Downtown Eastside
Encyclopedia : D : DO : DOW : Downtown Eastside
The Downtown Eastside (DTES) is the oldest neighbourhood in Vancouver and generally believed to be the poorest neighbourhood in all of Canada.
The Downtown Eastside is a well-known problematic neighbourhood, with its disadvantaged and displaced populations, high occurrences of substance abuse, and a relatively high crime rate. However, the neighbourhood has a rich and colourful history and a strong fabric of community. In recent years there have been tensions between developers and members of the community relating to proposals for gentrification.
Boundaries
-->The Downtown Eastside is best defined by Cambie Street to the west, Clark Drive to the east, Cordova Street to the north and Pender Street to the south, with Hastings Street running down the middle of the neighbourhood. The area located between Cambie and Main Streets is generally considered the worst part of this neighbourhood.
Social problems
The Downtown Eastside is home to poor and displaced populations including runaways, prostitutes, petty criminals and drug addicts. In addition to this a disproportionate amount of this population are of First Nations descent. The DTES's (and Vancouver's) drug problem has grown steadily worse over the last decade with the most common drugs being heroin, crack cocaine, and - increasingly - crystal methamphetamine. The Downtown Eastside also has the unfortunate distinction, according to a recent article in The Georgia Straight newspaper, of having the highest rate of HIV infection in the Western world, largely attributable to the sharing of infected needles by intravenous drug users. However, the opening of Canada's first official safe injection site in this neighbourhood has lowered the spread of HIV (and the number of overdose deaths) considerably, according to a recent article by the Canadian Press. The southwest corner of Main and Hastings Streets continues to be a problem as drug sellers and users frequently occupy the corner, despite recent efforts at increasing police presence at the location. A major police station is only half a block north of the intersection.
-->The historic hotels of this area now rent out their rooms as "single room occupancy" (SROs) which provide housing for some of the most difficult people to house in Vancouver.
History
This area was the center of the City at the turn of the 20th century. City hall, the courthouse and the Vancouver Carnegie Public Library were all located here. It was also the main shopping area for the city, centered around the Woodward's and Spencer's (later Eaton's) department stores. The surrounding stretch of Hastings Street was a major cultural and entertainment district. Prior to World War II, there was a large Japanese community in Japantown.
As the city centre moved to the West, and suburb shoppers took advantage of new local malls such as Burnaby's Metrotown, the DTES began to decline. Eaton's moved its Vancouver flagship store out of the neighbourhood in the 1970s. Woodward's shut down in 1993, around the same time that crack cocaine was becoming a serious problem in the city. The main businesses that remain are pawn shops, run down restaurants, and bargain stores, some of which are a front for drug dealers. Many of the storefronts along the DTES stretch of Hastings Street are empty, often with the entire building for sale.
In the 1980s many of the street prostitutes in other parts of Vancouver, such as the nearby West End, were harassed out of the neighbourhoods they were in and into the DTES and contiguous industrial areas near Vancouver's ports. Many believe that this has exacerbated the problem of violence against prostitutes. The trial of Robert Pickton, a pig farmer accused of the murders of 27 women (mostly prostitutes) from the DTES is currently ongoing.
Significant locations
Vancouver's historic Chinatown (Pender Street) and Gastown Historical District (Water Street) are popular tourist areas in the Downtown Eastside. Gastown is home to many high-end restaurants, lofts and boutiques. Some see this gentrification creeping east as a promising development while others are concerned that this will only force many of the poorest from the only housing they can afford. However, these two neighbourhoods are not traditionally referred to as part of the Downtown Eastside among Vancouverites, as the term has a generally negative connotation.
The Strathcona neighbourhood is also within the DTES and is a historic working class neighbourhood that has retained a very strong sense of community, despite the decline of the general area. However, this sense of community is being threatened by the growing number of wealthy land speculators buying up the neighbourhood in advance of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
- Victory Square
- Oppenheimer Park
External links
- [City of Vancouver's Revitalization Program]
- [downtowneastside.ca] a webpage sponsored by community advocacy groups.
- [Article on Vancouver's safe injection site]
| Neighbourhoods in Vancouver, British Columbia | |
|---|---|
| Main neighbourhoods [link]: | Arbutus Ridge | Downtown | Downtown Eastside | Dunbar-Southlands | Fairview | Grandview-Woodland | Hastings-Sunrise | Kensington-Cedar Cottage | Kerrisdale | Killarney | Kitsilano | Marpole | Mount Pleasant | Oakridge | Renfrew-Collingwood | Riley Park-Little Mountain | Shaughnessy | South Cambie | Strathcona | Sunset | Victoria-Fraserview | West End | West Point Grey |
| Other areas: | Champlain Heights | Chinatown | Coal Harbour | Commercial Drive | Davie Village | East Vancouver | False Creek | Gastown | Granville Island | Granville Mall | Greektown | Japantown | Koreatown | Little Italy | Mackenzie Heights | Punjabi Market | Robson Street | South Granville Rise | Stanley Park | University Endowment Lands | Yaletown |
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