Public Disorder & the Decline of Vancouver's Livability

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by chowhou

I have only ever encountered "violence" once in the DTES.

I used to bus daily through the area, and one day as we turned the corner of Main and Pender there was a group of (I assume) international students looking through the window and pointing. The window got a yogurt cup thrown at it.

Scary? Maybe. Dangerous? Kind of pushing it.

Oh well, what a good thing to know that based on your experience there are no crazies following women around, people shitting on the streets or random stranger attacks.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Oh well, what a good thing to know that based on your experience there are no crazies following women around, people shitting on the streets or random stranger attacks.

That's the point, isn't it? Everybody's experience (or experiences) are different at different places and times, and there's no point calling all of downtown safe or unsafe based on just a few of them.

[Vin]

Of course, downtown especially the DTES is always safe. Nothing to see here: just a lady being lit on fire......

Stranger lights woman on fire in Vancouver's DTES
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/woman-lit-on-fire-dtes-stranger

Even lifeguards feel threatened by unruly (but safe) folks....

'Harassed': Lifeguards are ending their patrols early at this Vancouver beach due to 'safety concerns'
https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/local...ley-park-third-beach-drum-circle-5632722

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

That's the point, isn't it? Everybody's experience (or experiences) are different at different places and times, and there's no point calling all of downtown safe or unsafe based on just a few of them.

Originally Posted by chowhou

It's just as valid as people posting news articles about specific events. Whenever someone posts statistics it's always, "The statistics lie, crime is under reported, the city is covering it up". When someone tells a story that goes against your narrative it's always, "Your experience is unique, your experience doesn't matter". But when someone tells a story that agrees with your narrative it's, "Look at these works, ye mighty, and despair!"

Your anecdote is just as valid as my anecdote. One difference is that I'm offering my own, while people in this thread are offering others'.

How many times have you been attacked in the DTES?

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Oh well, what a good thing to know that based on your experience there are no crazies following women around, people shitting on the streets or random stranger attacks.

It's just as valid as people posting news articles about specific events. Whenever someone posts statistics it's always, "The statistics lie, crime is under reported, the city is covering it up". When someone tells a story that goes against your narrative it's always, "Your experience is unique, your experience doesn't matter". But when someone tells a story that agrees with your narrative it's, "Look at these works, ye mighty, and despair!"

Your anecdote is just as valid as my anecdote. One difference is that I'm offering my own, while people in this thread are offering others'.

How many times have you been attacked in the DTES?

[Vin]

Another dead body found on the sidewalk of Denman Street in front of 7-11 at Comox earlier today: possibly drug OD? I see so many people slumped over every single day. Any of them could be dead.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by chowhou

Singapore is not the richest country. That would be Luxembourg, a country that recently decriminalized marijuana and plans to be the first to legalize it in Europe. I'd also personally prefer to be a citizen of Luxembourg than a citizen of Singapore. I like to have some freedoms.

The few countries take turns being the richest in the world: depending on currency exchange etc.

Luxembourg may be ranked on top, but it has worse rich-poor divide than Singapore, and many other countries that are less wealthy. One in five citizens live in the threat of poverty, while Singapore is one in ten.

Go ahead and smoke up for your freedom.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Singapore is the second most unequal country in Asia, and has a much higher Gini coefficient than most of Europe. Pretty much any rich microstate has gotten that way by becoming a haven for the one percent at their citizens' expense.

Originally Posted by Vin

Of course, downtown especially the DTES is always safe. Nothing to see here: just a lady being lit on fire......

You just described Toronto - they've been covering that case since June. Also Philly, Mexico and a small town in Cali, just this month.

Bad stuff happens, and it's not acceptable, yet anybody who insists that this kind of thing only happens in their city and never anywhere else is only showcasing their own ignorance.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

You just described Toronto - they've been covering that case since June. Also Philly, Mexico and a small town in Cali, just this month.

Bad stuff happens, and it's not acceptable, yet anybody who insists that this kind of thing only happens in their city and never anywhere else is only showcasing their own ignorance.

Sorry, but I live in the city of Vancouver, and not Toronto. Let Torontonians worry about their own problems, eh?

Also, let us "ignorant" folks worry about safety for you. You don't have to.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by Vin

Sorry, but I live in the city of Vancouver, and not Toronto. Let Torontonians worry about their own problems, eh?

Also, let us "ignorant" folks worry about safety for you. You don't have to.

