Michael Alexander, a Vancouver urbanist, thinks this is actually the most interesting block on one of the most interesting streets in the city at the moment. Here’s a piece of it, at its most interesting:
It’s Pigeon Park (map here), on the northeast end of the Zero Block of West Hastings (meaning the street numbering system starts here at Carroll Street, and goes up in either direction, east and west).
And isn’t “interesting” an, um, interesting word in this context? On this single block you can see the impact of Woodward’s and other gentrifying forces on the Downtown East Side. (Go here to Price Tags for a dozen shots by Michael of all the change occurring, with his comments.)
“Gentrifying” is an even more interesting word since it’s so loaded, depending crticially on the perspective of the user. Does it mean that the poor are being forced out, or that the street is rejuvenating in a way that adds services for existing residents (Save-on-Meats, for instance) while respecting their spaces (Pigeon Park) and heritage buildings, providing jobs (Potluck Cafe) and even some secure low-income housing? And at the same accommodating new uses (an Asian art gallery), residents (the Paris block) and businesses (Acme Cafe), adding vitality and safety for all.
No one would wish to perpetuate the despair and dysfunction that characterized the Downtown East Side since the closing of Woodward’s. So is change inevitable here, and is it the best the community could get? At the moment, the positive changes and the balance achieved seem to be largely accepted, without a lot of the polarizing angst that has typified discussion down here.
Which is the most interesting thing of all.
