The Most Accurate Map of Vancouver Yet?

December 7, 2011

Posted by Vancity Buzz | 43 »

Here is a map of Vancouver that I found as I scrolled through my twitter feed (thanks to the almighty @hipsterdesigner for the find). If you live in the city and have ventured through most of it, you just might agree with it. However, there seems to be some missing elements. No mention of the Vietnamese community and some other ethnic neighbourhoods, other than that I’d say it’s pretty damn accurate.

Image: Jvefd

Sean Smitty

this is terribly inaccurate and straight up offensive
Jeremy

dude you need to lighten up. Life is too short to be walking around angry all the time.
Tien

I agree what about us Vietnamese peeps? Kingsway is our hood! Love the map thought.
1234

suck it up you can not like it but you know it’s true
Jordan7272

cry harder, your tears are delicious.
PFT

Sean Smitty must live in the UBC student overflow section.
Lkj

i’m a map and I find this offensive.
Kevin

I don’t find this funny or offensive….
Zzz

It’s not offensive but the humor fails for anyone who actually knows van cause the areas are all wrong, good for tourists who don’t actually know the city though
Dave

Actually the pink section in the middle-left of the map should read “super smart Chinese women who were professionals in China and are overlooked in Canada”
Sippin_ona40

What about the indians? And no I don’t mean the curry ones, but you could have included them too. But I mean the fisrt nations, aboriganals… Yenno?! Hello, we we were first. Mother efff… Otherwise, love the map!
@jrbvs

Umm, it’s spelled Filipinos NOT Philippinos, lol. Love the map!
Will

I know you’re not saying this, but Chinese people in general aren’t smarter than anyone else, per se. However, the Chinese that come here are selected for through immigration filters, so are generally educated, more intelligent than their average Chinese countrymen, and super ambitious. I can’t stand this Chinese >>> the world nonsense. It’s absolutely false. Just saying (and I’m Chinese).
Mrksntz

Does it make a difference? The can’t say an F or a Ph. To them it’s always the Pilipines!
guest.

yeah other than the fact that it erases the presence of a whole host of other ethnic or racialized communities including the vibrant First Nations, Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese communities, because this map mentions hipsters and yuppies and white people it’s just SO DAMN ACCURATE.

referring to the complex socio-economic history of poverty, colonialism, and racism in the DTES as a “shit show”…SO DAMN ACCURATE.

erasing the independent cultural identities of diverse populations in favour of an essentialist ”Asian People” reference…SO DAMN ACCURATE.

referring to cultural identities as “overflow,” creating a false dichotomy of “new” immigrants not finding space within the fictional white identity constructed as the default vancouver identity which must then “fit them in.” SO DAMN ACCURATE.

over 12,000 first nations people living in vancouver aren’t worth mentioning but hipsters are…three times? SO DAMN ACCURATE
i was the free New Pornagraphers concert, there aren’t 12,000 hipsters left in this town.

No mention of reserves or unceded territory…SO DAMN ACCURATE.

“poor people” contained to two neighbourhoods at the north east of the city, when Vancouver has the highest percent of population with low income; the highest percent of working poor families; and the largest and fastest growing income gap between rich and poor. showing that obviously, neighborhoods across vancouver are dealing with their own kinds of poverty….SO DAMN ACCURATE.it wouldn’t be as big of a deal if this was presented as a joke, but if this is seriously how the city of vancouver is viewed…. if people think this map is accurate…we have a lot of issues to deal with.
http://twitter.com/CaleyVanular Caley Vanular

living DEAD ZONE resident.
Norm Nelson

The map in itself is wholly inaccurate. Chinatown isn’t marked, little India, little Saigon and little Italy are mislabled. Really about the only thing that’s in any way correct is west of Burrard, and Champlain Hights. I worked and lived in this fine city for 6 years removing graffiti, did what I could to clean up the “shit show”, which for all intents and purposes is one of the few areas of Vancouver which has a sense of community. I realize that this was probably done by either some hipster kid or someone whose only reason to go east of Burrard is to get decent coffee, but really, this isn’t funny, it’s embarrassing
THE JEW

you find THIS offensive? hahahhaahha TRY getting rocks thrown at you because your Jewish or Black….Now thats offensive.

This is hilarious – strong work.
i must be ignorant

that long as comment should chill the fuck out
guest.

if it was presented as a joke, i prob would have passed if off as another ignorant/racist meme on the internet, and carried on my way thinking about how relevant and useful anti-oppression workshops would be for blog contributors in vancouver. but because it’s presented as “pretty damn accurate” i had to respond. if this is how people conceptualize the population of vancouver, no wonder the biggest election issue for some folks was whether or not they supported bike-lanes to downtown.
Mr Coffee

Yea or people from the burbs
Garrett

I cannot believe how inaccurate and uninformed this map is. It some close minded,meat head from the suburbs made a map of Vancouver this would be it. Do yourself a favor and actually take a walk around the neighborhoods you so poorly labeled. You may pleasantly/unpleasantly surprised.
DaFayGay

well in theory, the “indians” would say ALL OF IT IS OUR LAND…. then they’ll follow with ” I STAB YOU FECK OFF GIMME MONEY TO BUY DRUGS.” so I’m sure it would be difficult to get a census from “them”… but I did just look at the map again… ”shit show” area… that would be where they are…

love the map. it’s missin “brown town” & “little saigon”
Guest

uhh yeah it does.. unless you’re not filipino
Ksa2

Get off your high hoarse and back to writing your pretentious bullshit papers on your MacBook. Lighten up, poking fun at this sort of thing shouldn’t result in a tyrade of agro comments. If you want to make a difference then pick the proper forum and putyour efforts towards something productive not tearing apart a joke on the Internet.
Hipsterdesigner

