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West hastings

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whattheshit
Posts: 6562 - Karma: 107
got back from a trip to the west coast. 

came into vancouver on hastings street because i missed the turn off on the lions gate.

i couldn't believe the shit i saw, it started as suddenly as it stopped.  fucking insane. 






Aug 28 2007 1:37AM
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dave44
Posts: 11052 - Karma: 113
east hastings?
Aug 28 2007 1:42AM
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whattheshit
Posts: 6562 - Karma: 107
im from toronto, so east hastings didn't surprise me.  but west hastings did.
Aug 28 2007 4:23PM
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hucksplat
Posts: 966 - Karma: 1,124
try visiting the third world sometime if you want a real shock and potential mugging
Aug 28 2007 11:11PM
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french_fry
Posts: 4698 - Karma: 53
uh, you saw men in business suits, bookstores, vintage stores?
East hastings is what you mean, and it is supposedly worse than anywhere in canada (in terms of drug abuse, because it's really not a dangerous place to be, you just can't trust junkies...)
Aug 29 2007 4:53AM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,141
Poorest postal code in Canada.
Aug 29 2007 6:04AM
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dave44
Posts: 11052 - Karma: 113
It's insane. Haha, I dunno what the hell I'm doing up at 3am, but wat the hell.
some crackheads there are nice, but seriously, the cops just sit back and watch em deal, inject, etc. the city has a hard time moving them all (i dont know much about our city, so i'm guessing here).. i wonder what they'll do for the olympics.

i drove through there at like 2am once coming back from port moody, they're just lying and dancing on the street and shit
Aug 29 2007 6:16AM
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whattheshit
Posts: 6562 - Karma: 107
no, there is a small section right after main street where east becomes west all the way till abbott street is where its really bad.  once you pass the delta hotel then its all business men and vintage stores.
Aug 29 2007 4:22PM
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Kevski
Posts: 7056 - Karma: 2,785
meh, we just call it skid row, or east side, saves you enough trouble that way.
It's crazy over there, we have to watch this movie the cops made called Through a Blue Lens. They just filmed the shit goin down over there, then one of the addicts came to our school and talked to us. Clean now, but for about 20 years he was a heroine addict. He still looks mangled, and his leg nearly rotted off.
Scary shit... scary shit...
Aug 29 2007 4:54PM
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Nadia.
Posts: 1124 - Karma: 1,104
Haha, I remember having to watch "through a blue lens" for Capp 11 by correspondence. Pretty fucked up.
Aug 29 2007 9:38PM
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prophet
Posts: 4734 - Karma: 1,007
some guy in a trenchcoat tried to sell me crack one time
Aug 30 2007 3:08AM
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lucyford
Posts: 4742 - Karma: 15
when i first moved out west, my friend and i were walking to his studio one morning, which is on some street off hastings. it was like 10:30 in the morning and there is some guy sitting on a bench smoking crack...i was in complete and utter disbelief.
then, like two hours later, we are on our way back and homie has a girl sitting next to him, shooting up.

this all before lunch time!
it's fucking crazy!

all you people who grew up here don't realize how much of a smack across the face this is to people who have grown up in a much milder environment. all the homeless folks in ottawa are just fucked up on listerine. SIZZURP!
Aug 30 2007 3:33AM
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dave44
Posts: 11052 - Karma: 113
Vancouver, sigh. Surrey, indians. Richmond, asians. Downtown eastside, hobos. West end, gays. we're so diverse
Aug 30 2007 4:35AM
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Kevski
Posts: 7056 - Karma: 2,785
hehehe, yeah...
It's an invasion of different cultures.
Aug 30 2007 1:29PM
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westcoaststyle
Posts: 4057 - Karma: 31
i still feel safer walking hastings than granville at night
Aug 31 2007 3:45PM
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hemlockjibber8
Posts: 5955 - Karma: 3,455
i get strange looks walking down davie st it might have some something to do with my latex pants though...
Aug 31 2007 8:05PM
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whattheshit
Posts: 6562 - Karma: 107
i heard if you are coming from north van. and you take the sea bus, if you go to the right you're fine, but you don't want to go left which i guess is east granville
Aug 31 2007 8:21PM
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dave44
Posts: 11052 - Karma: 113
yeah, imght get shot 9 times by cops
Sep 1 2007 10:44AM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,141
I don't consider hastings particularly dangerous, just shanty. And it's quite contained. I mean you can walk for 5-10 minutes from main and hastings to howe after purchasing your crack from said dude in trenchcoat, stroll through the doors of Holt's and pay three hundred dollars for a tie. Vancouver's kind of fucked up.
Sep 1 2007 2:18PM
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ZavierV
Posts: 5077 - Karma: 100
Dude, Hastings is pinner compared to where i just got back from. I think brian said it, i can't remember, but "developping" countries are so much worse. I just got back from India and i've seen some of the worst shit there in the villages and even big cities like Dhubai and Chennai, even the biggest city Mumbai (bombai) has so much poverty and nastyness...

