Public Disorder & the Decline of Vancouver's Livability

[Vin]

Would've still been alive if he were still in jail, or held up to receive more counselling:

Man "screaming for help" dead following interaction with police in Downtown Eastside
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/downtown-eastside-in-custody-death-vancouver-police
“The man was taken into custody. He then went into medical distress and lost consciousness.”

Definitely a broken system we have here.

[Vin]

Another day, another gong show unfolding in this very very safe city......

Unfolding police incident shuts down a portion of the Downtown Eastside
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/downtown-eastside-shuts-down
There are unconfirmed reports of a police-involved shooting, and we have reached out to VPD for more information.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by Vin

Another day, another gong show unfolding in this very very safe city......

Nothing unusual there - just a traffic detour (as the VPD post states).

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Vin

Too much of a coincidence that fires keep destroying small businesses and herirtage buildings? Blame this City/province for converting these into SROs and just leave them to rot: some responsible government there.

Oh no, don't say you don't know what an SRO is? It's Single Room Occupancy. That means the room is generally too small to share. None of these premises have been converted by anyone - that's the way they have always been. Most of them started out over 100 years ago either as rooming houses or 'hotels', although often people lived in them for extended periods.

Almost none of them have their own bathroom, but share several communal facilities on each floor. That was the same when they were hotels as well. And two of these three were privately owned - so the City and Province really aren't involved with those. 566 Powell was bought by BC Housing a few years ago, but it doesn't seem that the tenants there were forced to move. The Princess Rooms was well run and had a Transitional Housing Program that specialized in providing a safe, supported environment for individuals with a long history of being homeless. Raincity, who own and run it said "It’s a community where people are met where they’re at in order to maintain their housing, and follows a harm reduction/health promotion philosophy."

EDIT - and heritage? No these weren't heritage buildings. just old.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by Changing City

EDIT - and heritage? No these weren't heritage buildings. just old.

They're not even that old. There are people alive older than this building.

[logan5]

Originally Posted by Vin

Another day, another gong show unfolding in this very very safe city......

You're onto something here Vin. Firefighters attacked 40 times in the last 4 months by homeless. That's an attack every 3 days! Never thought I'd see that level of violence here in Van... oh wait.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...ted-demand-city-action-40-incidents.html

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by chowhou

They're not even that old. There are people alive older than this building.

Not many people get to 111 or more! 566 Powell, the third in the row (owned by BC Housing) was developed in 1911. Next to it to the east are the Hampton Rooms built in 1908. And the building on the corner, The Princess Rooms now owned by Raincity Housing started life as the The Eureka Apartments developed in 1910, by Marcellus Whitman, born in Galena, Illinois. He skipped town in Fargo, North Dakota, having allegedly bilked almost every business in town before he headed north. He became a successful logger, with his son. As part of Japantown, it was a Japanese rooming house until the community were forcibly removed from Vancouver in 1942.

[WarrenC12]

Curious who all of the complainers in here are going to vote for in 7 weeks. Now's the chance to have a big say in how some of these problems you post endlessly will be fixed.

Or wait, do you even live in Vancouver?

[NewfBC]

This is part of the problem.. in Kelowna and here (everywhere!)...

Kelowna RCMP issue rare public warning after prolific offender released from custody
https://globalnews.ca/news/9080377/kelowna-rcmp-public-warning-prolific-offender-released/

A prolific offender has been released from custody again, say Kelowna, B.C., RCMP, who issued a rare public warning on Tuesday afternoon.

According to police, Justin Collins, 45, has generated over 421 police files with 64 charges against him since 2016. RCMP say the charges include violent assaults, robbery, theft, mischief and indecent acts.

Ron.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by Changing City

Oh no, don't say you don't know what an SRO is? It's Single Room Occupancy. That means the room is generally too small to share. None of these premises have been converted by anyone - that's the way they have always been. Most of them started out over 100 years ago either as rooming houses or 'hotels', although often people lived in them for extended periods.

