CBC on Saving Chinatown
CBC has a feature on attempts to save Chinatown from the developers.
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Kate
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DeWolf 10:02 on 2021-10-27 Permalink
One thing that isn’t mentioned in this story is that the upper floors of many buildings along St-Laurent and Clark are empty. That leaves them vulnerable to eventual redevelopment if they are allowed to decay – or fire, which has already claimed two important buildings on St-Laurent. The city needs to do something to enable (and push) property owners to fix up and rent out their properties.
I’m not familiar with the inner workings of the Chinatown Working Group but I really hope they’re focused on the Hillpark acquisition, which could wipe out the most historically significant block left in Chinatown. I worry the group is straying into blanket advocacy against all development, because some members were very opposed to a new commercial building that is being proposed for the vacant lot at St-Laurent and de la Gauchetière, even though it would replace a commercial building that burned down in 2007, and its developer and architect would both be Chinese Montrealers.
I also wish these stories would put more emphasis on Chinatown’s history, which is fascinating but rarely conveyed in its full detail. Instead there’s usually some hand-wavey mythology that doesn’t do the story justice. For example, the CBC piece states that “De La Gauchetière Street hasn’t changed much in 40 years,” which is not true at all. 40 years ago, there were half as many businesses. Things changed a lot with pedestrianization, which helped intensify commercial activity along the strip. At the same time, Chinatown never used to include St-Laurent, but with the construction of the Guy-Favreau complex, commercial activity spread east. That’s when the city rezoned everything east of St-Dominique to be strictly residential in order to prevent Chinese businesses from spreading further. That restrictive zoning did as much to constrain the community as the development of megaprojects like the Palais des Congrès and Guy-Favreau.
Still, it’s nice to see so much political and media attention being given to Chinatown. It’s small but mighty, and I think its compactness and vibrancy gives it a better chance of survival than Vancouver’s Chinatown, which is a sad shell of its former self.
Kate 09:33 on 2022-10-18 Permalink
A belated thanks for this thoughtful comment.