What they mean is that they prefer to live in the suburbs. Not only do they hate slums but they also hate the sight of old worn-down buildings which are pretty common in Asia.
Yes, Western societies have created economic and cultural systems that absorb the consequences of failure so well that individual pressure to succeed are no longer matters of survival.
But my impression is that Chinese Americans are pretty much white biologically and culturally by the third or fourth generation because of the high rates of interracial marriage.