A Snapshot of Economic Revitalization Emerging Trends in Vancouver’s DTES

Wes Regan, Executive Director HxBIA- Hastings Crossing Business Improvement Association

Once upon a time…

DTES Today

Revitalization Without Displacement (aka Inclusive Revitalization)

2004 Revitalization Strategy The Vancouver Agreement

Façade Grants Olympic Village CBA Business and Social Enterprise Development Supported Employment Building Opportunities with Business Inner-City

Society

Not bad….butTop down heavy bureaucratic approach could

have been more inclusiveMillions of dollars invested in projects and

programs but not a long-term strategySome Successes

Façade Grant Program Social Enterprise and SME Loan Fund SOLEfood, Save On Meats, Olympic Village CBA Supported Employment Program

What may have had more impact accelerating change

Didn’t you get the memo?

2010 Federal Government reprioritized economic development funding away from urban to rural ridings regions

Vancouver Agreement comes to an end…

A Blessing in Disguise? The Downside of the RFP ModelWhat other models are out there funding-wise

that we could apply in the DTES where we didn’t have to snake our friends and allies for RFPs or grants?

How could we better tap into the free market and leverage a renewed interest in investing in the DTES for social impact?

Get Entrepreneurial Found a new BIA with social innovation at its core

Provides us 5 years of a guaranteed non-competing budget to leverage

Could turn people’s heads (Media, potential businesses, NY – IDA, academics)

Develop BIA programming that is both culturally relevant to the area and inclusive of local population (not focused on social mix or gentrification as much as social capital generating and social inclusion/social impact)

Leverage the new social-entrepreneurial direction of both non-profits and SMEs

Building Opportunities with Business Incubated and aided Hastings Crossing BIA in forming

A fast changing & politically charged area

(to say the least)2013 concerns about gentrification and

displacement reach a fever pitchAnti-Gentrification Movement (anti-capitalist

movement)

So what’s a new BIA to do?

Invest in people first Partnerships Collaboration Consultation Dialogue Build social capital No big physical changes (shocks) Events, events, events Dispel misinformation Clear communications & engagement strategy

Change the conversation

Change the channel away from the dominant black and white narrative

leverage the new entrepreneurial focus of non-

profits

Intensely collaborative approach to program development

Social Innovation embedded in our constitution and bylaws

Combine a strict focus on both “ value for money” and “social impact” or “social return on investment”

Programming creates jobs for residents with barriers

MP Neighbours Community Patrols - Crime prevention, street debris removal, business and property owner support

But still we get attacked and slagged by some

Impact of MP Neighbours Sep 2012-Nov 2013

Needles and street debris removed – 5650 items

Illegal dumpings reported to COV – 667 cases

De-escalated hostile situations – 132 incidents

9 Part-Time flexible jobs created for residents with barriers

COV Police Foundation now interested in our MP Neighbours Program Stream as those 78 incidents de-escalated often involve someone with a mental health barrier in need of local resources…think of the tax dollars this saves by avoiding VPD calls

We’re collaborating with a lot of others too…

Partnerships we’ve created and community organizations we’ve collaborated and/or consulted with to develop our programming

Vancouver Public Spaces Network, Space to Place, Strathcona BIA, W2, Inner City Safety Society, Downtown Vancouver Association, Climate Smart, Our Social Fabric, Indian Summer Festival, Word on the Street (now Word), Central City Foundation, Recipes for Success, DTES Neighbourhood House, Portland Hotel Society, UBC Forestry, Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Council, Pigeon Park Street Market, VANDU (Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users), Ninja Training, Ray Cam, Carnegie Community Centre, Mission Possible, ALIVE, UBC SCARP – School for Community And Regional Planning, Fast Track to Employment, EMBERS, East Side Artists Company, WISH, Vancouver Board of Trade, DTES Round Table, SFU, The HiVE, LOCO BC, Potluck Café and Catering, Open Door Group, HAVE Café, Our Place, Strathcona Residents Association, Gastown BIA, Strathcona BIA, Climate Smart, Metro Vancouver Zero Waste Challenge, Heritage Foundation of Vancouver, Work BC, Vancouver Economic Commission, SFU Centre for Sustainable Community Development, SFU Public Square, Healing Cities Institute, Vancouver Police Department, Vancouver BIA Partnership, City of Vancouver , Vancouver Heritage Foundation, an more…

Also working with SMEs on social impact and inclusion

New business attraction and retention supports to assist SMEs and property owners in general

Addition of SpaceList – comprehensive commercial lease aggregator

Addition of map-based and social media integrated business directory

Striving for brand authenticity Inspired by the existing built environment, edginess &

counterculture history not trying to reinvent or encourage disneyfication of the area

Use of imagery in social media strategy to associate our brand by

“feel” & “resonance”

Investing in the human and cultural capital of our area

Numerous and ongoing networking events, guest speakers, dialogue

Free events in public spaces

Networking, dialogue, performance, community building – outdoor

Networking, dialogue, performance, community building – indoor

Two cats high-fiving

While also investing in the physical capital of our area

Investing in human capital while investing in physical capital, that’s

the stuff!

Incremental steps to public realm improvements

But back to the anti-gentrification folks for a

minute… CCAP (Carnegie Community Action Project) DTES Not for Developers Anti-Poverty Committee Anti-Gentrification Front MAWO The Mainlander, Vancouver Indie-Media Co-op, Rabble.ca*A fundamental ideological divide between a conflict based anti-

capitalist perspective and a social capital building community economic development perspective and an outright market focused development perspective (terra nullius, carte blanche, tabula rasa etc.)

Popular conflict theory narrative

Restaurants and high-end stores are “foot soldiers” or “paratroopers” in the battle for our streets, our public spaces, our city etc.

They “make it safe” for developers and others in the wealthiest strata of society to displace low-income

Developers likewise take risks to remake spaces in the interest of higher income earners and capitalist culture

The DTES is a low-income community and it should remain so. By resisting new businesses it mitigates further development (in theory)

Community Economic Development Social Capital Theory

Communities that build social capital across strata are more resilient, able to change, able to leverage new opportunities

We need to ensure that our properties create spaces that ensure a range of income levels are being served (ownership matters)

Community Development Corporations, Land Trusts, Social Impact Bonds, Social Enterprise, all leverage markets but for social impact so the market can have negative externalities but we can also create positive ones too

Not all “land lift” needs to cascade into a totalizing transformation of communities – we need to seek a balance and retain local low-income assets but we can’t let other assets deteriorate in the process

Policy can be more powerful than the purse

Improving flexibility for approved usesMultiple business types sharing space (co-

working)Permit and license delays Inconsistency with COV staff and departments COV procurement policy (buy local) Industrial Lands Strategy Retail Strategy for Hastings and other

Commercial Corridors

Businesses are interested in social impact and inclusion

We can leverage renewed interest in the DTESWe can support SMEs in hiring locally and in

providing goods and services that are needed and wanted by the more than 12,000 low-income residents who call the DTES home

We can raise the profile of social impact purchasing with larger purchasers (support non-profits and social enterprises or social impact businesses that hire residents, including residents with barriers)

Vancouver a tough town to raise capital in We want to grow these social ventures and support these social entrepreneurs for their

impact in the DTES

Thank you Wes Regan, Executive Director

604-805-3591 wes.regan@hxbia.com www.hxbia.com www.shapecontent.com