It's particularly sobering (no pun intended) to walk around the DTES today because of how perfectly it encapsulates some things about what's wrong with our world today. First of all, it's been a nightmare since the fucking 80s or earlier. Like, Im sure there's criticism to be levelled at how it was achieved, but large parts of NYC were dangerous and run down in the 80s. Today, Manhattan is basically disneyland. I just don't buy that these are unsolvable problems, it honestly just seems plausible that Vancouver is a dumping ground for other cities to ship vagrants to with a one way bus ticket so that they can be somewhere with a low risk of death from exposure - that would cause greater public outcry over homelessness, and those in charge recognize and are at peace with that.
The main thing though, is the DTES can really show you the reality of haves and have nots by just walking 3 blocks along any street. Several award winning new restaurants, very upscale boutiques etc are there because the rent is what they could afford, so you have bougie hipsters, kids of Chinese multi-millionaires who's parents are laundering money through local real estate, etcetc rolling up to these places to drop $700 on a pair of jeans or $350 on dinner for two, you just need to sidestep past a few tweakers pushing shopping carts and screaming obscenities across the street, maybe go past a few doorways with someone passed out in a sleeping bag at 4 in the afternoon to get there - and maybe leave your Tesla at home and take transit.
..and then there's Jonny boy a few streets over at the Tribunal, trying to extort some Indian ladies doing some waxing on the side out of their house/van.
I actually am quite fond of Vancouver but it'd take either being rich or some really great opportunity to make me want to move there.
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That comment alone speaks volumes.
