A major goal of Chinese American Citizens Alliance is historical preservation of Chinese American heritage and culture.  The Riverside (California) Chinatown site contains the archaeological remains of a typical "bachelor" Chinatown, one of many throughout the American West.  As a result of discrimination and Exclusion, these men in agriculture never founded families, and so the community died out.

For years, the remains were safely under a parking lot owned by the local board of education. Recently, because of a need for funds, the Board decided to sell to a developer planning to build a needed medical center. The contractor and the City refuse to move the planned building from the corner of the property, where the archaeological remains of the Chinatown lay, to a less sensitive area of the site.

Therefore, there is a competition between two community "goods" – one, the preservation of important local history; the other, the filling of a social need.  The importance of this site, known after the efforts by many over the years, highlights the involvement of Chinese in California's citrus industry.

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The Chinese American Citizens Alliance passed Resolution 16 at its 50th biennial national convention on August 7, 2009, to support the efforts of the Save Our Chinatown Committee (SOCC) and others to preserve the site as the Riverside Chinatown Historic Park. There is a potential for a "win-win" situation if the developer would only bend to a redesign which would avoid destruction of most of the underground holdings.   Because there would be a cost, he has hardened his position.

The Save Our Chinatown Committee (SOCC) has gone to court.  The judge has ruled the sale improper because due process for public input and other governmental procedures were not followed properly.    The opposition has appealed.  Developments in this case are available at http://saveourchinatown.org/