Tuesday, 19 May 2009 @ 23:09Written by Jan The Downtown Eastside sticks out like a sore thumb. And if the thumb- which has enabled humans to be more dexterous, develop more accurate fine motor skills and use tools to create a civilization- really is the duo-phalangied backbone of evolution, then the Downtown Eastside is one sore thumb that really needs to be healed. Like the thumb from the fingers, the DTES is different. It is a community that is different financially, economically, socially, and demographically. But more obviously, it is a community that is different aesthetically. If you''re driving along Hastings, you pass the sails of Canada Place, the cobbled streets of Gastown, the trendy boutiques, the cafes, and the studio spaces. Then all of a sudden, you take one more step and you know you''re in the DTES. And how do you know you''re there? Because all of the shops are barricaded in with iron fences and padlocks on the doors. Because there are no flowers and plants. Because there are broken windows and graffiti on the walls. Because, although construction is sprawling everywhere else, most of the spaces are empty and there are few commercial shops. Because there is hardly any light radiating from building windows. Because there''s litter on the ground and a general ambience of grey. If the DTES keeps sticking out like a sore thumb, how will the community gain enough confidence to pick up its tools?
Keywords: There are already beautiful spots in the DTES, like the community gardens by insite, crab park, beautiful graffiti style murals, and various other hidden gems. These spots are not only beautiful but in the case of the gardens provide essential nutritious food to the community. Residents and frequenters of the DTES I would venture know about these spots and do not view their neighborhood as a sore ugly thumb.
I am against the beautification of the DTES just for the sake of the commuters traveling by on Hastings so they don''t have to feel awkward. Especially if this beautification process is initiated by a outside group. If the locals of the DTES want to dedicate their time to beautifying the DTES that is commendable and that should be supported. But as far as I''m concerned for an outside group to initiate in the same process is the equivalent of masking an unwanted smell with some air freshner. Skwok, you made a really good point. Most projects aren''t developed in the DTES. A lot of projects in the DTES are top-down, with some external organization who means well making the decisions and delivering these initiatives in the community. Participation of the community is key, from development to delivery. If any change is to be done in the DTES, I think it will be very important that it be done with residents as part of the process. This does not mean simply "with them in mind" but with several representatives who actually live in the DTES to participate in the process. Perhaps organizing the community from within so that a few can accurately represent all those who live there. Part of the DTES issue is that there isn''t enough understanding and there is not enough representation of those living there in groups that plan the change. The only time I''m ever in the DTES is driving through on my way to someplace else. It does stick out like a sore thumb, but I don''t know what will happen if it simply gets a makeover. Will the problems move 5 blocks away, and the DTES will become a trendy new location, with shiny new buildings but no real change? "If the DTES keeps sticking out like a sore thumb, how will the community gain enough confidence to pick up its tools?"
If one looked at every major city around the world, one would find an astonoshing resemblance to their own. It mostly houses expensive dining, rude drivers and a plethora of characters that even a Friends'' episode would admire.
The question you ask opens up a ''can of worms'' list of answers. One movie that stood out the most for me was Children of Men. The world is in ruins because all women apparently could not bare children anymore. What''s the point of living? The scene that stuck and tugged at my heart was when the main character enetered in his friend''s house and the friend had the Michelangelo sculpture as a centre piece at his entrance. It was a mildly expressed sentiment of our history and time. What''s the point of art when there is not an audience for it?
Simply put, we must tackle the very issue of a hillistic approach to fixing this DTES problem. Your question admirably tackles the very problem a number of mayors have come across during their short tenures.
We need to start with the people. The community should take up arms and ''fight'' this city wide problem. It sticks out as a sore thumb because we all look at it through a glass window. We don''t know the financial, aesthetic and political issues that tail along with all this, but we know one thing. YOU want something done with it, but not everyone else does. Many could care less and would rather pick up its cheque every second Friday and get smashed in the weekends. Many leave and travel around the world then come back and unfairly judge their city based on the wonderful experience they had at Afghanistan. Maybe if the community gained enough confidence to do something about it then it wouldn''t stick out like a sore thumb, no?
