Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim is proposing major policy shifts that put a brake on longstanding approaches for the Downtown Eastside, which he says have proven highly ineffective in improving the neighbourhood’s conditions and the health and welfare of its residents, despite their significant financial costs to levels of government.
This would begin with “cracking down on gang activity,” with the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) launching a city-wide crackdown on organized crime and gangs operating in the Downtown Eastside.
Such a move would “address street-entrenched violence by dismantling criminal networks” that exploit residents of the Downtown Eastside who experience homelessness, mental health, and/or addiction issues.
Two other policy shifts focus on the built form of the Downtown Eastside.
The near-term built form policy shift would immediately pause any net new supportive housing units in the neighbourhood, which would better enable the municipal government to focus on renewing and revitalizing the current aging supply of deteriorating Single Room Occupancy (SRO) units.
As of early 2023, there were 146 active SRO buildings with a combined total of 6,500 units in Vancouver. Many of these buildings built a century ago are now in extremely poor condition due to a combination of age, how the buildings are operated and maintained, and the high and unique needs of its residents.
Currently, the city of Vancouver is the location of 77% of the Metro Vancouver region’s total supportive housing supply, even though the city only accounts for 25% of the region’s population. As well, 67% of the region’s homeless shelter spaces and over half of the region’s social housing supply are found within Vancouver. Moreover, the vast majority of these social/supportive housing and shelter spaces in Vancouver are within or near the Downtown Eastside.
The mayor suggests the need to spread out new supportive housing supply across the region, beyond the current highly disproportionate concentration within Downtown Eastside and Vancouver.
Map of SROs in the eastern area of the downtown Vancouver peninsula and the Downtown Eastside. (City of Vancouver)
Over the medium term, Sim is moving to update the municipal government’s 2014-approved Downtown Eastside Area Plan.
Under the existing area plan, there is a prescribed “60-40” housing ratio model, which stipulates 60% social housing — including 20% shelter rate, 20% BC Housing Income Limit rates, and 20% low-end-of-market-rental rates — and 40% market rental housing.
Before the area plan’s finalization in 2014, there was a consideration to enable a wider range of mixed-income housing, particularly a larger ratio of market housing to re-establish a healthier and more vibrant area of the city after a decades-long downward spiral.
Under the new approach, the mayor wants to encourage a wider mix of housing, businesses, and services. This update to the area plan would “break the cycle of hyper-concentrated services in the Downtown Eastside, including supportive housing, shelter services, and social services.”
Fundamentally, such changes to the area plan “allow for the integration of the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood into Vancouver’s broader community, ensuring a more balanced, supportive environment for residents, businesses, and visitors.”
Sim’s ABC Vancouver party first indicated their desire to change the “60-40” housing ratio model in late 2023, suggesting the need for a more mixed-income neighbourhood to produce better outcomes.
Artistic rendering of the regeneration of prominent intersection of Main and Hastings streets in the Downtown Eastside Area Plan. (City of Vancouver)
Sim made these three proposed landmark policy announcements today during his address at the Save Our Streets Forum.
“The Downtown Eastside reflects our city’s resilience, but also its struggles,” said Sim. “For too long, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent without delivering meaningful change. It’s time for a new direction — one that prioritizes recovery, inclusivity, and public safety while integrating the Downtown Eastside into the broader Vancouver community.”
“We need to prioritize accountability, dignity, and recovery. We owe it to neighbourhood residents, Vancouverites, and all British Columbians to do better, and we will.”
In October 2024, Daily Hive Urbanized reported that emergency services are strained by the very high volume and frequency of SRO and supportive housing calls.