don't complain dude, it's always going to be worse somewhere else. Hastings was almost welcoming..
Sep 2 2007 4:12PM
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ZavierV
Posts: 5077 - Karma: 100
shit not brian, hucksplat, appologies.
Sep 2 2007 4:14PM
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Kevski
Posts: 7056 - Karma: 2,785
^true, i saw crazy disturbing, sad things in Thailand, but Hastings is only an hour drive away.
Sep 2 2007 11:15PM
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whattheshit
Posts: 6562 - Karma: 107
who cares about the third world.

this is canada, british columbia, vancouver that we are talking about.
Sep 3 2007 1:01AM
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prophet
Posts: 4734 - Karma: 1,007
where "mining benefits all of us"
Sep 3 2007 4:49AM
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ZavierV
Posts: 5077 - Karma: 100
granted, but it still wasn't that bad in comparison.
Sep 3 2007 12:30PM
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angus_k_
Posts: 438 - Karma: 24
my friend came down for a couple days to film some skatin, and he was so shocked at all the drugs and shit. How are we supposed to look good during the olympics with all that crap? seriously.
Sep 3 2007 1:38PM
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hemlockjibber8
Posts: 5955 - Karma: 3,455
^ drive by shootings a week before. hell they are already lined up on the street
Sep 3 2007 2:19PM
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Kevski
Posts: 7056 - Karma: 2,785
hmmm, maybe put them in some corner somewhere. Maybe the cops will get more strict for the olympics, cuz right now they don't give a shit.
Sep 3 2007 9:14PM
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hemlockjibber8
Posts: 5955 - Karma: 3,455
the cops will get more strict on the people with mental health disabilities that were booted out of all the asylums buy gordon campbells awesome government?
Sep 3 2007 11:33PM
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james44
Posts: 3323 - Karma: 578
theres nothing the cops can really do about it because they cant arrest all the hobos and put them in jail cuase that is just way to meny people and they would be out on the streets again in under 2 years so what they do instead is they do their best to make sure that they dont get hurt and try to hlep them out when they do.
Sep 4 2007 12:09AM
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whattheshit
Posts: 6562 - Karma: 107
its your climate that attracts them. 


crackheads don't like cold, so eastern and central canada is off the hobo list.
Sep 4 2007 1:21PM
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dave44
Posts: 11052 - Karma: 113
Yeah, Hastings isn't that bad, to be honest.

Yeah, Vancuver is kinda fucked up. And we can't really do much about Hastings
Sep 4 2007 3:19PM
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J.D.
Posts: 21362 - Karma: 5,141
Also because there's no law against being a hobo... ?
Sep 4 2007 4:11PM
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dave44
Posts: 11052 - Karma: 113
i wonder if its gonna change by 2010. i bet the hobos will get rich from all the visitors.
Sep 4 2007 4:14PM
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Nadia.
Posts: 1124 - Karma: 1,104
There's no law that says the mentally ill can't roam around the east side because the government got rid of the facilities that were looking after them.

That's only speaking for some of the population, of course some addicts are there by choice, they're perfectly sane and just made some poor choices.

The mentally ill can't really be blamed, without anyone looking after them or buying their medication and giving it to them however many times a day they need it, they can't really be at fault. Try telling a schizo they're sick, and NEED to take medication, yeah right.
Sep 4 2007 4:17PM
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dave44
Posts: 11052 - Karma: 113
It's never gonna change (not soon, anyway). Vancouver always promises a lot but nothing ever really happens, or it takes a friggin' long time.

Like, they still haven't come up with a solution for the traffic problems that will arouse in 2010. Lion's Gate Bridge is bad enough at rush hour (5/6pm), even at other times its terrible. Makking the Sea to Sky a lane or two bigger won't make it that much better?
Sep 4 2007 5:03PM
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Nadia.
Posts: 1124 - Karma: 1,104
I love how its two or three lanes til function. Then BAM one lane each way. Christmas is a fucking nightmare trying to get ANYWHERE. One of my friends was working in creekside living in Brio and it took 45 minutes each way sometimes she was telling me. Times like that make me happy I live in Alpine and ski Blackcomb mostly.

Seriously, they need to do something about traffic in the village too, at LEAST village-creekside. Lionsgate bridge is a fucking joke.. just imagine if we get jumpers on the bridge during 2010, or accidents. Traffic already gets backed up to Howe on Georgia on fridays, now increase that with everyone trying to get to Whistler/Cypress for events. Tourists, media, officials, volunteers. We're fucked.
Sep 4 2007 5:12PM
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prophet
Posts: 4734 - Karma: 1,007
naw, itll be fine. theres a new skytrain line remember!... to the airport...
Sep 4 2007 7:15PM
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whattheshit
Posts: 6562 - Karma: 107
"He scoffs at the suggestion, promoted by some advocates, that some 70% of drug users living on the street had mental-health issues before turning to dope. "If we have mental illnesses now, it's because of drugs."

