For a time in the 1990s and 2000s, the Asian community around NW 23rd and Classen Boulevard discussed how best to brand their district. Since the overwhelming majority of refugee families had been Vietnamese, “Little Saigon” was a popular choice. Many OKC residents have memories of Little Saigon signage along Classen – not because that was the name of the district, but because the center in which Lido operates used to be called the Little Saigon Center. Although it was common to refer to the district that way, the name did not win out for the district, thanks in large part to Tri Luong.
“My father wanted to put up signage that would identify our district,” Ba Luong says. “He made the push to be more inclusive, to be an Asian district, not a Vietnamese district.”
In fact, community leaders had talked about adding a physical gate that would span Classen, similar to projects in well-known Chinatowns and Koreatowns around the country. Engineering was the problem, though.
“Classen is six lanes plus a median,” Luong says. “The gate would have collapsed.”
Signage was the obvious choice, and “Asian District” eventually won out as the preferred designation. The city council made it official in 2005.
New Saigon
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Re: New Saigon
Originally Posted by OkieBerto
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