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The ByWard Market, a playground for tourists and students, will be favoured over a hardscrabble neighbourhood of Ottawans trying to grow and improve their community.

Sure, the building will look good. The folks who work will undoubtedly try to do good work.

But the project is not going to be good for those who live in Vanier.

Ottawans — new and old — have sunk their hopes and treasure into Vanier. People have bought homes, opened businesses, bought property to lease and rent.

We all recognize this area is not, in 2017, on its way to quickly becoming the next Hintonburg or Westboro for Ottawa’s well-heeled.

But the arrival of such a large shelter all but guarantees Montreal Road and Vanier won’t develop.

Expect businesses and residents alike to be scared off by the prospect of a massive shelter for those suffering from problems physical and mental.

We worry about payday loans and pot shops and adult entertainment in neighbourhoods. But who else is going to do business when the biggest thing around is a shelter and a facility that congregates the disadvantaged en masse next door?

It’s easy to decry NIMBY-ism. But who wouldn’t feel concerned about safety for their family, with this facility as a new neighbour?

We all know we wouldn’t even be having this debate if the shelter had been proposed for the Glebe.

Planners targeted a part of town that might not fight back.

But the residents of Vanier did fight back. They showed up in unprecedented numbers for planning committee hearings.

They made their voices heard, only to have their concerns brushed aside.

We hope we’re wrong. We hope city council isn’t ready to ghettoize a historic neighbourhood despite mass community opposition and legitimate concerns.