There goes the neighborhood

You know you can tell when your street is going downhill when the desperately poor are stringing up hammocks to sleep on.

It looks like my overly-optimistic post from a couple of months back (Is our city finally returning to normal?) is completely outdated, as of several weeks ago. This morning's find just clinched it.

The city's efforts to clean up the downtown by cracking down on open drug use in the core have run their course. Once again, I'm having to run the gaunlet of whispering drug dealers and their strung-out clientele on my way to and from work.

The thing is, I'm pretty much numb to it again already. But all of the international students and tourists who congregate around the corner of Robson and Granville, who will eventually go back to their countries and report what they see... well, they aren't used to it.

It's a sad situation. For those who feel the urge to help their fellow citizens in need, please donate to the Greater Vancouver Food Banks Society.

tags: Vancouver, homeless, city streets, drug dealers, drug addiction, food bank, downtown eastside, Granville Street, Robson Street