First, look at the types of stores on Victoria Drive: Asian supermarkets with all types of produce and meats, BBQ meat stores, frozen foods, bakeries, Chinese restaurants - all of which you will find in Chinatown. Of course, in Chinatown, these stores are much denser and there is much more competition all around, but that is the reason Victoria Drive is referred to as "Little Chinatown".
The picture below was taken in Chinatown. It is one of the many seafood stores that sell fresh, live seafood of all kinds. In Chinatown, one can probably still find turtles in these seafood markets. Jumbo Seafood on Victoria Drive is just like this one in Chinatown: fishmongers working hard behind the counter, self-serve roll of plastic bags, and reasonably clean fishtanks (but never as clean as the ones you would find in Superstore).
Even theft occurs in the same fashion. One of the employees that I spoke with works at one of the Chinese herbal stores on Victoria Drive. Because of the way products are set up at the front of the store, just as it is in the above picture, anyone on the street can easily walk by and snatch something. She used to work at a similar store in Chinatown, and the same type of theft occurs. Sometimes it may not even be intentional, as elderly people sometimes think it is OK to take one and pop it in their mouths. The same goes for produce stores where fruits and vegetables are easily taken from the front of the store. While I was standing on the street one day looking for someone to interview, I actually saw one man walk by Cada Supermarket and simply take a few tomatoes from one of the crates sitting in a corner at the front of the store.
There is, as you can see, good reason behind calling Victoria Drive "Little Chinatown". Many Asians can see an undoubted resemblance. The final section of my research concerns the future of Victoria Drive. How far will this expansion of "Little Chinatown" go? Will it continue to grow and become a second Chinatown, or has it already reached its height?