Almost none of them have their own bathroom, but share several communal facilities on each floor. That was the same when they were hotels as well. And two of these three were privately owned - so the City and Province really aren't involved with those. 566 Powell was bought by BC Housing a few years ago, but it doesn't seem that the tenants there were forced to move. The Princess Rooms was well run and had a Transitional Housing Program that specialized in providing a safe, supported environment for individuals with a long history of being homeless. Raincity, who own and run it said "It’s a community where people are met where they’re at in order to maintain their housing, and follows a harm reduction/health promotion philosophy."

EDIT - and heritage? No these weren't heritage buildings. just old.

Sigh...

Demolition of fire-razed Gastown heritage building set to begin Wednesday
https://globalnews.ca/news/8769906/demolition-gastown-fire-building-wednesday/

[Vin]

Exactly.....

Could involuntary treatment help the overdose crisis? David Eby pitches controversial idea
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/david-eby-involuntary-drug-treatment
BC NDP leadership candidate David Eby proposed forcing addictions and mental health treatment upon those who repeatedly overdose or suffer untreated crises on the street.

The debate comes as Vancouver wrestles with removing tents at an East Hastings Street encampment. There, the province is confronted by the dual issues of insufficient housing, as well as people with trauma, addictions and mental health concerns who don’t necessarily want to access the treatment options the province currently provides.

The government can currently force people into health care, but only if they are deemed a risk to themselves.

Multiple overdoses on toxic drugs should qualify as that risk, said Eby.

“I just feel like if you were harming yourself in any other way, our response would be different and we wouldn’t send you back out into the street to die,” he said.

This is what I have been proposing all along. Glad someone is finally bringing this out to the forefront.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Vin

Demolition of fire-razed Gastown heritage building set to begin Wednesday

That's a different building, and it has been demolished for several weeks. And we know it burned down because somebody left a candle burning, so it was an unfortunate accident. It has nothing whatsoever to do with 'public disorder'. (All the buildings in Gastown were given blanket heritage status - even the modern ones like the Gastown parkade).

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Changing City

That's a different building, and it has been demolished for several weeks. And we know it burned down because somebody left a candle burning, so it was an unfortunate accident. It has nothing whatsoever to do with 'public disorder'. (All the buildings in Gastown were given blanket heritage status - even the modern ones like the Gastown parkade).

There seem to be a lot more fires in SROs lately than previous years.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by Changing City

That's a different building, and it has been demolished for several weeks. And we know it burned down because somebody left a candle burning, so it was an unfortunate accident. It has nothing whatsoever to do with 'public disorder'. (All the buildings in Gastown were given blanket heritage status - even the modern ones like the Gastown parkade).

I was referring to the many recent SRO fires in your neighbourhood in general, and a few involved heritage buildings. It becomes a public disorder when bad bylaw enforcement or policies, disorderliness, illicit drug use or mental illness cause fires that lead to residents and businesses being kicked out of buildings. Like I said before, there is too much of a coincidence that so many SROs go up in flames of late. You should be concerned too.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by whatnext

There seem to be a lot more fires in SROs lately than previous years.

Four this year? One a candle, two were lithium ion batteries exploding, and the one two days ago, now identified as 'improper storage of combustible materials'. The street church that caught fire wasn't a residential building. Clearly e-bikes (especially old, dodgy e-bikes) represent a new cause of fires that didn't exist a few years ago.

In June the VFRS tweeted "we are responding to 8.7 fires with damage each day in Vancouver, totaling 1,434 fires so far."

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Vin

I was referring to the many recent SRO fires in your neighbourhood in general, and a few involved heritage buildings. It becomes a public disorder when bad bylaw enforcement or policies, disorderliness, illicit drug use or mental illness cause fires that lead to residents and businesses being kicked out of buildings. Like I said before, there is too much of a coincidence that so many SROs go up in flames of late. You should be concerned too.

