Location | Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States |
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Coordinates | 44°57′41″N93°06′34″W / 44.96139°N 93.10944°W |
Address | 217 Como Ave, St Paul, MN 55103 |
Opening date | 2004 [1] |
Previous names | International Marketplace |
Management | Jameson Liu [2] [3] |
Owner | |
No. of stores and services | 200–300 [6] [1] [7] |
Total retail floor area | 6 acres (260,000 sq ft) [7] |
No. of floors | 1 |
Public transit access |
|
Website | hmongtownmarketplace |
Hmongtown Marketplace is an indoor-outdoor marketplace focused on Hmong American products and culture in the Frogtown neighborhood of Saint Paul, Minnesota. Hmongtown was the first Hmong-owned and operated marketplace in the United States and is today noted for its cuisine and produce.
Locally it is variously referred to as the Hmong Farmers Market or Hmong Flea Market, or simply "Hmongtown" to emphasize its role as a cultural hub like a Chinatown, not just a retail location.
Two buildings in north Frogtown at 217 Como Ave [10] contain more than 200 vendors who sell traditional food, clothing, and home goods especially from Hmong and Hmong American culture, including from Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. [11] [12] The market is designed to simulate open-air markets in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and Vientiane, Laos. Produce vendors sell culturally specific fruits, vegetables, nuts, and other edible plants. [13] Hot and ready-made food vendors sell a variety of dishes such as roast meats, boba tea, papaya salad, and bánh mì. [1] Home goods include green market, electronics, religious supplies, and garden tools. [14] [15] A bank branch staffed by Hmong-speaking employees was added in 2024. [16] [17] [18]
It's easy to forget, when you're walking past the crowded indoor stalls or outdoor vegetable stands in Hmongtown Marketplace that you're in the American Midwest. The sounds, smells, voices on TV and faces proclaim, "Southeast Asia!"
— Why you should visit St. Paul, Washington Post [19]
In the summer the market nearly doubles in size with an outdoor market in the surrounding paved lot that brings the number of vendors up to 300 or more. [6] The outdoor market is sometimes referred to as the Hmongtown Farmers Market and sells produce as well as meat, clothing and textiles, herbal medicine, live potted plants, and home products. [20] [21]
The large size and foot traffic have led to the nickname "Hmong Mall of America". 600 people work inside, as many as 20,000 customers have been noted during events, and there is capacity for more than 300 stalls. [7] The interior footpath complexity due to the many stalls has been described as "labyrinthine" and "byzantine". [22] [20] Because of the wide variety of products and services offered at Hmongtown, it is referred to as many different kinds of markets, such as a mall, a supermarket, a flea market, a farmers market, a marketplace, and a food hall. [23] [24] [25] [9] Locally it is variously referred to as the Hmong Farmers Market or Hmong Flea Market, or simply "Hmongtown" to emphasize its role as a cultural hub like a Chinatown, not just a retail location. [6] [24] [26]
The idea of a "Hmongtown", so named as a Chinatown, has been documented in the Hmong American community for some time. In the 1997 book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down , which documents one Hmong refugee family's difficulty with the United States' healthcare system in the decade after Hmong began seeking refuge in the United States, author Anne Fadiman details a Hmong community leader in Merced, California named Blia Yao Moua who at one point pursued a Hmong American-oriented housing complex he called "Hmongtown" which would be designed to remind demoralized refugees of Laos. [27] Hmong American poet Bryan Thao Worra describes Fresno as a Hmong American city alongside other ethnicities, and entitles the poem (and Fresno) Hmongtown. [28]
Hmongtown founder Toua Xiong said in 2000, four years before Hmongtown was realized, that the goal of his neighborhood business ventures were to "turn Frogtown into Hmongtown". [29] His marketplace concept was opened as International Marketplace in 2004, and renamed Hmongtown Marketplace in 2009. Xiong has since encouraged leaving "Marketplace" out of the name in order to emphasize Hmongtown as "[n]ot just a bazaar but a community unto itself." [6]
