Hastings Street. Vancouver, British Columbia.

[stoawayintheflesh]

The Downtown Eastside of Vancouver B.C. is one of the most unified, cultural diverse, prideful, places in the world.The Artists, the outreach workers, the cops, the dealers, and the users are all serving a purpose greater then themselves.And here's the resentment I have with these tearful odes to Hastings...is everything from the hip hop rappers to the CBC news to Eva Mendes comes down here with their cameras BUT NOBODY STAYS ...they just exploit it and leave it in the same state as it was

[sanbuenaventuraman]

Despite my extreme hatred for virtually every branch of government in Canada, I don't think there is an easy solution to the drug addict situation in Canadian cities. The only thing local governments can do is round them up and ship them to a different province, run a bus load every day to Alberta, the addicts will get tired or working their way back to Vancouver and the numbers wll eventually diminish. It's sad, but what else can be done to clean up the problem?

[bodizone1]

now what do you think about liberal socialist bc? lol

[210482fmj]

sadly there just ain't enough jobs for everybody. We need a new system to live by and one that ensures equality. This shit ain't fare. Knowbody deserves this. We don't need to pay to exist in this world. We have the corporations to thank for this.

[sarahandsaid]

So many videos shot from cars by people who are less worthy of respect than the downtrodden they fetishize.

[emilio124567]

lol wnna see REAL poverty look up LA BROX BOGOTA o cartucho BOGOTA now u will be shocked

[Slidewayzs]

they shud line up all those fuckin time wasters and just shoot them all get rid of there flilth and desease from the earth... fuckin disgustin rotten dirty bastards

[ojyhofoy]

I tried to walk from hastings part of downtown going to chinatown with buddies and you can feel you're on a third world country while going through that way.

[kongg]

Make the Rich Pay

Join Anti Poverty Committee Coalition...

I have live in Vancouver for 40 years.

most people that has mental-illness ( & addiction ) are not born with mental-illness.

it is the human society that push them over the edge, & turn them into drug addicts...

[ionavalanche]

i love seeing this when i go to vancouver, i actually go out of my way to see this.

[RobPiotrowski]

i did too, and then went back through over and over again

[tonytonytonytony222]

@ionavalanche thats cruel man these ppl are suffering its not funny

[afghi420]

that bad part of hastings is only a very small section, few blocks maybe. British

Columbia is one of the most beautiful places in the world! Even though it is in Canada, Vancouver has a very warm climate in the winter, hardly ever snows or goes to freezing. It's like a timewarp back to the 70's, i had someone at a gas station run over and give me a fresh loaf of homemade bread because i had New Brunswick plates! And i hear they hate harper there which makes sense.

Miss you BC!!

[chrisperdicaro]

Canada has so many social programs for people to offer compared to many other countries--even first world countries. I encourage some of these activists who feel Canada is short changing the public, travel to developing nations and see true, abject poverty. It is no wonder why some of those people who come from those developing nations think Canada is a paradise and they do very well here--even their kids go to university and become very successful and productive for Canadian society.

[JohnnyHorton]

This is the result of "free trade", NAFTA

[firstnationcreature]

get off your ass and help them they are like children in africa we can help be brave

[gaarakanji]

last time i was there i saw a guy who looked like Mr. Clean!

[TheConfusedKids]

if u guys feel so bad go buy some of their native injected cigarettes!

[GoGadgetHookerClean]

I can only feel so sad. I mean the reason the homeless population is so bad there is because its the only place in Canada you could survive the winter without a home. And i wish I could move to BC, but I wouldn't just pack my shit and go without a job. Some people just make bad choices.

[sk8tergirlygirl56435]

This is very sad.

[mrmcbinner]

DUH! Some people are binners that use the bottle depot United We Can. The of that loser crowd sell drugs or stolen stuff to get drugs. Makes us all look bad. Get the real facts.

[zakharaya]

thts so fuked up

[smog2732]

everytime i go to vancouver, i hate going down this part of town. It scares me and its sad,.

[THEVANCOUVEROLYMPICS]

The Netherlands just instituted a program to make the homeless tour guides in Amsterdam. Why doesn't the Vancouver government spiff these souls up a bit, have an 8 week course and assign them to personally airport-greet the rich Chinese tourists who will be flying in for the 2010 Olympics?

[thomas242007]

thats a good idea

[CDNSMOKEJUMPER]

Amsterdam has no where near the amount of crackheads.

Where did you get your information on these tour guides? When I lived in Amsterdam the only thing you got from a crackhead was a cheap bike from the junkie bridge....

[TheConfusedKids]

hehe i live right in that hood.

