In the Shadow of the Olympics — Greg Bishop, New York Times

“By bidding for the Olympics, Vancouver invited the world to visit. Now city officials are trying to redirect the international news media spotlight from this blighted neighborhood in the shadows of the picturesque North Shore Mountains.”

This is what they were worried about, I suppose. As far as I can tell, which isn’t very far by any means, the streets are not deliberately being cleared of the homeless. I would imagine there have been a number of more-or-less subtle bylaw and policing changes to quietly draw down the level of action. But from my very surficial vantage point as an occasional passer-through, it would appear that life in the DTES is more or less unchanged here on the cusp of the opening ceremonies.

OK, WELL, half-way through writing that sentence a troupe of 10 horse-mounted police clip-clopped two by two past my window. That’s not normal.

See also: Quatchi Tours Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Flickr set by The Blackbird.