"And that was another part of it, the creators were also recognizing the fact that San Francisco (and California in general) has a significantly large Japanese and Asian-American population, so the San Fransokyo setting was also about acknowledging those people, descendants of immigrants whose cultures have blended with American culture into something new and unique."

I remember reading somewhere that an analysis was done and it turns out that, judging by crowd scenes, there is actually a smaller percentage of Asians in San Fransokyo than in the actual San Francisco. The place that's a blend of San Fran and Tokyo has fewer Asians than the real San Fran! So I'm not sure *too* much credit can be given to the film...