Hmongtown was the first Hmong-owned and operated marketplace in the United States. [30] [31] The market was founded as International Marketplace [30] [32] in 2004 by Saint Paul, Minnesota entrepreneurs and real estate devlopers Toua Xiong and Nou (Vang) Xiong. [1] [33] [5] Hmong people were persecuted in their homelands following the Laotian Civil War known as the Secret War and the Xiongs wanted a place for first generation immigrants such as themselves to gather as though they were at home. The marketplace originally had many video stores that sold footage of and movies set in Laos and Thailand as part of that nostalgia. [31] Hmongtown serves a similar role to the Minnesota Hmong community as Hmong villages and ethnic Hmong marketplaces in countries of origin such as Vietnam and Laos, which are cultural and social hubs. [34]
Toua Xiong spent his childhood in Laos before his family escaped to a refugee camp. He, a younger brother, and his parents joined his teenage brothers in an American-run refugee camp when he was twelve. In 1986 at seventeen years old, he and his wife Nou Vang immigrated to St. Paul, Minnesota and settled in Frogtown. [6] In three years he gained college degrees in business and accounting. [11] [30] He has a master's degree in accounting. [35]
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Painted depiction of Foodsmart on a Hmong American business corridor Hmong American politician and artist Cy Thao includes Hmong businesses like Foodsmart in the upswing of Hmong American history: "After 25 years of being in America, our communities are beginning to take root. The children are getting a first rate education. Opportunities are beginning to open up. Hmong businesses are popping up everywhere. It’s a sign that we will make it here too." [36] |
Prior to opening Hmongtown, the Xiongs owned and operated the Asian grocery store Foodsmart (now doing business as Sun Foods [37] ), part of the Unidale Mall strip mall on University Avenue in Frogtown, with a second location in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. Opened around 1996 [35] with business loans, the grocery hosted an 80 stall farmers market in its parking lot, a ready-made hot food Thai and Hmong restaurant and buffet, [38] an event hall, and a Hmong sausage processing facility which sold 700 pounds of sausage daily. [39] [40] Toua's goal was to "turn Frogtown into Hmongtown". [29] [41] [37] [42] [43] [44] (From 1981 to 2005, the number of Asian businesses on University Avenue in Frogtown grew from one business to more than sixty businesses. [45] )
Foodsmart was involved in community initiatives: hosting the Council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotans get-out-the-vote events and community engagement about the Metro Transit light rail Central Corridor construction in 2007. Representatives from Foodsmart served on the Central Corridor Business Advisory Council. [46] [47] [48] It hosted fundraisers for local Hmong institutions such as the Hmong Cultural Center Museum, which was founded during a meeting at Foodsmart. [49] [50]
The New York Times recommended Foodsmart's daily Hmong food buffet in 2002. [51] Star Tribune recommended the Thai and Hmong food in 2001. [52] Toua Xiong received a minority business leader award for Foodsmart from Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal in 2002. [53]
The Xiongs moved on to develop the multi-vendor International Marketplace with a goal to provide Hmong with more economic opportunity. [42]
The 6-acre [7] Hmongtown site was previously Shaw Stewart Lumber Co. on Como Avenue, north of the St. Paul Capitol building. [54] The two original buildings remain as the East Building and West Building. Toua Xiong didn't realize the obstacles to redeveloping the property for grocery and retail when he rented it from the lumber company, having only recently become a business owner and an English speaker. Renovations to meet regulations included a sprinkler system, more toilets, exhaust fans in restaurant spaces, and an upgraded larger sewer pipe to connect to the municipal system. Despite setbacks, he opened International Marketplace in 2004. [6] [55] [56] [57] It was one of the biggest Hmong-owned businesses in Minnesota. [58]
In 2009 the Xiongs bought the property from the lumber company and renamed it Hmongtown Marketplace. [7] [30]
Hmongtown aimed to provide a social and economic hub to newly-immigrated Hmong. [11] It has been credited with creating hundreds of jobs and other entrepreneurial opportunities for much of the Minnesota Hmong diaspora. [59] Most of the vendors speak only a Hmong dialect and not English, which Toua Xiong says has allowed them to maintain employment and start a business while still acclimating to America. [6] [11] [30]
In 2010 Toua Xiong was awarded the Immigrant of Distinction award for his work at Hmongtown from the Minnesota-Dakotas chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. [30]
