Our NIMBY Dilemma

We live on Commercial Drive. Behind our apartment is an alleyway frequented by dozens of bottle scavengers as well as a growing colony of homeless people and drifters. The colony is lodged under an overhang parking area.

During the winter time, my partner sometimes dropped off hot soup or food for the residents living there. There were only one or two people living there at the time, which made sense considering the cold (read: rainy) and inhospitable Vancouver winters. Now as spring turns to summer, the population of the overhang has grown.

Initially, we didn't have any problem with this. Our homeless neighbours weren't bothering anyone. The minimal increase in garbage around the alley was a pain in the ass, but that was really the only issue.

Then as new folks joined the older residents, things began to change. More scavenging around the area made us feel a bit more self conscious about the possibility of crime in the area. And then there was the noise.

At first it was just a shout here and there. But often it seemed to be party time at the colony with all manner of yelling at 11 PM 12 AM, 4 AM etc. In the afternoons we watched as a white Mercedes cruised around passing out vials to our neighbours. We weren't quite sure why, but this was frustrating.

While we can handle the dealing; the noise is a problem. Neither of us enjoy being woken constantly through the night to loud hooting or screaming arguments.

Ultimately, we'll soon see just how effectively community can transcend income and status. The next time there is a loud flare up (and we aren't too groggy / lazy to get up), we're planning on wandering over to talk to our neighbours. We'll kindly ask if they mind keeping the noise down. We're hopeful that the fact that while drugs and booze may be an issue, the dictum of sharing common community space will prevail. If it doesn't (or if the drugs cloud out neighbourly decency), we'll most certainly find ourselves in a very difficult NIMBY dilemma.

It's a dilemma we don't want to find ourselves in, because the alternative of calling the cops is not appealing at all.

"The Usual"

"The Usual." A true parlance of community. If you can walk into a place - any place - and order "the usual," well, my friends, in the world of patronage, you've arrived. Historical findings suggest that being offered "the usual" by places of food-oriented business is a sign of nobility and status in one's community. Or I just made that up because I'm trying to justify seeing something cool on TV or in a book that, long ago, set in motion a goal-setting brainstorm that is, I'm happy to say, nearing completion.

Now. It's been a personal goal of mine for years to have a place where I would be on a first-name basis with the owner of a bar, restaurant or coffee shop and that, upon my entry into such an establishment, the owner would say, "Hey, John. The usual?" Amazing. So, I've got a few goals on my life-list (start a noble pirate company, learn to use power tools, pull off a moustache, write a book, teach my child a jump-shot, perform stand-up at an open-mic-night, have Blue Rodeo play at my wedding, extinguish the Sun...you know, minor, achievable goals), and, I'm happy to say, this week I got to cross one off.

My friend and owner of Pane Vero Cafe and Bakery, Claudio, made my heart smile by asking the above question earlier this week. Now, since moving to The Drive a year ago, I've hit up Pane Vero for their delicious and, incidentally, addictive croissants (ham and cheese or spinach and feta, you can't go wrong). Claudio has also been a spectacular host of a couple of Climate Cafes, inviting members of Vancouver's environmentally friendly community to sit down, sip coffee, eat delicious food and talk about everything from green careers to green sex ("green jobs" fell somewhere in the middle...). Not only is the guy a class-act in terms of building-bridges/relationships, but now I can get "the usual." And it's a beautiful thing!

Are you looking to get "the usual" at a coffee shop, restaurant or "guy who sells various meats in cones" at the Commercial/Broadway Skytrain station? I won't say it's easy, because building and sustaining a meaningful relationship should take hard work. And you also have to establish a purchasing pattern, hence the usual way of doing things. Adding value for the person who gets your patronage is great too, so try and arrange cool events that will bring new business and people into their place of operations.

Most importantly. Create a buzz about the business. Maybe write a blog post. They'll love it.

Keep it real, Claudio. I'll be in early next week. As per the usual.

- JCH

PS - oh, and The Sun, after I teach my kid to dunk, you're getting extinguished...keep an eye open, pal.

The Hummer Master and the Sangria

Let's paint a picture in your mind.

It's a sunny day on Commercial Drive. People lazily mill about the streets in the afternoon sun. Across from Grandview Park, there we sit on the patio of Havana, a Cuban inspired local restaurant. We drink red wine sangria and watch in an absent minded fashion as "Cloudman", one of the Drive's many resident eccentrics, twirls his stick (poorly) in a acid-hazed hangover.

We are dressed in jeans and loose checkered shirts. Our sandals are a raggedy two years old. The height of informal relaxed fashion. I look like Huck Finn - Vancouver Redux. Everyone else that we see seems the same way. Tinny Latin music echoes over the din of the crowd. At least it does until its overwhelmed by the distant bass thump of a JT (Justin T) spewing Hummer.

