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

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

East and West of Dunbar on West 37th Avenue

This cottage was built in 1930 and in the same family for close to 80 years according to the real estate advertisement. In early January, I received a panicked email about this house on the block just east of Dunbar Street.

"Add 3568 West 37 Ave to your list, the new buyer...is tearing it down...I am totally devastated and depressed over this, to the point that I will have to leave dunbar in a couple of years, because i am so upset."


Now over to the west side of Dunbar Street. When I saw the protective red fencing around this lovely large south-facing home, I thought it must be related to the demolition across the street; I did not think this great family home would come down. But it did...sometime between April 13 when this was taken and June.
Taken Sept 4: Take note of all the wood in this new construction, and imagine all the wood, perhaps of better quality, that was part of the previous house and then discarded to a landfill.

Taken Feb 6. Granted, this will be a very fine home, but what is the environmental impact? And in light of the recent story in the Vancouver Courier, will anyone actually live in it?

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

A West 38th Avenue Story

Real estate speculation is emptying out West 38th Avenue between Dunbar and Collingwood according to a Vancouver Courier web exclusive.