The housing stock in the Dunbar area of Vancouver has undergone significant change in the past five years. Originally a working class neighbourhood with many quite modest homes surrounded by lovely gardens, it is now a neighbourhood that 99% of the people working in Vancouver cannot afford because the replacement homes are built to the maximum footprint and cost millions. Greenspace has been reduced. Included on this website are photos of many (not all) of the disappeared houses.
View Teardowns in the Dunbar area of Vancouver, BC in a larger map

Demolitions West of the Dunbar Community Centre

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

36th Avenue West of Dunbar

This small house was built in 1931 on a 66 foot wide lot. Because there is no back lane, the garage was accessible from the front. A Dunbar resident, R. Ripley, suspected that the house would be demolished and took this photo in May 2008.
Left to deteriorate, by January 2011, it appears that a car had bashed into the house breaking the front window, and the entire scene looked rather morose and untidy.
Sometime in February 2011, it was demolished, and at least one large tree was cut down.

In April the foundation of one large house can be seen.

Ever on the lookout in the neighbourhood, R. Ripley took this photo in November 2010.
I came by after Christmas and spotted the red fencing.
In late January, construction had begun.
One month later:
A mid-April view of this very fast construction project:


If you're ready for more, here are two "before-and-afters" on 36th Avenue, where R. Ripley took the early photo, predating this blog project, and I took the photo of the new house.

Compare July 2004 and April 2010:

Compare April 2007 and April 2010:

1 comment:

  1. Some of these structures have fallen so far into disrepair that restoration is no longer feasible. The people building new homes seem to at least have enough money to bring some style to them. What bothers me is that it looks as though there is no space for outdoor living, which as an apartment dweller in NYC and a homeowner on the East End of Long Island, NY is one of our most highly valued things.

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