As the Hummer drives down the street past us, we get a glimpse of a white urban city dweller. Dressed in startched white collar, sporty blue blazer and fancy new Yaletownesque shades. Beside him sits his plush bimboesque barbie, who curls her hair absent mindedly.

As the Hummer spews its fumes the Drive rises up. The finger, the downturned thumb are displayed. Others catcall. Then there are the yellers - I don't need to repeat what they say - use your imagination. Cloudman continues to twirl his stick absentmindedly.

And then the Hummer driver is gone.

He's just gotten a taste of exclusivity (if he noticed).

We noticed. It seems that the Drivers are trying to say something to the interloper. They say that he's part of the undesired group that we don't really want in our community. Take your gaz-guzzler away from here and don't come back.

Was it his disregard for the environment that inspired such wrath? Or his materialism? The symbol of the military-industrial complex he brought to ground zero for Vancouver Peacenicks? Or maybe we were all jealous of his "success"?

More importantly, what law did he break to justify our rudeness? And what makes the Drive any different (or better?) from the most exclusive golf club in the country?

Prejudice in my Community

Hypocrisy is probably integral to any community. And it is disappointing that, in this age of Obamania, people cannot be accepted for who they are, what they look like, and even what they wear. Let me explain.

In a lot of ways, I more than fit the mold of someone who lives on The Drive (see picture to the left). Growing up in the tiny, gumboot-clad hamlet of Merville on Vancouver Island instilled several "all natural" and "organic" and even "hippy" values in my heart, mind and soul - my family grew, harvested and ate our own delicious vegetables and eggs from our own delicious garden and chickens. Dating an Italian Princess for a few years also heightened my ability to communicate exceptionally well through hand gestures. Tolerance, open-mindedness and a sense of community define my daily routine, and I'm pretty good when it comes to laughing at myself (which helps a lot when I participate in street theatre or other interactive activities in my neighbourhood, such as dance-offs with Spoon Man). As one can imagine, all these things come in handy when habitating in the Commercial Drive area. And, to tell you the truth, my neighbourhood and I get along exceptionally well.

Well, for the most part. Most of the time. Just not the times when I'm dressed in clothes that can only be described as the antithesis of Drive-wear. For you see, the community on The Drive is prejudice against business attire.

So, I work at UBC. Sometimes, my work requires me to wear a suit (when I can, I do my best to keep it real and rock a corduroy jacket). And when these sometimes arise - wow - the difference of my experience walking or riding home from the sky train station to the north end of Commercial Drive is, well, quite a statement on behalf of my neighbourhood, my community. This concept is realized photographically by the picture* to the right.

Look. I get it. I understand the symbolism of a suit in a neighbourhood founded and popularized by immigrants, hippies and the coolest counterculture this side of Montreal. A lack of affordable housing around the Lower Mainland and the gentrification of The Drive are serious world-changing issues of which I know I'm a part. So, perhaps this espousal aims at getting people to think about how they look at someone; especially when so many of us might not really know what the people we're judging actually stand for.

Let's also not forget - as we think about what people in suits stand for - to consider the people in disguise on The Drive. The people who are also part of the gentrification of this neighbourhood, but who use a clever couture to blur such a reality. These are the Cloud Men** of the world. And the young folks who whip out their iPhone, iPod and iMac just after sitting down on the bus. But they don't get looks, 'cause their style is a good "fit" for Commercial Drive.

There's nothing wrong with these folks or the way they carry themselves (unless, of course, they're unfairly judging the suit-wearers or other outside-the-mold people of the world). For the most part, they're not - we're not - better or worse than each other. We're just different.

If you ask me, community is about acceptance. With a new chapter of hope, change and tolerance unfolding south of the border - eventually permeating the global community in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead - hopefully my dirty plaid will begin to go over in Yale Town just like my necktie does in the East End Food Co-op. Because, after all, I'm just a guy like everyone else in this neighbourhood. I just happen to be a dude who wears a suit from time to time.

Thanks for your time, understanding and acceptance.

- John

*BIG THANKS to Joe and the good people at the Bump 'n' Grind. I just want to, first, highly recommend the Double Americano at this fantastic coffee shop that is located at the corner of Commercial and Venables. Joe was a great sport and indulged us in our little photoshoot. He is, clearly, all about community and acceptance.
**Oh Cloud Man. Your disguise is impeccable. Man, when I moved here last year (February 2008) and watched you twirl your staff up and down The Drive only one thing seemed out of place...for some reason, you always had a disposable coffee cup in your hand. Always. I would like to follow you around for a day, my friend...I want to know what you stand for...