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¥ Abrief history of sandals

Y Great Inclinations: Day-trippin’ in and

around Vancouver

And more!

Single room occupancy

> An article written from inside an SRO

was $375.00 per month, this was the
fiscal amount designated for rent for
those living on welfare. Unfortunately,
these rooms did not remain livable for
long. The designated buildings had

not been refurbished prior to their
tenants moving in, and the tenants lack
of upkeep contributed to the further
dilapidation of the buildings. This, along
with neglecting management, angered
the municipal government and they
eventually demanded a revision.

Rental holding agencies took a hold
of many of the SRO-designated buildings
and re-marketed them as micro-suite
living. The cost of rent increased to
amounts high above the affordability of
the people receiving income assistance,
sifting out many of the previous
residents.

Here is where I entered. The trickle-
down effect is now the trickle-up effect.

While the plumbing, electrics, and
overall] aesthetic in some SROs still
reinforce the poor picture that has been

C J Sommerfeld
Contributor

 

he norms of what define a “Single

Room Occupancy” (SRO) have been
curated by the finite documentation put
forth for the public. I’m here to tell you
that there is another side to them. I will
start with a short bit of history:

These apartments are not bachelor
suites, nor studios; they are rooms. They
are usually repurposed hotels in what
used to be Vancouver's happening part of
town; what we know now as the sinister
Downtown East Side (DTES).

SROs are small 100-foot rooms
which previously acted as temporary
homes for weary travelers , now
masked as entire apartments. They
were implemented as an attempt to
combat the lack of affordable housing,
particularly for those on welfare income
assistance.

When SROs were first introduced
into Vancouver the rent for each room

ietm ee nwicis

Brittney MacDonald
Life and Style Editor

Now I’ve never been one to brag about my musical taste.

I think taking pride in something that is so mercurial is a
little strange. What we listen to and what we enjoy is entirely
evolutionary and dependent on our state of mind. So, we here

at the Other Press would like to share a little piece of ourselves
with you. Here’s what we've been jamming to this month.
Obvious Heart by Finger Eleven (Caroline)
Supermodel (You Better Work) by RuPaul (Jessica
Prune, You Talk Funny by Gus Dapperton (Jacey)

Coteau Guidry by Lost Bayou Ramblers ft.
Scarlett Johansson (Jerrison)

Brother by The Organ (Brittney)
Wasteland by 10 Years (Caroline)
Man! I Feel Like a Woman! by Shania Twain (Jessica)
We Got a Love by Shit Robot and Reggie Watts (Jacey)
DNA by Kendrick Lamar (Jerrison)

Queer by Garbage (Brittney)

4

 

 

published in the media, the reality is that
many of them skews greatly from that
image, and in a few short years they have
undergone a vast evolution. The scarcity
of available housing sprawls further

than those living in the DTES as many of
these micro-suites are not littered with
anarchists of society, but with students,
artists, and young professionals—people
eager for a place of their own, but

unable to demand anything larger in
Vancouver’s exorbitant housing market.

douglascollege =

Photos of Hotel Canada in 1914 and 2015 via

VancouverisAwesome.com

And, while a mini-fridge and hot
plate suffice as our kitchens, and while
we have been forced to configure our
furniture like a game of Tetris, we've
still managed to make these spaces
our home. The media has curated a
collectively tainted perspective on SROs,
maneuvering our interest elsewhere,
but sometimes we need to explore and
experiment for ourselves. Sometimes all
that glitters is not gold, but is brighter
than gold itself.

t New Westminster, British Columbia

 

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douglascollege Congratulations to all our Student
Engagement Award winners and nominees.

#deseals

douglascollege #douglascollege #caquitlam
#newwestminster #college #studentengagement

#studentlife #

nn! +1
ccolleges

estrellalbp What a fantastic group of people #3 4%
thanks for putting on such a great event!