[decals23]

do u see wat im getting at but the goverment makes money off drugs thats why this shit is happinging if he tryed to get drugs off the streets we would have alot happier people

[thomas242007]

so is that what happened to hastings?? drugs?? hard or soft?? like heroine or weed?? cause i hear they have alot of trouble with a bit of that up there

[decals23]

dude we cant feel sorry every thing has a cost if there wasent 1 nowone would be living we work for money and wat most of us dont relize is if we didnt work we would have no resorces or technology

[nakawick]

I am disappointed with the government out there by taxing families with young kids and wasting it on heroin needles and injection sites for those losers. It is their own fault, no one else's. You might as well burn the money, at least you'll get a bit of heat.

[NoWoSeLsKi]

This is just sickening :(

[raymond289]

Well I m a Current Unemployed from Toronto I move to Calgary unable to find work.

(((Alberta Does not Provide Welfare)))

B.C. Provide Welfare

The poor here people Bottle pick 5 cents cans each to ( 2L 20 cent)

Here how is Work If you too Poor the Government does not help you out. these people has poor knowlege

4 Things A crackhead needs to remeber

Money, Buy + Smoke Crack , Food and Steal

over 90% has Drug problem

Wealth in this Country are

[needtoknowmore]

Ahahahaa Fuck Calgary, maned atfer 2 dude you slept with CAL, Gary ! HA

[raymond289]

1. Government 2. Corporation These 2 group get away with many things Why do you thing Liberal Party always put some kind of Shit. Still get a Vote. For Example Your Sin number is set in which Province you got your card 2XX- XXX XXX Eastern Canada Newfound 3XX- XXX XXX Part Quebec 4XX- XXX XXX Quebec and Ontario 5XX- XXX XXX Ontario 1997 - early 2000 6XX- XXX XXX Ontario 7XX- XXX XXX Western Canada 73X- XXX XXX B.C

[raymond289]

A person is just a number in the Government mind to

pay Taxes Income and ETC

[sprichbeeke]

It is totally unacceptable and deeply shameful, that we as a wealthy country seem not capable to alleviate this suffering!!!

[blockwatchconnection]

Let our counselor know what we need to change.

[someguy53]

What song is that?

[RobPiotrowski]

"Untitled 1" by Nestoria

[RobPiotrowski]

Nestoria has a myspace page and a soundcloud but youtube won't let me post the links

[RWeiSte]

In 2010 Vancouver has Olympics! What do they do whit the homeless???Why does the city Vancouver didnt help them all????? Its so sad....

[amazin67666]

homeless can't be helped. there homeless for a reason and its not sad. almost all of the are the most annoying people who i have ever seen and they think its everyone elses responsibility to help them and its not.

[charmeyn2]

@amazin67666 , you are a complete moron to say that the homeless can't be helped, well FYI, I know plenty who have been helped off the streets,I personally helped a friend who ended up on the streets, yes due to his drug addiction, however he's been clean off of Heroin for 15 years now and he's my best friend, so stick your comment where the sun don't shine.

[amazin67666]

well good for for saving the day buddy, but I'm saying that its not everyones responsibilty to help your heroin addicted friends, its not my fault hes was on it was it now? That would be 100% his fault.

[charmeyn2]

@amazin67666

The only part in your comment that does make sense, is yes these people are homeless for a reason, plenty of reason's in fact: Mental iIlness Lack of subsidized Independent housing

 closure of detox centres and Mental Health treatment facilities, need I say more?

[charmeyn2]

and not to mention our useless Liberal Government leader Gordan "Twisted Mouth" Campbell, which BTW his surname does mean "Twisted Mouth" in Scottish Gaelic, he certainly does live up to that, there is a place in Scotland called Glencoe where he would be most un-welcome, Remember the Massacre of Glencoe Gordo? You're doing the same thing to the people of the DTES as your asncestor's did to the McDonald clan in Glencoe

[amazin67666]

bahahahaha is that seriously what you do all day? Translate things into Gaelic? Maybe you should find an activity a little more productive or maybe you'll end up homeless too ;)

[charmeyn2]

@amazin67666 what I do "All Day" is none of your concern, and I never heard of studying history to be the cause of someone becoming homeless; and just FYI I was homeless once, and since when is educating yourself considered a bad "Activity" I guess what you do all day is leave heartless comments towards people suffering adversity,what a sad life you must have?

[amazin67666]

I'm not saying educating yourslef isn't important, because it is. I just think that translating "twisted mouth" into Scottish Gaelic is going a little over board, but hey, whatever floats your boat man. lol and yes, I do use youtube to be a prick. I don't think people would actually say most of the things they write annoymously. I just think that it shouldn't be the publics main responsibility to get people off the street, who a lot of the time put themselves there.

[8mileronaldo7]

@amazin67666 i agree wit you 100%

[SCOTSDOC]

Hastings will not clean up until DRUG USE IS DECRIMINALIZED. Heroin is addictive and the poor addicts in the DTES support an entire pyramid of suppliers,Social Workers, Police officers, 'legal aid' lawyers, judges court workers,emergency room staff,and prison staff and the associated unions!

