Ventura
The 1990s brought a more diverse population to Ventura County. Due largely to an influx of Latinos in every local city, and a boom in upscale housing in the east county, the number of Ventura County residents rose to 753,000--up 84,000 in 10 years. The people pictured below represent the region’s increasing diversity.
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First came the parents, then the children. That is the way it often is for immigrants scraping to get a foot in the American door.
So it was for Ventura newcomers Je Hoon Lee and wife Jung Hee Lee, both 26. His parents immigrated to Ventura County from Seoul, South Korea, a few years ago. They opened Main Super Store in Santa Paula.
Je Lee, now a student at Wilshire Language School in Los Angeles, followed early last year. Then his wife arrived from Seoul.
And all four Lees have become part of Ventura County’s story of change--representatives of the region’s fastest-growing racial group, Asians.
Jung Lee clerks at her in-laws’ shop in downtown Santa Paula.
“Life here is very, very good,” she said.
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