MAGAZINE SAYS COUNCIL MUST CLEAN UP DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE

VANCOUVER - Vancouver is a troubled city where "homeless panhandlers
yell at theatre-goers, while young addicts deal drugs on street
corners," says The Economist magazine.

Last year, Vancouver was ranked the most livable city in the world
for the fourth year in a row by the Economist Intelligence Unit, a
branch of the same company that owns the weekly magazine.

The influential magazine focuses on international politics and
business news and opinion.

In November, the Economist Intelligence Unit, which analyses
countries' livability and their business environments, also ranked
Vancouver as the top city to do business in out of a list of 100.

But the magazine's July 8 -14 issue says although the city may top
surveys, "some ordinary Vancouverites wonder whether their
increasingly gritty city is worthy of all the accolades."

The article says Vancouver's high housing costs produce traffic
congestion by forcing families to the suburbs.

But most of its attention focuses on the "once-pleasant downtown" and
the troubles caused by the Downtown Eastside's high rate of poverty
and drug addiction.

"If Vancouver is to continue to live up to its reputation as an urban
paradise, it will need a city government with the power, as well as
the will, to keep it that way," the article warns.