Chinatown and Vancouver character homes top endangered list

VANCOUVER (NEWS 11300 -A watch list of threatened historic places in Vancouver doesn’t just include buildings, but entire urban landscapes.

The annual rankings from Heritage Vancouver show character homes and the Chinatown urban landscape are tied for first on the rundown of endangered places.

Bill Yuen with Heritage Vancouver says this year, the list is not limited to individual buildings, but includes places that define the character of certain neighbourhoods.

“What we’re saying with neighbourhood character is, I think it’s important to realize that buildings are important, but the buildings, they enable a lot of things we care about in communities.”

“Maybe those things are good neighbour relations, or having kids play in the street, or having a good retail strip. But all those things together make a great neighbourhood.”

Areas on the watch list include False Creek South and the Powell Street area previously known as “Japantown”.

“That loss of character is maybe not necessarily only from the loss of the homes, which are quite important, but also the loss of the community feeling,” says Yuen.

The list:

1) Character Homes & Neighbourhood Character: Historic Urban Landscapes

1) Chinatown: Historic Urban Landscapes

3) David Lloyd George School: Vancouver Schools

4) Celtic Shipyards: Landmarks

5) Simon Fraser Annex: Vancouver Schools

6) Sinclair Centre: Landmarks

7) False Creek South: Historic Urban Landscapes

8) Wallace Crescent Houses: Special Streetscapes

9) Powell Street Area (Nihonmachi or ‘Japantown’): Historic Urban Landscapes

10) Lawn Bowling Clubs and Greens: Historic Urban Landscapes

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