Greater Vancouver's best "new" neighbourhood?

[Rusty Gull]

What is Greater Vancouver's best new or gentrified neighbourhood?

[squeezied]

for gentrifying neighbourhood, i think it's a toss up btwn whalley or dtes. i voted for dtes just because i prefer to see it gentrified to the max :D

[slide_rule]

the ubc and sfu neighborhoods are new, so they're not really gentrifying.

lonsdale and joyce have been gradually reinvigorated over the last few years.

main st. is getting better, but it's not really close to the new mass transit developments.

#3 road is only in the formative stages of its transformation, but it's just adding density, as its residents have generally been middle class.

which leaves us the downtown eastside and whalley. i agree with squeezied. both have a lot of potential, and both sorely need a shot in the arm.

[raggedy13]

I pretty much agree with the last two posts. DTES and the future "downtown Surrey" have huge potential, unfortunately they're only in very early stages of redevelopment. I think the DTES would be such an amazing neighbourhood if it was fixed up and contained a majority of non-homeless people and new retail/restaurants/businesses etc. It would just be such a unique and attractive neighbourhood with its older historic style and layout. Also, from a planning perspective it should be the most ideal neighbourhood in the city since it was created back in the good ol' days of urban living. It would make for an interesting case study of sorts. I think if the current Vancouver planners could observe the DTES as an actual functional neighbourhood they might be able to learn a thing or two that they can then apply to modern planning principles. Having the streetcar run through there will be particularly amazing as well.

[squeezied]

the prob with gentrifying dtes is that where will all the homeless and hobos go?

[jlousa]

Open up Riverview again and re-admit the people that should be in care. Even if that only affects a couple hundred people, it could have critical mass and send the scum that prey on them elsewhere. Enforce current laws which should help reduce new undesirables from relocating to the area. If you can stop the outside inflow then the problem isn't so hard to fix.

On a slightly related matter Salient sold out Paris Block in 3 hours.

[leftside]

^^^
Exactly. The biggest problem isn't the people that are there now, but the fact that all the social services are confined to one area which therefore attracts new "undesirables" to the area. I'd also argue that these newcomers soon become even more "undesirable" after a few months of living in the DTES with such easy access to social services and hard drugs.

[en2]

The area around Gilmore station, or almost all stations near the M-Line in Burnaby, nothing 6 years ago when M-Line opened, but now, so many residential towers.

You can see maybe 6-7 new towers near the Gilmore Station area from Grandview Hwy.

Compare that to the sorry state of the Vancouver M-Line stations....Rupert = A storage centre, Renfrew = A closed down retail big box store, McDonalds and an ugly strip mall.

[EastVanMark]

Open up Riverview again and re-admit the people that should be in care. Even if that only affects a couple hundred people, it could have critical mass and send the scum that prey on them elsewhere. Enforce current laws which should help reduce new undesirables from relocating to the area. If you can stop the outside inflow then the problem isn't so hard to fix.

On a slightly related matter Salient sold out Paris Block in 3 hours.

Your suggestion makes too much sense. It will never fly. Instead why don't we make the city an even more desirable destination for those not willing/able to contribute positively towards society.:brickwall: :shrug: :koko:

[204]

the prob with gentrifying dtes is that where will all the homeless and hobos go?


Back to Ontario? :tup:

[SpongeG]

d'oh i should have voted for joyce collingwood

[Jacques]

I moved to Vancouver in 84, back then the West end looked very friendly, however for a calmer lifestyle I opted to move to Mount Pleasant neighbourhood after residing in the West end a couple of months. In 2003 I moved to Gastown right in the village square, at first I truly thought I had made a mistake by choosing a loft in this area, but it soon changed, it is a very friendly neighbourhood and once you get oneself accustom to the environment , it is pretty much what I had sought in the first place, good little coffee shops, friendly grocery stores, smart little boutiques from unique designers, a melt pot of different backgrounds and culture trying hard to make this area a nice place to reside. With the Woodwards development comes a huge amount of changes, such as new and extremely expensive boutiques and some old business coming back after decades of laughing at this neighbourhood.
there are quite a few developments in the works such as the Terminus and Garage Loft, the Paris Place on Hasting, and from word of mouth that some company is in the works to buy the social housing located in Blood Alley and turn the entire block into a entertainment district with street cafe and night clubs similar to Old Montreal, the green way is one third completed the Hasting Block is due next Spring and the final part of the green belt by spring 2009 with an overpass at the foot of Carrall street leading unto the North shore of CPrail road.
My only concern is I hope we never turn this area like Yaletown , cold and unfriendly, snobbish and rude.
I once was told how Gastown was the poor mans Yaletown, now lets see you laugh last, with all cultures poor and rich small and tall, black or white, it matters not we make due to accept all and respect all, this is why I vote Gastown the best NEW Neighbourhood in the Greater Vancouver area.