Michael Jackson sang a great song back in the day called "Man in the Mirror". I especially loved the line,
"If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make that change". although some people might think beautification only goes surface level, i think it''s critical because it''s the surface which can change people''s perception. i agree with the post below that local community involvement is the key to dealing with this problem. Hey Jan.
I appreciate the concern about the homeless in the downtown east side and can definitely agree with the idea of a new rejuvenating look for the area, however can empathize with the thoughts of the deeper routed social issues surrounding those neighborhoods. I think that although rejuvenating the aesthetic appearance would serve well for the rest of us, it may not necessarily solve the problems faced by those living there.. Or can it? I will be the first to admit that I think that their is a lot of help and services offered to the area to help those living there get up off their feet and very few are biting at them. Maybe putting a face lift on the place and offering direct positions for hire in doing the projects could create a sense of ownership over the area and have the "locals" more empowered. The key to making something like a face lift work is to have the locals involved in the planning and implementation, starting with a community wide dialogue.. Once you can do that, you may be able to use this project to create a structural change in the community. You should look into the Love Your Neighbourhood Project in New York City. I wonder how the Olympics Committee would receive this idea. I grew up in the DTES and I have always found it funny how little people know about the community. It''s nice to see someone point out the diversity in the area and not just the doom and gloom. Everyone seems to have an opinion on the DTES and yet very few people have actually been there for more than a few minutes waiting for a bus on Main and Hastings. Ignoring the deep-rooted problems that stem from societal changes and historical events, people are quick to judge the area and associate it with this dirty image of drug abusers, locked doors, and vandalized buildings. People neglect to see the history and culture that embodies the community. Perhaps I''ve been desensitized to the DTES after living there my whole life, but I see beautiful architecture and a strong community. After all, Hastings was once the Robson for past generations. It just needs to be revitalized as you pointed out. However, it seems the solution may be a double-ended sword. It changes the cultural landscape (which is happening) and rather than helping people on the streets, they are just being reallocated to appease the eyes of ignorant locals and like-minded tourists. Jan, I agree with you that revitalizing the DTES should incorporate initiatives to create local employment. Your topic sounds like it doesn’t just want to make the place pretty and boot out current residents, but allow those residents to have a more liveable and lively neighbourhoods in which they can live - and be the participants involved in making it happen! The Vancouver Agreement is a collaboration between the municipal, provincial and federal governments, which gave birth to the Economic Revitalization without Displacement plan. The gist of this plan is to introduce organizations in the DTES to promote economic activity, which would not drive residents out of the community. Essentially, it attempts to address the need for commercial activity and job creation in the DTES, while consciously avoiding gentrification. When I wrote this post, I made a conscious decision not to use the word "beautification" because of its now negative connotations and its mental association with the word "gentrification". Similar to the Economic Revitalization without Displacement plan, I pictured Aesthetic Revitalization without Displacement. I agree fully that the DTES doesn''t need more beauty in the form of bling bling. But, if we are to mobilize the right kind of businesses to move into the DTES and enable residents to find a livelihood, then we need to first encourage people to visit and hang out in the area in the first place. Furthermore, aesthetic revitalization projects create jobs for the residents and artists who live in the DTES and leave a sense of ownership and responsibility for their own community. I think the biggest problem of the DTES mainly due to neglect and misunderstanding. But cause its a eye sore, no one wants to do care about it. I strongly agree that there is beauty in the DTES if one takes the time to look since its not the stunning vibrant beauty you might think. While I agree that the DTES needs beautification, but I don''t think it needs beautifying in the way that alienates its current residents. It needs to be done in a way that allows residents in the downtown east side show their identity and beauty to the rest of the city.
