Every year, the U.S. becomes more diverse in race and ethnicity?and so do its suburbs In 1998, when Sarah Park and her family moved to the U.S., they spent a week in Washington, D.C., trying out the city to see whether they wanted to live there. But fellow South Koreans told Park?s parents: Consider Atlanta. The city, fresh from the 1996 Olympics, had begun to attract more residents. Living expenses were lower than in Washington or Los Angeles. Plus, a Korean community was blossoming in Duluth, a suburb 25 miles northeast of Atlanta.
So Park?s family went to Duluth and stayed at the home of a Korean family. For a week, Park got acquainted with the host family?s daily routine. She went to Kroger for the first time, buying orange juice and fruit. She went to a Korean-American megachurch. Even now, Park gasps when she recalls how many people there were. The visit coincided with Halloween, so Park and the other kids walked around the neighborhood, filling their pillowcases with candy. ?The family kind of showed us what adjusted life looked like,? Park says.
Park?s family liked Duluth so much, they never left.
More than two decades later, Park and her parents still live in Duluth, and now, so do a lot more first- and second-generation Koreans. The city used to have only a smattering of churches, shops, and infrastructure geared toward Korean residents. Now, signs in Korean announce storefront after storefront of restaurants, law offices, grocery stores, banks, travel agen...