Hmongtown was featured in an Emmy Award-winning episode of CNN's United Shades of America with owner Toua Xiong and local Hmong American chef Yia Vang in 2019. [60] [61] Andrew Zimmern featured papaya salad, fried intestines, and bitter bamboo soup from Hmongtown on Bizarre Foods America in 2012, and the popular Hmong sausage with purple sticky rice meal on Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations in 2016. [62] [63]
Hmong are the largest Asian diaspora in Minnesota, and Minnesota has the second-largest Hmong population in the United States. [64] Hmongtown is a staple of local Hmong life and creates a sense of community and belonging. [1] [26] [65] Less than four miles away is a similar Hmong American marketplace called Hmong Village. The markets and surrounding Asian businesses are in the Little Mekong Cultural District, a business district with a high concentration of Asian businesses and cultural sites. [55] [66] [12] [67]
While the focus is Hmong culture, the marketplace contains shops and stalls with proprietors and products from any of the cultures that can be found in the surrounding neighborhood Frogtown, which in the 20th century became the most ethnically diverse neighborhood in Saint Paul. [68] [69] [70] [18] Nepali, African American, and Mexican vendors have been noted. [71] [72] More than half of Hmongtown's visitors are white. Owner Toua Xiong aims for the market to be welcoming to those new to Hmong culture. [73] [11]
Vendors at Hmongtown sell traditional Hmong textile art such as kawm (woven baskets) and forms of Paj Ntaub (flower cloth) such as batik dyed cloth (Paj Ntaub nraj ciab/cab [74] ) and story cloth, which depicts scenes from Hmong life and history. [75] [72] Basketry includes Blue Hmong baby carriers. [76] Embroidery thread, coins, beads, metals, and other materials for making Hmong textiles are available from multiple vendors. [77] Some textiles are made abroad and sold by family at Hmongtown. [78]
Hmongtown provides a place to perpetuate Hmong culture such as textile art. A participant in a study on Hmong youth recalled how spending time at her mother's Hmongtown stall encouraged her to become a Hmong Paj Ntaub embroiderer: "Over winter break, my mom had a stall at Hmongtown Market so I went with her to help her. I was tired of not doing anything so I started embroidering again. That’s when I realized that if I did not continue to embroider then I would not know how to embroider in the future. And if I had children, they would not know as well, and if my sisters did not know how to embroider, there would be no one who would know." [80] [26] [79]
Ten story cloths by Hmongtown textile artisans Sy Vang Lo and Khang Vang Yang were exhibited at the Mathers Museum of World Cultures [81] and the Northern Illinois University Pick Museum. [82] Vang Lo led the Hmong Folk Art Center in Eagan, Minnesota [83] and the traditional work of her family is included in the Minneapolis Institute of Art collection. [84]
Light boxes of photography from Hmong American artist Pao Houa Her, whose work was selected for the Whitney Biennial, decorate the West Building food court seating area. [85] [86] [87] The exhibit is accompanied by text from Hmong American poet and playwright May Lee-Yang. [88] Her's artwork being displayed simultaneously at the renowned Walker Art Center and Hmongtown was praised by Walker’s curatorial fellow in visual arts Matthew Miranda as a "break in the art world decorum" that "subverts the white view in museums." [89] [90]
Other featured artists have included Tetsuya Yamada and HOTTEA. [91] [92] [90]
Hmongtown is noted for its prepared food and quality produce, with the Star Tribune calling it "one of the state's top culinary gems" [15] and Saveur enthusing it is a "destination" for cooks. [55] Five-time James Beard Award-nominee Diane Moua recommends the prepared food. [93] Food critic Andrew Zimmern says it is "the country’s best little-known ethnic market." [94] Minnesota Monthly included Hmongtown in their "'culinary canon' of essential local eats" [95] list the "Foodie 40", saying Hmongtown is "one of the great, affordable flavor adventures in the Twin Cities" and calling it "ground zero" for good chicken wings. [96] [97]
The average price of a meal is less than $15 and restaurants are open all day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. [98] Individual restaurant stalls and a food court serve traditional Hmong and Southeast Asian meals, snacks, and street food. [99] Because Hmong are a diaspora, Hmong cuisine is a fusion, so dishes at Hmongtown come from Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and even China, Japan, South Korea, and Mexico. Difficult to find outside of Minnesota, Hmong-style barbecue is prominent, including traditionally prepared and cold Hmong sausage (nyhuv ntxwm hmoob), which is a pork sausage flavored with Thai chili and herbs like lemongrass, and sai krok , a traditional fermented pork sausage. [55] [100] [101] [102] [103] Dishes popular among Hmong such as pho (or the Hmong version of pho called fawm [104] [105] ), khaub poob (red curry noodle soup), [106] [107] larb (minced meat salad), nab vam (tapioca dessert), purple rice, [23] boba tea, mangonada, [108] and papaya salad are widely available from multiple restaurants. [109] [110] [111]
