Downtown Vancouver Updates

[trofirhen]

http://www.mstoneandtile.com/wp-content/...ian-Glass-Mosaic-Tiles-Roman-court-1.jpg

Right out of nowhere, as usual, but I thought maybe a bit of this sort of thing here and there,
in high profile, important (your choice of reason) places might look kind of nice.


......... just an idea ..........

[jlousa]

Time for a trip back home.... We've had lots of those for years now.

Here's an old link for some of them, there are more now.
https://downtownvancouver.net/dvbia/files/DVBIA_Mosaic_Rack_Card.pdf

https://netforum.avectra.com/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?Site=dvbia&WebCode=MosaicArtTiles

Here are others in the DTES/Chinatown
http://mosaicartsource.wordpress.com/2006/12/15/vancouver-sidewalk-mosaics/

[Spork]

.

[trofirhen]

Hey, thanks, Jlousa !!!

Interested in looking at those links!

How did you find those links so FAST !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(sorry, I unintentionally erased part of your quoute, excuse me)

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by Spork

Where is this? Or are you proposing it?

Not sure where it is. The "blog" is about interest in stone and tiling designs for any purpose. I think this one is Italian.

I'm suggesting the use of similar tile design (along ceremonial street sidewalk, in strips (slippery when wet) be used at key points in the city, to give it a design cachet. It could be another type of design, too, but I thought it was better to stick with something a bit classical. "Giving the city a tough of colour and class" might be another way of putting it.
Not being snotty. Many streets in Paris have asphalt sidewalks (yekk)

[Sir Conga]

Originally Posted by s211

And with that, Vancouver formally takes the prize for the most seriously fcuked up city in the country.

Really? I fail to understand how this makes the city look even slightly fucked up.

[s211]

Originally Posted by Sir Conga

Really? I fail to understand how this makes the city look even slightly fucked up.

I'm sorry, what part of "gentrification at Main and Hastings streets will disrupt the area’s drug market" don't you understand?

[GlassCity]

The drug market comment was idiotic, but we can't continue to make Vancouver exclusively a home for the wealthy. Gentrification in the DTES has shut down countless establishments, and will continue to do so until it's all gone, and green-glass condos stand in their place. While I'm all for development, I believe that we need at least one area where our struggling citizens can live.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

The drug market comment was idiotic, but we can't continue to make Vancouver exclusively a home for the wealthy. Gentrification in the DTES has shut down countless establishments, and will continue to do so until it's all gone, and green-glass condos stand in their place. While I'm all for development, I believe that we need at least one area where our struggling citizens can live.

How about Ladner?

[Sir Conga]

^^^ Yeah, that quote is kinda insane. Some poverty-pimp activist's poor choice of words doesn't make our city any more fucked up than before they were uttered though.

[Vancity]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

The drug market comment was idiotic, but we can't continue to make Vancouver exclusively a home for the wealthy. Gentrification in the DTES has shut down countless establishments, and will continue to do so until it's all gone, and green-glass condos stand in their place. While I'm all for development, I believe that we need at least one area where our struggling citizens can live.

I think this is more a discussion for affordable housing in Vancouver. An issue that major cities in the world struggle with. Government needs to continue to look at options and solutions so that our people aren't leaving Vancouver for elsewhere.

I was in NY for a while back, and loved the city there. Not comparing Van to NY, but there was grit in the city. not everything 'looked' nice, but it was a place where people could live, cultures came together and celebrated, and it had history in certain aspects of the town. van has history (albeit not as long as NY's), we need to protect those parts of the city.

[city-dweller]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

The drug market comment was idiotic, but we can't continue to make Vancouver exclusively a home for the wealthy. Gentrification in the DTES has shut down countless establishments, and will continue to do so until it's all gone, and green-glass condos stand in their place. While I'm all for development, I believe that we need at least one area where our struggling citizens can live.

I got to throw in another perspective. That neighbourhood used to be a shopping destination and then after the major anchors slowly left for elsewhere and the shopping district switched to Robson with Woodwards being the real end, the concentration of poverty grew and other current issues increased. The development of Yaletown and the areas near Tinseltown including central park pushed a higher concentration of poverty and issues into that area.

