This research project utilizes Chicago’s Chinatown neighborhood as a case study for the ways in which the built environment can sustain conflicting and at times contested meanings that create distinctive patterns of community identity formation at the level of street block or building. Ultimately, the ways in which Chinatown’s community negotiates and finds balance in urban spaces that serve both performative and interpersonal ends proves to be an essential element of Chinese-American community and boundary maintenance across physical, generational, and cultural lines.