Notable vendors and dishes include:
Hmongtown is recommended for its cuisine in many travel guides such as Lonely Planet and Condé Nast Traveler . [114] [115] [116] [117]
An outdoor market that sells much of the same merchandise as the indoor market operates from May to October. It has an emphasis on fresh produce and starter plants for gardening vegetables. [118] [119]
Produce commonly available at Hmongtown has Southeast Asian origins and is difficult to find in mainstream groceries. A large portion of the produce is locally grown by Hmong farmers. [20] [102]
Produce includes rambutan, [120] [55] Hmong yellow and red cucumbers, [55] bitter melon, [55] [23] purple lemongrass, [55] [23] [20] sugar cane, [55] Thai chili, [55] pea eggplant, [55] [23] dried imported bamboo, [55] [20] winter melon, [55] radish greens, [55] bok choy [55] varieties such as Shanghai bok choy, [121] Chinese broccoli, [23] Thai basil, [20] longan, [20] [102] lychee, [20] pomelo, [30] mangosteen, [30] persimmon, [102] okra, [122] and jackfruit. [121]
In June 2016 Hmongtown held the first Hmongtown Festival, a two-day music and cultural festival focusing on Hmong history and culture. The festival is held annually. [11] Owner Toua Xiong who learned to sing and play guitar in a refugee camp played at the first festival. [6] Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan took part in the festival in 2019. [123]
Hmongtown vendors sell traditional Hmong and Southeast Asian medicine such as herbs and imported over the counter drugs. [55] Traditional Hmong herbal medicine is difficult to find, so vendors at Hmongtown attract customers from all over the world and play a role in preserving Hmong culture. [2] Local hospitals such as M Health Fairview and Regions Hospital purchase post-partum Hmong herbs from Hmongtown as part of an effort to improve birth outcomes with culturally competent care. [124]
Because of its reputation as a Hmong community hub, Hmongtown is often targeted for public health initiatives. Hmongtown participates in outreach around testing for breast cancer and reducing consumption of heavy metals from skin lightening products and fish. [125] [126] [127] [128] The market also held vaccine clinics during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. [129] [3]
In June 2013, law enforcement raided Hmongtown and confiscated hundreds of pounds of illegal medication, including penicillin, opiates, and mislabeled over the counter medication. Vendors were subjected to full body searches. Cultural differences and language barriers were blamed, although Ramsey County Sheriff's office spokesperson Randy Gustafson said that vendors had been previously warned against selling the products confiscated. 14 vendors were ultimately charged with "selling misbranded drugs, possessing and selling drugs that require a license, selling syringes, and unlawfully possessing poison." [130]
The Minnesota Department of Health started an educational series with Hmongtown vendors to explain drug safety and American regulations in response. [131] [130] A similar incident occurred at the nearby Hmong Village shopping center in 2018. [132]
Hmongtown plans to expand to Hmong senior daycare and senior housing, and include more Hmong cultural activities such as an art gallery, music performance, and permanent history exhibits. [6] Underground parking and an office building are also planned. [7] In 2018 a joint state grant was issued to Hmongtown and the Saint Paul Port Authority to investigate the rehabilitation potential of a contaminated lot for future residential and commercial mixed use. [133]
Off-site expansion includes nonprofits and museums. Through Hi Hi LLC, Toua Xiong and his wife Nou Xiong founded a Hmong and Karen cultural center and museum a few blocks from Hmongtown. He also runs Hmongtown Connections, a cultural exchange program that runs Hmongtown Festival. [30] [134] [135]
In 2025, Xiong plans to open a second Hmongtown location in the former Sears space at the Maplewood Mall. [136] [137] The 14 acre space would be developed into a marketplace and additional services aimed at younger customers than the original Hmongtown targets. [138]
