Vancouver: Downtown East Side

[soleri]

Downtown Vancouver is mostly new, mostly upscale, and sometimes disappointingly bland. But there are notable exceptions, and nowhere more than east side downtown - Gastown and neighboring Chinatown. Here the architecture and urban scale reflects a much older city. It can be very rough because this is also skid row (not to mention the center of Vancouver's notoriously libertine drug culture). But the economic pressures are tremendous and gentrification appears to be gaining the upper hand. I hate to see any city become a monoculture of Starbucks and Banana Republics, but a city has to maintain itself, too. Reinvestment is key since buildings don't simply maintain themselves. If Vancouver is becoming too rich for its own good, it's also good to know these buildings will survive even if the occupants are no longer colorful bohemians.

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Hastings St is a vivid reminder of Vancouver's old core. Downtown migrated westward a century ago leaving some delightful old artifacts in its wake. If it looks woebegone today, I would wager a renaissance is not that far off.

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Chinatown interfaces skid row at Main and Hastings St. Here the old Carnegie Library stands guard. It's a community service center now and the rougher elements are very much in view. But it feels safe because so much of the foot traffic is Chinatown's.

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This is one of North America's largest Chinatowns, amazingly tight and coherent. There's an improbable number of markets here, selling all sorts of products in bulk. Since Vancouver is heavily Chinese in ethnicity (close to half its population) this enclave is something of a relic. Yet it's crowded, functional and vibrant.

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The eastern boundary of old Chinatown is Gore St, and across it you see the sad reminder of 60s urban renewal. There are "modern" churches and midrise residential with lots of green space. But it feels marooned from the rest of the city, as if some disease simply ate away the living tissue of the city and left some inert objects. No doubt it serves its purpose well. It just looks so dead.

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Back to historic Chinatown:
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This lonely looking corner indicates so much of Vancouver's chameleon nature. In the empty lot between the two buildings a nine-story condo building will go. The property in this city is too valuable to let anything go.

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[Calgarian]

good photo's, nice to see pictures of east hastings that don't focus on the crack heads.

[Canadian Mind]

woah dude, nice thread, but 56K warnign eh. even with cable it took minutes to load.

[SHOFEAR]

Has gastown got worse in the past five our six years? If I remember correctly one of those flat iron buildings was pretty much the eastern edge of the touristy area. I don't recall so many boarded up buildings around it....one block north was a different story.

[raggedy13]

Interesting pics. You sure took a lot while on your trip. Greatly appreciated. Good on you for taking the time to see all areas of the city and not just the "pleasant" ones.

[mSeattle]

I like this area. Hope it keeps some of the culture and earthy/funky elements and not go too sterile.

[Master Shake]

I live in New York and am not one to shrink away from "edgier" areas, but man, East Hastings is pretty close to hell on Earth. The corner where the Carnegie Library is located is a hotbed of hardcore addtiction. Not violent like the US, but the ravages of drug addiction are horrific in this area. Walking through this area, you are assaulted by psychic horror. I witnessed one addict shooting up into his index finger while we waited for the crosswalk light to change. A six foot five Canadian Mountie walked by, I was certain that this junkie was toast, but the Mountie did nothing.

At the end of the day, the Vancouver approach is probably better than the American abolition, but in all honesty, the human suffering I witnessed on East Hasting was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life. Vancouver appears to be the City of utter yuppie affluence and soullessness (sorry, I love and admire Vancouver urbanity, but it lacks soul) and then as you move East, crackhead zombie people start appearing on the edges of your vision. Its really a creepy place.

Again, not violent like the USA and, but East Hastings is very depressing.

[crazyjoeda]

I live in Vancouver and I pretty much never go to the Downtown eastside. I have seen it though, it is a dirty and depressing place but its not dangerous.

Master Shake you say that Vancouver doesnt have a soul. What do u mean by that?

[James Bond Agent 007]

There b some real grit.

[agrant]

I live in Vancouver and I pretty much never go to the Downtown eastside. I have seen it though, it is a dirty and depressing place but its not dangerous.

Master Shake you say that Vancouver doesnt have a soul. What do u mean by that?He just said Vancouver lacks soul. Maybe people here need to play more jazz music ;) or perhaps it's something to do with the rather youthful appearance of many buildings. Not sure.

Regarding the yuppy problem...

I heard you'll need at least a $170,000 annual salary to afford a house in Vancouver. That is if you are a first time buyer and you put 70% of your income towards your mortgage. So basically the yuppy population will take over as long as housing prices remain high. All the hippies are being pushed out. It's just going to get worse.

[SpongeG]

cool pics

its so weird to think that in such a vibrant busy city that there is an area that is completely boarded up like some small town that was left behind when the indutry left

[excel]

Thanks for the pics!

[He11razor]

This is the worst part of Vancouver. Some say, Canada. But walking around it, you really don't get that uneasy feeling in your gut that something bad is gonna happen. The shooting gallery is an eye opener though. As someone mentioned, cops will rarely arrest drug users. I think it's better to deal with drug addicts as sick people, rather than throwing them in jail.

[Boris]

Never been to Vancouver. That's the bad part? Looks pretty good and soulful to me.

You need to come to Houston to see some "bad parts."

Cool pics, thx.

[LeftCoaster]

Has gastown got worse in the past five our six years? If I remember correctly one of those flat iron buildings was pretty much the eastern edge of the touristy area. I don't recall so many boarded up buildings around it....one block north was a different story.

Those first pics are acually of the downtown east side, not gastown... even thought they are mixed in there. Gastown has acually been getting nicer and nicer very rapidly, and shows all the signs of being the next yaletown, minus the tall condos. Property values have been rising very rapidly, my friends brother has a loft right on water street that he bought 4 years ago for 175000, and its now worth about half a million. The area is even expanding, as it seems like gastown has expanded at least a block further east from its area just a few years ago.

@mastershaker, i couldnt agree with you more about the downtown eastside being depressing but not dangerous. It is so sad seeing all these addicts who have absolutely no control of their addictions just wasting away. However I do completly disagree with you comment about Vancouver having no soul. Just because Vancouver doesnt have an active black or latino population does not mean it does not have soul. behind the shiny new fascades of the city lies a very distinct and vibrant culture, apparently not easily visable to some people.

[Evergrey]

nice pics... this area is much more interesting to me than the "towers in the park" vancity's known for

[MolsonExport]

Chinatown is great, as is Gastown, but East Hastings is the armpit of the lower mainland (along with Whalley).

[BTTO]

At the end of the day, the Vancouver approach is probably better than the American abolition, but in all honesty, the human suffering I witnessed on East Hasting was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life. Vancouver appears to be the City of utter yuppie affluence and soullessness (sorry, I love and admire Vancouver urbanity, but it lacks soul) and then as you move East, crackhead zombie people start appearing on the edges of your vision. Its really a creepy place.


I was in Vancouver in October.. these were my EXACT sentiments!!
its a god damn beautiful city.. but its missing a buzz an energy, a soul! and the Downtown East-side was one of the saddest place I have ever been to..
I had a sprite bottle thrown at me :koko:

Gastown was beautiful especially that mews there, but it was barren and souless..

[Wheelingman04]

Thanks for taking photos of an area we don't see often here.