VAN_lightsnight

[12] Construction site in the heart of the Downtown Eastside. Formally the location of Vancouver’s famed Woodwards building, squatted by housing rights activists in 2002. A subject of intense municipal debate within Vancouver, residents of the neighborhood argue for the current development to include a high percentage of social housing units. Developers are pushing for the majority of the development to become high income condominium dwellings. Local activists pin-point the former Woodwards building as the prime example of the City of Vancouver’s gentrification efforts which exclude the local population of the Downtown Eastside.