A Photo Essay: Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside December 2006

Compiled by Sawsan Kalache and Stefan Christoff.




The Downtown Eastside of Vancouver is the poorest postal code in Canada and 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% 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% of the residents are indigenous, 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 a major 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. Forces of gentrification in the quarter are in full affect. Recently multiple 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 landmark Woodwards building located in the heart of the district was recently demolished for condo development, the former location of a political squat for the homeless in 2002. A long standing tradition of social activism remains rooted in the Downtown Eastside, with numerous anti-poverty and housing-rights organizations including the Anti-Poverty Committee [APC] and the Downtown Eastside Residents Association [DERA], which maintain strong political campaigns in defense of the rights of the area’s residents. In the past months multiple demonstrations against poverty, for low-income housing and a squat action have been organized in the district.