What is the history of homelessness in Vancouver?
Homelessness is not new to Vancouver. According to the book, Street Stories: 100 years of homelessness in Vancouver, there have been homeless people in Vancouver since it was founded in 1886 (Newman, Nancy). The same book describes that until the late 1970s and early 1980s homelessness in Vancouver followed the economic logic of boom and bust capitalism. However, from1986, that logic has no longer been the determining factor influencing the growing number of homeless in the city. The 1980’s new poverty that has emerged has been a product of “the transition from an industrial-based capitalist economy to a post-industrial, global economy and a culture of consumerism” (Newman, Nancy). Where in Metro Vancouver area are most homeless people located? Almost every neighborhood in Vancouver experiences homelessness. While many services are concentrated in the Downtown Eastside, homelessness counts have identified many people sleeping in parks in the West End, along retail corridors like Mt. Pl
