I can’t help it. Every time I have to walk through Commercial and Broadway I cringe. I feel like all of a sudden I’ve walked into the middle of a performance in a sideshow circus. Beggars in rags, teen age moms with kids in strollers hanging out with young men seemingly unemployed, professionals in suits, binners laden with bottles, immigrants, teenagers skipping school, students, and retired low income seniors with various range of mobility.
Plus, it seems that all the smokers who have been socially banned from the posher “western” neighborhoods, have decided to congregate here for a smoke break. Without fail, every time I’m there with Baby, some drunken person starts to talk loudly and blow smoke at us: “Oh, I ‘ave 3 kids, but I don’t get to see them no more…” Just yesterday, I was standing at the corner waiting for the light to turn and a mom behind me was telling her son: “Your dad’s a prick. He’s been in jail since you were born….”
It’s not just the people; the businesses are unappealing: walk-in clinics, dollar stores, fast food joints, check cashing stores, a liquor store, banks and various pharmacies. Did these businesses pop up because there are lots of poor disenfranchised folks in the area, or do all those poor folks take the skytrain to come use these services? I don’t get it. Okay, so you’ll say, it’s not that bad and I admit there are some interesting places: Bandida’s Restaurant, Toby’s Pub and Grill, Uncle Fatih’s Pizza, The Rio Theater, The Latin Supermarket, and The Unity Yoga and Tea House. BUT overall, why does this major intersection in our beautiful city have to be so unattractive?
I recently read an article in the Vancouver Sun "East Van Rules, Ok?" which stated:
"A shift in the public perception seems to be afoot. In many eyes, East Van has become the cool part of town, the cultural heart of Vancouver. Lum says this is nothing new."East Van was always the cultural heart of the city," says Lum, an internationally acclaimed artist who grew up in Strathcona and around Knight and Kingsway. "It was never a case of 'becoming' the cultural heart, unless I missed something about Dunbar or Quilchena becoming the cultural heart."
Okay then, if East Vancouver is the Cultural Heart of the city, shouldn't Broadway and Commercial, they key intersection and transfer point, reflect that? Money Mart, CIBC and Dollarama doesn't scream culture to me! Oh, and apparently "culture" and smoking go hand in hand... forgot about that.
Those who know me will say: "Oh, it's because you lived in Kitsilano too long, you'll get used to it." Kits is a shinny bubble filled with well-to-do, trendy young people, and it has lost it's soul to the chain merchants, but I do miss the predictability of walking calmly without having to dodge smokers and drunken beggars mumbling. I won't get used to it. It's sad and depressing.
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