Groups in the Downtown Eastside met Wednesday night to brainstorm ideas to bridge the needs of business and people who live there without excluding anyone. Wes Regan, Executive Director for the Hastings Crossing Business Improvement Association says the gentrification issue has been a little overblown, "For us it is not about trying to convince everyone that we are right or convince everyone that they are wrong. For us it is more about lets build the conversation, and particularily lets build it from the middle out. And so we have taken a position where we want to be accessible to those who have different opinions and we want to engage with them in a meaningful way about their concerns and find ways to innovate and collaberate moving forward to address those."
Regan says a strategy moving forward must involve breaking down barriers and creating jobs without displacing residents.
The Association is teaming with the social outreach group Mission Possible to make it happen.