Quote:
Originally Posted by UofC.engineer
A bank, a liquor store and a crossfit studio on ground level. I guess this is what gentrification looks like.
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Correct, the addition of new retail bays into the street would typically result in chains or higher-end tenants who can afford relatively higher rents that come from a new build. I am generally okay with the new retail in Kensington, as technically there wasn't much economic displacement (Lido Cafe being a notable exception). Of course, the trend is likely to continue, I would expect to see lower-end places being bumped out as the neighbourhood increasingly becomes wealthier.
Related interesting information for the 2011 NHS (i.e. the sloppy, non-longform census so take with a grain of salt) applied to the neighbourhoods of Kensington:
Sunnyside has a fairly similar income distribution as the Calgary average, with slightly higher than average representation of the top and lowest income groups. Details
here
Hillhurst has a significantly higher proportion of the highest income group, nearly twice as represented as the city average. It also has above average representation of the lowest income group. Details
here
I have always found it remarkable that Calgary doesn't talk about gentrification publicly (or about changing neighbourhood affordability in general). This is front-and-centre of many urban debates in almost all other Canadian cities. My guess is that it has to do with just how wealthy we are as a city, with over 20% of our city being in the top 10% of incomes nationally. Perhaps while obviously highly unequal, Calgary's wealthy population is proportionally much larger so many gentrifying projects sail through with broader public support than somewhere with a more typical distribution of much more low-income households that get adversely affected
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