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As my parents approach their retirement, I started to wonder where best they can settle down.  Like many Vietnamese living overseas, my parents want to be near Vietnamese people, Vietnamese grocery stores, Vietnamese restaurants,  and definitely Vietnamese churches and temples.

Phuoc Loc Tho (Asian Garden Mall) in Orange County, CA. Reference: DHN, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phuoc_Loc_Tho_Tet_2008.jpg

Orange County is no doubt a natural choice for my parents and maybe yours too.  San Jose may also come at a close second.  Chances are, your parents already live in one of these cities because 40 percent of Vietnamese Americans actually reside in California.  But if they’re tired of sunny California, here are some alternatives they may not already know about.

The largest concentrations of Vietnamese Americans are in states California, Texas, Washington and Virginia.  Almost half of the Vietnamese American population lives in the top five metropolitan areas, and 3 quarters are in the top 25 areas.  To no surprise, Orange County  is the largest settlement of Vietnamese living outside of Vietnam.

According to the 2000 US Census, Vietnamese Americans make up the fourth largest Asian ethnic group in the US with an estimated 1.12 million people.  This figure nearly doubled from 593 thousand as recorded by the 1990 US Census.  This growth may actually be an understatement because community leaders believe that the 2000 census count was short by 25 to 50 percent.  With the 2010 US Census picking up steam, I wonder how much the Vietnamese American community has grown in the 21st century.

If your parents are tired of the US altogether, spending their retirement next to the Eifell Tower or the outback of Australia may not be bad choices.  Below are some popular destinations with high concentrations of Vietnamese people.  You can find a more comprehensive list of countries with Vietnamese living overseas here.

Vietnamese people are spread across at least 30 countries.  But our community is highly concentrated in major metropolitan areas around the world.  In my limited travels across Western Europe, I recall running into Vietnamese people and Vietnamese establishments in the most unexpected places – from a quaint Pho restaurant in Fribourg, Switzerland to a group of enthusiastic, Vietnamese-speaking Vietnamese Norwegians teenagers in Cologne, Germany.  No matter where Vietnamese people are in the world, there’s always an unforgettable connection we share – our Vietnamese heritage.  I look forward to the day that we can connect to Vietnamese people worlds apart at a click of a button.  OneVietnam Network is one step closer to that dream.  Stay tuned for our upcoming launch.

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