I was hiking on Renton’s Cedar River trail on Memorial Day, from the Renton Public Library to the end of the trail, where the river flows into Lake Washington. For a moment, I thought I was walking around Bellevue, which claims to have the largest number of Asian Americans. There were about 40 other people going back and forth on the trail. But the largest ethnic group was East Indian. They biked and strolled, young and old.
After World War II, many Japanese Americans settled in Renton and remain there. I suspect, back then, it was for the same reason that many Asian Americans choose to live in Renton currently — for its big and affordable homes and its convenient location. ♦