Strathcona, Vancouver's First Neighbourhood
Strathcona, Vancouver’s oldest and truly unique neighbourhood, has been called a slum, “home of the working man,” and absolutely charming. Starting out as a collection of shacks and cottages around the Hastings Mill, it developed into a residential area that quickly moved south and east away from the mill... Read More about Strathcona and the area's history »
Hello SRA members. I hope this holiday finds you all happy, healthy, and eager to jump into the new year with the exciting projects and prospects we have on the horizon. I'd like to start by introducing our members of the board, as per our election results from November.
- Dan Jackson, President
- Katie Lewis, Vice President and Media Coordinator
- Richard Taplin, Prior St. Working Group
- Trefor Smith, Environmental Lead and Air Quality Working Group
- Ghazal Arefi, Building Bridges Project
- Andrea Kastanis, Political Strategies
- Maureen Teahan. Strathcona Park Working Group and newsletter editor
CALENDAR of EVENTS
If you have an event or announcement you would like to be considered for the newsletter, please submit it to Maureen (snowymo@gmail.com) NO LATER THAN January 6th, 2021.
FREE FLU SHOT
Wednesday, December 16th, 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM. Strathcona Community Policing Centre, 872 East Hastings Street
All are welcome to attend this free flu shot clinic. You must make an appointment by contacting the SCPC via email at info@strathconacpc.ca or by phoning (604) 717-0622. Children are welcome to attend and be vaccinated. Feeling unwell? Stay home and follow your healthcare provider's advice. MASKS ARE REQUIRED
LEGO HOLIDAYS
Ring in the season with LEGO!! Presented by the Strathcona Community Centre 601 Keefer Street. Wednesday, December 23rd, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Children will be seeing more than sugar plums as they build sleighs, elves & other festive models. All participants go home with a customized *Minifigure. Registration is $30 Please call (604) 713-1838 to ensure your spots.
BUY LOCAL
Many local businesses have been struggling in this challenging year. Scout magazine recently published an online catalogue of local businesses which we think is worth sharing.
WORKING GROUP UPDATES
Camp KT
We remain immensely frustrated that there has yet to be any significant housing or even shelter options offered to people camping in Strathcona Park and that camp leadership continues to refuse to work with city staff. The City and the Feds allocated over $80M for emergency housing two months ago, but have yet to announce a plan. The Province still hasn't put anyone in charge. It's a disgrace. For some perspective, here's a link to recent article in the Globe and Mail.
Re-Imagining Strathcona Park
What will happen to Strathcona Park if and when housing is provided for the homeless and it is restored to a local park? We kicked off a conversation at our November meeting about ways to re-imagine Strathcona Park as a more inviting place to exercise, socialize and connect for all residents: a senior's walk, outdoor exercise equipment, an off-leash area, pickle ball... lots of great ideas. The next step with be to create and circulate an engagement process so that as many residents as possible can share their opinions. Our intention is to circulate an initial survey early next year. We hope to present a harmonized vision to the Parks Board in 2021/22. If you’d like to get more involved (even just to hand out surveys), please contact Maureen (snowymo@gmail.com).
Building Bridges
With the help of Ksenia Stepkina from the United Way, we recently organized Zoom meetings with representatives from Chinese and social housing residents of Strathcona. Our goal is to grow into an organization that genuinely reflects the views of all residents. We invite Strathcona residents to help us build bridges to these and other groups in our neighbourhood. If you’re intrigued, e-mail Ghazal.
Burrard Inlet Line Connectivity Study
The SRA was recently awarded a grant from CN Rail’s BC Community Board to undertake a connectivity study to better understand how residents are currently crossing the Burrard Inlet rail corridor. The study will look at the "current conditions" of community connectivity, how this may be influenced by additional grade-separation within the next few years, and what options can be considered for enhancing community connectivity in the future.
The study will also consider whether additional forms of connectivity infrastructure for pedestrians and bikes at locations where grade-separation is anticipated (Parker, Union, Raymur and Cordova) could support greater safety by:
- allowing for a full closure of these areas while minimizing impacts on, or enhancing residential connectivity, and
- helping to create viable, community-friendly alternatives to unauthorized “de facto” at-grade pedestrian crossings created along certain sections of the BI Line.
Website
We hoping to re-build our website over the next few months. If you have any experience with WordPress or can help us build out of history of Strathcona page, contact Katie. kathrynlewis@gmail.com
Comments? Questions? Contact us at sra@strathcona-residents.org.