I remember when I visited Copenhagen, there was a town called Christiana that was an abandoned military base that squatters took over and end up building a vibrant and sustainable community. The town does have its trouble with the law as well as not being fully recognized by the Copenhagen government. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freetown_Christiania There is the Gallery Gachet as well as the InterUrban Art Gallery at the corner of Carrall and Hastings, run by the Portland Hotel Society. I also heard of a project that involves residents putting together the mosaics that you often see on the sidewalks around the DT area, not to mention the Hope in Shadows photography. Engaging the community through art is fantastic and often a very effective means of communication and expression of life stories and perspectives. However, art may not capture everyone. There are many diverse skills in the DTES, just no avenues, opportunities or support to use them. For example, all this talk about building a green economy or the potential of green jobs! Urban gardening/landscaping, bike repairs, recycling, waste management, cleaning, building restoration etc. etc. By providing some basic training, opportunities for employment, and on the ground engagement with the community, people can begin to focus around positive activities, as opposed to the negative ones. Although this is a controversial idea, I see it as something that (evidently) is often too soon dismissed. Of course, ''beautification'' of the DTES by developers, commercial outlets, and especially by police is not the solution the residents of DTES need - beautification from bottom up might prove to be hugely beneficial to the community.
Beautification, has, after all, proven to be successful in several cases, one of them being in Tirana, Albania. Tirane is the poorest capital city in Europe with a collection of social problems no less than that of Vancouver, yet the Mayor of Tirana, an accomplished artist, launched a low cost beautification project which not only looks great, but also gives people a sense of pride in their city - something that Vancouver lacks...but this is a different topic entirely.
Downtown East Side is a vibrant community rich is artistic talent largely untapped. With that in mind we need to re-conceptualize ''beautification'' into something more serious and, some might agree, respectful. Why not call it "Public Art"? Public Art, which Vancouver lacks, will strengthen our cultural element, and will most likely resonate with the tourism industry. While there are tomes written on the benefits of public art, I think that in relation to DTES the therapeutic element of art is by far the most important.
Looking at DTeastside''s cultural life, in particular, its very own Gallery Gachet, it seems that DTES even has a local institution which can be put in charge of such a project :) I believe that beautification of the DTES is indeed a band aid solution but with severe negative consequences for people who live within the community. I''m sure everyone (or at least just about everyone) lives outside of the DTES. To us, it''s dirty and yes aesthetically unappealing. It''s an eyesore for tourists and passerbys, shoppers, developers and car passengers. The "beautification" of the area would be pleasing to us, but it''s a big price that residents of the DTES are already paying (unwillingly might I add).
If you take a closer look at the edges of the DTES, you can see this "beautification" process taking place. Take a look at the "greening" of Strathcona, the Carrall Street "Greenway", the new Waves coffee two blocks apart from each other (one at Main and Pender, the other at Main and Cordova), the infamous construction of the Woodwards building, the list goes on. These are the beautification initiatives that people outside of the community are aware of. But what you don''t see are the on-the-ground processes such as, the early morning police clean ups, where police are not armed with tasers or handcuffs, but rather tickets to the sleeping homeless and dumptrucks to throw shopping carts full of possessions. This kind of beautification is at the expense of the residents and the community, which is really quite beautiful if you actually take the chance to participate in it.
In order to really help the DTES and get to the root of the issues, we need to get rid of our assumptions and truly understand what the issues are. Like you mentioned, the community is different economically, socially, and demographically, it only makes sense that we need to understand what these differences are, in order to tailor specific solutions to this very specific community. Unfortunately, it cannot be done from the comfort of our suburban home, high rise apartment, or concrete walled classrooms. How can we engage with the DTES community to better understand the multi-faceted issues and collaboratively fashion meaningful and effective solutions? Beautification is a band aid solution.
DTES is a result of deep-rooted structural problems and needs structural change to be resolved.
Beautification of the area would be equivalent of covering up the problem, a sort of ''spit in the face of'' inhabitants of the region whose lives you would be covering up.
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