While Vancouver's politicians and academics discuss solutions to the Downtown Eastside's pervasive poverty, one developer is rolling up his sleeves and getting to work.

David Duprey, with his punk tattoos and aggressive language, would look out of place in a boardroom business meeting. But in the Downtown Eastside, he seems to fit right in.

He speaks with conviction about the area, saying that Vancouver has been passive for too long, and his developments are long overdue.

"If you've got an idea, you just go out and do it. You don't sit around and talk about it for 10 years, you just do it," says Duprey.

And he is doing it. In the past two years, he has leased eight buildings across the city, five of which were vacant for more than a decade before he got them.

Duprey owns the Plank Gallery, a non-profit art space that was the first new business in over a decade to open in the 100-block of East Hastings, a block that is known for rampant drug use and extreme poverty.

He also owns the Grace Gallery at Main Street and 3rd Avenue, as well as the hidden bar, called the Narrow, in the back of Grace Gallery. It hosts DJs most nights, and is difficult to find unless someone points out exactly where it is.

Now, he's opening three more buildings: 108, 110 and 112 E. Hastings Street, buildings that have been empty for 14 years. The space inside is devoted nearly exclusively to art studios, and will provide a workspace at dirt-cheap rates to more than 40 artists. And one store-front is set to open very soon.

Saturday is the grand opening of the Goonies Gallery, an all-girls art collective at 108 E. Hastings Street that will host art shows, parties, movie nights and workshops. It will be the first for-profit business in the area in over a decade, according to Duprey.

Dirt-cheap rental rates

The Goonies pays about 75 cents per square foot every month, which is staggeringly cheap compared with monthly rates of up to $3.50 for a Single-Room Occupancy (SRO) apartment.

And with his seven-year lease, Duprey plans to keep the rents cheap, even if condos spring up around the studios within that time.

"My whole thing is to fight greed. I make money off this, I make enough, but it's not insane. Then I can turn over the rest of the money into decent rates for the people who are there," says Duprey.

But the man who made this happen is quick to shine the spotlight on his tenants. He says these artists are the driving force behind what is happening on this block.

"What I do isn't rocket science," says Duprey as he leans forward in his chair. "I rent out a building, I fix it up, then I rent it out again. C'mon! All over the world, they're doing this--except here in Vancouver."

The 40 year-old businessman was raised in Vancouver, but spent his 20s in San Francisco. He then moved to L.A., where he managed a bar before moving back up to Vancouver. After he got back, he was very surprised at the business climate in the city.

"I was shocked when I came back here by the lack of entrepreneurial spirit," says Duprey, who learned his approach in the U.S., where entrepreneurs are not as reliant on government grants or special assistance.

A fresh take on developing the Downtown Eastside

The approach may be exactly what Canada's poorest postal code needs to balance the local demographics. The artist studios will change the landscape dramatically.

"It's going to make this into a more multi-faceted neighbourhood," said Duprey. "Down here you've got only poor people, and it's boring. We should mix it up."

That is the same approach that was suggested by many speakers, who expressed their views at "The Fix," a recent UBC forum on the Downtown Eastside.

Former city councilor Jim Green has been a resident and an outspoken advocate for this area, and he says the Downtown Eastside needs more arts and culture as well as the basic essentials for living.

"These people, they're dying for culture, we can't just think of material needs, people need culture, too," he said at the forum.

Green also supports a policy that would create diverse neighbourhoods of one-third low income, one-third middle income and one-third high income earners.

This is aimed at creating mutual understanding between the groups and allows for upward mobility for the poor and increased compassion from the rich. It would also stimulate local businesses because some people would have a budget for buying products from local shops.

And Duprey agrees with this strategy.

"I think Jim Green's absolutely right. If that's what he's advocating, then he's 100-per-cent on the money," he said.

Development would also help to keep people in the area after they get a steady income.

"It would be nice if people wanted to stay once they started to get jobs. But I can totally understand; I wouldn't want to live in one of these skid-row places," said Duprey.

A simple appraoch

And he says that turning abandoned buildings into functional spaces won't make all the homeless and drug-addicted people leave.

San Francisco is a good example; in the 1990's, it had a poor neighbourhood called The Mission that aimed to recruit artists attracted by the cheap rent and gritty urban feel of the area.

The artists opened galleries and started the hippest bars around. This encouraged development--some would call it gentrification--and luxury condos were built above Single-Room Occupancy apartments, which are affordable rooms aimed at housing low-income earners.

But the luxury condos didn't push the poor people out. They just made for a more diverse, interesting neighbourhood, according to Duprey, who says that Vancouver's Downtown Eastside could be the next most exciting and artistic area in the city.

Possibly Vancouver's hippest area

"It could be the coolest area, I think it's got tons of potential, but it's just too mono-economic," Duprey says. But injecting money into the area won't push the poorer people out.

"I don't care if they build luxury hotels. The SROs are still going to be here. So those people have to live with these people, and everyone has to get along, which I think would be awesome."

