metro vancouver

Vancouver plans housing for Downtown Eastside

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

On March 15, Vancouver city council voted to approve a community-driven plan for Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES), which will focus on affordable housing options and revitalizing the neighbourhood without putting pressure on low-income residents.

The plan, which includes 3,350 social housing units to be built over the next 30 years, has been in the works for the past three years.

“The Downtown Eastside Local Area Plan represents a thoughtful, balanced, and resident-driven vision for Vancouver’s oldest and most diverse neighbourhood,” says Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. “This plan reflects residents’ aspirations for a community with safer and more stable housing, protections for low-income residents, stronger support for mental health and addictions, and a more vibrant local economy.”

In addition to social housing units, the community will feature a “rental only” section that will prevent land speculation and allow more residents to stay in the neighbourhood. This is seen as a necessary step as land values in the area have increased by over 300 per cent over the last decade.

“After three years of community input, the approval of this plan marks a historic opportunity to protect the best of the Downtown Eastside and to shape a more hopeful future for the neighbourhood and its residents,” Robertson says.

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