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The title does seem a tad bit sensational, certainly Vancouver has issues that have gotten worse over the past decade or so but Vancouver is not dying. Vancouver has something like 3,000 homeless versus Seattle's 10,000+ homeless. Being a U.S. citizen living in Canada, I think any kind of violent crime is much more shocking to Canadians because it's not as common here as it is in the U.S., so when it does happen it generates more publicity.
In my opinion I think the entire western world is experiencing a decline at the moment. Civilizations never remain static, they're always ascending or declining in a variety of ways. All of the cities along the west coast are experiencing a surge of drug addiction, homelessness, and increases in crime: From San Diego all the way up to Vancouver. It's the same trend for every city in-between.
I am an optimist though, I think in due time things will improve and there will be a future upswing.
Things could get a little worse before they start to improve, but just remember that whatever crime, homelessness, and societal decay that Vancouver experiences, you can be sure that it will be 2 or 3 times worse in most U.S. cities.
The way I see it, it isn't just the western coastal regions, it's the whole world is having "people problems". In a nutshell it's all a consequence of over-population, there are too many people on the planet right now. Humans are animals too and just like all other animals when their populations get out of hand people start getting sick and spreading their sicknesses, or going off in the head and they start self destructing with mind altering substances or forcing others' hands to turn on them and destroy them.
Part of the "people problem" for the western coastal regions is that more than 75% of the homeless and the addicts and mentally ill and criminally inclined, etc., etc. are not originally from the west, they're not native born to the western regions, they're incursors from elsewhere. They've come west to coastal regions from other places across the continent just like history shows so many other people have done when they experience hard times. They come because of what has generally always been a more hospitable climate. Both indoors and outdoors it's easier and less expensive to survive inclement weather conditions in the west at any time of year but particularly more so in the winter months, compared to other parts of the continent. For the druggies it's also because it's easier and cheaper to gain access to drugs in coastal regions because of all the sea ports.
OP, you said the same problems are being experienced to one degree or another along the west from San Diego to Vancouver, and that is correct, but in truth it's the same situation in varying degrees from San Diego all the way up to Alaska and all points in between.
I don't know what it's like along the western regions going south from San Diego all the way to the southern tip of South America but I imagine there are places that are having some similar problems.
I was in YVR in summer of 2018 - granted pre-pandemic and pre-inflation nightmare afflicting well pretty much the entire world. I would say though that overall, in the vast majority of the city I felt perfectly safe and at ease. I can think of 90 percent of the cities i've visited in my entire life as having more 'edge' than Vancouver, meaning that my 6th danger sense was on higher constant alert in the vast majority of them than rather demure Vancouver.
Bad parts of the city - of course but fairly localized and mainly on 1 section of 1 street.
Like lots of cities, affordability, particular housing affordability is a problem and it is pronounced in Vancouver, but the same can be said for Toronto and increasingly Montreal and other Canadian cities.
So yeah, I think this Vancouver is dying sentiment is over the top sensationalism. Report the increased crimes, drug abuse, report the increasing poverty sure but balance it out and also look at statistics. Vancouver CMA grew over 7 percent from 2016 to 2021 which is a higher growth rate than Toronto and Montreal which were just under 5 percent.
I was in YVR in summer of 2018 - granted pre-pandemic and pre-inflation nightmare afflicting well pretty much the entire world. I would say though that overall, in the vast majority of the city I felt perfectly safe and at ease. I can think of 90 percent of the cities i've visited in my entire life as having more 'edge' than Vancouver, meaning that my 6th danger sense was on higher constant alert in the vast majority of them than rather demure Vancouver.
Bad parts of the city - of course but fairly localized and mainly on 1 section of 1 street.
Like lots of cities, affordability, particular housing affordability is a problem and it is pronounced in Vancouver, but the same can be said for Toronto and increasingly Montreal and other Canadian cities.
So yeah, I think this Vancouver is dying sentiment is over the top sensationalism. Report the increased crimes, drug abuse, report the increasing poverty sure but balance it out and also look at statistics. Vancouver CMA grew over 7 percent from 2016 to 2021 which is a higher growth rate than Toronto and Montreal which were just under 5 percent.
Sensationalism is right. Vancouver isn't dying, but it is going through a change since the pandemic.
We have had tent cities in a couple of parks, which have been removed. Many who lived in these tent cities refuse housing. They are the drug addicts who don't want to live in housing where doing drugs isn't allowed.
Anyway, these people created a new tent city along Hastings Street. It was fairly large, and blocked access to buildings. The city said it was dangerous because of fire hazards..there were a couple of fires, and it attracted criminals selling hard drugs. Police found one tent with guns.
They have been trying to clear this out as well, but it just disperses them into other parts of downtown where they cause trouble. They seem to like breaking windows. One shop keeps their windows boarded up on Hastings , because of this. A couple of people have been knifed, but survived.
It's something that I've never seen at this level in Vancouver before.
Zoisite is right, many aren't to from here. Vancouver has always been the end of the road so to speak.
You're correct in that it is mostly in one area. We have a civic election tomorrow, and no one stands out to me as having a real solution.
Sensationalism is right. Vancouver isn't dying, but it is going through a change since the pandemic.
