ACWW Neighbours Go Down In Flames

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The Mount Pleasant Area has been home to ACWW's Ricepaper Magazine for many years now. It's been the heart of the artist community in Vancouver, the hub of magazine production in Vancouver, the soul of one of trendiest community in North America. But alas, two recent fires have destroyed the homes of our two closest neighbours in the area of Main and Broadway. A three-alarm fire on Christmas Day engulfed several stores, restaurants and artist spaces at the Kingsway-and-Broadway hipster hub of Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood.

Among the East Broadway businesses destroyed were two Chinese restaurants — the New Maple Wonton House and the King and I Restaurant — plus a new Mexican restaurant, a health-food store, a pizza outlet, a martial-arts operation and a medicinal cannabis storefront. Disturbingly, the fire came just six weeks after another fire one block away destroyed several cafés and restaurants, including the popular Slickety Jim’s Chat ’N’ Chew. Artist studios such as Carrie Walker's have been destroyed as a result of the fire. The Main and Broadway intersection is one of the hottest neighbourhood in the city now, demanding inordinate amount of real estate speculation.

The two recent fires leaves us in an uneasy about the fate of the gentrifications of the neighbourhood. The fate of Vancouver's arts community is at a crossroads. Let's hope and wait that better news is to come our way.