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Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian
Yes, of lesser means.
Most of the overhauls are being done by people with money, many of them not from NS originally, but from Ontario. You have to have money to act like you don't have money.
It makes it harder for normal folks from here to purchase on the peninsula. This can have an effect to improve areas like Fairview, but it also pushes workers off the peninsula.
I'm not against gentrification per se, but they people screaming about it are largely in the demographic causing it. Real poor people have little to no voice.
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I'm not sure about the Ontario thing. Certainly, Halifax is a national city, with its share of people from the across the country. But I would wager the vast majority of people living downtown, including the northend, are Nova Scotians. Sure there are some hipsters from Toronto, but they're not going to single handedly transform the housing market.
What will transform it is urban renewal. Gentrification is real and unfortunate but it's an inevitable part of downtown renewal. If downtown is made nicer, more livable, if neighborhoods are more walkable, and safe, then naturally, downtown housing is going to be more desirable. Greater demand means higher prices, higher property values. Not everyone will be able to afford it.
We should certainly take steps to mitigate the impact of gentrification through affordable housing and other means; but to stop it, means to neglect the downtown core for another generation.
Let the hipsters cry.
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