In 2009 a group of Hmong American entrepreneurs opened Hmong Village in St. Paul. Four miles from Hmongtown, Hmong Village offered a similar experience, with a large warehouse renting individual stalls to vendors to sell wares and goods. It is also known for its food and produce. [12] [66] [55] [139]
In 2014 the Pacific Produce grocery store in Milwaukee, Wisconsin renovated part of their warehouse store into Hmong Town Market, which hosted ready-made food stands run by Wisconsin Hmong American entrepreneurs. [140] [141] [142]
Minnesota is a state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the south, and North Dakota and South Dakota to the west. It is the 12th-largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd-most populous, with around 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes"; it has 14,420 bodies of fresh water covering at least ten acres each. Roughly a third of the state is forested. Much of the remainder is prairie and farmland. More than 60% of Minnesotans live in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, known as the "Twin Cities", which is Minnesota's main political, economic, and cultural hub and the 16th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. Other minor metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas include Duluth, Mankato, Moorhead, Rochester, and St. Cloud.
Saint Paul is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center of Minnesota's government. The Minnesota State Capitol and the state government offices all sit on a hill close to the city's downtown district. One of the oldest cities in Minnesota, Saint Paul has several historic neighborhoods and landmarks, such as the Summit Avenue Neighborhood, the James J. Hill House, and the Cathedral of Saint Paul. Like the adjacent city of Minneapolis, Saint Paul is known for its cold, snowy winters and humid summers.
Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi, Minnesota, and St. Croix rivers in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is commonly known as the Twin Cities after the area's two largest cities, Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Minnesotans often refer to the two together simply as "The Cities". The area is Minnesota's economic, cultural, and political center.
Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport — also less commonly known as Wold–Chamberlain Field — is a joint civil-military public international airport serving the Twin Cities in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is located in Fort Snelling Unorganized Territory. Although situated within the unorganized territory, the airport is centrally located within 10 miles of both downtown Minneapolis and downtown Saint Paul. In addition to primarily hosting commercial flights from major American and some international airlines, the airport is also home to several United States Air Force and Minnesota Air National Guard operations. The airport is also used by a variety of air cargo operators. MSP is the busiest airport in the Upper Midwest.
KARE is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, serving as the Twin Cities area's NBC affiliate. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on Olson Memorial Highway in Golden Valley and a transmitter at the Telefarm site in Shoreview, Minnesota.
Hmong or Mong is a dialect continuum of the West Hmongic branch of the Hmongic languages spoken by the Hmong people of Southwestern China, northern Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos. There are an estimated 4.5 million speakers of varieties that are largely mutually intelligible, including over 280,000 Hmong Americans as of 2013. Over half of all Hmong speakers speak the various dialects in China, where the Dananshan dialect forms the basis of the standard language. However, Hmong Daw and Mong Leng are widely known only in Laos and the United States; Dananshan is more widely known in the native region of Hmong.
Minneapolis–Saint Paul, also known as the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, in the state of Minnesota, United States of America, has two major general-interest newspapers. The region is currently ranked as the 15th largest television market in the United States. The market officially includes 59 counties of Minnesota and Wisconsin, and extends far to the north and west. The radio market in the Twin Cities is estimated to be slightly smaller, ranked 16th in the nation.
Hmong Americans are Americans of Hmong ancestry. Many Hmong Americans immigrated to the United States as refugees in the late 1970s, with a second wave in the 1980s and 1990s. Over half of the Hmong population from Laos left the country, or attempted to leave, in 1975, at the culmination of the Laotian Civil War.
