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

[SpongeG]

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

By JOHN MACKIE, Vancouver Sun January 5, 2011 6:21 PM Comments (6)

VANCOUVER -- East Van has had a bad rep for decades. It’s the poor side of town, a scary no-man’s land you steer clear of when the sun goes down.

Frankly, you get the feeling many people on the west side would rather live in Nanaimo than east of Main Street. But wait!

Rising rents and real-estate prices have pushed many people out of Kits and Point Grey and over to Main, Commercial and Strathcona.

Main Street has in fact become Vancouver’s main street, a vibrant strip humming with many of the city’s hippest new stores and restaurants. (Not the high-end, chi-chi places, but the most interesting ones.)

East Van’s coolest bar, the Waldorf, has been refurbished and reinvented as a hipster hangout. In tandem with the cheese mecca Les Amis du Fromage, it’s bringing life back to a long-dead part of Hastings.

Commercial Drive has been happening for years, an exotic blend of groovy restaurants and offbeat stores. Donald’s Market anchors a thriving shopping district around Hastings and Nanaimo.

In November more than 10,000 people trekked down to the Eastside Culture Crawl, a decade-old event where East Van’s many artists open up their studios to the public.

East Van even has its own icon, the giant East Van cross (Monument for East Vancouver) artist Ken Lum erected on the bluff at Clark Drive and Great Northern Way.

A shift in the public perception seems to be afoot. In many eyes, East Van has become the cool part of town, the cultural heart of Vancouver.

Lum says this is nothing new.

...

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business...#ixzz1AEDZ0kah

[SpikePhanta]

I know some people from East Van who hates the Ken Lum art.

I would agree, I even walk around hastings when they have some street festivals.

I'm liking the new rebirth!

[squeezied]

Rising rents and real-estate prices have pushed many people out of Kits and Point Grey and over to Main, Commercial and Strathcona.

I guess that's the bright side of rising real-estate: gentrification of the East side... well at least it's not Detroit so I'm content.

[Conrad Yablonski]

Can you say Fluff?

Can you say 'Bigging up East Van condo sales' because real estate is the only large customer left in newspapers?

Sat in an East Side restaurant lately (Havana comes to mind) and seen a drug bust (including bloody busted heads) happen just across the street?

There have always been some great little streets to live on in East Van but it was a quiet low key working class family life-the piece reads like complete bull.

[whatnext]

Its not like drug busts and shootings are unknown on the West Side. Best Neighbours restaurant anyone? Quattro on 4th?

To say its the cultural heart is a bit of an overstatement though. Downtown would still be the cultural centre in my opinion.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

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

By JOHN MACKIE, Vancouver Sun January 5, 2011 6:21 PM Comments (6)

Commercial Drive has been happening for years, an exotic blend of groovy restaurants and offbeat stores. Donald’s Market anchors a thriving shopping district around Hastings and Nanaimo.
. . . . East Van has become the cool part of town, . . . Lum says this is nothing new.


Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business...#ixzz1AEDZ0kah

I'm so pleased.

[crazyjoeda]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

Wow. "happening..." "cool...." "... groovy..."
Hey man, like, uh, what decade are you writing from, you know?
Nothing wrong with article content, but let's remember writing style, at least in your choice of vocabulary. Peace, Man.

Your embarrassing yourself.

[PaperTiger]

Leave it to the cool hunters at the sun to discover the leading edge of culture. In other news, there is this cool new band called the black eyed peas. You should check them out.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by crazyjoeda

Your embarrassing yourself.

That's true, excuse me.

[dreambrother808]

Artists generally live and have studio space on the East Side. If you run in these circles, there is no doubt that Easy Van is the cultural heart. This is in part a matter of economics but also a desire to be secluded from yuppie urbanites and bland suburbanites.

Nothing new.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

Artists generally live and have studio space on the East Side. If you run in these circles, there is no doubt that Easy Van is the cultural heart. This is in part a matter of economics but also a desire to be secluded from yuppie urbanites and bland suburbanites...

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

[Yume-sama]

Originally Posted by whatnext

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

It's not unusual to end up working for, and solely relying on for your livelihood, the people you hate

"Fck the corporation! Down with capitalism!"
*2 hours later*
"Would you like fries with that?"

[SpikePhanta]

Originally Posted by crazyjoeda

Your embarrassing yourself.

You're **

jkjkjk.

I do like commercial drive when they have the indie arts scene at times.
Only problem I have with the area at times are the hardcore hippies
oh and the people fighting "gentrification"

[crazyjoeda]

Originally Posted by SpikePhanta

You're **

jkjkjk.

... that was kinda my point. Wasn't aware vocabulary, spelling or grammar was moderated here.

[agrant]

Isn't Main Street basically the border between the west and east side? And how do two streets (if you include Main) equate to the entire East Vancouver area being "cool". Most of it is a glorified trailer park. Seems a bit of a stretch if you ask me.

[quobobo]

Originally Posted by agrant

Isn't Main Street basically the border between the west and east side? And how do two streets (if you include Main) equate to the entire East Vancouver area being "cool". Most of it is a glorified trailer park. Seems a bit of a stretch if you ask me.

More than two streets for sure. Main, Hastings, Fraser, and Commercial at least. Almost everyone I know who's under 30 and into live music or art lives east of Cambie, and Hastings-Sunrise seems increasingly popular.

[agrant]

Originally Posted by quobobo

More than two streets for sure. Main, Hastings, Fraser, and Commercial at least. Almost everyone I know who's under 30 and into live music or art lives east of Cambie, and Hastings-Sunrise seems increasingly popular.

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.

[squeezied]

Originally Posted by Phusion

Detroit homes have better architecture

Unless you like an endless sea of vancouver specials

I don't like the endless sea of Vancouver specials. What's worse than that is an endless sea of abandoned derelict houses.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by squeezied

I don't like the endless sea of Vancouver specials. What's worse than that is an endless sea of abandoned derelict houses.

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

[nova9]

I wouldn't call Eastvan the cultural capital, I wouldn't call the Westside the cultural capital. It lies in downtown (or it's supposed to)

But artists have always treaded to the lower income parts of town and gentrification follows. Examples abound in every city.

I dislike how the Vancouver Sun seems to be 'discovering' Eastvan for the rest of us. Nor do I agree with the notion that it has now become something because people moved there away from Kitsilano.