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15 To An Apartment Isn't Social Distancing — But It's Life For Some Chinese Immigrants
With not much closet space tenants at Chinese immigrant boarding houses often hang their clothes above their beds. Chava Sanchez/ LAist
Last week, LAist published my investigation of overcrowded Chinese “boarding houses” (also known as “family motels”) in the San Gabriel Valley. Yesterday, I caught up with a few of my sources.
There are hundreds of these places, where newly arrived Chinese immigrants are packed into apartments, condos, and garage conversions — and by many, I mean 10, 15, even more.
Chunsheng Zhang, a construction worker, told me that someone at his boarding house was sick with a fever but refused to go to the hospital. Zhang said he was terrified, and left the city.
And city officials can’t do much about it.
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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