We have had tent cities in a couple of parks, which have been removed. Many who lived in these tent cities refuse housing. They are the drug addicts who don't want to live in housing where doing drugs isn't allowed.
Anyway, these people created a new tent city along Hastings Street. It was fairly large, and blocked access to buildings. The city said it was dangerous because of fire hazards..there were a couple of fires, and it attracted criminals selling hard drugs. Police found one tent with guns.
They have been trying to clear this out as well, but it just disperses them into other parts of downtown where they cause trouble. They seem to like breaking windows. One shop keeps their windows boarded up on Hastings , because of this. A couple of people have been knifed, but survived.
It's something that I've never seen at this level in Vancouver before.
Zoisite is right, many aren't to from here. Vancouver has always been the end of the road so to speak.
You're correct in that it is mostly in one area. We have a civic election tomorrow, and no one stands out to me as having a real solution.
Well and there are really no easy solutions to housing and affordability issues along with drug addiction and those with Mental health problems. Big cities attract the whoooole spectrum so yeah, you're going to get this and yes, Vancouver is a fast growing city/region so I hate to say it, but it comes with the territory.
I am personally worried about our quality of life as a country across the board. These are just not good time for so many families from coast to coast to coast. This isn't a Vancouver only problem. Something similar could have been done for any of our large cities really. Pick some issues everyone is having and say the city is dying - not productive.
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I've seen similar video productions for the "death" of Seattle and Denver and those were pretty much the same messaging. The downtown East Side attracting an underbelly is nothing new, but it's always been small and concentrated. In addition to the pandemic accelerating homelessness and drug use, the fentanyl factor has made things from bad to worse in so many communities across the continent being extremely potent, deadly, and causing more desperate situations.
I did watch the video in full. I won't disagree some of the content was alarmist, particularly the title which is obviously click bait. But Vancouver had an overall clean and safe feel whenever I visited back in the 2000's, even Chinatown and Gastown which was only blocks away from the DTES. But the video content was implying violent attacks had an uptick in other neighborhoods like Kitsilano. That really sucks, but my take away from the video content is not a "don't go to Vancouver" memo. All of NA's large cities are going through to some degree, even tiny Burlington, VT has taken a bad turn lately. But it seems much more visible on the west coast.
I do believe Seattle and other west coast cities likely have a worse problem on their hands in terms of homelessness. But the West Coast as a whole has a greater tolerance and softer laws for hard drugs, and it's not really clear where the boundaries should be. I looked at Stats Can for violent crime to see where Vancouver is on that spectrum. Vancouver was never on my radar as a high crime city. I generally thought of Edmonton and Winnipeg as being higher on that spectrum in terms of violent crime rates in Canada, which usually as a norm registers as lower than US cities.
I'm sure 2021 is a one off year due to the pandemic, but I said to myself wow! 60 murders (https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1...101%2C20210101). Higher than Winnipeg, Edmonton, Montreal, Boston, & Seattle. Still far lower than most US cities of similar size within municipal boundaries comparing crime stats.
The video footage of the crap show on East Hastings has fentanyl written all over it and therein lies the crux. There are similar videos on youtube shot in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood and Skid Row, same underbelly. The answers for curing the addiction to this magnitude are unknown, but it does beg the question though what kind of boundaries should be set.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 10-14-2022 at 05:58 PM..
The Granville St. Entertainment District sure is dangerous these days...stabbings and shootings daily.
I live 3 blocks away in Yaletown. Stopped going out after dark because I fear for my personal safety.
So when you ask "How bad is Vancouver today?"...I'd have to say it's no longer just the DTES, it's neighborhoods like mine that are now crime-ridden with lots of drug activity, homelessness, and violent attacks.
The Granville St. Entertainment District sure is dangerous these days...stabbings and shootings daily.
I live 3 blocks away in Yaletown. Stopped going out after dark because I fear for my personal safety.
So when you ask "How bad is Vancouver today?"...I'd have to say it's no longer just the DTES, it's neighborhoods like mine that are now crime-ridden with lots of drug activity, homelessness, and violent attacks.
Daily is an exaggeration. The recent uptick in the last week, may make it appear so.
It certainly isn't the same though from even a few years ago. Some very undesirables have moved in, some put there by the city in SRO's.
The proposed changes in development may help clean it up. The closing of many of the cinema's didn't help. The whole idea of an entertainment area failed. It left very little there opened in the daytime. IMO they should have had those few blocks made into a pedestrian area only, encouraging cafes etc, like in some streets I've seen in other cities. Having just buses and no cars made it neither one or the other.
Comparing Yaletown to the DTES is hyperbole. Yes, Yaletown did get some spillover when they moved people out of the tent cities, and a few years ago, it was worse than it is now.
The proposed changes in development may help clean it up. The closing of many of the cinema's didn't help. The whole idea of an entertainment area failed. It left very little there opened in the daytime. IMO they should have had those few blocks made into a pedestrian area only, encouraging cafes etc, like in some streets I've seen in other cities. Having just buses and no cars made it neither one or the other.
Yes, I heard about the new bold vision for a vibrant Granville St. downtown...But I believe what is needed is redevelopment that provides levels of offices and hotels above retail, restaurants, and entertainment venues.
A high density of office employees in the area would serve to significantly boost foot traffic in the area during the daytime and directly support retail and restaurants in the area.
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- not productive.
