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Urban redevelopment with an edgeHaves and have-nots to live together in housing plan for abandoned Woodward'sBy AMY CARMICHAEL

Monday, August 8, 2005 Page S1

Canadian Press

VANCOUVER -- A massive building project in downtown Vancouver hopes to integrate drug addicts, businesses and middle-income earners in one of Canada's most disturbing neighbourhoods.

The $200-million redevelopment plan for the abandoned Woodward's store building in the Downtown Eastside slum is edgy, say urban renewal experts.

The complex will be mixed use, with low-income housing beside tony market-priced lofts and condos. The site is being prepared and construction is slated to be finished in 2009, but planners are already thinking about the need for awareness courses to teach neighbours how to live together.

Hipsters buying into the more affordable Woodward's condos are going to enjoy the neighbourhood more if they learn about the different mental-health issues many residents struggle with and the effects of street drugs, said Cameron Gray, a director of housing for the city of Vancouver.

He thinks that might help sensitize newcomers and reduce some fears about the neighbourhood.

"And I think we should be educating residents too about what is appropriate behaviour," he said.

Locals think this is a ridiculous, the first step in a gentrification process that will push poor people out of the area.

"People don't want to move into this neighbourhood to learn about the people down here," said Muggs Sigurgeirson, vice-president of the Carnegie Centre Association, a community centre where the homeless and drug addicts meet.

"They want a good housing deal. And then they want to protect their investment and want their property value to go up, so they fight to push homeless people out."

She doesn't think an infusion of middle- or higher-income earners and businesses will help.

"What's wrong with poor people living together?" she asked.

"I've never heard that living with rich people makes things better. If they want to try this experiment, why don't they start with Point Grey or Shaughnessey, the expensive parts of town."

Mr. Gray and other urban designers say projects like Woodward's are necessary to stop the institutionalization of the notorious slum.

It has become a beacon for mental health and addiction services, and as a result, new business won't go near it.

The most notable development in recent years was a safe-injection site for heroin users.

"We want to get more of an income mix down there," Mr. Gray said. "Low-income earners -- not just addicts and the mentally ill, but also old-age pensioners, young people who are out there starting their careers and willing to live in a neighbourhood that would have to remain relatively tolerant in terms of behaviour.

"But one that isn't allowed to get too bizarre which we are seeing with the crystal-meth impact, and crack. The hyper energy among the addicts that can be a bit scary."

The developer, Westbank Projects, and the city, have promised not to push out the poor people who have long made the Downtown Eastside their home.

The public was consulted about the design, which weaves contemporary architecture inspired by the flat-iron style in the neighbourhood with heritage preservation of the building, built in 1908.

What puts the project ahead of its time is the wild mix of tenants planned for the development.

Two hundred units of non-market housing will shelter low-income people who may have mental illness or addictions.

They will live alongside 350 units of market housing made up of lofts and condominiums.

On the street level, non-profit community organizations will be given spaces to knit the neighbourhood together.

Simon Fraser University has been allocated space for a contemporary arts school. Community gardens and a public park will ring Woodward's.

The project also includes a rooftop daycare centre.

The nostalgic Woodward's "W" sign will be retained and restored.

The architectural plans attracted developer Ian Gillespie.

"That's one thing. It's another to really roll up your sleeves and start putting resources into it. It's been a real learning exercise. I'm out of my normal area of comfort. It's nice to be challenged, so I think as much as anything it became about that, a challenge, and whether we could do it."

He's not worried about selling the market housing and retail space. Mr. Gillespie vows that Woodward's will be the talk of Vancouver when units go up for sale next spring.

"The risk is in containing the costs," he said.

More so than any other development he's been involved in, Mr. Gillespie said he thinks Woodward's is worth it.

The project is dynamic and could really change the neighbourhood for the better, said Penny Gurstein, who specializes in the socio-cultural aspects of community planning.

She thinks the risks of failure are real, but that it's time to try.

The timing is perfect, she said, because the real estate market is hot and people are fighting over small condos downtown.

"Thanks to the real estate crunch at the moment, I think the market housing has a good chance of being filled. There's a really different kind of resident in Vancouver now, even than there was in the '80s when people really didn't think of living downtown. Now it's very acceptable and even desirable."

Ms. Gurstein said artists and maybe high-tech companies will be attracted to the area. And while she worries about gentrification and displacement of the poor, she thinks the project is doing its best to accommodate everyone.

"It's a really complicated issue. I can see both sides. But I think even the activists recognize having a mix of people and legitimate businesses is probably the healthiest thing for everybody. It makes the neighbourhood more revitalized more vital and it loses its stigma.

"On the other hand Woodward's could be a catalyst for a gentrification project and push residents out. Where would they go? They'd be pushed further and further away."

At best, the 200 units of non-market housing will give hope to the homeless that developers are willing to try new ideas to create affordable housing.

There are 1,200 people living on the streets in Vancouver, and overnight shelters are full. Homelessness has doubled in the past few years.

The Woodward's idea could be a way forward, said Mr. Gray, as the city tries to deal with the thousands of low-income housing spots that are decrepit and in need of renovation.

© Copyright 2005 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.
 
Re: Globe: Mixed-Income Project in Vancouver Downtown Eastsi

Studys have shown that mixed income housing developments (or even co-op's) actually help the community by helping to raise the property values and they also help integrate the lower income familys into a medium class level, and this actually helps those who are not able to afford to live in a truely medium class neighbourhood.
 
Re: Globe: Mixed-Income Project in Vancouver Downtown Eastsi

Hence, St. Lawrence.
 
Re: Globe: Mixed-Income Project in Vancouver Downtown Eastsi

The CBC had a great documentary following the selection process for this project. Actually, it was some smart local city councillor who used the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Bid as hostage to land the funding for the project. He treatened to oppose the bid when the IOC Evaluation Committee was due in town. At the last minute the levels of government came to an agreement to shut him up. Brillant strategy that worked.

Louroz
 
Re: Globe: Mixed-Income Project in Vancouver Downtown Eastsi

I didn't realize the project was as mixed as I thought. I knew SFU was moving in, but didn't know it was to be a mixed income housing project. Gastown is a block away, and the office towers a short walk down Hastings - the area could use a good St. Lawrence type project - after all, I found some similarities between Gastown and the general St. Lawrence area.

Of course, I had pictures of Woodward's here:
Downtown East Side
 

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