Today in the Globe & Mail, Hadani Ditmars profiled the changing face of Kitsilano – I can’t believe she didn’t contact us for a quote. I’d be happy to weight in on Kitsilano as a real estate hot spot and the dilemma our neighbourhood faces as the high cost of real estate threatens to bury our once-bohemian nature.
Increasingly, high-end shops are replacing mom-and-pop stores in the former hippie epicentre of West 4th Avenue. "It’s becoming another Robson Street," complains local architect Tad Young, who says it will soon resemble the slick downtown shopping strip – itself once a more bohemian avenue.
Adam Smith of the Kits Point Residents Association managed to get quoted again but his resolve regarding the "Californication" of Kits is weakening now that Watermark is set to open tomorrow:
But Mr. Smith rails against the "balkanization of the beach," with parts set aside for off-leash dogs, volleyball players and a private business. "Ten years from now, this will still be a beautiful place. I hope the neighbourhood will still have a good mix of people. But increasingly," he acknowledges, "real estate prices are going to define who lives here."
Good thing he’s already in the market.