In regards to many of the homeless in the area most of them will be housed or a majority are housed now in many of the social housing in the area, the major problem is not the fact that they are drug users in this neighbourhood,
is the fact that the drug DEALERS that comes in most part from the suburbs when they need to sell their crap to the lesser fortunate, then get on the skytrain and ride back to their homes with complete disregard for those who live here.
I know for I am approached so many times by theses low life insisting and harassing anyone that walks and breathe along the DTS street.
they are for certainty some who are beyond salvation at this moment in time due to the severity of their addictions, however one must and need to remember that they where once a child of someone, or a mother who lost hope trough abuse, and let me be clear to ask not to past judgement so hastily until you have listen to their story some are sad and some are troubling and as a society , we are responsible to ensure the welfare and the well being towards each other as civilized as one can be, stop the me, me , me attitude it only leads to ignorance and growth of illness to what we hide in our closets, case in point the ROBERT Dziekanski showed to what can happen when we loses our way and choose to remain indifferent to the world we live in.
the Mayor may stay silent, but time will tell a other tale with hope, one cannot hide for an eternity and think that pushing the homeless further east or underground for two weeks will suffice.
The Police in this Area are truly inundated and overworked, verbally abused and disrespected daily and yet they stand proud to do the best they can with the little they get and the mayor well he couldn't care less.
I say this neighbourhood will be a example to be viewed not by the effort due to its mayor but by the efforts made by its people and is police force that working in harmony have and will come to a solution(s) that many cities in the future will envy for we as a community have stood strong despite the indifference policy maker created to silence us.
VPD and DTS equals GASTOWN equals SUCCESS.

[leftside]

Sounds like you live close to me. I bought a loft in Gastown in 2004. The area around the square is fantastic. One block south and two blocks south are disaster areas though. The selling of the crack addict housing on Cordova and renovating Blood Alley will help the Cordova/Carrall area. Pidgeon Park is a lost cause though!

You seem a little more tolerant than me ;)

[Jacques]

Sounds like you live close to me. I bought a loft in Gastown in 2004. The area around the square is fantastic. One block south and two blocks south are disaster areas though. The selling of the crack addict housing on Cordova and renovating Blood Alley will help the Cordova/Carrall area. Pidgeon Park is a lost cause though!

You seem a little more tolerant than me ;)

I wasn't always that tolerant, it comes from living here, like I mentioned how can a crack head cause you trouble, simple he can't he or she is too busy trying to smoke it up or sting it in a dark corner, the challenge is get rid of the PROVIDERS the DEALERS and in no time you will see just like kacroches they go somewhere else

[leftside]

Well, there's been a lot of discussion regarding the "solution" to the "problem". Getting rid of the dealers is a difficult task when there are so many willing customers due to the concentration of social services and social housing in one condensed area.

The article on the front page of 24 hrs today was good. Showed how difficult it is to get off drugs when all around you are doing drugs. The DTES is the worst place to put drug rehab centres. Anyway, I'm going off topic and probably am just repeating myself from past posts.

I was in Cobre this evening (a Monday) on Powell Street and it was packed full. Fabulous food. A welcome addition to the neighbourhood.

PS - I`ve become a lot less tolerant since I moved to Gastown. Sure, a lot of them need mental health services, but a lot of them are also the guy you knew at school who didn`t attend class because it was "cool", and then didn't get a job because it was "cool" and then believes that the world owes them a favour. Sometimes you need to help yourself. Sorry, going off topic again...

