Thinking about the economic geography of the lower West End
For those of you not keeping score at home, even though my degree is in Environmental Studies, and I teach in the department of Political Science, my doctoral dissertation actually built an interdisciplinary analytical framework that borrows from several disciplines, in the natural science and engineering, social sciences and humanities and even a bit from the business administration. A major theme in my thesis is economic geography.
For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated with aspects of cooperation amongst individuals and firms (firms understood as individual units within industries). As a result, the notion of agglomeration of businesses in or around a specific geographical area (co-location) has been top of my academic mind for the past decade or so. I wrote my Masters’ thesis on a game-theoretical model to analyze strategic alliances between large pharmaceutical firms and small biotechnology firms. And my PhD thesis is filled with economic (industrial and urban) geography references.
When I walk around Vancouver, and specifically, the West End, I am always amazed by the little corner stores I see. I wrote, for example, about the little store on Carolina and 12th a few weeks back. This past week, I walked around the lower part of the West End (a few blocks east of Denman Street) and a few blocks south of Robson Street. I was, as usual, completely enchanted with the fact that within a residential neighbourhood, we have so many cute little businesses, including a grocery/market and a hairdressing salon.
One of my primary research questions for the past few years has been what drives the transformation of industrial landscapes within urban centres, and what drives the shift in land use from industrial to urban. My inquiry into the geography of industrial decline (a topic that was in vogue in the mid-1970s in Great Britain, with the work of Keeble, and more recently in Canada with Dr. Ian MacLachlan at University of Lethbridge in the mid-1990s, and in the mid-2000s with my own doctoral research) has left many people puzzled. Why would I choose to understand industrial plant closures?
The conversations I have had with those who scratch their heads when I tell them I enjoy understanding processes of industrial restructuring have helped me clarify why I undertook that study for my doctoral dissertation: because there is no better way to create successful strategies to succeed (in an entrepreneurial sense) than to understand what made businesses shut down. And gaining that understanding through an economic geographical theoretical and empirical lens gives us a better understanding of what benefits can industrial agglomeration yield us. Spatial proximity of other businesses can be of value.
In walking around the lower West End, I’ve been witness to the success of small businesses that are geographically located in a fully-residential area. These businesses haven’t shutdown and continue to survive and even thrive. What makes these little shops so successful? Is it perhaps the new urbanism paradigm that seeks to increase density and livability?
Whatever it is, I know for a fact that it’s a topic that my friend Lisa and I will be exploring in a research paper that we will probably write over the summer.
Related posts:
- On slowing down, thinking hard and the wise management of time
- Complementary skills: Thinking for the web and writing for the web
- Misconceptions on tactical vs strategic thinking
- Industry decline, recession and adaptation to uncertain economic conditions
- The electronics, tech and gaming cluster in Vancouver
Interesting Raul, since taking my first urban geography course in grade school I have always been interested in what makes an urban area work or not work. Little know fact, I considered majoring in geography in university. I would love to her more about your observations particularly as they pertain to Vancouver.
It’s one aspect I like about living in the West End; the small mom&pop shops nestled within the residential areas.
According to Robyn, she has a sleeping bag at that DryCleaners (the one pictured above) that she hasn’t picked up in years. LOL
That first corner store that you’ve picture is the absolute least expensive place to pick up (non organic) produce and they’re sure friendly. It’s flocked by a hardware store that a dog sits outside of all day, thrilling the kids who walk past. And next to the hardware store is a newer Japanese restaurant with the hugest portions for the cheapest price! And then a block later, you have Capers.
This is why I love this neighbourhood. Everything is balanced. It *seems* as if it’s been planned well, but at the same time, it seems like blind luck that these little shops are here/continue to open up.
Thanks for drawing my attention on Twitter to this post, Raul; you know me so well.
I was having a conversation with someone who’s been musing about where to live in Metro Vancouver next, and it started with the question of community but also touched on the economic aspects of jobs and work. Way, way back, my first taste of anything resembling planning actually came in a Sustainable Community Development course. My conversation with him and your post are making me want to bust out the chapters on local economic multipliers again.
I haven’t had a chance to blog about it yet but another topic of relevance to your post: I was on a Jane’s Walk (bike ride) of the Bridgeview area and neighbourhood in Surrey, where there is a residential community smack in the middle of a whole bunch of industrial near the Surrey waterfront to the Fraser River. The GatewaySucks group have been engaging in various direct actions to protest the freeway development in that area. The person leading the Jane’s Walk was questioning the regional push for the residential to be made into more industrial, when the potential value for mixed use or retail so close to the waterfront is so high, when you look at things like Yaletown or anything along False Creek. It’s a regional economic issue that I hope I’ll get the chance to learn more about. I’m sure you can make more educated stabs at what Surrey’s going for, much better than I can.
I think part of the reasons small businesses are successful within pedestrian friendly neighborhoods, such as the West End, is due to the life styles of the residents. Having lived in different areas in GVA, I’ve noticed a trend in terms of lifestyle based on different areas. Residents of areas in close proximities to beaches and parks in Vancouver, such as Kitsilano and West End, tend to live a more active and healthier life style; are more environmentally conscious and vote with their dollars.
Having lived in Yaletown and the West End for similar amounts of time, I realise there’s a fundamental difference between the two. Both occupy the same city and, on paper, offer similar services, yet one has a much better community than the other.
Yaletown’s community is a collection of yoga studios, restaurants and coffee shops. A couple boutique stores are scattered throughout, but the overall feel of the former warehouse district is artificial and, in my opinion, discourages social interaction.
The West End, however, offers similar services, but the types of stores and their locations feel more organic and less planned. The area is much more social and the residents actually know one another. Of course, the West End has the advantage of being a suburb much longer than Yaletown and so, the stores which remain—many of which are not franchises—were the ones who embraced the community and built relationships with the local residents.
Studying why certain areas thrive, fail, or change, is another opportunity to examine ourselves. These events occur because of humanity’s decisions and when a collection of individuals alter the course of a neighbourhood, it’s good to take a look and find out why.
Fascinating topic! Many moons ago, I lived in Kit, Vancouver. I loved, loved it! Being able to walk to everything you need or hop on a tram was wonderful.
Now I live in Ottawa. Most suburbs of Ottawa require that you get in a car to go buy your groceries. Or, perhaps you are *lucky* enough to have a large box-store chain in your neighbour, then you can walk. The neighbourhoods that seem like what you describe in the West End of Van (I’ve never been, just read your post) sound similar to the areas of the Glebe and Westboro in Ottawa. The problem is that everyone wants to live there and it is simply unaffordable for the average person / family now! The “mom and pop” stores are being taken over by the yoga studios, boutiques and coffee shops.
I wish I could live in a community like the West End. But how is that neighbourhood in terms of economic accessibility? And will the Mom & Pop shops survive? I sure hope so.