Vancouver Whats Up?

[GuitarsCanada]

I was in Vancouver for a week, attending some seminars. I stayed downtown at the old Ramada on West Pender. It was about a 10 minute walk each morning down to Canada Place where the seminars were going on. It was my first visit to Vancouver and although the weather, scenery and people I met were very nice I was really put off by the amount of bums and panhandlers downtown. I mean, it makes walking the streets of Toronto like walking through Disney land.

There were at least 3 panhandlers to every street corner. One bizarre thing was that they seem to have no bounderies. I stopped into a 7-11 to grab some stuff and they were actively following around everyone "inside" the store. I asked the guys at the counters why they allowed these fools in the store and they looked at me like I was crazy. It's way out of hand.

To make matters worse, the majority of them were white middle class kids that just appeared to me to prefer to bum quarters on the street than to get a job. The old "I am a quarter short for the bus" routine was the standard approach.

There were those that looked to be in real need, and those I gave out to. But these kids need to wake up and have a little self respect.

Just a visitors observation. It's not a problem just in Vancouver, but I have traveled all over North America and I would put it real close to the worst I have seen.

[devnulljp]

It's warmer over here so (a) a good pace to be if you're on the street and (b) the winters don't seem to kill people off in quite the same way as sleeping on the street in say Saskatoon I guess. Also, the fact that visitors like you :wink: give them money does nothing to discourage that particular business model. I can't imagine it's an easy trap to get out of once you're in it though
There seem to be more beggars on the streets of Vancouver and Victoria now too than I ever saw in Bangkok, which is pretty sad.

[GuitarsCanada]

It's warmer over here so (a) a good pace to be if you're on the street and (b) the winters don't seem to kill people off in quite the same way as sleeping on the street in say Saskatoon I guess. Also, the fact that visitors like you :wink: give them money does nothing to discourage that particular business model.
There seem to be more beggars on the streets of Vancouver and Victoria now too than I ever saw in Bangkok, which is pretty sad.

Some good points. But whenever I come across a person that clearly has not had a bath in 3-4 weeks and looks like they have not had a decent meal in days I will usually give them some. It's the kids wearing the $200 Nike's that piss me off.

[Gilliangirl]

Some good points. But whenever I come across a person that clearly has not had a bath in 3-4 weeks and looks like they have not had a decent meal in days I will usually give them some. It's the kids wearing the $200 Nike's that piss me off.
Yeah, I had this happen to me in the parking lot of Safeway last summer. Young guy approached me asking for money because he 'couldn't find a job', he said. If you can't find a job in Calgary, you're clearly lying. We are SCREAMING for labour here. I tuned the guy in but good, and I'm a social worker! Now before you go thinking I'm a big meany, the guy was wearing expensive designer sun glasses! I'm all for helping people, in fact I have made it my life's work, but this kind of thing really pisses me off.

[Stratin2traynor]

Man, if that guy couldn't find a job in Calgary he must be an Idiot!

[Stratocaster]

Or an ex-con, and Calgary's number of prisoners are HUGE.


edit: THEY HAVE 7/11'S IN VANCOUVER? AND NOT IN MY PART OF ONTARIO? AJKWDFIJAF!?

[kous]

Lots of them in downtown Vancouver. I've seen the same guy ask me twice on different occasions. The third time I saw him, he saw me and walked back. Did you see a guy with a big German Shepard?

I think they all come from the east side, exchanging money for a shorter life span. Its sad really. I wish the drug problems would go away. No hatred; just that they all have a chance to change and live better.

[noobcake]

Yep, downtown eastside is practically the drug haven of Canada..:mad:

[Red Foreman]

Yup you were in the downtown east side,the poorest postal code in Canada.Junky central,do a search for a film called the thin blue line,it's about cops trying to deal with this area.The B.C. goverments cutbacks to mental care hasn't helped by putting mental patients on the streets.That is probally the worst neighbourhood in B.C. if not Canada.

[Spikezone]

Not for long, though. It seems like our good ole government is shipping them to places like here, Port Alberni, to clean up the the streets for the glorious Olympics (can't be having any embarrassing homeless encounters while we are on international display now, can we?)...
-Mikey

[GuitarsCanada]

Yep, downtown eastside is practically the drug haven of Canada..:mad:

Just a few days before I left I was reading a big story in McLeans about how Vancouver is the drug capital of North America. I did not see anything like that while I was there but I sure seen a ton of $100K plus cars being driven around by some pretty young drivers. :confused:

[lolligagger]

I ran into a guy in Spain last year claiming to be a down on his luck United Nations worker who just needed $30 to arrange for a money order to help solve all his problems. His shtick was to wander the streets asking "do you speak english" and if you happened to say 'yes' he was all over you like a fat kid on a box of Smarties. He claimed he was in a car accident and needed the money to process passport identification and other documents required to get money through the embassy.

I gave him 20 Euros hoping he was legit, but of unfortunately I saw him on the same street corner several more times throughout my stay there. Damn, he was convincing...I felt he was full of shite, but I really wanted to believe in his cause. I was poo pooed by my travelling companions but at least i felt good about my efforts, cause I know we would all appreciate a little help if we were in a similar circumstance.

