Examples of controversial gentrification from your city.
Gentrification of neighbourhoods is one area where I think we on the left are often divided. On the one hand those who are the "gentrifiers" are often at the forefront of the liberal movement. Gay and lesbian communities and artists colonies for example. But quite often the process of gentrification displace the poor, minorities and those in need. It may be seen as an effort to boost an ailing local economy and revitalize an otherwise dead part of the inner city, but the long term effects are often the creation of an upper class neighbourhood at the expense of the poor, the loss of low income housing and social services in the area.
Here in Vancouver this has been slowly happening to the infamous down town east side. I'm sure anyone who knows much about Vancouver knows we have one of the more famous "skid row" districts in north america. A roughly 4 - 6 square block area of the city with probably some of the densest concentrations of people with drug addictions, mental health issues, homelessness, prostitution and more in north america. Well in recent years there has been a push to gentrify some of the periphery of this area. Some of it was well meaning, for example the old "Woodwards" building was replaced with a tall building that was a unique mix of low income housing and more traditional middle class apartments. The idea was to try to consciously integrate the poor with the middle to lower middle class to help to try to reduce the stigmatism associated with the neighbourhood. Several other apartment complexes have gone up in the area since, I believe some of these also have tried to integrate low income housing into the mix. But along with the success of these projects have come trendy bars, restaurants and other similar stores. The straw that broke the camels back so to speak for many was the opening of an up scale restaurant called "Pidgin" across from the famous "Pigeon Park", thus a play on words. Pigeon park has long had one of the worst reputations in the city as a place for crime and drug deals.
The opening of such an up scale restaurant right across the street, and particularly in conjunction with the name, struck many local residents as a particularly distasteful slap in the face. As a result this past year saw endless angry protests outsides the restaurant. The owners and those who work there were even threatened and customers were publicly shamed. Ironically this has served to only boost the popularity of the establishment. However this is only one in a string of such upscale places that have opened in recent years among the local bankrupt and boarded up businesses. It's become quite a contentious issue in recent years with protests like this one becoming more common.
What examples of controversial gentrification do you have from your city?
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I have to admit I've never seen a single episode 
That's an interesting looking structure
Has there been anger in Dallas over its construction?
