The Downtown Eastside (DTES) is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is known as "Canada's poorest postal code". According to the city of Vancouver, the Downtown Eastside contains the following neighbourhoods: Chinatown, Gastown, Oppenheimer Park (formerly Japantown), Strathcona, Thornton Park and Victory Square, as well as the light industrial area to the North. There are many conflicting definitions of its perimeter but it can generally be viewed as being bordered by Cambie Street to the west, Clark Drive to the east, the waterfront to the north and Venables Street/Prior Avenue to the south, with Hastings Street running down the middle of the neighbourhood.
The area is noted for a high incidence of poverty, drug use, sex trade, crime, as well as a history of community activism. Hastings and Cordova Streets were once the core shopping district in the city, many of the retail shops that flourished until the early 1980s are now gone. The area was the victim of significant urban decay but presently buildings are being renewed and many new businesses are operating in the community. In recent years there have been tensions between developers and members of the community relating to gentrification development proposals.
History
This area was the centre of the city at the turn of the 20th century. City hall, the courthouse and the Carnegie Library were all located here, along with the headquarters of the BC Electric Railway Company and as such was the hub of rail transit in Vancouver and in the region. It was also the main shopping area for the city, which centred around Woodward's department store. The surrounding stretch of Hastings Street was a major cultural and entertainment district. Prior to the Second World War, there was a large Japanese community in Japantown.
As the city centre moved to the West, and suburban shoppers took advantage of new local malls, the DTES (or Skid Road as it was more commonly known as until the late 20th century), began to decline. With the area already containing numerous cheap hotels and beer parlours, and alcoholism already endemic, hard drug use became the norm along the Hastings "strip". With Eaton's moving its Vancouver flagship store from West Hastings in the 1970s, the decline in shopping traffic led to Woodward's shutting down in 1993. Around this time, crack cocaine was becoming a serious problem in the city. Businesses began dropping out of the neighbourhood for many years. In recent times, however, they have been making a comeback. There are pawn shops, tourist, knick knack and low cost household supply stores, restaurants, a large Army & Navy outlet, clothing outlets, a full-scale grocery store, many fresh vegetable retailers and butcher shops, as well as a multitude of convenience stores, some of which are suspected to be fronts for drug dealers. Some storefronts along the DTES stretch of Hastings Street are still empty, the entire buildings often up for sale. New art galleries, convenience stores, fast food outlets, social service organizations and other small businesses continually open here.
In the 1980s many of the street prostitutes in other parts of Vancouver, such as the nearby West End, were harassed out of those neighbourhoods and moved into the DTES-- now known to sex trade workers as the 'low track'--and contiguous industrial areas near Vancouver's ports. Many believe that this has exacerbated the problem of violence against prostitutes. Dozens of women associated with the DTES low track have gone missing since the early 1980s. Robert William Pickton, of Port Coquitlam has been charged with the murders of twenty six of these women and convicted on six of these counts. The BC Missing Women Investigation is ongoing.
Demographics
As defined by the city of Vancouver, the Downtown Eastside was home to 16,590 people in 2001. According to the city, 10% of the residents self-identified as Aboriginal in 2001, which was approximately 10% of the total Aboriginal population in the city. The Globe and Mail claims a higher number, reporting that 14% of the residents are of Aboriginal decent, and 9% are status Indians. In 2001, 43% of the population were immigrants, with 23% from China, 5% from Vietnam, 2% from Hong Kong and 14% from all other countries. One percent of residents were on visas or had refugee status. The average household size is 1.3 residents; 82% of the population lived alone. Children and teenagers make up 7% of the population, compared to 25% for Canada overall. Average income for adults living alone is $6,282 per year, and $14,024 after government subsidies. In comparison, the average for Canada is less than $21,000 for adults living alone. 62% of the residents over the age of 15 are not considered participants in the labour force, compared to 33% in Vancouver as a whole.
A large number of service personnel work and/or live in the area. These include cooks and kitchen staffs, paramedics, police, and firemen, social service and employment agency representatives. Mental Health workers, doctors and alternative therapy practitioners, educators, priests, nuns and clergy, also make up a significant portion of the population as well as artists and social activists.
Problems
The Downtown Eastside has a high incidence of HIV infection. Vancouver's drug problem has grown steadily worse over the last decade with the most common drugs being heroin, crack cocaine, IV cocaine (powdered cocaine taken intravenously), and--increasingly--crystal methamphetamine. Vancouver's needle exchange, the first in North America, opened in 1989, distributes about 3 million free needles per year to drug addicts.
The opening of North America's first safe injection site, Insite, in this neighbourhood has lowered the spread of HIV (and the number of overdose deaths) considerably, according to an article by the Canadian Press. However, the project is controversial. The southwest corner of Main and Hastings Streets continues to be a problem as drug sellers and users frequently occupy the corner, establishing a plein air drug market in front of (and in the alleys surrounding) Carnegie Hall. Recent efforts have attempted to increase police presence at the Main and Hastings intersection, but this has been opposed by some residents. There is a police station half a block north.
Used syringes and condoms on neighbourhood sidewalks are becoming less common due to the efforts of United We Can a charity organization that offers local people jobs cleaning up the streets each morning. However, Graffiti remains common on buildings and walls and most DTES alleys are regularly used as makeshift toilets.
Through a Blue Lens , a documentary produced by the National Film Board of Canada, was shot in DTES. The film follows interactions between police officers and drug addicts and documents the extreme poverty and suffering many addicts endure.
The Globe and Mail newspaper estimated in a February 2009 article that over 1.4 billion dollars has been spent by federal, provincial and municipal governments since 2001 on health, social and justice efforts aimed at improving the many problems faced by DES residents.
Community groups and social agencies
The Ray-Cam Community Centre provides services and programs for children and families, including English as a Second Language classes, seniors programming, singing and sports opportunities, tutoring and computer stations. Another, the Strathcona Community Centrem operated by the Vancouver Parks Board, offers fitness and martial arts classes, special events, a pre-school, after school care, general recreation, arts and crafts programs and free showers. The Carnegie Centre, located at Hastings and Main Streets, serves food, provides live music several times a week and offers free art sketching opportunities since the early 1980s.
The LifeSkills Centre on Cordova Street across from Oppenheimer Park offers activities such as crafts, sports and special community events and lunches. The IATSE, Local 118 puts on annual turkey dinners and clothing give-aways at the park just before Christmas. The Downtown Eastside Women's Centre at 302 Columbia St. at Cordova provides the Relocation Project/Bridge Housing aids women in need of emergency housing. The Evelyne Saller Centre, on Alexander Street, known to locals as The 44 (from a previous address on E. Cordova St.) provides low cost meals, a TV room, pool table, laundry facilities, showers and out-trips. WISH, a drop-in centre for female survival sex workers located at 330 Alexander Street, is open Sunday - Friday evenings, and offers a hot meal, showers, a literacy program, makeup, clothing and hygiene supplies, and a safe space for women
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