East Van sheds its bad rep and emerges as Vancouver's cultural heart

[squeezied]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Endless sea of abandoned derelict houses? Where pray tell did you find that?

Common knowledge, but I did a quick google search of "detroit abandoned derelict" to verify, here's one of the first links: http://forums.canadiancontent.net/ne...abandoned.html

[Yume-sama]

Are we honestly having a Detroit / Vancouver comparison???

[dreambrother808]

It's the second thread that has appeared in. People need to just lay off the Detroit references and that Phusion dude won't feel the need to tell us all how superior it actually is.

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by whatnext

In other words, secluded from the people who actually buy their stuff!

Meh. I know artists who do well for themselves. They aren't begging west siders or suburbanites to buy their stuff, nor are they working at McDonald's. They do appreciate and take inspiration from the vibe of east side life. If you aren't one of those people or aren't friends with them, then yeah I guess you might not be able to understand. They aren't simply caricatures or dimwitted hippies because some of their choices and values may be foreign to your own. There is no need to continually belittle and put down everything remotely progressive or outside one's sphere of life.

[squeezied]

I apologize, I should have known the reference would have sparked some passion. Anyhow, I'm going to end now.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by squeezied

Common knowledge, but I did a quick google search of "detroit abandoned derelict" to verify, here's one of the first links: http://forums.canadiancontent.net/ne...abandoned.html

Oh, I thought you meant an endless sea of abandoned houses in East Van. I was thinking it had must really have gone downhill since I last went to Rona!

[nova9]

Are people mixing up the Downtown Eastside with Eastvan. Because I don't see how we can even compare to Detroit. I've lived in the Eastvan all my life and I see how it thrives and the life in my part of town. I just don't get it.

[Zassk]

Originally Posted by agrant

I'm very familiar with those streets. All told, it still doesn't really add up to a whole lot in my books. We're talking about small sections of these streets, not the entire street. Don't get me wrong, I love these parts of the city, but the vast majority of East Van blows IMHO.

There is no street on the west side that is attractive from end-to-end either. You're holding East Van to an impossible expectation.

[twoNeurons]

Since when has East Van had a bad rep? A bad rep for what, exactly?

Whalley has a bad rep for derugs/being run down
Surrey in general has a bad rep for crime/car theft
The Downtown Eastside (straddling East and West) has a bad rep for drugs/prostitution/being run-down
Kerrisdale has a bad reputation for pretending to be the "Creme-de-la-creme" of Vancouver

What exactly is East Van's reputation? The only thing I can think of is grow-ops and bland Vancouver specials... but grow-ops are everywhere.

[Yume-sama]

I think everyone is posting about the DTES not East Van, as nova9 thinks, too

[agrant]

Originally Posted by Zassk

There is no street on the west side that is attractive from end-to-end either. You're holding East Van to an impossible expectation.

I'm just telling it like it is (IMO). I haven't said anything about the west side.

[Conrad Yablonski]

Originally Posted by Zassk

There is no street on the west side that is attractive from end-to-end either. You're holding East Van to an impossible expectation.

Attractive is in the eye of the beholder-try walking Alma from Marine Drive to Point Grey road-which I have done-all you'll see an attractive street from end to end-ditto Balaclava and many many others.

[gillty]

Originally Posted by nova9

Are people mixing up the Downtown Eastside with Eastvan.

This, I've lived throughout Eastvan, the west side, and central Burnaby. I had the choice of where to live and I chose Renfrew Heights.

[geoff's two cents]

Originally Posted by Conrad Yablonski

Attractive is in the eye of the beholder-try walking Alma from Marine Drive to Point Grey road-which I have done-all you'll see an attractive street from end to end-ditto Balaclava and many many others.

Some would also call that boring, along with all of the predictable chains that dominate the west side of downtown. (I don't mind them too much, personally). I think the point of the original article is that the east side is more culturally interesting because it's much less predictable and caters to a more culturally diverse (probably because less well-heeled) crowd.

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by twoNeurons

Since when has East Van had a bad rep? A bad rep for what, exactly?

Whalley has a bad rep for derugs/being run down
Surrey in general has a bad rep for crime/car theft
The Downtown Eastside (straddling East and West) has a bad rep for drugs/prostitution/being run-down
Kerrisdale has a bad reputation for pretending to be the "Creme-de-la-creme" of Vancouver

What exactly is East Van's reputation? The only thing I can think of is grow-ops and bland Vancouver specials... but grow-ops are everywhere.

its always has a bad rep - since i was a kid in the 80's before i even moved here east van was known as the land of gangs and drugs and tough streets - the harlem of the city if you will

you come here and realize its not what you hear

someone i used to work with grew up in east van and all over really but a lot of east van high schools had bad reps in the city for gangs and drugs and all that

that sort of stuff has moved to surrey and the suburbs though in the last decade - probably in the 90's it started

as east van became the artsy/alternative side of town which used to be kits but that gentrified and became too pricey so they just moved east

and now the main street crowd is moving east to fraser who knows maybe killarney will become hipster central in a decade

[SpikePhanta]

East side schools still have a bad rep today among the west side schools,