Hoping for change: Edmonton's Chinatown losing business after rise in crime
CTV
The 97 Hot Pot restaurant in Edmonton's Chinatown used to be crowded on weekends, with some customers lining up and craving slow-cooked veggies, lamb and beef.
The 97 Hot Pot restaurant in Edmonton's Chinatown used to be crowded on weekends, with some customers lining up and craving slow-cooked veggies, lamb and beef.
But that hasn't been the case lately.
Manager Vincent Lau says the killings of two workers from nearby shops last monthand years of social disorder in the century-old downtown neighbourhood have scared away many regulars.
“Business has died down significantly in the last few weeks,” said Lau, who lives a 15-minute walk from the restaurant.
“Chinatown has been here for a long time, so it's sad to see. Being able to have a safer area would welcome more guests and more citizens to this part of the city.”
Wen Wong, executive director of the Chinatown and Area Business Association, said the district in the McCauley neighbourhood has been deteriorating over the last 20 years.
The decline worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the oldest bakery in the community was burned to the ground and multiple other cases of arson and vandalism followed.
