Large numbers of people in the United States identify themselves as being Italian American. New York City is the city with the highest number of Italian-Americans living there. It is a well-known fact that Italian culture is well-established in this city. Yet, have you ever wondered why so many Italians choose this location in the first place when they immigrated from Italy? Here are five of the top reasons.
1. Poverty
The predominant reason Italians decided to leave Italy was due to poverty and political hardship. They knew that there were greater opportunities elsewhere in the world and the United States was the top of the list for many Italians.
2. Buying Italian Land
The Italians had a dream and this dream was to own their own piece of land in Italy. Unfortunately, economic circumstances in Italy did not allow for this. So, Italians were forced to look for other means to achieve this. Many went to work in the United States and returned to their homeland once they had the financial means to buy land.
3. Work Opportunities
The desire to buy land, the poverty and the political hardship in Italy led many to seek work in America. New York was a prosperous state with many opportunities to work as part of a labor force. This was due to industrial and construction activities in the state due to constant expansion and improvement.
4. East Coast Location
While the main reasons for Italians locating to the United States were to find work due to poverty and their desire to buy land, this does not necessarily explain why they chose New York. While the work opportunities in some ways explain this, there were similar opportunities elsewhere. The likelihood is that many people choose New York simply because they had headed to the United States by boat and this is where their boat docked. The East coast location of New York simply meant that this was the first place where the Italians arrived and, once they had found work, this is where they would stay.
5. Established Italian Communities
Once the first groups of immigrants had settled in New York, they created Italian communities. When new Italians decided to make the move to the United States, many chose New York simply because there were established Italian communities within this city.
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