Ray Spaxman reports back from the Downtown East Side:
I have been involved with the Downtown Eastside for over 35 years. I was Director of City Planning between 1973 and 1989 and the Spaxman Consulting Group produced the “Gastown Heritage Management Plan” in 2002, and co-authored the “Historic Precinct Height Study” for the City in 2008.
However, towards the end of 2008, as I became more and more disturbed by what I believe to be a disaster happening in the Downtown Eastside, I decided to become better informed about the conditions in the Downtown Eastside especially about addictions, mental health, poverty, homelessness and crime, and see if I could help in any way.
In this presentation, he shares the results of his work to date and some proposals about what we can do.
PROFILE OF DOWNTOWN EAST SIDE.
Should read, “Spaxman on HIS current disaster . . .
“Okay, So How Should We Plan?”
Well Ray I would suggest you are not the one to ask . . . but congratulations on your Road to Damascus conversion.
When planners’ heads get too big to fit their breeches the result is well . . . the dystopia we see around us . . .
•You started the over-building of downtown and the West End . . .
•You were the first to introduce high rises into farmland Surrey . . .
•You were the first to open the floodgates to high-rise Nanaimo . . . (Mercifully the on going depression has crimped that).
Did you not, just months ago, present a “skyline” study of this area? Then all of a sudden wind changes and . . . ¡Mira! You sense the direction.
You play with pretty pictures, chart a course from very rich to struggling. How dare you! What a specious waste of time and money. Who the hell cares about skyline when people are freaking on the street.
There are some serious issues that need addressing Ray.
No more dedicated doggie runs. No more “world class” nonsense. No more propaganda bumpf: i.e. the current NEFC bullshit . . .
Look closely, sensitively at the DTES and you will see oodles of space for new, renovations courage and imagination. Keep it low Joe! There is absolutely no need for silly, pretty pictures.
Return integrity to the process. PLANNER/ARCHITECT/DEVELOPER: Break that umbilical of moral corruption.
Stop the masquerade. Stop talking! Listen!
some one is pissed. It seems like Ray didn’t really do much or had that much knowledge when he was director of city planning back in the day (before my time). More or less I believe staff and council just ignored everything in the DTES because they felt voters had other things on their mind. There is such a lazy attitude present in Vancouver’s elite – as long as their day-to-day livelihood is not threatened, they could care less about the rest of the city.
And please, no more moronic re:place posts.