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Skid row vancouver

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mozzy
Posts: 1034 - Karma: 60
wow. it's pretty bad, but pretty interesting to walk or bike around.

so this is the land of syringes on the street, really nasty residential hotels, and alleys i don't even want to be walking through. and all of this in one of canada's prettiest places.

discuss.





May 8 2009 12:46PM
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Download-My-Apps
Posts: 5069 - Karma: 1,017
interesting for sure. I guess Vancouver has a mild climate that attracts lots of homeless and drug users.
May 8 2009 1:13PM
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chicken
Posts: 6843 - Karma: 2,122
I went through it a couple of months ago, both during the day and drove through it at night. Apparently it was much much worse a few years ago, they are cleaning up for the olympics right now and are shipping a lot of homeless people to Victoria
May 8 2009 1:19PM
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dave44
Posts: 11052 - Karma: 113
yea son. i used to have to travel thru there once a week and its pretty damn impoverished. it was worse like 5 years ago though, but it still hardly looks like anyone gives a shit.
May 8 2009 1:36PM
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uncleclimax
Posts: 76 - Karma: 41
I went through it last year and i heard that it was one of if not the poorest zip code in North America. but ya, its a real depressing place.
May 8 2009 1:45PM
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Kevski
Posts: 7056 - Karma: 2,785
That is a place that I feel scared to walk through in the day time. At night it's really depressing and scary at the same time...

I heard that they are shipping a lot of the homeless people to Tsawassen, which is conveniently 10 minutes from where I live... They've already started migrating here, and there are so many mentally ill hoboes walking around Ladner now. Fun stuff.

There's this one guy we call Tex, and he's always talking to himself, and looks kinda intimidating. Everyone knows him, but nobody actually knows him, you know?
May 8 2009 2:11PM
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freezed
Posts: 12973 - Karma: 500
some of my DTES photos...

Click for larger image
Garfield



Click for larger image




Click for larger image
Heather and her boyfriend
May 8 2009 2:17PM
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mozzy
Posts: 1034 - Karma: 60
Great photos, thanks for sharing.

Yeah, the statistics I read were downright depressing. 30 % HIV infection rate, wtf? Poorest postal code in Canada, but a really really interesting area. The residential hotels are really scary looking places, I can't imagine what it's like to have to live there, choosing between having a roof over your head but being in a dangerous hotel vs. living out on the streets.


May 13 2009 12:29PM
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2+2=5
Posts: 3676 - Karma: 18
hey freezed is that second photo a residential place by that one army and navy store in the hasting area? i recognize that place, u can see a lot of fucked up crack heads coming out of there
May 13 2009 4:04PM
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bailer
Posts: 2178 - Karma: 14
east hastings is a grimy place. i saw one hobo dude sitting there beside 3 huge flatscreens selling them just on the street.. obviously stolen but no one gives a shit there.
May 13 2009 4:10PM
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Thenowhereman42
Posts: 5682 - Karma: 65
Skid row LA there are 100's of little balloons around, lots of needles in the alley, and a bunch of hobos have tents set up.  I wouldn't really go there.
May 13 2009 5:12PM
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steezeeepolizeee
Posts: 8756 - Karma: 796
I worked down there last summer for construction and that shit was scary at night if i ended up working late. One time i saw a guy take a bucket into the middle of the parking lot and take a shit in it and then walked off without wiping, And another time i saw someone shooting up into their neck using a cars side mirror to see. I have had to chase homeless ppl off the worksite before that have been trying to steal tools, it is very depressing to see but once you become accustomed to seeing it you just become cold to the whole situation...
May 13 2009 5:51PM
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jason...
Posts: 9006 - Karma: 780
I live in North Vancouver, and honestly it is a different world down there. It's disgusting how many people suffer from addiction and live down on East Hastings. Interesting pictures Freezed.
May 13 2009 7:19PM
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steezeeepolizeee
Posts: 8756 - Karma: 796
haha I worked just down the street from that in the Sun Tower
May 13 2009 8:53PM
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hue.
Posts: 1518 - Karma: 220
It just depends where you go, sure there's the slums, but every city has that, it just vancouver's is a bit worse, but there are some great bit that aren't sketchy at all
May 13 2009 9:20PM
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St.Steezy
Posts: 4228 - Karma: 20
Ha, I live in Victoria and that's far from true... Sure we have homeless people, but nothing even near to east van. Yes they are cleaning up the area, but I don't know where you got the info about sending them to Victoria.. Victoria is the showcase city for the olympics, capital of bc..
May 13 2009 9:32PM
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skeedle
Posts: 6156 - Karma: 628
Did you know, that 8 years ago, the government was building 2000 units of social housing per year and now they are building none? Did you know that Riverview hospital closed, letting out all the mentally ill, and those without families are left on the street. Welfare is only $560/month and hasn't increased with inflation or anything. There is $375 dedicated to housing and then $185 left for everything else. The drug use has decreased over the years, and the Safe injection site is helping by preventing sharing needles and conselling, etc.

