Revitalizing the Heart of the City

In editorial comments on the Downtown Eastside Plan, the Vancouver Sun has reversed its historic endorsement for what has become known as Revitalization without Displacement. We believe policies that would force individuals to move to neighbourhoods that don't have needed housing and support services would have tragic consequences and repeat mistakes that led to conditions still faced in parts of the inner city.

The DTES has been a predominantly low income community for more than a century. During the 1980s and '90s world class housing programs were significantly cut back just as thousands of people were released from mental institutions. Many could only afford the inner city where they faced the horrors of inadequate housing, mental illness, addiction, and the fear or reality of an HIV/AIDS death sentence.

The City, under the leadership of mayors and councillors from different political parties, organized a comprehensive coordinated response by all levels of government to address these issues under the Vancouver Agreement.

The VA fell short of its goals -- primarily due to changes in political priorities. However its impacts have been underestimated. These include measures to protect and upgrade existing rooming houses, development of new well-run social housing and major advancements in health care services. The result has been dramatic reductions in rates of HIV and other diseases, expanded access to treatment and housing, leading to increased stability for many residents.

Coordinated efforts also led to the redevelopment of Woodwards as a world model for inclusive housing and a wide array of activities including SFU's School of Contemporary Arts that draw thousands of Vancouverites back to Hastings.

One also can see public realm improvements from Victory Square to Oppenheimer Park; many renovated heritage buildings and new businesses in Gastown; new market housing and stores in Chinatown; innovative Green Strathcona BIA initiatives as well as the re-emergence of Strathcona as one of the City's best neighbourhoods.

New cutting edge enterprises and cultural organizations have also been fostered including the Pot Luck Cafe, United We Can, Pigeon Park Savings, EMBERS, Heart of the City Festival, Saint James Music Academy and many others.

Where do they go?

Recently significant real estate speculation has increased property values. This puts the poor and marginalized at risk of displacement. Where do they go? There isn't affordable housing available for them elsewhere. Nor, frequently, are there neighbourhoods that welcome them and provide the needed supports. Much has to be done before municipalities like Abbotsford and Burnaby take on their fair share.

Creating a great and inclusive Downtown Eastside will require a renewed commitment to coordinated investments by all levels of government and their partners. In advance of actions by others, the City has to undertake extraordinary measures to protect the existing stock and ensure new low cost housing can be developed. This may mean higher densities than would likely be desirable under other circumstances as well as limiting competing uses that would further escalate land prices.

This is why the local Plan envisions the creation of 4,400 social housing units, but also plans for 3,000 market rental housing over the same 30-year period in the DTES. In addition, there is the intent to create new affordable homeownership in and out of the DTES, estimated at 8,850 units.

As two housing advocates who have spent decades working in the DTES, we feel considerable effort has gone into developing this plan, that it strives to achieve important community priorities, and that it is time to move toward implementation. Should the needed partners come to the table in a meaningful way, some of the density and use proposals can be reconsidered as long as there is an ongoing commitment to the goal of revitalization without displacement.

For the price of a stadium roof...

For those who ask is it achievable: many of the partners who began working together through the Vancouver Agreement, went on to win the 2010 Olympic bid and secure billions to make it a reality. If anything, 30 years for $1 billion for the Downtown Eastside is too timid a timeline. Almost that much was raised for the stadium's retractable roof.

We have to rekindle the same inclusive Olympic spirit to take on the challenges facing Vancouver's inner city. We need to do this not as a race to the bottom of the ski hill where there is only one winner, but in the spirit of a relay race in which no one can be left behind.