Minneapolis is a city in and the county seat of Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. With a population of 429,954, it is the state's most populous city as of the 2020 census. Located in the state's center near the eastern border, it occupies both banks of the Upper Mississippi River and adjoins Saint Paul, the state capital of Minnesota. Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and the surrounding area are collectively known as the Twin Cities, a metropolitan area with 3.69 million residents. Minneapolis is built on an artesian aquifer on flat terrain and is known for cold, snowy winters and hot, humid summers. Nicknamed the "City of Lakes", Minneapolis is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks, and waterfalls. The city's public park system is connected by the Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway.
Maplewood Mall is a super-regional shopping mall in Maplewood, Minnesota, United States. It is near Interstate 694 on the Saint Paul side of the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Maplewood Mall opened in 1974. It was later renovated and expanded in 1996. It is managed by Washington Prime Group of Columbus, Ohio. The mall's anchor stores are Barnes & Noble, JCPenney, Kohl's, and Macy's with one vacant anchor last occupied by Sears.
Hmong cuisine comprises the culinary culture of Hmong people, an Asian diaspora originally from China who are present today in countries across the world. Because Hmong people come from all over the world, their cuisine is a fusion of many flavors and histories in East and Southeast Asia, as well as modern diasporas in the Western world such as the United States. Most dishes are not unique to Hmong culture, but are rather served in a Hmong style developed during centuries of migration across cultures.
Saint Paul, Minnesota, consists of 17 officially defined city districts or neighborhoods.
Frogtown is a neighborhood in Saint Paul in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Built around University Avenue, the Thomas-Dale neighborhood is colloquially known as Frogtown. Historically, Frogtown was a subsection of the current Thomas-Dale neighborhood. It is bordered by University Avenue on the south, the Burlington Northern Railroad tracks to the north, Lexington Parkway on the west and Rice Street on the east.
The Hmong people are a major ethnic group in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area. As of 2000, there were 40,707 ethnic Hmong in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The 2010 U.S. Census stated there were 66,000 ethnic Hmong in Minneapolis-St. Paul, giving it the largest urban Hmong population in the world. Grit Grigoleit, author of "Coming Home? The Integration of Hmong Refugees from Wat Tham Krabok, Thailand, into American Society," wrote that the Minneapolis-St. Paul area "acted as the cultural and socio-political center of Hmong life in the U.S."
WFNU-LP is a community low-power broadcast radio station licensed to Saint Paul, Minnesota, serving Frogtown and much of Saint Paul on 94.1 MHz. The station has a hyper-local focus on the Frogtown community and surrounding neighborhoods. Programming is varied, with multiple genres of music to local talk with community members. WFNU-LP broadcasts from an antenna on top of the Frogtown Square building on the corner of University Avenue and Dale Street in Frogtown.
Jay Xiong is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Xiong represents District 67B, which includes parts of Saint Paul in Ramsey County, Minnesota.
Yia Vang is a Hmong-American chef in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Hmong sausage is a long thick pork sausage from Hmong culture seasoned with herbs like lemongrass and Thai chili pepper. The sausage is popular during Hmong New Year celebrations. The exact recipe varies depending on factors such as clan and individual immigration background.
This is now the most diverse neighborhood in the most diverse county in the state of Minnesota.
Two of these included Blia Yao Moua and Jonas Vangay. Both had studied in France and had been offered jobs there. However, they believed if they stayed there, they would feel guilty, because of their obligation to the Hmong community. They had earned leadership roles in Merced, but little money and little peace of mind. They helped the community negotiate the public assistance labyrinth and were part of a group of four or five people who had no private life whatsoever. Blia had an ambitious housing scheme - called Hmongtown - that involved the purchase of land and the building of houses that would remind the people of Laos. He thought it would boost their morale, and they would take good care of it. But when the author returned to Merced a year later, no one had heard of Hmongtown and Blia had left. He had burned out and stopped working for the community.
Bustling Hmong farmers markets such as Hmong Village (MN), Hmong Town (MN), or those in Brooklyn Park, MN would become social hubs where family, friends, and Hmong kin connected. These spaces would quasi act as a mini-Hmong village at the heart of a foreign country.
According to St. Paul Historical, by the late 20th century Frogtown became the most ethnically diverse neighborhood in the city.
Frogtown, also called the Thomas-Dale neighborhood, is profiled on the city's website as the 'most racially and economically diverse ward', with a 'rich tapestry of people and history'.
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