When East Village's new vision was conceived more than 25 years ago, it was intended to be a model 21st century urban village where a diversity of Calgarians of different incomes could thrive together. There was to be no gentrification. However, now there is discussion that the Calgary Drop-In Centre will have to move, its programs decentralized.
Defining Gentrification
Gentrification is defined as the process whereby the character of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, improving housing and attracting new businesses, resulting in the displacement of the existing low income residents.
Decentralizing the services of the Calgary Drop-In Centre to other locations can be seen as a step in the gentrification of East Village. When it first opened in 2001, the Drop-In Centre was nicknamed by some as the “Homeless Hilton” given its attractive brick façade and Flatiron shape. It has been the gateway to downtown for more than 20 years. Wouldn’t it be ironic if the building was sold and converted into an actual hotel?
Parking and People
At the turn of the century, East Village was a sea of surface parking lots with four major high-rise apartments for low-income Calgarians — Edwards Place, George C. King Tower, Murdoch Manor and Golden Age Club — as well as the Salvation Army’s Booth Centre for homeless. It was best known as home to one of Calgary’s notorious landmarks — the Cecil Hotel, which was synonymous with crime and decay. And it was home to one of Calgary’s sex workers’ strolls.
The new East Village’s master plan unveiled in 2009 replaced the ugly surface parking lots with high-rise mixed-use residential developments with retail at street level, while keeping the existing low income apartments and services for those in need. There was to be no gentrification.
Fortunately, to date none of the existing low-income residential buildings have been renovated for higher income Calgarians. However, that may soon change.
East Village Today
Over the past 25 years, East Village has undergone a multi-billion dollar mega makeover, with a new library, new museum, two hotels, new retail (including a major grocery store), several public spaces (including a river walk), redevelopment of St. Patrick’s Island and numerous residential buildings. All in an effort to make it more attractive for middle and high income people to live there.
However, over the same period there has been a huge increase in safety issues in East Village and across the greater downtown, due to addictions and mental health issues, often associated (rightly and wrongly) with those living at East Village’s homeless shelters.
The Cecil Hotel was torn down in 2015, after years of neglect and damage from the 2013 flood. It has remained a vacant lot since then. It was the place to go during the day for many addicts and homeless, rather than hanging out in the library, or downtown buildings, the Plus-15 walkway or simply on the street and in encampments, as is currently the case.
Now there is talk that the mega Calgary Drop-In Centre, opened to much fanfare in 2001 as the largest homeless shelter in North America, will move some or all its programs out of East Village as it is seen as the incubator for the safety issues in East Village.
