Lonely Planet at the Games – Day four: Eastside - travel tips and articles

Feb 15, 2010 7:41:10 PM

Lonely Planet at the Games – Day four: Eastside

John Lee
Lonely Planet Author

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Echoing the Olympic rings, an artwork in the Downtown Eastside's Community Folk Garden

We all knew it was going to happen. When the world’s media descended on Vancouver and started milling around the city before the Olympic kick-off, it was just a matter of time before they found the Downtown Eastside. It’s not hard to write a scary story about what’s often referred to as Canada’s poorest postal district, where drug and mental health problems are etched onto the faces of many of those hanging around Main and Hastings Streets. But that’s not the only story down there.

And here’s my confession: the Downtown Eastside is one of my favourite parts of Vancouver. With its brick-built grit and surfeit of old-school architecture – the kind of buildings developers have scraped away from other Vancouver neighbourhoods – it has more character than most in this concrete-dominated metropolis. In terms of safety: while basic street smarts are essential and back alleys are a no-go, I’ve never had a problem here. In fact, you’re more likely to be accosted for spare change on shopper-lined Robson Street.

As the frenetic Olympic party rumbles on just a few blocks away, I head down on a gloriously sunny afternoon to see if the Games are having any impact here.

Passing elderly neon signs – Only Seafoods Café is a favourite – and faded adverts painted on crumbling old walls, I soon stumble on a large street march. But while images of anarchists smashing windows in the city on Saturday quickly hit global TV screens, there’s no sign of media coverage here today. Vancouver has a long history of peaceful protest and this annual march – attended by several thousand – is about remembering the women that have gone missing in this area over the years. It’s an emotional, sombre and sometimes surprisingly joyous event.

Nearby, I hit the quirky Vancouver Police Centennial Museum and chat to executive director Chris Mathieson on the front desk. “Olympic visitors should for sure come down to this area,” he says. “We’ve done such a good job of giving Vancouver a shiny appearance for the Games, but there’s much more to the city than that. When you come down here, you see all the challenges of a place like Vancouver and no-one is trying to hide them.”

The museum offers an excellent Sins of the City area walking tour that gives historic context to the Downtown Eastside’s unique combination of issues. But today I only have time to check out the exhibits: a highlight wall of confiscated makeshift weapons and an authentic, back-of-house mortuary room, where slivers of body tissue are displayed behind a curtain so the less squeamish don’t have to look at them.

Back on the streets, I find the colourful Hastings Street Community Folk Garden, being carved from a muddy plot between two paint-peeled hotel buildings. Studded with recycled brick and tile fragments and fluttering ribbons of old clothing that dot the garden like blossoming bushes, it’s like an organic 3D collage. Several tourists are weaving around the plot taking photos, while just outside the entrance a local peers through the chain link gate.

Roy – who prefers not to give his full name and who looks about 50 – has been living in the area for, he thinks, about eight years. Through his large, nicotine-streaked beard, he mentions that he came from “out East” and once worked in a window-making factory. “Olympic people [tourists] are coming here,” he muses, “but mostly they’re staying put in their hotels. I don’t mind them coming down – the more the merrier,” he adds, before shuffling off along Hastings in the direction of the city centre and the partying Games visitors.

So what happened on day three of the games? Find out here.

Zip to the future and check out day five.