Tamara Herman

A perfect storm: why the homeless count is no surprise

Gregor Robertson and Vision Vancouver had to put their public relations experts to work in April when they announced that their biggest election promise was broken. Gregor vowed to end homelessness by 2015 when he was elected in 2008. Instead, the 2014 Metro Vancouver Homeless Count showed that street homelessness had increased by 249% since the last count in 2011. (…)

Plans and Profiteers: The scoop on the draft DTES Local Area Plan

The City has finally released its draft Local Area Plan (LAP) for the DTES and the plan is under fire from all sides. Some people who want to see the DTES become a higher-income neighbourhood say that the plan gives too much housing and power to low-income residents. Others say that the plan is a blueprint for social mix that will destroy the low-income community. City Council can adopt the plan as it is, change it, or reject it. (…)

Will Transit changes hurt low-income peoples’ right to move?

There are big changes in the works for Vancouver’s transit system this fall, and they could make it harder for low-income people to use the SkyTrain and city buses. In late 2013, TransLink will replace all bus passes and tickets with electronic “compass cards.” People will use the same reloadable “compass card” to buy and store transit fares. Although it will still be possible to pay cash for single rides on the SkyTrain and buses, paper tickets and transfers will no longer exist. (…)

Emerging (Mis)Directions – Proposals for DTES Plan fails low-income residents

with Jean Swanson

850 homeless people.  Four thousand living in crummy SROs.  Over 400 rooms lost last year to rent increases at $425 or more.  That’s the housing crisis in the DTES that low- income folks on the Downtown Eastside Local Area Planning Committee have been trying to get the city to deal with. (…)

Good Neighbour, Bad Neighbour – Learning from experiences with ‘Good Neighbour’ agreements in Victoria

“Good Neighbour Agreements” may sound like friendly and harmless arrangements for community living, but what’s behind their seemingly innocent names? In Victoria, “Good Neighbour Agreements” (GNAs) have been in place since 2007, when anxious property owners and public school management learned that a handful of services for homeless and street-involved people would be opening their doors in the Pandora Green neighbourhood. (…)