Musings on Urban Life

[dewline]

Gentrification and its fallout are on my mind a bit of late. Or perhaps it's more about the evolution of towns and cities over time in general that's been doing that preying. Whichever it is, I thought I'd ramble a bit. I hope you'll forgive me if it doesn't make complete sense.

Over at ottawa, there was some discussion that delved into the creeping gentrification in the back streets of Vanier, and the acquisition of several apartment complexes there and along St. Laurent Boulevard that seemed a bit suspicious to some. I can't say for certain if any of the commentary - including my own on that thread - was or is on the money. Not yet. And yet it still bothers me.

I have friendly acquaintances who consider Vanier a good place to run a business and raise a family. I'm not entirely sure they're wrong, based on the evidence of my own eyes and travels through that part of town in recent months and years. If ever I move out of Orléans, it might be a good place for me to move to. Or perhaps New Edinburgh next door, if the income situation works out just right. You see, I don't need a mansion. Just a place to hang my hat at night and stow my library and studio at any old hour at all. If it's convenient to a good tea house and art supply shop, that's even better.

Along comes Justin Beach with a new section added onto publicbroadcasting.ca devoted to the Casualties of Gentrification. He starts with a specific memorial to a particular building in Toronto that just fell to the wrecking ball to make room for something else, hopefully better than what was there...at least for those who hired out the wrecking ball.

And it occurs to me that a lot of honest people in Vanier see things in that part of town worth saving for the future of their neighbourhood and of the city forced upon them by Mike Harris' "shotgun marriage" bringing their homes into the borders of Ottawa, whether they liked it or not.

And if the improvements to the neighbourhood are done in just the wrong way, a lot of honest people who have little else in the way of alternatives are going to find it that much harder to get by. Or those who liked something they found there before it went "upscale" might find the "upscaling" has rendered the place no longer the joy it was.

And I worry.

And I don't even live there right now.

Comments

[mencc1701.livejournal.com]

I'm always torn on gentrification. If all goes well, things can turn out quite nicely - see The Glebe or the Market, for example - but it can also severely disrupt the social fabric of a neighborhood and displace lower income families and individuals. That said, it's generally a natural process that neighborhoods undergo, so it's hard to be too critical - it's almost never something like Sparks St., where a governmental body steps in and says "We want HERE to become like THIS", but something that occurs as a part of natural urban evolution and change. It's a pretty hotly contested subject amongst urbanists and urban geographers, and as I said, I'm not entirely sure where I stand on the matter.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

You're right on those points...and you're not alone in the ambivalence.

[orleans.livejournal.com]

I see gentrification as a problem too. I think it's a reflection of the wealthiest segment of society having so much money that it's causing total social dislocation. They want to be "where the action" is, and that's traditionally in areas with a more mixed income background. But the upper crust doesn't like the rough edges also found in those areas, so those get sanded out as bars get closed, public housing gets torn down, and cool shops and restaurants get priced out of the area and chain stores get drawn to where the action is.

Eventually, you get to something called 'end-stage gentrification', where noone can afford to live there except the very wealthy, and no commercial enterprises can afford to be there except yuppie-oriented retailers. At this stage, what you have is a nicely-streetscaped suburban mall with nicer than usual architecture and more walkability, and everything that made the area exciting and drew people there is gone. Westboro and the Glebe are currently going through this, and the process is more advanced in other cities.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

I can't speak to Westboro at the moment, but I do worry about and for the Glebe. When you see the likes of Shoppers Drug Mart - as well meaning as they may be - moving box stores onto that particular stretch of Bank Street after twenty years of watching a good mix of indy shops and the likes of Bridgehead thrown in for genuine good measure...