Duncan McCallum agrees. He is the manager of the building at 108 E. Hastings Street.

"I think what David [Duprey]'s doing here is really great," said McCallum.

Before managing the Hastings building, McCallum took care of a building on South Main.

"There was this dumpster out back with a great piece of graffiti on it... it said 'artists are the storm troopers of gentrification,' think about that; it's totally right," said McCallum.

And the artists who have moved in are aware of this, too.

PaperBird designer gets a fresh start

Mérida Anderson is the driving force behind the Goonies gallery and says that the people she meets on the 100 block of East Hastings are excited about the new place.

"I think it's good," she says. "People walk by and stop to take a look, they tell me 'I haven't seen this place open in like, 20 years.'"

But she knows that gentrification is soon to follow.

"In 10 years there's probably just going to be big, stupid condos everywhere, and it's a bummer. But what can you do?"

Anderson has sold previous seasons' garments from her clothing label PaperBird and is investing all her time, energy and money into this new space.

Duprey is quick to say it's people like Anderson--not himself--who are the real heroes.

"She's just awesome, that whole collective is awesome," said Duprey.

In addition to the Goonies gallery, two other store-fronts will open next door: a screen printing workshop and Vancouver Skate Shop.

But with a luxury condo already planned on the block, only time will tell what the lasting impact of these ground-breaking developments will be.

Source: Jeremy Stothers, ctvbc.ca

Have you, your family and your neighbours fallen into the rut of an unhealthy lifestyle? Eg’s: watching too much television, not exercising, eating too much take-out, spending countless hours in front of the computer, or not pushing beyond your comfort zone. Do you live on a street block of outgoing, fun, and open-minded people? Are you known for your block parties and community spirit?

An award-winning Vancouver-based production company seeks neighbours on a street block to participate in a new documentary series featuring a street block ready to get out of the rut of unhealthy living and challenge each other to move beyond comfort zones and improve their lifestyles.

If you think your block is ready for some lifestyle improvement, and is outgoing enough to be documented on television… we’d love to hear from you! Please write and tell us about you and your family and what area(s) you’d like to improve about your lifestyle (eg lose weight, exercise more, develop new hobbies etc). Also, please tell us about your neighbourhood as a whole and in particular, what type of “characters” live there. If there was a “community leader” who would it be?

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One in the 700-block of East Pender and the other in the 500-block of Prior Street. In both incidents the door was kicked in. The perpetrator in the Prior Street break-in was a young, short, white male who remained calm when confronted and ran off through the next-door neighbour’s yard.
Also, many car windows smashed, many in the 400 Block of Heatley Ave. A reminder to all to keep all valuables out of your cars.

If a client comes to you for a web site, the first thing you need to know is:

"Do you want the people visiting this site to notice it?"

It's a subtle but essential question.

For artists, musicians and web 2.0 companies, the answer is probably yes. Yes we want people to see the interface or remark on our skills or cleverness.

For everyone else, it's no. The purpose of the site is to tell a story or to generate some sort of action. And if the user notices the site, not the story, you've lost.

Amazingly, this means that not only can't the site be too cutting edge, clever or slick, it also can't be too horrible, garish or amateurish. It's sort of like the clothes you want the person giving a euology to wear. No Armani, no cutoff jeans.

Sasha had an interesting post on his blog about how horrible the typical conference call is. I hate them. He had some good tips, but it's still horrible.

So, here's my idea:

Conference calls should be accompanied by an online chat room. (Here's my favorite, it's easy and free for a month). Or try calliflower.

When you put text chat in parallel with a voice conference call, magical things happen.

The first is that everyone participates. If you don't, it's noticeable and you won't be invited back.

Second, the voice part of the call acts as a narrative for the chat part, allowing people to highlight or respond to what's being said.

Most of all, it creates organized, trackable chaos, which was the reason for the meeting in the first place.

Litmus test: is your organization so gutless it won't even try this technique?

Tom points us to a provocative idea for home builders. If you want to sell a new house, why not offer prospective buyers help in selling their old houses? Send your idle crews to their house to paint it or do other important cosmetic fixes. Fill the old house with the furniture you use in your models, etc.

Take it a step further. If your home building service is totally slack, why not get to work upgrading and selling older homes or even foreclosed ones?

Consider what a solo entrepreneur could do using eBay: instead of waiting for people to hold garage sales, why not distribute flyers offering to run a virtual garage sale for anyone who will open their home to you? Go in with a digital camera, catalog and photograph the top 20 most valuable items in the house and sell them on eBay... and split the money. Your proactive effort overcomes the seller's inertia and you both profit.

There are huge opportunities for this in the business to business space as well. Most companies would welcome a post-tax-day accountant who offered (on spec) to review bills or expenses in exchange for half the money saved. If they had time, they'd do it themselves, but of course they don't.

In my experience, much of marketing is a game of waiting for the other guy to go first. Well, if nothing is happening, you go first.