AND OF COURSE THE GANGS IN THEIR BMW's FIGHTING THE TURF WAR.. Mexico shows what Vancouver will become if drug supply is not de criminalized and regulated

[al7ob2000]

what a sick country

[Toos1]

It's one part of a city, of a province, then of a country. the whole country isn't like that. Learn your facts before you run your mouth about my beautiful BC

ya BITCH

[xCUNTFAYCE]

@Toos1

Where do you live in BC? You obviously haven't seen all of BC...

Have you been to any of the indian reserves on Vancouver island? Or what about in Kamloops right now? How are you liking the violence there?

OR, what about Surrey? Which for crime is worse then Vancouver.

OR, what about how the HA resides in BC.'

BC is the most dangerous place in Canada, and that's the truth.

[JonnyRattatat]

@xCUNTFAYCE pretty sure you missed the point bud. he said the whole country isn't like this. it's fucked but it's pretty much all in a 6 block radius. native reserves and whalley aside, BC is a beautiful place to live, and we are very lucky to live here.

[peaceful9000]

I wish to get there soon in the Hasting street vancouver it's really nice !!!

[officernarc]

that's not frightening.  that's just sad.

[rickdafrog]

Well, tell you what, for tourists like us, who aren't used to that sort of stuff, it was scary. If I would have been on my own I would have been fine, but with my young boy and my wife, I was a little worried.

[rickdafrog]

I was visiting vancouver and stepped out of gastown and ended up in this area. It was scary. I was sightseeing with my wife and seven year old son. I don't know how we ended up there, but I'd never seen anything like it.

[SharpSho0ter99]

I was raised in east van just about a block from hastings st.

Just me and my dad livin in an apartment the size of a mini van. Thing u gotta realize is that a lot of the homeless people are not addicts. A lot of them are just unemloyed or got fucked by the government some how. Anyways, its not just hastings thats bad, its pretty much a large part of east van that is a slum. Hastings seems to be the center of it all though.

[rickdafrog]

Yeah, I'm not saying they're all addicts, but as I said just earlier, I was a little worried walking around there with my son. And rather than turn back we got deeper into it cause I thought we could make a simple turn and hook up Robson St again. We ended up walking for a freaking long time near the motorway, underneath the bypass by the stadium or event centre or whatever it is and finally ended up back on Robson.... Eventually. I loved the city though.

[DIGIBOYTV]

This is the bottle return depot on Hastings as well and they pick up all the "rich" wanna-be yuppie's weekend beer cans and some sell crack to businessmen and crackhead alike. Good footage,

[JimBonesDarkAngel]

If you wanna help. try getting out of the car and talk to some people. take a walk down that street, some of these people are really cool, just lost their way,.

[upstandingj]

That's exactly the point that too many people unfortunately can't see for themselves. Everyone's a person, mixed up or not.

[SmellRonHubbard]

Check out the dude in the white t-shirt at 1:10. He's the offical end of the bum parade.

[nicolachandler]

i was in vancouver a few weeks ago and could not believe vancouvers dirty little secret. i think its digusting that there is so little help for these people. how can the canadian government spend millions on the olympics yet try to sweep this all under the carpet.how are they going to keep this from the world.

[kennybenny]

theres a difference between being homeless and being crackheads, and all those people you see in the video are crackheads. there are shelters where u can sleep at for free and eat for free. there are churches and detox where they can be educated for free. it is these people's choice not to get helped when help is available because thats what crack does to you.

[DIGIBOYTV]

wrong just wrong, the in patient mental homes were shut in 80's and when a city ignores it's sick you get this. They are not all just crackheads, they are peoples kids.

[mikefly562]

I was just in Van this past weekend for the first time in a few years, and I can't believe how much this area has degraded over the last few years. I used to come a lot, but now this is becoming a very serious problem. I'm from L.A. and I was surprised to see how much bigger than Skid Row this homeless problem is. I really like Vancouver, but they need to solve this situation (if it is not too late).

[fattygetsowned]

im guessing the sores dont get every much buisness there. I would never walk or buy something in this kind of environment, this is really sad.

[trailmix101]

i live on this block, you don't even know what happens there, you don't want to!

[xJuGgErNauTx69]

ya i do wanna know.

[motleycruer]

i was there 2 or 3 weeks ago ilive in yorkton

[cottoncandiess]

last time i was over there my dad took a wrong turn, so we had to go into an ally and out the other side, it was kind of sad but nasty seeing alll the people in alleys, with like a gazillion needles on the ground from people taking drugs and basically killing themselves outside

[AssassinM27]

Yeah its pretty rough to have to see sometimes.

I live in vancouver.