Always provocative and cutting edge VICE has put together a series of short films profiling some of America’s most iconic boulevards and their relationship with the neighbourhoods they transect. The Streets by VICE series drops in on eight culturally and geographically unique cities ranging from Austin to Chicago and from Biscayne Blvd to Market Street. The premise:
“…..take one American city and try to tell its story by the history of one single street.”
Spoiler alert….. Perhaps not surprisingly the tales told are predominately about cities undergoing change and gentrification as communicated by firsthand accounts from longtime residents and community leaders. As expected the opinions are mixed depending on what side of the street you’re on, nevertheless it’s an informative journey VICE takes us on; thought-provoking, fun, unique, Porn for the Urban Geographer and City Lover in all of us.
I suggest starting off with Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn. From the Hipster epicenter of Williamsburg to the historic racial tensions of the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbourhood, this episode is a great jumping off point for the series theme. Warning, the language and content from the characters in the San Francisco episode (Market Street) is not suitable for children.
If Streets by VICE ventured to Vancouver, what street should be profiled? Keen to hear your thoughts in the comment section.
Main Street – or Commercial/Victoria. Make the call, Scot. Invite them over.
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Good one, I like Main Street for it too.
Oh yeah!
I’ve been on Main, and on Commercial thousands of times. Can’t imagine either being interesting enough for a show.
The only street that might qualify is the old wagon road – Kingsway. There’s actually a book of poems on that theme.
This old diagonal is changing – far less skanky than it used to be. The Westbank project on the former Crappy Tire site is a monster.
The 2400 Motel is still there. The Millenium Bomber did his thing there; now it’s home to Syrian refugees.
It still has used car lots. That won’t last.
I like the triangles it creates, like the one at Kingsway and Broadway, or the parkette in front of Faux Bourgeois and the mongrel pile of businesses across the street: Mexican, Russian, Laundromat, dog daycare. It’s so inelegant.
The street is long enough to dig up enough for a segment or two.
That aside, what’s going on with the former Granville Mall strip? We walked it a few days ago after a long absence. It was nasty: the toxic reek of cigarettes everywhere; tons of homeless with their shopping carts; many panhandlers. It felt like the DTES.
To compare, I’m often in Kerrisdale. There’s always just the one panhandler with a guitar sitting on his chair in front of the liquor store. He puts in full days every day. I strongly suspect he gets a lot of West Side cash. If I were begging that’s where I’d set up – like Sherlock Holmes’ – Man With the Twisted Lip.
main street would work. If you watched the video its more about the ajoining neighborhoods not the street itself. Main goes through DTES, Gastoen, Chinatown, Mount Pleasant and the Punjabi Bizzare at the end in South Van. I think could be a good mix of Hipsters, homeless and varying generations of immigrants
May 26.21 – aa few weeks Ago the man outside the liquor store vanished. he will be remembered wherever he is !
Queen Street in Toronto would be a good one if they came to canada. Long street and lots of old hoods and especially West Queen West and Ossington, Hipster central.
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Forgot to add the link to the other cities, here they are: