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Douglas Street CHEK editorial


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#1 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 15 March 2022 - 04:49 PM

The majority of Douglas Street is a grimy, decaying thoroughfare that would resemble a ghost town if it weren’t for the constant stream of double-decker buses at Fort Street. When was the last time somebody asked a friend to go spend the day hanging out on Douglas Street? Maybe if they are going to the Public Market at the Hudson, if they are seeking typically yuppie activities.

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The sheer amount of visible poverty on Douglas Street is growing as well. Pandora Avenue is the closest thing Victoria has to a Skid Row, and whether it is the closest thing or the real thing at this point is ambiguous. Not only is Pandora’s poverty seemingly permanent at this point, but its sad character is leaking onto Douglas as well and cementing itself there outside the Shoppers Drug Mart and the McDonald’s. The street’s troubling decay is not limited to people sleeping in doorways. The many historic apartments, such as the ones above the Circle-K at Yates and Douglas, are decrepit with no hopes for restoration in a city that supposedly still prides itself on its architectural heritage.


https://www.cheknews...-street-992145/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 March 2022 - 04:49 PM.

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#2 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 15 March 2022 - 04:51 PM

When people usually spend time in Douglas, they are getting drunk at one of the street’s institutions of inebriation like the Sticky Wicket or Peacock Billiards. Another popular place to not bring your car keys is the local Cactus Club, which is a wealthy chain that can afford to operate a business on Douglas.





Pretty sure the vast majority of patrons at all of those are not “getting drunk”.

#3 G-Man

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Posted 15 March 2022 - 08:10 PM

The blocks between Yates and Broughton are a pretty active bee hive during the day. 


Visit my blog at: https://www.sidewalkingvictoria.com 

 

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#4 amor de cosmos

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Posted 15 March 2022 - 08:49 PM

Douglas Street will never be Government Street, and nobody should expect it to be. Government is relatively unimportant for vehicular traffic, and one of the crown jewels of Victoria’s tourism hubs. Douglas forms part of Highway 1, which connects to the West Shore and up-Island, and connects with Highway 17, which lead to the ferries. They are two streets that serve different purposes. Nonetheless, there is no good excuse to allow Douglas to continue on its grubby decline to a place only popular after 10 p.m. on Friday.


i thought this was actually pretty accurate; government is for tourists, douglas is for locals. is it really that different from streets like georgia in vancouver, jasper in edmonton, etc?


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#5 Hotel Mike

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Posted 16 March 2022 - 09:36 AM

It's a lot different than Georgia adc. Walking down Georgia, the street is packed with business people, visitors, tourists. You stroll past the Hotel Vancouver, there is the plaza for the Art Gallery, Hotel Georgia, the Bay, library....I can't speak for Jasper Avenue.


Don't be so sure.:cool:

#6 Barrrister

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Posted 16 March 2022 - 03:15 PM

Why argue, most of downtown is a lot more trashy than a few years ago. Just take the family to Oak Bay for that walk or pub.


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#7 aastra

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Posted 16 March 2022 - 06:10 PM

 

Douglas Street will never be Government Street...

 

Rewind to the 1950s, when Government Street would never be Douglas Street.



 



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