John isn’t the only one who regularly does walking tours of the neighbourhood. Chris Mathieson and the folks over at the Vancouver Police Museum are running their “Sins of the City” walking tour twice daily during the games.

You don’t need a guide to explore the streets of Vancouver, but you do get additional insights and historical perspective. I created a bit of a Do-It-Yourself Art Walk to some of the installations in the neighbourhood.

Kris Krug and others at True North Media House or W2 has been taking people around the neighbourhood, even the Lonely Planet was here and enjoyed their visit.

Here are some more opinions on things to see and do in the DTES from art installations to community gardens.

Last weekend was the Chinatown New Year’s Parade and the first Vancouver Artwalk, both were big successes. Chinatown led by S.U.C.C.E.S.S. are inviting tourists daily learn more about Chinese culture.

Located at the Choi Hall at S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Social Service Centre (28 West Pender Street) will be open to the public as an exhibition site of Vancouver Chinatown’s services and upcoming events. We envision that through this partnership, we will create a positive image of Chinatown in the minds of the Vancouver 2010 visitors. Between February 15 (Monday) to February 20, 2010 (Saturday), six days in total, table space has been courteously reserved, free of charge, for your organization to promote your programs and services. S.U.C.C.E.S.S. will be staffing the site, 9am-5pm, during this period of time. Among the tables and booths, a variety of demonstrations are planned: performances by S.U.C.C.E.S.S. membership groups, Wii Olympic games and
fun facts of Chinatown, and more…

Vancouver’s DTES is home to more artists and galleries than anywhere else in Canada. From Jeffery Boone to W2′s Perel Gallery there is always exhibits of up-and-coming local artists and even the odd world renown figure such as Herzog.

Walking tours are very popular in the historic inner-city. A Wok Around Chinatown, Sins of the City, there is a variety to suit various interests. The Police Museum is running the Sins of the City walking tour twice daily during the Olympics at 11AM and 2PM. The museum itself is open everyday and located at 240 East Cordova.

Another option would be to take a guided tour by Pedicab, Dragon Rickshaw Adventures is operating daily during the Olympics.

Vancouver is home to some of the world’s best Chinese food, staff favourites in Chinatown include Bao Bei, Foo’s Ho Ho’s, and the Jade Dynasty. The rest of the inner-city contains some great eateries as well as night time destinations. The Irish Heather was recently featured on NBC and right next door the Blarney Stone is having live music every night and giving away official Team Canada hockey jerseys every time the Canadian Men’s team plays.

If Irish or Chinese food is not what your looking for their is Mexican, French, Japanese… just stroll up or down Water Street or check Gastown.org for more information.

The Koolest bloggers in Gastown work here

Koolhaus Designs on Water Street will be the home for Vancouver’s Gastown Blog, and if you take the time to head down and see for yourself you get a free pin! And possibly a gorgeous table or sofa if you feel like spoiling yourself. The popularity of co-working spaces, inviting and socially diverse places where bloggers and various multimedia creators can converge and work while feeding off each other’s creativity, have really gained momentum in Vancouver. Along with W2 Culture and Media House, who officially opened their space today, BOB also has co-working space in the DTES. The Gastown Blog location at Koolhaus is particularly kool because anyone wandering down Water Street, on their way from any number of Vancouver’s koolest pubs, restaurants and stores will see bloggers busy at work through the massive streetside windows.

Head on down and grab your pin, tell them BOB sent you!

Trimpin at BOB

• Where can I access the internet?
• The nearest cafe with free wireless is Waves on Main & Pender.  Several other cafes have free wireless.  BOB is making available bandwidth to guests so they can update Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, just ask the gallery sitter for the password.
• Where can I buy coffee?
• Again Waves is the closest specialty coffee shop.  There are many more in the neighborhood, with Smart Mouth on Water Street being a staff favourite.
• Where can I buy batteries?
• Dollar Giant right next door has cheap batteries of many sizes.
• Where can I buy memory cards and other electronic paraphernalia?
• London Drugs has an excellent audio visual department including a wide assortment of memory cards for your electronic devices.  They are located a few blocks away in Woodward’s.  They also have a one hour photo lab.
• Where should I go for Chinese food?
• Jade Dynasty is a staff favourite and almost next door to BOB.  In the evening staff also recommend Bao Bei and Foo’s Ho Ho’s.
• Where can I get Western food?
• Mitzi’s right next door above Dollar Giant serves Western food.  Gastown has many bars and restaurants and a staff favourite for lunch and breakfast is Deacon’s on Main and Alexander.  There is also a food court and several restaurants in the International Village shopping centre offering Western and Eastern food including fast food such as McDonald’s and Quizno’s.
• How do I get out of Chinatown?
• There is a bus stop right in front of BOB.  The following buses stop there: 4, 7, 19, and 22.  All of those head West back towards the business district and the shopping and entertainment district on Granville Street.  There are bus stops all around the intersection of Main & Hastings.  Useful buses include the 3, 8, and 10.  Cordova Street has a number of buses running East but you’re probably better off taking a Hastings bus or going up the hill to Broadway and catching the Express.  163 East Pender is within walking and biking distance of the Stadium/Chinatown Skytrain station.  It is approximately six blocks South West from here.  The Skytrain goes downtown and out to Burnaby.  You can transfer to the Canada line at Granville or Waterfront and head to Richmond that way.  Translink has a website you can use to plan trips.

Chinatown Gate

However the reason you should go there now is, they kept the prices super reasonable and the food is very, very good.  Apparently the thing to order after work is their take on Poutine, which includes ribs or at least the meat from BarBQ ribs.  They have daily specials, even a lunch card if you know who to ask.  (Your server or the owner).  On Friday they had pitchers of Granville Island Lagaer that were just a shade over a 11 dollars and four dollar Jamison whiskeys.  Today I had the fish and chips, but Lani’s burger with aditional cheese and bacon looked better.

Their neon sign was getting installed today so they’ll be easier to find, but if your looking for a place for a “working lunch” or beers after work in the hood, why not give the On the Edge pub a try.  Tell them BOB sent you.

Bob who?

Last week at City Hall there was a public discussion on possibly increasing the height of building that could be built in Vancouver’s historic Chinatown. Currently if you walk down Pender the tallest building is only four or possibly five floors for OMNI’s television studios. The long held belief being that the historic buildings should be preserved and not overshadowed by new development. Gastown has similar height restrictions.

Wing Sang Building

Developer’s such as Robert Fung or Bob Rennie have restored older buildings often in exchange for transferable density, but even that system is under review. Some folks want Chinatown and Gastown to remain quaint little tourist destinations and almost living museums of Vancouver’s past, others would like to see the situation improved for business owners especially in non-traditional and non-hospitality focused firms.

Albert Fok, president of the Vancouver Chinatown Business Improvement Association, would like to see Chinatown saved and become a neighborhood once again where people live and work. He spoke to that effect at City Hall and was further interviewed in the Vancouver Sun.

Building Opportunities with Business is located on Pender Street in Chinatown and continues to work for inclusive revitalization alongside our partners in the Chinatown BIA and City Hall.

Chinatown Gate

The other story Google turned up this morning is more details of the CORE Training program which BOB coordinated with VANOC, the City, and Millennium Development. Over 100 inner-city residents were trained and employed in the construction industry, the majority of which worked on the Olympic Athlete’s Village.