Trying To Operate A Business In A Poverty Area
June 27th, 2008 by Alan YuHere in Vancouver there is a very known street area located at Hastings and Main where a lot of homeless people and illegal drug transactions often take place. I was talking to a business owner recently who knew another person that ran a business around that area.
He told me stories such as how the owner has such a hard time attracting customers as homeless people would often come into the store or hang around the entrance area which would discourage people from going near it. He even joked a bit on how whenever he went down there it appeared that there were more transactions happening on the streets of that area than any of the businesses.
I know a little further west there are similar problems and there are plans to renovate a lot of the buildings in time for the 2010 Olympics. It’s kind of interesting though as there are sides against these types of changes as they feel it is pushing poor people away even more and at the same time others say it’s good to start revitalizing the area.
I guess a big reason why people would setup a business in these types of areas initially is the cheap real estate. I can’t say that I have ever honestly seen one business by itself completely change say a whole neighborhood from a poor image to a more neutral one. It usually takes a few others as well. Although, I will be amazed if that area changes as ever since I was a child it has always been like that.
For blog updates subscribe to our RSS feed.
June 27th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
I lived in San Francisco for 3 years in a “mixed use” building that resulted in some gentrification of the area. Basically, a small number of housing units were demolished, but by utilizing space on top of an existing grocery store (which had already been in existence, but was demolished and rebuilt, including an underground parking area), it allowed most of surrounding residents to remain. The new apartments sold from $400k - $700k, so most of the people who bought and moved in were pretty well-off. There was still crime in the area, and even a bunch of break-ins in the first year, but we were able to deal with it by having increased security watch and cameras.
The mixed use property was also required to have a number of low-income units that allowed persons of a certain income level to purchase at a fixed, low price. When they sell, they are also required to sell at a similar low price.
Over the 3 years I was there, the increased number of wealthier residents in the area definitely attracted a lot of nicer businesses to the area, including a Starbucks, and some nice restaurants.
So I would say that it is possible to turn a neighborhood around, but it takes a lot of $$$.