Immigrant neighborhoods as palimpsests

Geographers often refer to cultural landscapes as palimpsests - manuscript pages that have been scraped off and used again - because of the way in which successive cultural groups each modify the built environment.  New York City's dynamic immigrant neighborhoods offer a perfect example of the process.  Manhattan's Italian Harlem, for instance, slowly became Spanish Harlem as Puerto Rican immigrants displaced those of European descent in the mid-20th century.  Today, Puerto Ricans moving up the socio-economic ladder are moving out of Harlem, while their void is being filled by immigrants from Mexico and South America.  As each ethnic group flows through, it leaves its mark on the neighborhood, and the history of these immigration waves can often be seen in the buildings.  Moran's Ale House and Grill on Washington Street, for example, was once St. George Chapel, part of a vibrant community of Arab Christians that flourished on the lower west side of Manhattan.  Read more about this 20th century Middle Eastern enclave and the cultural landscape it created at the link below.

When an Arab Enclave Thrived Downtown - NY Times

An architectural palimpsest in downtown Toronto.

David Sky / Wikimedia Commons