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=9a9ecaee-a0dd-4608-b49a-ea1473ad8a26&k=0
Sep 4 2007 8:32PM
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westcoaststyle
Posts: 4057 - Karma: 31
what?  there is no east or 'bad' part of granville.  i meant i would rather deal with the drug addicts and homeless folk than the bar star jocks along granville.

Sep 4 2007 8:45PM
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westcoaststyle
Posts: 4057 - Karma: 31
we were talking to a homeless person the other day about the garbage strike.  before the strike he used to collect about $100/day in bottles.  now hes taking in around $300/day.  hes planning on buying an electric scooter with a wagon for increased efficiency.  im in the wrong business
Sep 4 2007 8:48PM
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Nadia.
Posts: 1124 - Karma: 1,104
That's some random shop owner's opinion who lives in VICTORIA.

I thought we were talking about Vancouver, specifically hastings. Some random dude's opinion has nothing to do with fact.

And I'm sure weed isn't the major problem either.

"Men and women of all description squat on dirt and rocks and inject drugs: combinations of heroin, cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, prescription tablets ground into powder and then mixed with water. Others smoke crack cocaine and crystal meth. Trash lies everywhere."
Sep 4 2007 8:49PM
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whattheshit
Posts: 6562 - Karma: 107
nah its actually a kid named Codty Gray that said that.  read that part again.

its not like there are different breeds of drug addicts where you go.  its not like victoria addicts are any different from an addict in vancouver is there?

im just tired of people defending them that they don't have any programs to help themselves.  its a crock of shit.  stop feeling sorry for these people.  id like to help a drug addict when they show the initiative to get better not to have it handed to them on a  silver platter garnished with our tax dollars.  fuck that.

and who said anything about weed
Sep 4 2007 9:22PM
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Nadia.
Posts: 1124 - Karma: 1,104
The mental hospitals in Greater Vancouver were shut down, which meant releasing hundreds of patients onto the streets. The type of "hobo" you're going to find in Vancouver will differ from Victoria. From what I know from family that live there, and read in the papers Victoria has a bigger meth problem with younger crowds on the streets, not as many mentally ill people like Vancouver. This doesn't mean that Vancouver doesn't have its fair share of idiots who went down the wrong path in life..

So yes, it is different.
Sep 4 2007 9:48PM
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wrenegade
Posts: 6631 - Karma: 41
The drug addict mental health problem is so much more of a deal than the Lions Gate Bridge. That's not a problem at all. If we're talking bridge issues, look at the Port Mann.

Oh and as side note, the new Sea to Sky highway will be closed during the Olympics, sorry to get your hopes up. You need to be a resident of one of the communities along the highway or Whistler to get a pass, otherwise you're stuck to the bus or train.
Sep 5 2007 1:32AM
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prophet
Posts: 4734 - Karma: 1,007
i know how to solve the port mann problem... stop the police from responding to gang action... then everyone in surrey dies and all those cars getting on at the bridge go away!
Sep 5 2007 1:37AM
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james44
Posts: 3323 - Karma: 578
its not just the mental hospitals getting closed that created the homeless and addict problems and you (teamcuervo) keep saying it like it is the only reason that there are homeless people.. vancouver is a very mild climate and we rarely get snow and cold weather so hobos choose to come here so that they can sleep outside all year.

and J.D. there are alot of laws that hobos and especialy addicts break everyday on the street
Sep 5 2007 2:25AM
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Nadia.
Posts: 1124 - Karma: 1,104
I'm well aware of that, why do you think Calgary/Edmonton don't have these problems? Might have something to do with it being like -30 for half the year during the night.

It just played a large part in the sudden surge of addicts in the downtown east-side from 92' onwards.

In Whistler we just have that guitar guy who sits around all night making up songs about the skanky chicks walking by.

"foxy lady wearing no panties walkin by..."

The guy is a riot. He's been here since forever too.
Sep 5 2007 2:35AM
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dave44
Posts: 11052 - Karma: 113
Vancouver's ridiculous... strikes happen like every couple months, its crazy.
Sep 5 2007 3:40AM
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Nihiriju
Posts: 2061 - Karma: 27
yeah you walk around and talk to them and 90% of them are not from Vancouver. 

Its wierd though there are all sorts fo little pockets of homeless peeps throughout Vanc, hastings just gets to most attention.    There is a bunch of em out in richmond on the main strip behind the buildings, new west, surrey, a little crew  in kits, and then the good ol' alternative lifestylers at wreck. 
Sep 12 2007 7:30AM
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skibunnie
Posts: 1756 - Karma: 14
I just moved to downtown Calgary. Apparently I live next to the sketchiest corner in the city. So far I've seen about 6 homeless people. I don't get it. I feel a hell of a lot safer walking around here at night than in Vancouver on Granville, Hastings, even lower Lonsdale. The bums all migrate west because they can't handle the cold.

But at the same time, there are places a lot worse. In Cape Town we couldn't even go downtown at night in a car, or walk around alone at any time of day. You take one wrong turn there and you're gonna get into a lot more trouble than some homeless guy asking you for change. I grew up in Vancouver and I definitely got shocked by what I saw in South Africa.
Sep 12 2007 9:19PM
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