Four SROs is not 'so many' (and two were from the same fire, that we now know was caused by materials being stored improperly). There have been fires in SROs for decades. In the past the cause was often somebody who drank too much, and fell asleep while smoking a cigarette. It's exactly the same as dozens of fire deaths in private homes - where the majority of deaths in fires occur. You'd have to prove that disorderliness, illicit drug use or mental illness cause more fires than they ever have in the past. Your belief that a few fires in the DTES out of over 1,400 across the city is 'too much of a coincidence' probably says more about you than any objective reality. (Unless you have data?)

But you should probably be worried about lithium ion batteries in laptop computers and e-bikes.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by Changing City

Four SROs is not 'so many' (and two were from the same fire, that we now know was caused by materials being stored improperly). There have been fires in SROs for decades. In the past the cause was often somebody who drank too much, and fell asleep while smoking a cigarette. It's exactly the same as dozens of fire deaths in private homes - where the majority of deaths in fires occur. You'd have to prove that disorderliness, illicit drug use or mental illness cause more fires than they ever have in the past. Your belief that a few fires in the DTES out of over 1,400 across the city is 'too much of a coincidence' probably says more about you than any objective reality. (Unless you have data?)

That is enough when we don't even have that many old or heritage buildings to begin with.

But you should probably be worried about lithium ion batteries in laptop computers and e-bikes

Yes, that would be part of the "disorderliness" that I mentioned before.

[Vin]

Send this monster away for good, please....

21-year-old charged in trio of violent stranger assaults in Vancouver
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/trio-assaults-21-charged-vancouver
The BC Prosecution Service has approved charges against the suspect, 21-year-old Martin Lamb.
Lamb is being charged with two counts of assault, two counts of aggravated assault, and one count of break and enter.

[Vin]

If you're from elsewhere in Canada, you'd be shocked to find that this is normal here:

'We feel really violated': Newlyweds say thieves stole priceless family heirlooms in Vancouver
https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/local...vastated-theives-steal-heirlooms-5735925

On Sunday, the group arrived early for check-in at their Vancouver accommodation and decided to go on an afternoon bike ride in Stanley Park. When they returned to their car, the windows were smashed and their belongings were missing.

The thieves stole all of their "nice clothes, watches, wedding jewellery, family jewellery that we wore at the wedding, all of our wedding gifts (we didn’t get to the bank yet to deposit the gifts), laptops, [and] cameras," Whalen tells Vancouver Is Awesome.

"We were shocked at how many people said it’s a normal thing that happens in Vancouver," Whalen said, adding that the experience has tainted the city for the newlyweds and some of their friends.

Sorry guys that your memory of Vancouver is nothing but a nightmare, but that's how it's like in Vancouver of late, but many here will still tell you this, "We are very safe!"

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Vin

That is enough when we don't even have that many old or heritage buildings to begin with.

Yes, that would be part of the "disorderliness" that I mentioned before.

Well it looks as if BC Housing, and the Province if David Eby becomes Premier, intend to get rid of all the SROs in a much faster program than we've seen before. The City is fully on board with having replacement non-market housing with self-contained rooms instead of any of the current SROs.

Obviously we've lost one in a fire recently (Winter's), and possibly two more (If the Princess Rooms and Hampton Rooms can't be saved, which seems likely). The City demolished the old Continental, and the Cecil was redeveloped, and the Shaldon Hotel is being demolished for replacement right now. The Stanley and New Fountain were both demolished and Westbank are building a replacement market and non-market rental behind the facades. There's an approved project to replace the Jay Rooms and the Vet's Rooms on Main Street. The Balmoral is going to be demolished soon too. It seems quite likely that a lot more old, tired, dangerous buildings are going to be demolished with new larger buildings that won't collapse or catch fire as easily.

You're entirely on your own with 'disorderly batteries'.