Woodward’s: a symbol of exclusion and gentrification
By Jean Swanson and Wendy Pedersen, Carnegie Community Action Project
January 2010
The DTES is a real neighbourhood and is made up of many small and important sub communities. About 11,000 low-income people live here now. The DTES has been the site where many living communities have been eradicated: The First Nations community, the black community, the Japanese community, and now the low-income community is being pushed out. The DTES is Vancouver’s first neighbourhood and was always a low-income district. Our heritage is more than building facades. It’s about actual human beings who still live here and about the good qualities of this neighbourhood. Most consider this community their home and have a right to be there and seek improvements for their community with them in it.
New condo development is outpacing new social housing development in the DTES at a rate of 3:1. City council just gave the green light to developers to build 7 more condo towers to the area. Condos are overwhelming the low-income community. The tenure and assets of the low-income and Aboriginal community are under threat like never before.
The main problem is the residential hotels in the Downtown Eastside. There are 3600 privately owned residential rooms (SRO’s) in the DTES. A single bathroom may be shared by as many as 20 other people and these rooms are in disrepair and have shocking pest and maintenance problems. None of the rooms, even the additional rooms owned by government, meet Canadian housing standards. These rooms are not being replaced quickly enough with social housing to replace the hotel rooms lost.
Displacement fact #1: Rents are increasing.
Hotel rents are escalating beyond what people on welfare, disability and seniors can afford. According to CCAP’s hotel survey, the number of hotel rooms renting for over $425, $50 above what people on welfare and disability have for rent, increased by 44% between 2008 and 2009. In other words, about half of the privately owned SROs are renting for more than low income people can afford. Probably as a result of these rent increases, CCAP also found that the number of hotels where two people are staying in one tiny room quadrupled between 2008 and 2009.
Displacement Fact #2: Hotels near Woodward’s have the highest rents.
According to data from CCAP’s 2009 hotel survey, 10 hotels with about 450 rooms, East of Main, are renting rooms at over $425 a month. But 15 hotels with about 1130 rooms, West of Main, are renting rooms at over $425. This statistic shows that, in general, the hotels closer to Woodward’s have the highest rents. The majority of DTES residents are on income assistance and can only afford $375 a month for rent, meaning, many may choose to be homeless rather than pay the extra $50+ a month for rent.
Displacement Fact #3: More empty rooms.
Some hotels have large numbers of vacant rooms, which are not for rent. In CCAP’s experience this usually means they are getting ready to sell or to upgrade and rent at increased rents (maybe to students of the new SFU Arts School). These hotels include the Colonial Hotel (90 vacant units), and Argyle Hotel (40 vacant units). The Golden Crown Hotel (28 units) is empty and renovating as is the Burns Block (28 units). Other hotels may be doing this also. With increased rents these hotels will not be available to current low-income DTES residents. These hotels are all located near Woodward’s.
Displacement Fact #4: The City counting method doesn’t give a clear picture.
City staff continually inform council that its 1 for 1 replacement policy (for every 1 SRO that is lost, a new social housing unit should be built) is being met. However, the city does not take into account rent increases that make the SROs unaffordable to very low-income people. Nor is it examining the impact on low-income DTES residents of owners holding rooms vacant. And the city includes provincially owned hotels as new social housing when they are newly social but not new accommodation.
Woodward’s is a major cause of gentrification and exclusion.
The social housing units at Woodward’s (125 units for singles and 23 for families deeply subsidized) are a miniscle crumb compared to the loss and need for affordable housing in the DTES. Woodward’s is an example of the city’s vision for social mix in the DTES. But, Woodward’s has amenities based on class with separate entrances and elevators for the rich and poor. And it has a “Club W” on the roof with a hot tub, BBQs and exercise area for the “owners”. It has chain stores subsidized by the city that low-income people cannot afford to shop at. DTES groups could not afford to rent space for community programs in the city owned portion of Woodward’s and have little or no say over what happens there. The first show in the “public space” is about the history of developing condo towers in Vancouver. Woodward’s is not a place of equality and genuine mix, but rather of social exclusion or “tectonic” mix. It does not represent a healthy vision for the DTES that protects the community and builds on its strengths. To learn more about the vision that low-income people have for their community, look under “reports” on the CCAP blog: www.ccapvancouver.wordpress.com.
