By MARK HIGGINS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Already booming is "Little Saigon." East of Interstate 5, the area is almost exclusively Vietnamese, with its own shopping district that attracts all races.

About 50 stores have opened in Little Saigon since the early 1980s, says Tam Nguyen, co-owner of Saigon Bistro, the first Vietnamese business to locate in the area.

One challenge, Nguyen says, is organizing merchants to tackle common problems, such as keeping the sidewalks and storefronts clean and inviting, and vacant lots cleared of debris and blackberries.

"Most of us work seven days a week, so it's hard for us to get together," says Nguyen, who lives in the Magnolia neighborhood.

Following a burglary, nine area merchants met in June to form the Merchants Association of Little Saigon organizing committee. Each chipped in $1,000 to get the ball rolling. "It's just a beginning," Nguyen says.

Though Little Saigon is part of the International District, it is cut off from the neighborhood by I-5 and more subtle obstacles.

Around 1995, Chinese-American and Japanese-American business and property owners voted to tax themselves to create a Business Improvement Area (BIA). They did not include Little Saigon because they felt business owners east of I-5 would not support the plan.

Roger Iwata, executive director of the Chinatown International District BIA, says in time "the two communities will come together. It's inevitable."

Continued:

• Immigrant surges still boost its energy
• Area's future mixes old buildings, new projects
• Business association maintains pride