Cdemberson 2020 News, Events and Updates
November 2020 Newsletter
SRA October Updates
SRA September 2020 Updates
Camp KT Update
Here’s an update on what’s happening with the camp. It has grown beyond the track area and now there are tents all over the park. According to a recent BC Housing census, there are roughly 250 people living there, 90% of whom are genuinely homeless, making it the largest homeless camp in Canada. Portland Hotel Society, Vancouver Coastal Health and Carnegie Outreach have staff in the camp to provide medical and sanitation support. The camp also gets support from over a...
First off, some news that isn’t about the Strathcona Park encampment.
Parents and Families Facebook Page: We’ve had some requests to set up a Facebook page for parents and child caregivers so they can ask questions, share resources and join a community. Turns out, one already exists. Thanks Danielle. Here’s the link. If you're a parent, please check it out.
Cordova Rail Crossing Closure: Residents of the Strathcona Village building complex on 1000-block E. Hastings...
The SRA believes every single person deserves a safe, accessible home, but we do not support the growing encampment in Strathcona Park.
Strathcona is Vancouver's lowest socioeconomic neighbourhood and has the least green space per capita in the city. This encampment punishes many marginalized groups, particularly during a pandemic where green space is extremely limited.
The SRA asks all levels of government to step up–and work together–to come up with creative...
We would like to update you on what we know about the encampment in Strathcona Park.
The SRA has been visiting the encampment and talking with camp organizers. They agree that Strathcona Park is not a sustainable place for a camp that large and would prefer a sanctioned location with adequate facilities, but so far, no level of government is offering one. We respect that they have legitimate concerns about homelessness that need to be addressed.
But we're also concerned about...
This morning, we woke up to find that the homeless encampment that several weeks ago moved from Oppenheimer Park to Crab Park is now in Strathcona Park, occupying the tennis courts and oval track.
We sympathize with the plight of people simply seeking a place to live, but we are also concerned that this is not a workable solution for them nor for residents and park users. The park facilities were not designed nor intended to support a large, long-term encampment. Despite good...
This morning, the schoolyard at Strathcona School was full of kids for the first time in months. Playgrounds, stores, restaurants and other public amenities are cautiously opening. All encouraging signs that we’ve weathered at least the first wave of this. It’s a good time to cautiously venture out and get some fresh air.
SRA projects have been in the same holding pattern as much of the world. We’re still awaiting the funds for our Community AQ Monitoring Grant. The re-...
This morning, the schoolyard at Strathcona School was full of kids for the first time in months. Playgrounds and other public amenities are cautiously opening. All encouraging signs that we’ve weathered at least the first wave of this. If you been holed up for the last two months, it’s a great time to cautiously venture out and get some fresh air.
SRA projects have been in the same holding pattern as much of the world. We’re still awaiting the funds for our Community AQ...
I hope you’re all staying healthy and managing isolation fatigue. If you need help, if only to have someone to talk to, let us know.
Here's what's going on. The Strathcona Neighbors Facebook continues to be a good place for local posts. Thanks Amber for monitoring.
SRA GETS GRANT FROM CENTERM
The SRA was awarded a $15,200 grant from the Centerm Community Fund to cover the engagement and planning phase of a Community-based AQ Monitoring Project. Thanks to Trefor Smith for...
As we're all doing our best to keep a safe distance away from each other, the SRA is doing what we can to keep us connected.
Thanks to everyone who volunteered to help out people stuck alone at home. So far, not many takers. If you know of anyone who might need help, e-mail us.
Below are a few online local connections worth checking out:
There is an active Strathcona Neighbourhood Facebook page where people are posting news and messages.
Union Food Market is...
In light of the unfolding coronavirus outbreak, the Strathcona Residents Association wants to do what we can to help our community get through this.
For one, we're concerned about people who may be isolated at home and need assistance. A few residents have already reached out with offers to help (thanks much). If you need help - or if you're willing to offer help - e-mail us your contact info. We will forward requests for help to volunteers who can then reach out directly. We will not...
The next SRA residents' meeting will be held on this Wednesday, Feb. 5, from 7-9 PM at the Strathcona Community Centre. All are welcome. No big agenda. Just a discussion of some of the evolving issues below…
PRIOR AND VENABLES STREET CALMING
On Jan 27, the City took the first steps towards calming Prior by allowing unrestricted 24/7 street parking on both sides of the street and reducing speed to 30kph alongside Strathcona Park. The goal is (1) to restrict and hopefully lessen...