Vancouver city councillors, business owners push to improve Chinatown

As the summer is expected to see a surge in international tourists to Vancouver, business owners in Chinatown are anxious tourists won’t feel comfortable visiting the neighbourhood with its reputation of increased crime.

Vancouver Chinatown Business Improvement Association VP Syrus Lee says he believes Chinatown has so much to offer, however the past few years have been devastating for the community. Since the start of the pandemic, Asian hate and race-related crimes have skyrocketed, with Chinatown specifically being a repeated victim of vandalism.

“Chinatown businesses have suffered a lot, the safety is an issue the graffiti is another issue.”

Vancouver’s Chinatown guardian lion was vandalized again this past Friday. Over the weekend, Lorraine Lowe, Executive Director of the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden told CityNews, many people impacted by these crimes feel as though their concerns are not being taken seriously.

“For us to actually report this, it’s starting to become more frequent, but nobody is reporting it because everybody is so used to it. Like the legacy business owners and the elder senior population who run these businesses, they don’t have a voice they don’t have social media,” Lowe said.

City council discussed a motion by Councillor Melissa De Genova proposing free street parking for up to three hours in Chinatown on Sundays to help attract more people to visit.

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However, no decision was made Tuesday and the Standing Committee will hear from speakers Wednesday. Meanwhile, Lee says the BIA spent $240,000, half of their budget last year, on a private security guard around the clock for Chinatown, something he feels shouldn’t have to come out of their pockets.

“Why do we have to spend that kind of money? If we pay tax property tax, so the city should have enough police to patrol in Chinatown so we can save money do more money do marketing, put on a Chinatown festival,” Lee explained.