Neighbors See Different Sides of Minnie Street

A recent survey of the Minnie Street neighborhood, among the poorest in the county, shows that while its mostly Latino and Cambodian immigrants live side-by-side they hold sharply different views of the area.

Many of the Latino residents said they live in constant fear of gangs, drugs and violence, according to a survey conducted by Cal State Fullerton researchers for the Cambodian Family Inc., a nonprofit social services agency. But the research also found that, compared to their Latino neighbors, those of Cambodian descent said they were relatively untroubled by the same problems.

Furthermore, close to 60% of those who participated in the survey said there was little interaction among residents from different ethnic groups in the neighborhood, which is about three-quarters Latino and one-quarter people of Cambodian descent.

Rifka Hirsch, executive director of Cambodian Family, said Thursday the divergence in opinions between the immigrant groups could be attributed mainly to the cultural attitudes of the Cambodian expatriates. Many, she said, are more accepting of their condition, in light of the constant civil strife they witnessed in the homeland they left in a 1975 exodus.

The survey, which community advocates say was the first of its kind to measure the attitudes of Minnie Street residents, was conducted from April to June 1995 and polled 200 residents out of the estimated 12,000 residents of the neighborhood about their views of life in Santa Ana and the United States.

Hirsch emphasized that the survey was not geared toward getting demographics information, but rather to gauge the attitudes of the residents who live there.

It was part of the application for a five-year, $2.5 million federal grant the Cambodian Family was seeking last year to study the Minnie Street neighborhood, which borders Standard, McFadden, Grand and Chestnut avenues. Police have said it is one of the most crime-ridden in the county.

The survey also suggested that the number of Cambodian American residents receiving welfare has declined in the past five years.

A 1991 poll conducted by the Neighborhood Service Center, a now-defunct nonprofit agency, concluded that 90% of the residents were getting public assistance. About 35% of the Cambodian Americans who were polled in the recent survey said at least one member in their family is employed, suggesting, Hirsch said, that the number of those on welfare in the neighborhood is closer to 65%.

“There are more people working out there in the Cambodian community than we knew,” she said.

Although the Cambodian Family did not receive the federal grant, officials said the survey has provided them with valuable information about the neighborhood.

The Cambodian Family plans to use the result of the survey to alter some existing programs and continue others to work toward establishing a better relationship between the Latinos and the Cambodians. The agency plans to have more activities, such as the Minnie Street Festival, to bring the groups together.

“If we’d have gotten the [federal] funding, it would have been like taking the elevator up to help Minnie Street,” Hirsch said. “Now, we’re taking the stairs.”

What the Cambodian Family found most surprising from the results, Hirsch said, was that Cambodian emigres, most of whom are refugees who came to the United States in 1975 because of the civil war in their homeland--view their lives in the Minnie Street neighborhood as relatively “peaceful.” In a series of community forums the agency conducted with residents last year, the response was the opposite, Hirsch said.

According to the survey, about 41% of Latinos said they fear violence because of crime and gang activity, while only 14.3% of the Cambodian respondents said the same.

Hirsch said that one reason Cambodians may not see their plight as so poor is because of their history. An estimated 4,000 Cambodians--half of Orange County’s total--live in the Minnie Street area. And despite the neighborhood’s downsides, Hirsch said, it is seen as better than Cambodia, where an estimated 2 million people were killed by the Khmer Rouge.

“Almost every Cambodian had seen someone shot or starved in front of him,” said Cal State Fullerton professor Gregory Robinson, who oversaw the survey. “So Minnie Street, by comparison, is a happy, wonderful place.”

The fact that Cambodian emigres were not more critical of the neighborhood known for its overcrowded apartments and high crime worried researchers and community workers.

“As long as these people see this community as peaceful, it’s going to be tough for us to create programs to reduce gang activity,” said Chea Sok Lim, a youth coordinator with the Cambodian Family.

Lim said that even though some Cambodians appeared content, community advocates still must try to educate them about the existing opportunities in their new country and encourage them to strive to better their lives.

Hirsch said that her agency will not force ideas on the emigres, but will “tell them that these are your other choices, and you can do it if you want.”

Community advocates said, for example, they want to see more Cambodians entering college and going on to become professionals.

Times staff writer Lily Dizon contributed to this story.