Little Italy is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are shops selling Italian goods as well as Italian restaurants lining the streets. A "Little Italy" strives essentially to have a version of the country of Italy placed in the middle of a large non-Italian city. This sort of enclave is often the result of periods of Italian immigration, during which people of the same culture settled or were ostracized and segregated together in certain areas. As cities modernized and grew, these areas became known for their ethnic associations, and ethnic neighborhoods like "Little Italy" blossomed, becoming the areas they are today.
List of Little Italys
Australia
Canada
- Little Italy, Edmonton, in Alberta
- Little Italy, Montreal, in Quebec
- Little Italy, Ottawa, in Ontario
- Little Italy, Toronto, in Ontario
- Little Italy, Vancouver, in British Columbia
- Little Italy, Windsor, in Ontario
- Little Italy, Winnipeg, in Manitoba
New Zealand
- Island Bay, Wellington, is often nicknamed "Little Italy"
United Kingdom
United States
- Several Little Italys exist in New York City, including but not limited to:
- Little Italy, Manhattan
- Italian Harlem
- Arthur Avenue, Bronx
- Morris Park, Bronx
- Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
- Dyker Heights, Brooklyn
- Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
- Italian Williamsburg, Brooklyn
- Ozone Park, Queens
- Howard Beach, Queens
- Middle Village, Queens
- Rosebank, Staten Island
- Philadelphia, home to the second-largest Italian-American population in the United States, also has several Little Italys:
- South Philadelphia â largely Italian
- Bella Vista
- Central South Philadelphia
- Girard Estate
- Italian Market
- Marconi Plaza
- Packer Park
- Passyunk West
- St. Richard
- Whitman
- Overbrook/West Philadelphia
- Areas of Kensington
- Sections of Northeast Philadelphia
- Mayfair
- Tacony
- Sections of Southwest Philadelphia
- Areas of West Kensington
- New England:
- Little Italy, Millinocket, Maine
- North End, Boston, in Massachusetts
- Little Italy, Bridgeport, in Connecticut
- Federal Hill, Providence, in Rhode Island
- Little Italy, Waterbury, in Connecticut
- Wooster Square, in New Haven, Connecticut
- New York:
- Dunwoodie, Yonkers, New York
- Little Italy, Schenectady, in New York
- Little Italy, Rochester, New York
- Little Italy, Syracuse, in New York
- Little Italy, Poughkeepsie, New York
- Little Italy, Troy, New York
- Mansion Hill, Albany, New York
- Pennsylvania:
- Bloomfield, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Little Italy, Connellsville, in Pennsylvania
- Little Italy in Erie, Pennsylvania
- Roseto, Pennsylvania
- New Jersey:
- Chambersburg and South Trenton, New Jersey
- Little Italy, Paterson, New Jersey
- California:
- Little Italy, San Diego
- North Beach, San Francisco
- San Pedro, Los Angeles
- Other:
- Little Italy, Clinton, Indiana
- Little Italy, Chicago, in Illinois
- Little Italy, Arkansas
- Little Italy, Baltimore, in Maryland
- Little Italy, Wilmington, in Delaware
- Little Italy, Cleveland, in Ohio
- Little Italy, Omaha, in Nebraska
- The Hill in St. Louis, Missouri
- West Seventh in St. Paul, Minnesota
- Independence, Louisiana
- Little Italy, Clay County, West Virginia
- Little Italy, Randolph County, West Virginia
Republic of Ireland
Other Italian neighborhoods
Some Italian neighborhoods may have other names, but are colloquially referred to as "Little Italy", including:
Argentina
Australia
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Kenya
South Africa
United Kingdom
United States
- Spaghetti Hill, Monterey, California
- Little Italy/Morse Park Historic District, Wheat Ridge, Colorado
- Thompsonville (Enfield), Connecticut
- Italia in northern Florida
- Pompano Beach, Florida; a section is partially an Italian neighborhood.
- Taylor Street Archives, Chicago, Illinois (the port-of-call for Chicago's Italian Americans)
- Heart of Italy, Chicago, Illinois
- Little Sicily, Chicago, Illinois
- Bridgeport, Chicago, Illinois
- Dunning, Chicago
- Holy Rosary Neighborhood, Indianapolis, Indiana
- South Des Moines, Des Moines, Iowa
- Old Forge, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania (also known as "The Pizza Capital of the World" for their pizza)
- Little Italy, Baltimore, Maryland
- North End, Boston, Massachusetts
- Columbus Park, Kansas City, Missouri
- The Hill, St. Louis, Missouri
- North East, Kansas City, Missouri (formerly Columbus Square)
- Eastern Market, Detroit, Michigan, considered to be the city's "Little Italy"
- Little Italy, Omaha, Nebraska
- Seventh Avenue, Newark, New Jersey
- Varick Street, Utica, New York
- Dominick Street, Rome, New York
- North Side, Buffalo, New York, though "Little Italy" was considered the West Side of the city
- Schenectady, New York, proposed "Little Italy" from Hillary Clinton, to run through sections of downtown.
- Utica, New York, East Side considered to be city's "Little Italy"
- Brier Hill, Youngstown, Ohio
- Italian Village (Columbus), Ohio
- Easton, Pennsylvania
- Johnston, Rhode Island has the highest percentage of Italian Americans of any municipality in the country.
- Galveston, Texas, south of Houston, highest Italian-American population in the Greater Houston as well as Texas.
- Judiciary Square, Washington, D.C.
See also
References
Further reading
- Frunza, Bogdana Simina. Streetscape and Ethnicity: New York's Mulberry Street and the Redefinition of the Italian American Ethnic Identity (ProQuest, 2008)
- Harney, Robert F. "Toronto's Little Italy, 1885-1945." in Robert F. Harney and J. Vincenza Scarpaci, eds. Little Italies in North America (1981): 41-62.
- Immerso, Michael. Newark's little Italy: The vanished first ward (Rutgers University Press, 1999).
- Juliani, Richard N. Building Little Italy: Philadelphia's Italians Before Mass Migration (Penn State Press, 2005)
- Pozzetta, George E. "The Mulberry District of New York City: The Years before World War One." in Robert F. Harney and J. Vincenza Scarpaci, eds. Little Italies in North America (Toronto: The Multicultural History Society of Ontario, 1979) pp: 7-40.
- Sandler, Gilbert. The Neighborhood: The Story of Baltimore's Little Italy (Bodine & Associates, 1974).