On walking by this house at 3630 West 34th Avenue on April 27, 2014, I saw instead a new house under construction. Those wrap-around windows on the corners indicate a house built in the late 40's or early 50's. These houses, younger than I am, are already being torn down. How long will the replacement houses last?
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
View Teardowns in the Dunbar area of Vancouver, BC in a larger map
Demolitions West of the Dunbar Community Centre
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
West 23rd and West 24th
This house was built in 1979, likely already a replacement for an earlier house. It looks attractive, with the large south-facing window, but it was sold in February 2012 and torn down in December 2013 or January 2014. The address: 3575 West 23rd Avenue.
A few houses away stood this 1929 original, a well-loved home. It was torn down in March or April 2014.
Over on West 24th Avenue, this red house at 3475 stood across from the Lord Kitchener Elementary School. It was torn down in February 2014. Vancouver Vanishes listed this home as being built in 1932.
On the 3800 block of West 24th Avenue, so many houses in a row have been torn down and given new numbers that I have become totally confused. What I do know is that the "sort of" Vancouver Special shown partially on the left side of the photo is no longer there. As of February 28, there was new construction that appeared to be on that site. Sorry for the cropped view of this house, but is it all my fault that I lost track of the demolitions on this block? I am going to assume that the address was 3851 West 24th Avenue.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Reuse, Recycle, and Replant
A concerted effort was made to recycle or reuse many things from this old house and garden. For example, the elderly owner's son worked with neighbours to move the large rhododendron seen at the front of this house before the demolition on April 8 or 9, 2014. In 1960, the rhodo cost $1.99. The view from the back alley shows a flowering cherry, which I do not think was saved.
This typical 1920's or 1930's house stood at 3564 West 28th Avenue, and according to the son, it had quite a few structural problems, so demolition was not a bad solution.
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