Art party on Cambie!

Art party on Cambie!
Originally uploaded by tree-tangled

Lately it seems that Cambie St has been garnering a lot of attention in local alternative media. The new zine Tooth and Dagger ran a story about the Tomato Cafe's recent departure from Cambie St, and Fairview MP Gregor Robertson’s bill to refund property taxes to the owners of small businesses along Cambie. Yesterday, the “crowd powered” news site nowpublic used some of my Cambie St. photos for an article called “The Village a Train Ate”. The article features an interview with the owners of the Don-Don Noodle Café, who have been forced by a 40 % reduction in revenues to close their shop permanently.

After reading the second article, my mood was woeful. This is the first I had heard of my pending deprivation from the Don Don Noodle House’s wonderful yakisoba and dumplings. In addition to being economic entities, small businesses play a vital role in sustaining the cultural heart of their community. Many shops and restaurants are part community centre; they provide a gathering place for locals and an identity for the district. It was on the bulletin board of the Don Don Noodle House some months ago that I first found out about the campaign to restore trolley bus service on Cambie, for example. There are Starbucks in every district of Vancouver, but only Cambie had a Don Don Noodle House. I remember a conversation with the owner Simon Kim in the summer of 2005, when everyone on Cambie was beginning to realize the extent of the coming chaos. At that time, he had just signed a five-year lease on his restaurant space before learning that the construction would be cut-and-cover. If he had known of the impending disruption, he said, he would have moved his business to a new location.

Economy and culture are two theoretical perspectives from which this blog will examine the changing faces of Cambie St, drawing on the experiences of people who live and work in the neighbourhood. As the two articles referenced above show, the economic picture for many on Cambie St. is presently bleak. The odds are high that before the worst is over, more small businesses will go under. This period of hardship seems to increase the determination of some citizens and business owners to get through the disruption and uncertainty. As the photo at the start of this entry shows, a community member has organized a community art event right on the street, at an intersection where a large paved area remains sandwiched between construction zones. Local businesses such as Hazel & Co and Choices are helping to spread the word by advertising the event in their shop windows. Unfortunately, I’ll be out of town for this week’s outdoor art party, but I hope it is a raging success.

My view of Cambie St.

For many in Vancouver, the Cambie Village is like a plague area to be avoided. Horror stories shared around tables and water coolers tell the grim tale of getting stuck in Cambie’s restrictive and ever-changing traffic patterns as RAV line construction unfolds. Commuters circumvent the district where possible, and some would-be visitors to its restaurants and specialty shops find alternative destinations.

For a local resident traveling on foot, however, much of the neighbourhood is still surprisingly accessible. My partner and I live along Cambie a few blocks from Vancouver’s City Hall. We venture out regularly to buy groceries, visit neighbours, see movies at the Park Theatre and walk to the Mount Pleasant community centre. After a few months of construction, we are experts on where it's still possible to cross the street and the most efficient routes around construction to visit our favourite shops.

Because of where I live, this blog will present a street-level view of the changing Cambie Village in addition to inquiries about policy, planning and community. The Cambie Village comprises the commercial area along Cambie St. just south of downtown, roughly from Broadway to 25th Ave. The built landscape here has experienced changes accompanying RAV line construction with dramatic economic consequences. Some of the changes to the streetscape are permanent; two sizable properties, a strip mall and an older apartment block were torn down to make way for two future RAV line stations at Broadway and King Edward. The face of local business on Cambie has gotten progressively leaner as pedestrian and vehicle traffic has dried up; over 30 shops have closed their doors, and many more are struggling.

Eventually, construction will end and the 30 storefronts that are now empty will be filled again. What kinds of businesses will fill them? Who will be the residents who will shop there? Will they live in new condo development like the flats over the new Capers' building, or in the older rental housing that is still available in the neighbourhood? Will the rapid transit line bring crime, gentrification or both? Will the shared experience of rapid change and economic adversity lead to a stronger sense of community?

This blog is an assignment for an Urban Geography class. It will span UBC’s summer semester, from May to August, 2007. As the questions above indicate, the fate of the Cambie Village and the surrounding residential area that it serves will remain undecided for much longer than that. However I do believe that the summer 2007 will be a pivotal time for shaping the future of the Cambie Village.

Your comments and discussion are heartily welcome.