DTES crackdown predicted by Chicago journalist
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 by David Eby
Chicago, Olympic bid city for the 2016 Games, has a newspaper called the Chicago Sun Times. As part of their Olympic bid coverage frenzy, the intrepid Sun Times sent a reporter up north, way north, to cover Vancouver pre-2010. The results were certainly predictable, but also somewhat insightful.
The article begins with the usual "being able to ski, sail and golf -- all in the same day," but then turns to our favourite topic, the DTES:
And like all big cities, it has a seedy underbelly. We came across it one night while making our way from Chinatown to the touristy, cobblestone streets of the Gastown neighborhood.
Downtown Eastside, as it's called, was largely populated by folks who looked like they'd just come from an all-you-can-eat buffet -- of street drugs. Strung-out teens slumped against the walls of run-down buildings while prostitutes meandered along the sidewalks. I'm no pollyanna, but the scene was pretty jarring. Not scary as much as sad.
My guess is Vancouver officials will be hard at work between now and 2010 making sure Downtown Eastside looks quite different by the time the Olympic torch hits town. They won't want to have Skid Row a shotput's throw from high-profile Olympic venues such as Athletes Village, a sprawling waterfront complex that will house 2,100 Olympians and officials.
Yeah, everyone's guess would have been that Vancouver officials would be hard at work between now and 2010 making sure the DTES looks quite different, but here we are, 18 months out, and nothing but broken promises to the Inner City. Man, am I starting to sound like as much of a broken record as I think I am?
The article begins with the usual "being able to ski, sail and golf -- all in the same day," but then turns to our favourite topic, the DTES:
And like all big cities, it has a seedy underbelly. We came across it one night while making our way from Chinatown to the touristy, cobblestone streets of the Gastown neighborhood.
Downtown Eastside, as it's called, was largely populated by folks who looked like they'd just come from an all-you-can-eat buffet -- of street drugs. Strung-out teens slumped against the walls of run-down buildings while prostitutes meandered along the sidewalks. I'm no pollyanna, but the scene was pretty jarring. Not scary as much as sad.
My guess is Vancouver officials will be hard at work between now and 2010 making sure Downtown Eastside looks quite different by the time the Olympic torch hits town. They won't want to have Skid Row a shotput's throw from high-profile Olympic venues such as Athletes Village, a sprawling waterfront complex that will house 2,100 Olympians and officials.
Yeah, everyone's guess would have been that Vancouver officials would be hard at work between now and 2010 making sure the DTES looks quite different, but here we are, 18 months out, and nothing but broken promises to the Inner City. Man, am I starting to sound like as much of a broken record as I think I am?
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Yeah, no chance the DTES will be cleaned up in time for the Olympics. I can't wait for the world's media to rip into all level's of government for this mess.
We need more money for rehab centres for the junkies and proper mental institutions for the mentally ill. The rehab centres should be far away from the DTES - somewhere in northern BC would be ideal. Give the junkies a choice: go to rehab or go to jail, but of course all levels of our governments are too soft to do that.
The scaling back of services at Riverview and putting the mentally ill into SRO's in the DTES was a crime against humanity made by the NDP. I hope one day those decision makers will be made to pay.
What we'll see a lot of is that high, blue metal fencing you see around construction sites cordoning off areas and creating corridors, military and ERT on street corners and rooftops, maybe a secret deal with gang leadership to move the business further east. And paramilitary swoops to capture those street-level dealers who refuse to clear the area. And lots of colourful banners on the lampposts!
maybe all the out of work film people can create a beautiful facade.
it's all about image anyway, isn't it?
let's all get together now and create this facade of beauty for the city.
le sigh.
VANOC is paying $500,000 to fund short-term increase in demand during the Games. You can see the commitment here: http://www.vancouver2010.com/en/Sustainability/SocialInclusionAndResponsibility/InnerCityCommunities/VANOCActions
A helleva far cry from the original ICI Statement!