What about the chinatown businesses that have never left and have put up with newer arrivals having their issues (poverty/drugs whatever) getting the limelight for disruption and displacement? The DTES has many groups with conflicting goals for the community. Many of these are represented by interest groups that are using the conflict in the neighbourhood to forward their own broader agenda (anit-capitalist/anti-war-on-drugs/affordability)

The main issue is the flight of capital investment and the return of capital investment. No one was protesting the disinvestment of the neighbourhood, but the return of investment is gentrifying the neighbourhood.

Why should the businesses who have never left and would benefit from the increased development have their neighbourhood selected for accommodating most of the "struggling citizens"? I don't recall a vote or plan for this. Why not your neighbourhood or mine?

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by city-dweller

Why should the businesses who have never left and would benefit from the increased development have their neighbourhood selected for accommodating most of the "struggling citizens"? I don't recall a vote or plan for this. Why not your neighbourhood or mine?

Couldn't agree more. I think this is a vital, core issue, and one that should have, as part of its resolution, a much more diffuse placing of low-income housing, and attendant social services, throughout much of the city/metro area. (although some will howl at that idea; NIMBYs mostly IMHO)

[GlassCity]

I think suggested the DTES because it is already a home to the poor, so it wouldn't be all that beneficial to gentrify it and send the citizens somewhere else. People already need somewhere to live for cheap, and since that area already exists, why not use it? I you're gonna develop the east side, develop it with those people in mind.

As far as Ladner goes, don't you worry. The moment the tunnel gets replaced, Delta will be filled with condos, so no homeless there.

From a very biased perspective, gentrification has shut down most of the heavy metal clubs/bars there. Say what you want about the music or its fanbase, but that is an element of culture that is no longer there. I am sure there are many similar examples that affect other people, and not just my own selfish needs.

I disagree with the business argument in the east side/Chinatown. Don't kid yourself, the moment that area gets developed, those small, gritty shops will be bought out and replaced with Lululemon and Whole Foods stores.

[Skook]

The big lie is that housing our poor and addicted in the DTES is somehow good for them. If you truly care about these people, why would you want to keep them in third world housing in the only neighbourhood in North America where it is normal to smoke crack for breakfast? This would have to be the hardest place on earth for an addict to stop using. They would be better off literally anywhere else.

[Rico]

Originally Posted by Skook

The big lie is that housing our poor and addicted in the DTES is somehow good for them. If you truly care about these people, why would you want to keep them in third world housing in the only neighbourhood in North America where it is normal to smoke crack for breakfast? This would have to be the hardest place on earth for an addict to stop using. They would be better off literally anywhere else.

I agree, If we called the DTES a ghetto and drew a wall around it and said this is where all the poor and marginalized must live people would be upset and call us Nazi's. By preventing reinvestment in the neighborhood that is what we would essencially be doing. There is a lot that can be done to support the marginalized without turning the DTES into a ghetto. For one, let development occur, demand an equal number of affordable housing spots to those that currently exist. Developers can add density with the existing amount of affordable housing maintained and market rates for the extra density.

[Spork]

The argument against that is that it is more efficient to deliver all of the existing services in one place, rather than scattered around the Lower Mainland. To that, I say, so what if it is cheaper? It's about spending money effectively, not spending as little as possible. Should we spend $10m and not get a single person out of poverty/drug addiction/mental illness spiral etc., or spend $30m and get 5% out every year?

[logan5]

Originally Posted by Skook

The big lie is that housing our poor and addicted in the DTES is somehow good for them. If you truly care about these people, why would you want to keep them in third world housing in the only neighbourhood in North America where it is normal to smoke crack for breakfast? This would have to be the hardest place on earth for an addict to stop using. They would be better off literally anywhere else.

This is why we are building at least 14 social housing developments in vancouver. segregated neighborhoods do not work, that is obvious. some cac's that we get is werlfare rate apartments in the dtes. we're in the same company as san francisco, if that makes you feel better. vancouver homelessness is a federal problem.

[Denscity]

Its too bad theres no downtown vancouver updates in the downtown vancouver updates thread, no retail updates in the retail thread, and the port mann thread has no mention of the port mann itself. All three threads (three of my favourites) are all off topic.

[SFUVancouver]

Originally Posted by Rico

I agree, If we called the DTES a ghetto and drew a wall around it and said this is where all the poor and marginalized must live people would be upset and call us Nazis.

Careful with Godwin's Law.