What do you think?
Rate this book
Resisting Change in Suburbia: Asian Immigrants and Frontier Nostalgia in L.A. (American Crossroads)
2023 Lawrence W. Levine Award Winner, Organization of American Historians
Between the 1980s and the first decade of the twenty-first century, Asian Americans in Los Angeles moved toward becoming a racial majority in the communities of the East San Gabriel Valley. By the late 1990s, their "model minority" status resulted in greater influence in local culture, neighborhood politics, and policies regarding the use of suburban space. In the "country living" subdivisions, which featured symbols of Western agrarianism including horse trails, ranch fencing, and Spanish colonial architecture, white homeowners encouraged assimilation and enacted policies suppressing unwanted "changes"—that is, increased density and influence of Asian culture. While some Asian suburbanites challenged whites' concerns, many others did not. Rather, white critics found support from affluent Asian homeowners who also wished to protect their class privilege and suburbia's conservative Anglocentric milieu. In Resisting Change in Suburbia , award-winning historian James Zarsadiaz explains how myths of suburbia, the American West, and the American Dream informed regional planning, suburban design, and ideas about race and belonging.
Between the 1980s and the first decade of the twenty-first century, Asian Americans in Los Angeles moved toward becoming a racial majority in the communities of the East San Gabriel Valley. By the late 1990s, their "model minority" status resulted in greater influence in local culture, neighborhood politics, and policies regarding the use of suburban space. In the "country living" subdivisions, which featured symbols of Western agrarianism including horse trails, ranch fencing, and Spanish colonial architecture, white homeowners encouraged assimilation and enacted policies suppressing unwanted "changes"—that is, increased density and influence of Asian culture. While some Asian suburbanites challenged whites' concerns, many others did not. Rather, white critics found support from affluent Asian homeowners who also wished to protect their class privilege and suburbia's conservative Anglocentric milieu. In Resisting Change in Suburbia , award-winning historian James Zarsadiaz explains how myths of suburbia, the American West, and the American Dream informed regional planning, suburban design, and ideas about race and belonging.
286 pages, Paperback
Published October 18, 2022
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
February 20, 2026
This is such a good history of the East San Gabriel Valley. Zarsadiaz's history focuses on the settlement, planning, and development of Diamond Bar, Walnut, Chino Hills, Rowland Heights, Hacienda Heights, and Phillips Ranch, the "country living" suburbs of the 909 and 626 that were to develop into enclaves for many Asian and Asian American households over the 1980s and 1990s.
I went to high school and college in this area of the country, and so Zarsadiaz's book was of particular interest to me, but I think this would fascinating for anyone who is interested in Asian American politics, cultural geography, or the history of Los Angeles and California more broadly. What Zarsadiaz is really charting here is the development and maintenance of conservatism among Asian voters in California, articulating in really smart ways the pull of the fantasy of settler colonialism (in drag as "country living") on Asian voters. He marks the way the privileges of white supremacy came to hold sway with these voters even as the racism of white supremacy caused particular problems for their chosen ways of life as well as emotional injury. (The book is about more than this, but its one of the particular insights of Zarsadiaz's book that has stuck with me.)
I especially appreciated his tone, throughout, as well. Zarsadiaz takes such a pleasure in the land, mapping the streets for us, describing the ways settlements worked, lingering over his portraits of buildings and strip malls and churches. It's a beautifully written text that is very enjoyable to read.
I went to high school and college in this area of the country, and so Zarsadiaz's book was of particular interest to me, but I think this would fascinating for anyone who is interested in Asian American politics, cultural geography, or the history of Los Angeles and California more broadly. What Zarsadiaz is really charting here is the development and maintenance of conservatism among Asian voters in California, articulating in really smart ways the pull of the fantasy of settler colonialism (in drag as "country living") on Asian voters. He marks the way the privileges of white supremacy came to hold sway with these voters even as the racism of white supremacy caused particular problems for their chosen ways of life as well as emotional injury. (The book is about more than this, but its one of the particular insights of Zarsadiaz's book that has stuck with me.)
I especially appreciated his tone, throughout, as well. Zarsadiaz takes such a pleasure in the land, mapping the streets for us, describing the ways settlements worked, lingering over his portraits of buildings and strip malls and churches. It's a beautifully written text that is very enjoyable to read.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review