
Action to save Montreal’s Chinatown needs to come faster, advocates say
MONTREAL — Hotels and luxury condos have sprung up around the ornate red and gold gate that marks the south entrance to Montreal’s Chinatown, towering above the busy dumpling restaurants and mom-and-pop stores.
The threats of development and gentrification have prompted a recent wave of concern from politicians, but advocates say the action may not be coming fast enough to preserve a neighbourhood that has been historically ignored and further undermined by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jonathan Cha, a Montreal landscape architect and Chinatown expert, says concern over the downtown neighbourhood’s future hit a new high recently when a developer purchased buildings on one of its most historic blocks — including the Wing’s building, named for a noodle factory that has long operated there. A light-rail system is also planned to pass by Chinatown, further hemming in the neighbourhood.
He said Montreal has no specific rules to control development in Chinatown, leading to the proliferation of luxury condos, gentrification and rising rents that threaten the vibrant community life. “The main danger is that Chinatown, especially de la Gauchetière Street, will become just a tourist restaurant area with nice lanterns and a few colours and decorations … but Chinatown is not just that,” Cha said in a phone interview.