How To Make Gentrification Work

In a famously poor neighbourhood, but one rich with diverse inhabitants and polyglot architecture, a debate is simmering over the effects of gentrification. Maisonneuve urban affairs columnist Christopher DeWolf heads to Montreal's Saint-Henri, where new condo projects are whipping up the passions of residents over the future of their neighbourhood. Housing activists want a moratorium on new condo development, even if those condos include affordable housing. DeWolf asks if this is a wise approach. "Gentrification is a complicated process. If left unchecked, it can have devastating consequences. But a government committed to social housing can manage it effectively -- even if that means working with developers to built that housing."