How Asian Americans Remade Suburbia

Levittown is no longer the suburban archetype. Over the last few decades, these spaces have increasingly become less white and less rich. But despite this ongoing transformation, the idea of what a suburb is—or should be—has remained stubbornly narrow.

A new book, Trespassers? Asian Americans and the Battle for Suburbia, explores that tension in the context of Fremont, California, the largest Asian American-majority suburb in the Silicon Valley. With its good schools, sprawling homes, and proximity to tech jobs, Fremont has long been the gold standard for the American Dream—a prime destination for upwardly mobile Asian Americans in San Fransisco and Oakland, as well as more recent waves of “high-skilled” immigrants. These new, incredibly diverse groups of residents have adapted their surroundings to suit their needs and reflect their values—but it hasn’t been an easy process.