The Poorest Postal Code

dru — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 21:31:36 +0000

Vancouver's Downtown Eastside in Photos

The Downtown Eastside of Vancouver is the poorest postal code in Canada. Its streets are a transitional home for thousands. As a district renowned for police violence, drug addition and sex work, the Downtown Eastside maintains the highest HIV infection rate in North America, affecting 30 per cent of the local population, mainly women. The homeless population continues to grow, with an estimated 2000 homeless people, a population that has doubled since 2002.

A disproportionate segment of the Downtown Eastside is indigenous. According to the Pivot Legal Society, 30 per cent of the residents are indigenous, a rate 10 times higher than the national average. Indigenous women experience horrific violence in the district; according to CBC Vancouver more than 60 women have disappeared from the neighborhood in the past decade.

As Vancouver undergoes an economic boom in the lead-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics, the Downtown Eastside remains a consistent reminder of the social and human realities of urban poverty. Driven by Olympic development, the forces of gentrification have gathered a full head of steam. Recently, many low-income hotels in the area, which effectively serve as low-income housing units, have been demolished for the development of high-scale development projects. The historic Woodwards building, located in the heart of the district, was recently demolished for condominium development. In 2002, housing activists and squatters had opened up the building as a squat, and demanded that the government build social housing and additional homeless shelters in the area.

A long-standing tradition of social activism remains rooted in the Downtown Eastside. Numerous anti-poverty and housing-rights organizations, including the Anti-Poverty Committee [APC] and the Downtown Eastside Residents Association [DERA] maintain strong political campaigns in defense of residents' rights. In recent months, multiple demonstrations against poverty, demands for low-income housing and a squat action have been organized in the district.

View the original gallery at CMAQ.net.

Downtown Eastside 5

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The Dominion - Sawsan Kalache

The Poorest Postal Code