Punjabi Market makeover

How soon will Vancouver's Little India face gentrification?

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      Take a stroll through the four-block section that makes up Main Street’s Punjabi Market today, and you’ll be hard pressed to find a store that hasn’t plastered its front window with signs saying that it’s either moved to Surrey, or gone out of business completely.

      With a majority of the Lower Mainland’s Indo-Canadian and South Asian populations living in Vancouver’s suburb to the southeast, the businesses that occupied the once-bustling Punjabi Market have simply followed the demographic.

      “It was a very busy market, so busy that you couldn’t find parking for blocks,” remembers Simran Virk of Roots Café, located on the southeast corner of Main Street and East 49th Avenue.

      Virk, who owns and operates the café with her husband Hardeep, grew up in the area and still lives in the neighbourhood, which will host the annual Vaisakhi parade on Saturday (April 11). 

      Even in the five short years that the Virks have been running their café, Simran has noted a shift in the area’s customer base, saying that “the face of the shopper has changed”.

      While retaining Punjabi influence within their business is important to the couple—their menu includes such staples as homemade chai tea and an award-winning butter chicken poutine—the Virks, who previously owned a café in Yaletown, are more of the mind that it is time for the area to undergo an upgrade.  

      “I think part of the big problem of the preservation of the historical nature of the Punjabi Market has been missed because there was a lack of effort to do anything together,” said Virk, noting that multiple attempts her and her husband have made to reach out to other business owners on the street have been met with silence. 

      With business dwindling and the potential payoff associated with selling commercial space on the block, Virk said the few remaining business owners have little concern for the future of the market.

      “After 40 years of business and then not being able to come together and carve something out, I think it’s a shame, because at one point and time, this particular stretch contributed a lot of money to the city,” she said.

      In Virk’s eyes, the future of the market will resemble that of neighbourhoods like Chinatown and the once predominantly Italian stretch on Commercial Drive: one part gentrification and one part revitalization.

      “The Punjabi Market does have a future, and I do think that it can be revitalized, but there has to be some consensus going in. It needs to have multiple partners, politicians, the community, and business leaders on board,” said Naveen Girn, curator and project manager of the Komagata Maru 100-year anniversary.

      Girn, who is very engaged with Vancouver’s South Asian community, has high hopes for the future of the area: one that retains its historical and cultural influence, while also introducing contemporary spaces and shops that meet the needs of the area’s diverse demographic. 

      “Having a multi-ethnic future of the Punjabi Market is definitely the way to go. That’s not to say that it can’t retain some sort of Punjabi character, but it does need to grow to reflect the communities that live there,” Girn said.  

      “I would also love to see an art gallery or a historical museum, something that would bring people in on a regular basis, and then have them stay and visit the shops and eat at the restaurants.”

      The question for many is not how but when this change will take place.

      Across the street from Roots Café, All India Sweets and the space that formerly housed Guru Bazaar will be knocked down to build condominiums and a large store—rumoured to be a London Drugs—within the next year. 

      For Virk, the construction of this space could mark the onset of change.

      “In order for our area to be revived, we need those anchor stores. Once you get stores like that, it starts to peak interest,” she said.

      Vancouver’s general manager of planning and development Brian Jackson said in a telephone interview that while there are a number of factors beyond the city’s control, there are no plans to reduce the area to one of generic shops and shoebox condos.

      “From a planning perspective and a business retention perspective, we want those businesses to stay in Vancouver.” 

      Jackson, a born-and-raised Vancouverite, said that city officials are keen to develop some sort of landmark to commemorate the area’s history in the future, but there are no plans to offer financial incentives to current business owners.

      “We want them to talk to our Vancouver economic commission to assist them with finding ways to retain that business, but the reality is, different enclaves are emerging in a variety of different places,” Jackson said. 

      For Virk, who is now raising a family of her own in the area, the shops may change, but the market will remain.

      “Yes, it’s hard to say goodbye, but it will always be known and affectionately referred to as the Punjabi Market… that never disappears.”

      Comments

      1 Comments

      Jensen D

      Apr 11, 2015 at 12:40pm

      Many neighbourhoods that once had a European or even a mixed flavour to them have become predominantly Asian over the last 20 years. There are very few left with the exception of Main St and The Drive. Having diverse but homogeneous neighbourhood's is important in any city and this is a great opportunity for the European community to expand from its currently narrow range and extend the Main St vibe further south. If the Indian population isn't interested in it then let's give it some culture rather than let the sterile chain stores ruin a good thing. London Drugs is not the answer.