Having said that, I gave a LOT of money to musicians in the Caribean while I was on vacation this spring. At least I knew they were attempting to EARN money for their families. Much better than fabricating a story...

[al3d]

I noticed the same last summer when i vent to visite all the major TV and Film studios there i work for. we had a guide who made use visit the city in the evenings and we noticed bums as well..his reply was that with Asians taking controle of the City it was more and more difficult to get Jobs. We stopped at a subway to get some food downtown...and i was TOTAL shocked...the 3 kids working there, 2 girls and 1 guy, all asian, did'nt speak a word of english. they used cardboards with pictures to ask us what we wanted, that was just insane. we saw more asians then white folks, i tough i was in Japan, not In canada.

[keeperofthegood]

edit: THEY HAVE 7/11'S IN VANCOUVER? AND NOT IN MY PART OF ONTARIO? AJKWDFIJAF!?

Haha they are everywhere. If I read the map right 5 in Mississauga!

http://www.7-eleven.com/StoreLocator/tabid/214/Default.aspx

Just a few days before I left I was reading a big story in McLeans about how Vancouver is the drug capital of North America. I did not see anything like that while I was there but I sure seen a ton of $100K plus cars being driven around by some pretty young drivers. :confused:

My brother was part of that scene 20 years ago. My aunt lives in Surrey and yes, its pretty gnarly up that way for addictions. But, addiction is a health issue and when a government fails to deal with the health of its people then you get a lot of sick people milling about.

>.< my peeve though is that an entry level car costs 20K! You roll it up into a ball of metal and it is only 1500 in steel! Worst, they are only now really manufactured to do 20 or 30 thousand kilometers before they become essentially undrivable. You could lease, but other than the near lifeless who really only drives 10,000 kilometers in a year? I used to drive 150,000 a year when all my grandparents and parents were alive (to 75,000 a year after they passed) just getting around. Living in Canada, the second largest land mass nation, a car is a needed part of life. Be it for work, or maintaining contact with family, or being able to get to the hospital (why do we have to pay for an ambulance!) a car is needed! We all know how old you get just trying to get anywhere on a bus in Canada >.< 100,000+ for a car... For that kind of money Id rather put my house on jacks and drive a rig!

I noticed the same last summer when i vent to visite all the major TV and Film studios there i work for. we had a guide who made use visit the city in the evenings and we noticed bums as well..his reply was that with Asians taking controle of the City it was more and more difficult to get Jobs. We stopped at a subway to get some food downtown...and i was TOTAL shocked...the 3 kids working there, 2 girls and 1 guy, all asian, did'nt speak a word of english. they used cardboards with pictures to ask us what we wanted, that was just insane. we saw more asians then white folks, i tough i was in Japan, not In canada.

There has been this long standing idea that if you take immigrants and put them together with other immigrants from the same originating country that they have a better time acclimating to life here. It is not without merit, but the idea of acclimating to Canada has become lost on a lot of people. And instead of a social support network, there are clusters of people now multi generational that are not becoming citizens of Canada bringing cultures and traditions, but insular groupings of citizen states. :/ but as you know, since we are not talking overprice helicopters or golf courses our government wont pay much attention to the obvious.

Overall, I think what has happened is that our system of values has become one of "disposable employees" rather than the idea that, the person you hire will be with you until they retire, and kids growing up with moms and dads getting laid off regularly, having new jobs repeatedly and most not of a high standard (and no, University doesn't get you a better job. My wife with her degrees and years of study no longer has a field to work in and is relegated to call centers the blight on the work world), it comes the point of believing yourself so disposable that ... why not?

No one will fire you from the street, no one will lay you off from the street, you wont be made to work when you are sick, you wont have your sick days taken away from you for being 5 minutes late, you don't have to go to 'employee reviews' where every last comma you missed on a form becomes one more reason you're not getting a raise, you wont be made to "depersonalize your work space", etc. Overall, sad as it may look, being a pan handler is better work.

[GuitarsCanada]

I guess my point is still the idea of having a little self respect. Yes, it took me about 15 minutes to order some taco's for lunch one day at Canada Place. The girl behind the counter kept asking me questions about my order and for the life of me I could not understand her. But she was working. Unless the owners of these places are practicing some kind of racial hiring standards then why can't these "urban white kids" get the job? I did not encounter one asian kid on the streets looking for cash. In fact, about 99.9% of the ones cruising around in the Lotus, BMW's, Audi's and Mercedes were all Asian. if nothing else they are an enterprising group.

[Geek]

Vancouver is a *very* expensive place to live. Bachelor pads are going for $1,000+/mo. Thanks 2010! :mad:

Unless the owners of these places are practicing some kind of racial hiring standards then why can't these "urban white kids" get the job?

There's been many jobs advertised that say "Visible minorities only", especially government positions.... what does that tell you?

[jimmy peters]

i dont feel sorry for, nor do i give any one a cent.
this is a full time job for a lot of these people.(i mean in the $50,000 range). if the cities dont stop it , we have to. DONT GIVE-

anyway thats my opinion

jimmy

[Robert1950]

What are the plans for these people (both the panhandlers and the non-english speaking vendors) for 2010 Winter Olympics?