Originally, during the Soviet Union years and after it ceased existing, a lot of Armenian immigrants moved to Los Angeles, East Hollywood in particular. For many years Little Armenia of Hollywood had the biggest Armenian community in Los Angeles. But in years this fact has changed. By 1988 many Armenians were moving from Hollywood to Glendale, Burbank and other areas.  By the same year, many newly arrived immigrants also were moving to Glendale and Burbank. Historically many of the Glendale Armenians were  Iranian Armenians. In the 1980 U.S. Census, the Armenians in Glendale were 25% of the Armenians in Los Angeles County.

 Levon Marashlian, an Armenian history teacher at Glendale Community College stated that Glendale's Armenian population became larger than Hollywood's by the early 1990s. There is no doubt that there was an influx in immigration between 1990-2000 and in this 10-year period, the Armenian population in Los Angeles County experienced a growth rate of 45.2%, as reported by the U.S. Census. In those 10 years, the Armenian Glendale population increased by 71.5%. These numbers are astounding considering how rapidly the population grew. As the 2000 U.S. Census, 30% of the residents of Glendale were Armenian. By 2000 Glendale had the largest Armenian population outside of Yerevan.

According to the Census Bureau, the per capita income for Armenians living in Glendale is $14,033 and the median household income is $28,505. The per capita income comes as a surprise due mostly because of the nature of careers and line of work Armenians attempt to pursue. As a matter of fact, a lot of Armenians like to dabble in business and invest their time and income and become entrepreneurs where they can earn profits without having to work for anyone else.

We can even say that Armenians enjoy a sense of independence by "being their own boss." The feeling of accomplishing and succeeding at a business brings a sense of pride to the community.

But then again the Census statistics show that 21.9% of Armenians, or roughly 3,734 of the Armenian population, receive public assistance such as welfare, Section 8 housing and other social services. Whether these numbers are really suspect or somewhat skewed depends upon how people of Armenian ancestry identify themselves on the Census surveys, according to the Census Los Angeles regional bureau. Some people with Armenian ancestry may check-off "white," on paper while others specify "Armenian" as an ethnic origin.

But people are different, people of one nation also differ from one another. Our responsibility as Armenians is to take care and be a proud member of our community.

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