You're the one saying other cities are safer and cleaner than we are. They aren't - even Tokyo has violence once in a while.

Glad to know that I'm protected by your authoritarian keyboard warrior sh*tposting. I'll continue advocating for things that actually keep me safe.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by Vin

The few countries take turns being the richest in the world: depending on currency exchange etc.

Luxembourg may be ranked on top, but it has worse rich-poor divide than Singapore, and many other countries that are less wealthy. One in five citizens live in the threat of poverty, while Singapore is one in ten.

Go ahead and smoke up for your freedom.

I don't even smoke, I just like basic human rights like a free and fair press, freedom of speech, and a functioning democracy.

Lee Kwan Yew might have been a benevelont dictator, but his son who has inherited the throne is looking like he's less of one. Who knows what the future has in store for Singapore; For every Hu Jintao there's a Xi Jinping.

[whatnext]

Not all public disorder comes in the form of DTES crazies. Drum circle hipsters can do it to:

A Park Board spokesperson told Daily Hive that approximately 4,000 people were on the beach for the July 12 drum circle, and lifeguards reported being harassed by people in the crowd as they tried to reach an unconscious person in the water.

The person was pulled from the water and lifeguards performed first aid until paramedics arrived. BC Emergency Health Services said three ambulances responded around 7:25 pm, and one patient was transported to hospital in critical condition....

...Going forward, lifeguards at Third Beach will end their shift at 7 pm on Tuesdays.

No lifeguards on Vancouver beaches for Canada Day could be a safety risk
A complete guide to Vancouver's beaches and outdoor pools
The Park Board encouraged anyone wishing to swim to go to Second Beach instead, where lifeguards stay until 8:30 pm...(bold mine)

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/third-beach-lifeguards-removed-drum-circle

[Vin]

Possible drug abuser going on a rampage......

Man wielding oxygen tank arrested after attacking cars in Richmond traffic, RCMP say
https://globalnews.ca/news/9022022/man-w...cking-cars-in-richmond-traffic-rcmp-say/

No one got killed: we are very very safe, and yay!

[Klazu]

Possible? First car hit should have driven over the aggressive zombie.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Possible? First car hit should have driven over the aggressive zombie.

Internet tough guy strikes again!

[whatnext]

The morons at SaveOldGrowth seem to think vandalizing landmarks is a better way to gain supporters than blocking traffic.

Save Old Growth vandalizes Vancouver landmarks for Overshoot Day (PHOTOS)
Megan Devlin|
Jul 29 2022, 10:26 am

A civil resistance group dedicated to ending old-growth logging in BC went around downtown Vancouver tagging popular tourist landmarks with their message....

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/save-old-growth-tourist-landmarks-vandalized

[hollywoodnorth]

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/major-police-incident-underway-in-downtown-eastside-videos

watch the video the lady posted that is linked in that story >> https://twitter.com/HellionDebbie/status/1553410716295503872

WATCH 2:15 in the above video

WOW HOW F***ING SAD AND SICKENING that the police feel so unsafe in the area .... they needed to pull out AR-15s to control the crowd. Maybe if the bloody streets were not packed with tents and druggies and hobos like they have been the past month the police would even feel safe. HOW DO YOU EXPECT PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN OR NEAR THIS AREA TO FEEL SAFE? maybe if I was carrying an AR-15 like these filthy pigs I would feel safe as well.

yet according to Mayor Stewie and Johnnie Whore-again this neighbourhood is totally safe and pleasant.


I am born and raised in Vancouver .... I have never seen AR-15s and shotguns pointed at people used to control the crowd.

thats what they do in a 3rd world country. not Canada......... or at least used to be that way.

[invisibleairwaves]

Can't say I've ever felt like I needed a weapon- much less an assault rifle- any time I've ever been to the DTES. If the cops do, well, maybe that says more about them than it does about DTES residents.

[Vin]

We've never been safer! Only cops are attacked, so feel free to stroll around dtes, a place that is as safe as other cities.

[Migrant_Coconut]

It's been a long wait, but we can now say that Vancouver's on the same level as New York City, London, Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai with a straight face.

[invisibleairwaves]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

It's been a long wait, but we can now say that Vancouver's on the same level as New York City, London, Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai with a straight face.

It's almost like these issues happen in any city that has brutal class disparities, instead of being some unique byproduct of our quasi-progressive drug policies or whatever.