[vanhattan]

I did the whole gastown type urban pioneer gig when I was in my 20's. I hated it then and will not repeat it now. That is why I live in "Yaletown , cold and unfriendly, snobbish and rude". LOL, like gastown is friendly or not rude? Please, and as far as snobbish, reverse snobbish is just the same, just different end of the spectrum. I always figured a place is as good as you make it. I don't live in wonderful gas town, and I always say hello to everyone I pass in the street or park, don't give a damn if I am wearing my Prada or my used worn out Levi's. I meet tons of nice people nearly everyday while walking my "rescue" non designer Tennessee hunting coon dog, and I am treated with mostly courtesy by retailers and residents alike. I am so sick of people singing the praises of areas such as Gastown all the while always feeling the need to put other areas down like Yaletown. Do you really have to put others down to feel good/better about your neighborhood or self? Look, I am happy for you that you like the place. I don't, but I don;t go bashing the place. I hope it gets better, but I am too old to wait for it to do so. I happen to like to live relatively free from horrible drug addiction and open drug use and crime, not to mention trash, and very ugly and run down buildings, streets and sadly, run down people. Please get a grip, just because some people like myself, like pretty environments, things and people does not mean that we are all rude snobs or unfriendly, just as all who live in gas town are not drug addicts, filthy, petty theives.

[leftside]

I also like Yaletown a lot :) There are some very nice new buildings in that area of town these days. The only part I don't like is when driving over Granville bridge heading north. The buildings look very similar and bland, but from different viewpoints there are some amazing new buildings in Yaletown!

I appreciate that Gastown is not for everyone :yes:

[Jacques]

Dear Vanhattan,
To you Yaletown is a wonderful place, I did say it was snobbish and rude, simply that my experiences at times with some of the business and its people where rude, don't make an judicial case over it.
FYI:
I still do my baking business in Yaletown I do my walk about in Yaletown, my computer is serviced in Yaletown so is my favourite pet store supply.
It is truly getting tiresome when you read that Gastown is the poor Yaletown, we moved here in Gastown because of its potential and it atmosphere.
People ought stop giving this area a so called so scared attitude, it is changing because people like the ones who live here or moved here have seen the great beauty hidden beneath the dirt, gloom and doom.
As for the garbage maybe you can tell Yaletown and other district to stop dumping in the back alley of hasting at night as they did when the strike was on and it would solve the problem, the attitude not in my backyard is becoming redundant.
In five to ten years I guarantee the DTS will be as awesome to live in as it is today, it all in how you wish to perceive it.
I admit it has being a very difficult adjustment when I first moved here, yet when me and my business partner talk about investing into another condo, he wishes to relocate in the West-end and I cringe for I have become quite fond of this little village.
It takes a certain dedication to surmount the unfortunate circumstances that has plague this area, but like I mentioned it will be by our openness in accepting diversity, just like when decades ago SOHO in New York was the laughing stock when I lived there as a student, now look at it, you couldn't buy a place today under 300.00 usd a sq foot if lucky at that maybe get a closet.
In the hopes to calm you nerves I can state in asking you for my forgiveness and in return you may accept in opening your eyes to the possibility that Gastown and the DTS is not such a ugly burden that forces you to look away.

Come and visit
and stay a little longer
sit and enjoy a good meal or a nice coffee
and watch the unfolding of chaos and wonders this area is filled with!
its like an opera...
full of sadness and laughter intertwined
trough the shadows and rays in our daily lives
yet what marvellous display of what humanity can be when at it worst and at its best.
PEACE

[vanman]

A big part of what makes a city great is it's DIVERSITY of neighborhoods. So I wouldn't want the entire downtown core to be like Gastown, Yaletown, Coal Harbour, or the West End. IMO none is better than the other, it just depends on what your personal preferences are. The fact that we have such a variety of vibrant neighborhoods downtown is a testament to this city and it's people.

[vanhattan]

A big part of what makes a city great is it's DIVERSITY of neighborhoods. So I wouldn't want the entire downtown core to be like Gastown, Yaletown, Coal Harbour, or the West End. IMO none is better than the other, it just depends on what your personal preferences are. The fact that we have such a variety of vibrant neighborhoods downtown is a testament to this city and it's people.

Very well put Vanman, this is exactly what I was trying to get at but was not as succinct as you. The main point I was trying to make is that you do not have to highlight your perceived negatives of a paticular area in hopes of boosting your perceived positives of another. I happen to like Gastown for many of its unique qualities. At the same time, I am very sick of people putting down my neighborhood which happens to be Yaletown at the moment.

Thanks VanMan