In order to get a sense of what these Volga-German communities are like, it is only appropriate to compare them with other German communities. Two cities that interest me are New York's Kleindeutschland District in the lower east side of Manhattan and the Girard Avenue District of Philadelphia. Both of these cities have large clusters of immigrant, specially German, families living in communities about the size of Catherine.
The chart above is from Stanley Nadel's book Little Germany, which discusses the Kleindeutschland District of Manhattan. The chart breaks down which German state each immigrant is from, the year of the sample (going from 1860-1880), and which ward of that district they live in. Notice how while each ward has some group of German immigrants, most them cluster together in one particular ward and make that block their home. For instance, many Austrians live in the 10th and 11th wards and Bavarians live in the 17th and 11th wards. It shows that thes immigrants like being among their own ethnic group and stay together in one area. They don't act that much different from the Volga-Germans who, despite living in a rural area, also stay together in one group. It illustrates that group dynamics really do not change from immigrant group to immigrant group.
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