Guest, the map is meant to be a joke. Perhaps, if people like yourself directed their energies at coming up with solutions to the problems you so angrily (and loquaciously) illustrated,instead of wailing like an old woman, then maybe some headway would be made in the shitshow known as the DTES. Until then, your rants will be considered to be exactly that. Rants. Until then,

Kindest Regards,

@hipsterdesigner
Hipsterdesigner

Dear Norm. When referring to “graffiti” please use the proper art historical term; Urban Aerosol Art.
That is all.

Kindest Regards,

@hipsterdesigner
Guest

Sounds like somebody is still sour about their failed occupy movement. It’s a joke and it’s funny. Deal with it.
guest

seriously??? It’s a freaking joke. Get over yourself.
guest.

wow it’s been a while since i’ve heard the sexist “wailing like an old woman” line. i’ve been won over already.

and thanks for the advice, i’ve actually been directing my energies into provincial and federal politics, and direct activist actions and causes, since i was 16. amazingly, the most politically engaged thing i did this week wasn’t taking 15 minutes to respond to an internet comments section. but i mean, that’s actually not relevant to any of the points i made is it? see: http://derailingfordummies.com/#moreimportantly

there are solutions to a lot (but not all) of the problems facing the dtes community. a lack of ideas isn’t the problem. a lack of evidence to prove their efficacy isn’t the problem. there is only a lack of public and political will to engage in these solutions, because people in canada and vancouver don’t value the people there enough to get beyond platitudes and shallow engagements like “shitshow.”

it’s ironic because if they were willing to go beyond platitudes they would discover the amazing sense of community that exists in the DTES far exceeds many of the artificial communities that are mentioned on the map.

but yeah it’s just a joke and jokes aren’t representative of opinions or anything, right? they exist in a cultural vacuum, right? that’s why it’s so ok to tell racist jokes, they don’t indicated racist views or anything. and a joke that erases an entire community of marginalized people, not indicative of why they have been erased from the political agenda of the city either.

i agree though, it totally was a rant.
but i’m totally ok with my objections taking rant form sometimes. living in the dtes and dealing with how people view it everyday sometimes makes my frustrations boil over. that doesn’t make my objections any less relevant though.
guest.

thanks for your insightful comments.

you’re totally right, nothing means anything on the Internet.
the utter disregard for the socio-economic position of marginalized people in vancouver is in no way connected to how people express these values on the internet.

i mean, obama’s election campaign, the tea-party movement, the arab spring, the occupy movement, none of these had anything to do opinion on the internet.

http://derailingfordummies.com/#theinternet
Crys

Wtf
‘indians??’

I think every race can follow with ‘ I STAB YOU FECK OFF GIMME MONEY TO BUY DRUGS’ that is in vancouver.

I happen to be ‘indian’. I’ve never touched drugs. I am an independent photographer, make my own income and pay for my rent. I have a 4 year college education and going to university in September, after I take a break to travel. I really don’t like closed minded people. ANYONE, no matter the race can fall into the category of being a “gangsta of drugs and stabby people”, don’t just point it to one ethnic group. K? Thanks.
Sunblossom3

Yep, that about somes it up.
Anonymous

Haha… chill pill dudette.
http://twitter.com/joshandallo Josh Andallo

Yes, it does make a difference. It’s called spelling. It’s not that hard to spell, anyways.
Joanna87

This “map” is only accurate in the sense it accurately articulates the attitude and knowledge of the overpriviledged” “children” in Vancouver. Shameful.
Jrop

Huh, never knew I was a lesbian hipster….
http://twitter.com/Phanyxx ♔ Nick Routley

You mad, bros?
http://twitter.com/Mister_Twitt Mister Twitt

I feel this map is racist and really oversimplifies things. Shame on the person who made it and shame on this site for giving it a wide audience.
http://twitter.com/Mister_Twitt Mister Twitt

I also like how everyone who points out that this map is stupid get replies like “IT’S JUST A JOKE!” “STOP BEING OFFENDED!” and “CHILL THE FUCK OUT!”

You people surely are paragons of humanity.
Dunf

Purple area in the south has a lot of east Indians living there
Robito

Hey guest. Isn’t it amazing that people like you are always willing to put their hair shirt on and carry a cross up the hill all the while telling everyone just HOW MUCH of a MARTYR you are to everyone. Jumping at every comment as being sexist or racist. I live in the DTES. Have for about 4 years. And it is a fucking SHIT SHOW because of the poverty industry that perpetrates the pain and anguish of over 30,000 people so they can sip Pinot Grigio in a condo and throw events where they give each other awards. There’s plenty of wealthy and poor people of all colors and stripes in Vancouver.
MTLC

oh god quit your bitching…if your not happy with this then make your own god damn map. this is obviously made by someones point of view not all of Vancouvers so why get so mad.
And anyways why are you so caught up on the natives ? its not like you see hindus on here. and hahahah why would they put reserves on there? i have been to many different reserves and trust me there not welcoming. i felt like i was on a set for the texas chainsaw massacre.Natives want nothing to do with us and reserves are for the indians only….talk about racism !!

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