Railtown: On Track to Gentrify?

A microscene has developed of late on a three-block stretch of the gentrifying Railtown district (that overlooked parabola at the north end of Dunlevy) where a beautiful set of 20- and 30-somethings takes lunch and takes the air. Some smoke while parsing a quinoa dish from the Culver City Salad truck; others wolf gourmet sandwiches from Railtown Café. Go midday to see a flood of designophiles emerge from nearby Herschel, Indochino, Aritzia, William Switzer, Burnkit studio, Invoke Media, Vancouver Urban Winery, Inform Contract (Inform Interiors’ to-the-trade outpost), and Nitrogen Studios around the corner. Nowhere else in town is one so likely to spot a pair of salmon-coloured khakis looking equally pert on a man and a woman. Overheard: “Nobody’s going to blame you-you have to think about your brand.”