Thirty-year plan for Downtown Eastside revealed
Posted February 27, 2014 8:53 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The City of Vancouver has revealed its long term plans for the Downtown Eastside, and like many other community plans, it’s getting a lukewarm reception from people living in the area.
The 30-year-plan calls for the city to offer more rental units and grocery stores, to allow for taller buildings, to revitalize Hastings Street and to provide new jobs for the neighbourhood.
Pete Fry with the Strathcona Residents Association fears the neighbourhood is opening up to big developers.
“I think there is a lot of concern with how the plan will go down. Unfortunately, the process didn’t provide the community a real opportunity to get into the nuts and bolts of how we densify and what kinds of development we’ll see down there.”
While he’s pleased one portion of the neighbourhood will be “condo-free,” it doesn’t mean housing will be affordable.
“The push to develop rental housing is a laudable goal. But nowhere in the document is it really defined as affordable rental housing.”
The plan sees the doubling of the neighbourhood population, and significant densification around Oppenheimer Park and along Hastings.
