A recent article in the Batlimore Sun about that city's Greektown sparked some ideas in our minds of what Greektowns today really symbolize; and whether in today's world they truly were 'Greek.'
As immigrant waves came into new countries (Canada, Australia, United States, France, UK etc), Greeks and other ethnic groups often settled into areas that they knew how to relate with, conduct business with and communicate with. This
created numerous ethnic neighborhoods in many cities including the Greektowns that sprouted up in numerous cities. But as immigration has faded, the Greek element of many former Greek towns has been lost, and in many cases has been reduced to nothing more than a strip of retail shops or restaurants. Some exceptions do exist; most notably in Tarpon Springs, Florida; Astoria, New York; and on the Danforth in Toronto; where a large Greek community still resides in the area and helps retain more of a cultural element to the neighborhoods.
But in U.S., the term Greektown has in many cases become nothing more than a tourist attraction. In Chicago, the former Greektown that used to span blocks and blocks and was home to dozens of businesses and hundreds of families was razed in the 1960s and today consists of three blocks of retail stores. (The Greeks who used to live there have dispersed to the northwest and southwest suburbs.) Detroit's Greektown is also a small commercial strip, and Denver's Greektown is merely a collection of a restaurants on a busy street. The Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland has lost most of its Greek residents and the Greek neighborhoods of Los Angeles and St. Louis have all but vanished. In Australia, the same phenomena is occurring. Melbourne, with its huge Greek population has seen a population shift to the suburbs; a occurrence also happening in Sydney and Brisbane.
Something that should be noted is that although Greeks may still not reside in their former 'neighborhoods', Greektowns still serve as a focal point for the community and are hosts for parades, and large festivals celebrating our heritage.
What do you think of the Greektown in your neck of the world? Are there adequate measures being taken to preserve this pat of history?
List of Greek towns around the world
posted on Wednesday, October 22