Vancouvers East side could be prevented/cleaned up easily, but no one wants to because they don't realize that there are other things down there besides drugs. People live down there bcause they can't afford to live anywhere else. Where else in Vancouver can you find a room for $300/month? Six blocks away from DTES is Gastown/Coal Harbour, a seriously expensive part of Vancouver. And like Frodo said you go over to North Vancouver and it is an entirely differnet world. In North Vancouver people throw around their money and have nannies and landscapers and gardeners (not everyone, but a significant portion of North Vancouver/West Vancouver is incredibly wealthy).

When people see the DTES they only see the drugs and the homelessness and assume that everyone is there by choice, which is sad but entirely untrue. There are schools and libraries, and markets down there, that people actually attend, and it is entirely possible to change the way it is, but people won't look past the drugs.

There is so much more I could say, and believe me I would but it would take like 5 or 6 hours.
May 13 2009 9:57PM
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kenzieann
Posts: 1535 - Karma: 391
When I was 17/18 I lived above a bar right off hastings in one of the worst parts of the street. Honestly it sucks, but you can meet some really interesting people there and for the most part if you don't fuck with them they won't fuck with you. I never had a problem walking by myself at night time and I honestly probably don't look like I can hold my own. So its really not too sketchy... just depressing.
May 14 2009 12:18AM
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Turner.
Posts: 1986 - Karma: 11,881

I live on the westside on Vancouver and it's pretty much impossible to think that dtes evn exists in the same fucking country. it's unimaginable.

for all the bad parts though, there's good: like the photos posted earlier and some of the best graffiti around.

May 14 2009 12:21AM
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wh@t
Posts: 6204 - Karma: 52
story of the world.
May 14 2009 12:26AM
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kstanz
Posts: 3058 - Karma: 477
yea the riverview thing sucls, my mom use too work their a long time ago
May 14 2009 12:35AM
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freeze_pooter
Posts: 3296 - Karma: 16
itd be so cool if the profits from the ungodly cost of tickets to see events went to enfranchising the poor.
May 14 2009 12:35AM
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paige.
Posts: 1930 - Karma: 907
I did a project on the DTES last year for school and I talked to a lot of people who work at the various shelters or live down there. One of the things I was most surprised to learn is that within the DTES is that although no one chooses to move there, they have a real sense of community. They notice when someone disappears or overdoses and many of them help out at the shelters.
Right now there is a lot of gentrification in the area because of the Olympics and growth of Vancouver in general and I think this is about the worst possible thing that could be happening. It is a way of making things look better without actually addressing any of the issues and takes people away from the community that they depend on.
May 14 2009 3:07AM
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taaayyla
Posts: 173 - Karma: 14
there are homeless in north van toooo ... lots of homeless actually
May 14 2009 3:40AM
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S3B
Posts: 251 - Karma: 24
check out this documentary, skid row 10 years ago.  i've lived in vancouver off and used to frequent an afterhours club that was right beside that little park where the pipe shop used to be like 7 or 8 years ago.  I have to admit as cracked out as it was i never felt unsafe, the people seem a lot more polite that homeless in other cities.  my mushroom walk through there was really intresting, and the yard sale they have on hasting is awesome, we bought a sweet bike for my girlfriend from a guy wearing a 3 piece suit and dress shoes for $30.

check out the movie for sure:

http://www.nfb.ca/film/through_a_blue_lens/

peace
May 14 2009 4:53AM
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S3B
Posts: 251 - Karma: 24
ha ha, almost forgot.  this is a must see!  for a less serious documentary, and different look at north vancouver, enjoy

http://www.nfb.ca/film/carts_of_darkness/

peace
May 14 2009 4:59AM
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mozzy
Posts: 1034 - Karma: 60
"Through a Blue Lens" - yeah it's actually on YouTube and I started watching it.

I also walked by the Cobalt Motor Hotel on Main, the one with the "Girls Girls Girls" on the facade. There was some report in The Province about conditions inside, which was pretty disgusting. Apparently the residential hotels in DTES are mostly owned by one family making oodles of $$$$ off of their units. Link to the story:



May 14 2009 5:54AM
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kenzieann
Posts: 1535 - Karma: 391
i was telling someone about homeless people riding their carts down big hills and they didn't believe me!
May 14 2009 5:21PM
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