Did a Well-Meaning Reality TV Show Help Reinvigorate Vancouver's Anti-Gentrification Movement?

The premise of the reality TV show Gastown Gamble, which aired earlier this year on the Canadian version of the Oprah Winfrey Network, is that restaurateur Mark Brand is taking a chance by trying to save the iconic Save on Meats butcher shop in Vancouver’s historically troubled Downtown Eastside neighborhood. The show chronicles the failures and successes of renovating a commercial building on a tight budget in a struggling neighborhood.

Rather than simply turning a blighted piece of property into a profitable business, Brand's aim is for the restaurant to be a quasi-philanthropic venture, in part by actively employing workers from the immediate area and keeping prices on many of the menu items low. His recent TEDx Talk offers a decent summary of Brand’s stated intent for the project.