Lomography

Vancouver, Downtown - East Side
written by poitr on September 14th, 2008 , 3 comments (3 votes)

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The Vancouver downtown east side has quite a story and history. It is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Vancouver, B.C. At the turn of the 20th century, this was the heart of Vancouver (Hastings st. & Main St.) Everything was there, the main library, the banks, City hall, fantastic shopping and even the Wood wards Department Store. The great photographer Fred Herktzog focused much of his time to this area.

But as the future moved west, the east side was left to rot….Crack cocaine took over in the 70’s and business left the area, pawn shops opened as did low budget hotels. The 80’s brought street prostitution to the area, and with that in the 90’s it was declared that the Vancouver Downtown east side had the highest rate of HIV infections in the Western world.

Now the VDES is a home to many empty buildings,single room housing, community help centers, churches, conflict and confusion. Much of Vancouver’s heritage is still in the east side, and with help from many organizations, people will be able to enjoy all it has to offer. Young artists have many galleries there, fun cafes, rich Asian history….it’s all there, waiting to be discovered…..don’t be shy.