Farewell to the Few

The key to diversity in retail is independent business. Those along the Cambie Line are not the only ones suffering due to excavation, equipment and workers blocking their storefronts. Many White Rock small businesses are suffering due to the current construction of the towers. Featured in today's paper were 16 small businesses affected by current conditions. An example of filtering up- many of these stores will be forced to relocate where they will be inaccessible to customers whom they have served for many years. Others will close, unable to find somewhere new to start over again. Only chains such as BC Liquor, Buy-Low Foods and People's Pharmacy have the funds and the high-end consumer appeal to move into the new Miramar Village. Consignment stores, hair salons, a tailor, a chocolate shop and a few food establishments will be lost or reinvented in new locations, their unique contributions to an abundance of painfully similar retail options sorely missed by their loyal followers.

Is this a fault of gentrification- it eliminates diversity- or is this simply a cyclical phenomenon? It remains to be seen whether or not this development will catch on, be successful and meet the needs of the community. It remains to be seen whether or not Miramar will act as a catalyst for growth in the area or if it will merely defer the stagnation and eventual decline. The developer is merely providing a shell- does White Rock center have enough sustinence to make the area vibrant and lively?

Can an area be successful and independent? White Rock's uptown was formerly independent but was characterized by the highest vacancy rate in the Lower Mainland and not successful financially in the way that big-box and chain retailers coming into the area are. A successful area is not usually independent for long- Starbucks notices and then Mac's moves in around the corner. Not always bad-but a change towards homogeneity and a monoculture that steals our collective identity.