Ah if only they new...

According to the Vancouver Sun, the UN has described Vancouver as a paradise with a dark side..

It describes Vancouver as a "breathtakingly gorgeous" city with a sizzling economy.
"But there is trouble in paradise. And nowhere is it more evident than in the Downtown Eastside-a two-kilometre-square stretch of decaying rooming houses, seedy strip bars and shady pawnshops," states the UN agency.
"Worst of all, it is home to a Hepatitis C (HCV) rate of just below 70 per cent and an HIV prevalence rate of an estimated 30 per cent-the same as Botswana's."

The sizzling economy bit has me a bit puzzled. Vancouver has a sizzling real estate market and hence a HUGE construction boom going on. I have little evidence of anything else.

Vancouver is a tourist city...and not the good kind. It attracts lots of overseas business and wealth. They buy up the pretty glass towers that we can't afford.

They drive the 'densification' and 'ecodensity' ideas that we are constantly hammered with.

Vancouver is the home of illegal goods. Goods coming in and out of the city. Knock-off's of Channel and so on are available everywhere. Everyone has a fake YSL bag. Well, a certain demographic of our population anyway.

Vancouver is the home of fake lottery scams that target little old ladies in the US. Vancouver is the city that couldn't keep a stock exchange due to the volume of shady activity taking place on it.

Money here is not usually made in purely legitimate ways.

There are no big industries here. Not many head offices left.
So what is generating all the income?

Who is paying for this image of paradise?

I love living here for the scenery and climate. However, the cost of living rises more every single day.

Our city and provincial governments have nothing but dollar signs in their eyes and only working towards one goal....selling the city to the world for the 2010 Olympics.

There is no concern for the regular citizens that make up this fair city.
Health care is a problem.
Housing is a problem
Business are falling apart ....the death toll on the Cambie Line increases every month. So much for small business

It has finally come out that all the promises for housing made by VANOC are highly unlikely and in my opinion was always just words on paper.

For the rest of the world Vancouver is a nice place to play. Lax laws and a laid back style help off shore investors make some easy cash....at the expense of the rest of us.

There is nothing viable in the economy of this city...nothing sustaining. Nothing long lasting.

We are being told to get out of our traditional homes. We are told that family life doesn't fit in here. WE are told that condos are the way to go.

According to Patrick Condon in the Vancouver Sun, June 26, 85% of new housing needs will be for non family housing.

I disagree with this. I say this statistic is being forced upon us by inflated real estate prices and marketers pushing their condos.

Families are being driven to the suburbs whether they want to go or not. Guilted out for a dream of a home with a yard and so forth.

I am very sad at how Vancouver has fallen. I hope to be proven wrong.

But I doubt it.

Long Term Sacrifice for Short Term Glory

I don't know if you have gotten the impression yet, but I am not enthusiastic about Vancouver hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics.

I used to enjoy the Olympics but have become jaded and fed up with the constant stories of political bribery, doping, and the loss of the 'heart' of the whole concept of the Olympics.

The costs alone of putting on such a spectacle puts me right off. Especially when our city has so many LONG term issues to deal with. Better things to spend the money on.

So I didn't bother watching the unveiling of the new Olympic Clock yesterday. It is now three years to the opening. My mom told me that she was disgusted by the releasing of helium balloons into the sky to mark the occasion. More pollution.

I was glad to hear about the protesters 'spoiling' all the fun.

While I don't necessarily approve of the Anti Poverty Group's tactics.....their message is important. And should not be trivialized like it was by the biased reporting in the Vancouver Sun. A paper obviously anxious to be a part of the whole hoopla.

Their main message is about the lack of housing for those unfortunate enough to fall on or below the poverty line. God help you if you have any mental illness or drug addiction. Vancouver does not want you nor does it want you to be seen during the Olympics.

They have been doggedly fighting with City Hall. Begging them to address this situation. Mayor Sullivan avoids them and answering their questions as much as possible. City Hall is too busy enjoying the condoization of Vancouver. Condo's that are replacing any room houses and cheap rental places. Condo's that developers charge lots for and help ramp up assessments and property taxes that tumble into City Hall coffers.

Homeless are bad for property values.

We saw this twenty years ago. When Vancouver started prepping for Expo 86, rooming houses suddenly started chucking out their tenants and 'renovating,' hoping to cash in on the influx of tourists during the event. I could even forgive this, Expo was a 6 month event, that is a lot of new people for a long period of time. Worth the money. There was also a flurry of activity to effectively move the 'riffraff' out of sight of the visitors.

The homeless situation is a lot worse now than it was then.

What will Vancouver do when all eyes are upon it this time?

When I heard that the soon to be developed false creek lands were going to be used to house the Olympic Village, I knew there would be trouble.

I had been reading the City Hall reports and news reports about this development. The development was supposed to include a fair chunk of "affordable" housing - some sort of undefined social housing or rental property.

Each report I read saw this portion shrink.

When a deal was struck with a developer, the affordable bit all but vanished. All because of the Olympics. All because of the developer wanting to make as much money as possible and the city to spend as little as possible.

You can see that by the end of the Olympics the village property will be sold at market value.

Market value is insanely high in Vancouver.

So much for social housing.

While the legacy of having much improved sporting facilities built is a nice thing and a good thing for those involved in those sports. I would like to think that many of these renovations would have happened down the road anyway.

And again, is it worth the costs? Costs that are coming in FAR higher than ever projected. The overruns are going to be astronomical. I am not sure if an Olympic event has made a profit in the past. This one will not.

And after the two weeks of fun and excitement, it will be back to the same old same old. Three more years gone by and money spent and nothing solved.

Still no social housing programs. No help for those who need it. The fat cats fatter.
More smiling politicians soooo happy for all the marvelous photo ops. And not a scruffy homeless person in sight.