Town has an unemployment rate of 15 percent.

Where People Live: Housing

Few households in Cambodia Town own their homes. This means many people rent. About 61 percent of Cambodia Town residents are renters. Most residents have low incomes, so they spend most of their money on rent. People who spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent are said to have a high rent burden. In Cambodia Town, 62 percent of renters have a high rent burden. This high rate of poverty and difficulty buying homes in Cambodia Town might be because of lower education levels, which can make it harder to get high-paying jobs. As a result, people being forced to move and areas becoming more expensive are growing problems in the community.

Cambodia Town is currently undergoing many projects to make it more beautiful. These include public investments in murals, bike lanes, parks, and community gardens. These improvements are meant to make the local community safer. While making things look nicer can improve safety, it also increases property values. This creates a new challenge for locals: a higher cost of living. Businesses and residents are at risk of having to move if rent becomes too high. Because of this, community groups that work on housing development are speaking out. They are asking for policies to protect residents from constantly increasing rent.

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