I live in Montreal. For years, we’ve been watching treasured cafés, restaurants, and community spots disappear only to be left empty. A 2019 city consultation showed that storefront vacancies were lasting for an average of nineteen months—some for
much longer. Montreal is far from the only city with a persistent vacancy problem; for years, Toronto, New York, Calgary, Vancouver, and others have been showing the exact same trend. It usually goes the same way: a neighbourhood favourite closes down, the community mourns but moves on, and the building sits vacant even on an otherwise lively street. Why does it happen? The answer is a market trick called speculation. A developer will spot a building in a hot or soon-to-be-hot neighbourhood, purchase it, hold on to it for a while as its value rises, and then sell it for a much higher price. Developers that are speculating don’t have to care about the impact of empty storefronts on a neighbourhood. All that matters is that their real estate portfolios continue to rise in value,
whatever the local cost. In “How Empty Storefronts Are Killing Our Neighbourhoods,” I wrote about gentrification, perpetually empty storefronts, and what we can do to bring life back to our streets. —Lucy Uprichard
