The housing stock in the Dunbar area of Vancouver has undergone significant change in the past five years. Originally a working class neighbourhood with many quite modest homes surrounded by lovely gardens, it is now a neighbourhood that 99% of the people working in Vancouver cannot afford because the replacement homes are built to the maximum footprint and cost millions. Greenspace has been reduced. Included on this website are photos of many (not all) of the disappeared houses.
View Teardowns in the Dunbar area of Vancouver, BC in a larger map

Demolitions West of the Dunbar Community Centre

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

While I Was Away

Upon my return after being away for five weeks, I began to look around my neighbourhood to check on demolitions. Here are three that I have found so far, quite discouraging...

Because this lovely house has unusual character, when it was for sale in April 2013, I did not think it would be demolished. However, by mid August (the next photo), I had second thoughts because it was beginning to look neglected, with weeds in the lawn.






A Dunbar resident sent me this photo as the siding of the house was being removed in late September. Talk was that it contained asbestos.
The house is situated across from the tennis courts that are in the park near the Dunbar Community Centre. The ironic thing is that a productive apple tree in the back was cut down while across street the City has planted fruit trees in the park near a grove of large cedars. Do fruit trees thrive when shaded by large cedars or in someone's sunny back yard? The house at 3759 West 31st Avenue was torn down in late September or early October.


This more modest house was located at 3989 West 33rd Avenue and was demolished in September.

 





Three blocks away at 3692 West 33rd stood a more elaborate and older house, built in 1928. It appeared to have been sold several times, beginning in July 2010. It was torn down in September 2013. The lot is 57 feet wide--perhaps developers wished to put up two houses, but in the end it appears that one house with a large footprint is under construction. In this photo taken in early February 2011, the icicles still hadn't melted.



There are more demolitions for more blogs!

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