The Anarchist Cookbook apparently does NOT include pizza recipes.
This anti-gentrification anti-capitalist anti-whatever buzzword movement that began with the Pidgin protests took a strange turn this week when a group targeted Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria on Commercial Drive and another group, or possibly the same people, stole the butcher sign from Save-On-Meats. (Full Disclosure: I work for Save-On-Meats.)
What?
Joel Schat, a local timelapse photographer, recently made this amazing video of downtown Vancouver that I had to share:
It captures Vancouver living and breathing with a pulse as fast as the one that you get from watching this.
Some believe every neighbourhood and class should be bashed equally.
Dangerously close to old news by now but I thought I’d throw up my tweets and videos from last Wednesday of the Pivot press conference.
Check it out after the jump.
A packed room of reporters and DTES residents take in the Pivot press conference.
On Wednesday, Pivot Legal Society held a press conference to publicize their official complaint against the Vancouver Police Department for what they deem are unfair bylaw ticketing practices.
The complaint, summarized here, revolves around a freedom of information request that revealed the vast majority of jaywalking and sidewalk obstruction tickets are handed out in the Downtown Eastside. This follows the infamous ticketing blitz of 2008 that became a major political issue in the run up to the 2010 Olympics. The VPD swore to tone down their policies but the numbers obtained by Pivot seem to show the complete opposite.
So what to believe?
What happens when we start caring about the DTES?
The Pidgin buzz has died since the photo-op began a few weeks ago, but the issues and the conflict are at the forefront of the next great debate surrounding the eastside. How do we develop it responsibly?
There’s something brewing. From the restaurants to multi-million dollar SRO renovations to condo developments, the neighbourhood has entered a new phase that began with the renovation of the Woodward’s building and the introduction of idea of the “social mix”.
This has not been without considerable controversy. Pidgin is being picketed, SROs are raising rents and shutting out welfare residents while dealing with significant quality of life issues and housing developments have become the battleground for business interests intersecting with those who would rather see more social housing.
The buzzword, gentrification, is old but the conversation is new, all these issues have blossomed after the Olympics. Far from another feature of how bleak the downtown eastside is (although when Atira CEO Janice Abbott mentions sewage flooding up through the waterpipes…), this is the topic of what happens with this neighbourhood when money is thrown at it. What is bringing businesses and condos in doing to the downtown eastside?
Youth in the eastside are most at risk when social support expires at the age of 19.
As stated in the press release,
“A new research study will help to improve support services aimed at Canadian youth who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, announced Dr. Kellie Leitch, Parliamentary Secretary to the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development.”
This is important for Vancouver because the Downtown Eastside is ground zero for homelessness in Canada. It’s a magnet for the homeless population around the nation, due in part to the support services available and in part due to the most sensible weather in the country to sleep outside. I met a girl named Laura on Tuesday night who was crying in the doorway of a closed cafe because she had come out to Vancouver last month from Halifax. She was 18 years old and had moved here because of the mentioned lure of Vancouver and the promise of being able to stay with friends once she arrived. Those friends had abandoned her almost immediately upon her arrival and she now had no place to stay. She feared that her future was now the streets.
The new 17-storey building set to built at 611 Main St in the heart of Chinatown.
Vancouver city council heard public opinion last week regarding the development of a 17-story mixed use building in the heart of Chinatown. The proposal, approved by council, will create 134 new housing units, 22 units of social housing reserved for seniors and a mix of retail and office space at the corner of Keefer Street and Main Street.
Those who spoke were predominantly local business owners who supported the injection of vibrancy and prosperity the project promised in a space currently occupied by a long abandoned casino building or social housing advocates fearful of the city’s new gentrification boogie man.
Notably, the project contains social housing units only for seniors and not low-income residents. While 11 units will be rented at no more than the shelter rate of $375 per month, six units will be rented out at the Vancouver housing income limit of $850 and the remaining will be rented at full market value which is currently about $900 to $950 a month.
After catching wind of the disputes last week surrounding the new restaurant PiDGin in the Downtown Eastside, I had to check it out on the ground.
The restaurant released a statement last week surrounding the issue that is a well-written and thought-out response to the social responsibility they’ve implemented in running this venture.
Yet, by Twitter accounts, things aren’t that simple.
Colin Askey’s A Long Way Home: The Rainer Story will be screened at the Rio Theatre February 18.
The Rio Theatre will host a special screening of A Long Journey Home: The Rainer Story.
The film by Colin Askey will be shown February 18 at 5 pm. After the movie, a special discussion panel will take place.
A former drug and alcohol counselor, and director of the highly popular debut Roger’s Pass, A Long Journey Home deals with the Rainer Hotel in the downtown eastside. The hotel functions as a women’s only addiction treatment centre but the funding for the pilot program ended in November, sending the project into financial uncertainty.
Admission is free.
Makoto Ono, star Canadian chef, recently opened his latest restaurant in the heart of Vancouver’s downtown eastside. Located by Pigeon Park, the place is aptly named Pidgin.
It is, by all foodie accounts, a fantastic new addition to the Vancouver culinary scene but there are those within the neighbourhood pulling out the cry of gentrification.
https://twitter.com/homelessdave0/status/299285287731859456
Daily small-scale protests have taken place outside of the restaurant for a week and it seems they’ll continue into next week.
The City of Glass 