B. Chinatown

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It’s obvious Chinatown is changing. Sure Chinatown doesn’t look like ~liberty village pumpkin spice lattes, but it’s looking a lot like bobba x20. Independent shops are now being replaced by international corporate chains. Notable losses such as Furama, and the potential loss of Rol San, a key dim sum restaurant in Chinatown, has raised concerns about who will be moving into Chinatown once these businesses close. Aside from international chain stores, large retailers like Rexall have begun to anchor the ends of Chinatown.

Through interviews for An Inclusive Future for Downtown Chinatown by Friends of Chinatown, and the University of Toronto Masters of Planning program, with the chair of the Chinatown BIA Tonny Louie, they have indicated that they would prefer larger brands as anchor tenants, and does not consider the Rolsan restaurant as an important institution (despite being a popular destination for many residents, and tourists). The BIA believes that by having larger brands that offer higher priced goods would draw a “new group of people” to Chinatown “who can afford to spend more”, showing that methods of gentrification are coming from inside the Chinatown community as well.

Dragon Condos, 2019

To be fair the BIA is right - by changing the type of “clientele”, you can bring in different investors, shoppers, and thus increase the value in your neighbourhood. What this does is drives smaller businesses out and repeats the cycle of displacement Chinatown has already gone through. The lack of protections for owners, renters, and the community places Chinatown in a vulnerable place. What will be of the community once they are no longer able to afford it?

Not only do these businesses value in costs and revenue, but most importantly these businesses form as community hubs or third places. While there are organizations such as places of worship and community centers, it is unique to many immigrant families the forms of relations one has when being in a store that smells like your own kitchen.