A young colleague who also works on the downtown eastside was commenting on the gentrification in the neighbourhood. He told me he is conflicted. On the one hand we know that as the condos and cafes and high end restaurants move in, it drives out the low income housing and affordable food outlets. On the other hand, he said, some of his friends can afford to buy a home in Vancouver for the first time. Affordable housing has many layers. Still when homeless people are camping out in Oppenheimer Park, it must be hard to close those pretty yellow shutters and feel good about the new bed bug-free condo.