REVITALIZATION EFFORTS BOOST PROSPECTS FOR DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE BUSINESSES

MP Stephen Owen says the Vancouver Agreement model of urban regeneration
will be expanded to troubled areas of other B.C. cities

A ground-breaking agreement to revitalize business in Vancouver's Downtown
Eastside is set to be extended and expanded - with plans afoot to mirror the
project in Surrey, Victoria and Prince George.

For so long a symbol of Vancouver's dark side, the Downtown Eastside core's
shocking stories of drug abuse, prostitution and vagrancy left a dirty
imprint on business confidence. Leases were not renewed and premises
remained empty, said one community leader. And customers stayed away.

Now businesses are returning, buoyed by a cut in the number of drug addicts
and alcoholics littering sidewalks in front of their stores, plus a greater
police presence.

The catalyst for change was primarily the Vancouver Agreement, which was
signed in 2000 and prompted a series of urban regeneration projects.

"I believe the revitalization program is a good start, although I would not
say it is a success right now," said pharmacist Sammy Kan, whose store on
Main Street is within a block of "ground zero" for the revitalization
program, the corner of Main and Hastings streets.

Kan is also a director of the Vancouver Chinatown Merchants Association.
"The main issue we had in Chinatown was all the drugs crime. Drugs were a
major problem with people hanging around in front of businesses. They also
hung around in the adjacent areas like the alleys, with people openly
selling drugs and fighting.

"People were afraid and they did not want to come into this area. With the
Vancouver Agreement, we have enough resources and help from the city so we
can promote Chinatown and have a greater police presence."

Last year, the federal and provincial governments said they would each
contribute $10 million to the agreement. As of August this year, $13.5
million worth of projects had been approved, including $4.5 million for
economic development and $1.5 million to reduce the number of illegal
businesses in the Downtown Eastside that promote the cycle of drugs and
crime.

Since 1999, more than 100 new business licence applications have been filed,
with many businesses reinvesting in the area.

"Chinatown is growing again," said Kan. "If the agreement stops, it will be
a problem for us. Business has been improving. There used to be a lot of
empty shops, and we are now seeing less and less of them."

The current agreement runs out at the end of March 2005. The city,
provincial and federal governments are examining plans - and budgets - to
continue the project.

"The agreement will continue beyond 2005, and we will be looking to expand
it," said Stephen Owen, minister of western economic diversification and MP
for Vancouver Quadra in an interview. "The funding will be looked at in the
next budget. Business is revitalizing in the Downtown Eastside.

The agreement has a lot of warts which we are working out. It gives more
unity to the community and local businesses so they can work out the
economic revitalization in the Downtown Eastside."

Owen said the agreement needs some refining.

He gave the example of a meeting he and his staff had with a group of
homeless women, who were former street prostitutes. "They pointed out
something which should be obvious, which is that while we have got all the
governance and task groups, sometimes the task groups were not speaking to
each other."

Businesses in Gastown have also seen the benefits.

Respected contemporary designer Niels Bendtsen, who runs Inform Interiors
Inc., is now building a second, much larger showroom opposite his Water
Street premises. "Gastown is a lot better; there used to be a lot more
panhandling and open drug use, although there is still quite a bit.

"We are active on Water Street trying to get people of similar ideals to
move - and it is working.

"There are businesses moving down here, mainly high-end retailers and
fashion stores. It has got better here over the last five years, but there
is still a lot of activity which is pretty awful to see."

Inform, which operates out of a 12,000-square-foot store, is currently
building an additional 28,000-square-foot store virtually opposite. Bendtsen
has a separate manufacturing arm, Bensen Inc., with two warehouses in nearby
Railway Street.

Owen said the hope is to expand the project in Vancouver and work with teams
in other key urban centres, such as Surrey, Victoria and Prince George, to
see if it can be mirrored there, too.

"It's seen as something which is a model across the country. It has built
real social capital between three levels of government in the province. B.C.
now has more social capital than probably anywhere in the country."