Sometimes even the smallest things can be controversial in Little Saigon.
But a move by San Jose to name its own Vietnamese enclave Little Saigon is going over without protest in Orange County, home to the largest number of Vietnamese outside of Vietnam.
“No one owns the Little Saigon name,” said Frank Jao, a real estate developer who played a big part in the development of OC’s Little Saigon in the 1970s. “Even if San Jose uses it, I don’t think it will impact Orange County in a bad way.”
For several months, San Jose has debated whether to name an area known for its concentration of Vietnamese businesses Little Saigon.
The city has the second-highest number of Vietnamese-Americans after OC’s Little Saigon, which runs through parts of Westminster, Garden Grove, Fountain Valley, Santa Ana and Huntington Beach.
Given the contentious nature of OC’s Little Saigon,where store displays and building designs have set off protests and community rifts,you’d think sharing the name might set off another north-south war.
For the past few years, Huntington Beach and Santa Cruz battled over the Surf City USA name.
But that’s “not likely” with the Little Saigons, said Linda Vo, chair of the Asian American Studies at University of California, Irvine.
“The branding of a city creates competition, but this situation is different because the name Little Saigon serves a different purpose for the Vietnamese community,” she said.
The prospect of having a Little Saigon in San Jose could spur business, according to Jao.
“Businesses in both areas can network with each other,” he said.
For more on this story, see the March 3 edition of the Business Journal.
