My Rambling Thoughts on Gentrification, Part 2

Read Part 1 here

Perhaps my biggest struggle with all of this is still seeing the segregation and division. There is little to no integration or blurring of communities as middle/upper class have moved in over the last couple years. On one block you are in the midst of the perhaps organized chaos of what happens in front of the bottle depot on Hastings, and the next block you can go enjoy a coffee and croissant at a new coffee shop, with all that out of sight and mind!
It's the coffee shop that:
(a) isn't affordable to people living in the DTES
(b) I purchase coffee from regularly.

While on the coffee topic... I've definitely struggled with wondering whether or not my purchasing of this coffee or a $3 donut from the new donut shop has helped contribute or encourage gentrification. Maybe that's extreme, but it's made me uncomfortable to think about. With that said, I'm NOT implying (in any way) that we should feel guilty about going to these places and supporting businesses in the area. Let's not forget that this post is my ramblings.... this discomfort and struggle I'm having is not a bad thing. It's making me think. It's making me ask questions. It's challenging me.

What am I trying to say in these ramblings?
It seems I have more questions than answers, and it's all quite messy....

Maybe this process of gentrification could be improved...smoother.... better integrated... but where do we start? Is there a starting point?

I'm proposing that as a community we first start with being more aware of one another. While we can not control or change the fact that disparities may always exist, we can't turn a blind eye and pretend things don't exist just because we aren't comfortable seeing someone pan handling or injecting on the street corner. We can be more respectful, primarily through our attitudes and actions - both of which we can control. The reality is that this is going to be hard work. The reality is that community is hard work. Proximity doesn't automatically equal community - as witnessed by SROs and condos being next to one another.

I think that people need a platform and opportunity to discuss the changes that are happening in their community. These community meetings should include all sides and parties. Business owners and city planners should have a place at this table, as well as residents from the community. Perhaps communication, and having people's voices heard would change the impact that gentrification is having. Coming from the girl who has been willing to pay $3 for a donut once in a while, this might be a naive proposition but I really think communication and discussion is a key here. I also think there are creative ways for people to get involved and establish relationships with the people who already live in the DTES, the resources they access and the community that already exists!

Perhaps new businesses and restaurants can learn from Save On Meats, a diner that has been established in area since 1957 and "aims to be a reliable neighbour in the DTES". I've noticed that they are quite a well-respected establishment in the area, and are very much accessible to anyone, not just because it's affordable. They have generated a really welcoming atmosphere. You can read more about their partnership and involvement with the community here.

Unfortunately I don't have any straight forward, cut-and-dry answers to any of my questions, but I guess I am wanting to open up the discussion. I am not even sure I have any ideas for the "creative ways" for gentrified businesses to get involved as I (naively?) propose. Perhaps I should stop calling these businesses "gentrified" because that label may also be contributing to the separation and segregation from my end.

Perhaps the biggest issues in the DTES aren't prostitution, homelessness and addiction! Perhaps the biggest issue is an intense longing for community in a deeper, bigger, more united way. I don't think that this longing for community exists only in the DTES. I think it's a Vancouver wide groaning. Or at least it's groaning in me.

Maybe that is why gentrification makes me so uncomfortable because currently it's a collision of separate worlds and communities that really aren't so separate (we are all human after all), that could come together in a powerful way and create community together. It just hasn't happened yet. I'm dreaming big, but all it takes are small steps...