I adore well-kempt historical architecture more than most. (To the point where I should be embarassed over my enthusiasm for good examples I pass by, I might add.)
However, culture is created by people who live in vibrant communities. Crushing communities in order to forcibly install “trendy” yet homogenous & inauthentic opportunities to wealthy people who already have their own communities is gross. A culture that is not rooted in the place it grows is apt to be like an invasive species, one that could easily destroy its ‘adopted’ ecosystem (excepting instances when it changes as much to its environment as it causes its new surroundings to alter, like some artist/activist communities).
Is it really so worthwhile to have yet another trendy, overpriced spot in town – one that, if not now, definitely in the future, is hardly distinct from another spot in another major city on the other side of the country? Is that really worth screwing over not just hundreds of individuals, but destroying an entire network of support, community & culture? The livelihoods of many families?
Even if you come back with the ‘hey, I bet you social-justice minded hippie would just love to be sipping fair trade teas at the cafe’s they’d build there!’ argument, it’d be a self-destructing one. As much as I love nice tea, that’s a pretty stupid thing to value over the survival (or even wellbeing & self-sufficiency) of communities, which is the entire purpose behind fair trade efforts.