‘Very positive:’ Reviving Chinatown plan set to go before Vancouver council Tuesday

City councillors in Vancouver are set to consider a report aimed at reviving the city’s historic Chinatown neighbourhood Tuesday, something that one expert says is an exciting prospect.

To be presented at a council meeting, the report calls for approval in the Uplifting Chinatown Action Plan and recommends councillors add necessary funding to the draft 2023 budget to carry out the program’s proposals.

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The $2.1 million project stems from a council resolution passed in November, with the goal of helping clean up Chinatown’s streets.

President of the Chinatown BIA Jordan Eng says the area is a great tourist attraction, but the recent years of vandalism have created a big impact.

“This motion going to council is a really good news story. We really have been having a tough time the last three, four years, in particular, with COVID and the onset of what’s been happening on the Downtown Eastside with the vandalism, mischief, broken glass windows, graffiti, tagging, those really have all had a really negative impact on Chinatown,” he said.

Eng says the graffiti abatement strategies, which are set to cost $660,000, are a good start.

“We’re talking about trying to clean up, with the visual graffiti. We’re talking about [the] safety walk. We’re talking about increased cleanliness done by city staff,” Eng said.

On top of the sanitization efforts, Eng says he hopes there will be room for added cultural aspects and artistry to the area as well.

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“There was discussion about [creating] murals in Chinatown to really tell the history of the neighbourhood and our ancestors and their contribution to Canada,” Eng explained.

“I think that would be the next step is to see additional funding to support those types of initiatives, which are really important for all of us. And Chinatown has been around for 100 years, and we look forward to being around for another 100 years.”

Eng says the money is a “stepping stone” toward getting the area up to standard. He adds that the community is already hard at work trying to make the area better, and is seeing improvements.

“We are seeing a lot of new businesses coming into the neighbourhood. We’ve got some of the best restaurants in the city [and] the best bars. We’ve got new retail stores [and] gift shops, which were, for a long time, a staple of visiting Chinatown, and we’ve got some new young people coming back into the neighbourhood. I think the long-term view is very positive,” he said.

“We’re really happy that this council has followed up on its promise to look after Chinatown and make sure that it is recognized as an important part of the city, the history of the neighbourhood, and Canada.”

Eng says Chinese New Year is right around the corner and is inviting people to be a part of the celebrations. This includes the parade that will appear for the first time in-person after a long pandemic hiatus.

“There’ll be lions and dragons and lots of participants and a lot of people celebrating the year of the rabbits. I hope people come down to Chinatown and have a great time and make new memories,” he said.

With files from Greg Bowman and Sonia Aslam