by Eric Brightwell

In Los Angeles, nearly all of the city's officially-designated ethnic enclaves are for Asian ethnicities. Eurasia's Armenian community has Little Armenia and Russians in eastern West Hollywood have earned it the nickname "Little Russia," but French Town, Greek Town, and Little Italy have all faded into assimilation and obscurity albeit acknowledged with the odd street name, remnant business, or cultural festival.

Last year I explored what remains of Los Angeles's Little Italy, in the process visiting a cultural center, a few markets and delis, a church, and an old restaurant -- Little Joe's -- which was despite its historic importance unceremoniously demolished a few months ago to make way for another Chinatown plaza. I suppose that these experiences coupled with my near complete unfamiliarity with San Diego fueled my preconceptions about San Diego's Little Italy, which I explored and found neither to resemble Los Angeles's historic enclave nor the Little Italy of my uninformed imagination.

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Source: http://www.kcet.org/