Talk:Commercial Drive (Vancouver)

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I have lived by Commercial Drive for many years and was unsatisfied with the Wikipedia article. In particular, the Drive hasn't been dominated by Italians for at least 20 years. I started with a few changes, but ended up making a total rewrite. I hated to take the charming references to "Little Italy" and "La Bella Vita" out, but they really are inaccurate. Corvus 21:31, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC)

This article needs some work still. Some more direct references would be helpful. The tone seems to be a little bit like boosterism; it could include some negative stuff, like the increase in drug dealing and overt poverty and the NIMBY reactions to it. There were public meetings at Britannia where fisticuffs broke out, I think when the John Howard Society wanted to open a half way house, and then there was the controversy over the community police centre opening in the park. Anyway, there's potential here, and this is a good start, despite my comments. Also, was there more than one cafe busted for selling pot, besides da Kine or whatever it was called? Bobanny 01:29, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

Good comments, Bobanny, I'll see what I can do. IIRC the halfway house imbroglio was in Kensington, not Commercial Drive, though the community policing fiasco was here. There were also long pointless protests against Skytrain expansion.

Three Drive cafes were named in the media as selling pot; the Da Kine had its business license revoked, and the Spirit Within closed. The third one removed all signs of drug use from public display, is still in business, and the city hasn't bothered them since. Corvus 17:30, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

Groovy. The Vancouver Courier online would probably be a good place to start - online issues go back to December 2000, and they've always had pretty extensive coverage of Drive politics.Bobanny 20:40, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lesbian heritage?

I was my understanding that the drive's current atmosphere was largely a result of it being the lesbian answer to Davie Village. Can anyone back that up? - TheMightyQuill 18:15, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

The lesbian character seems to have been crowded out somewhat in the last decade or so. There was a big presence when I moved there in the early 90s though. Before my time, but around 1990 there was a big protest/boycott of Joe's Cafe after he kicked out two women for kissing or holding hands. I think it's a lot more of a mixed crowd now, whereas back then, it was dominated by hippies and other counter culture types, lesbians, and Italians (though some belonged to more than one of those groups). Bobanny 19:01, 28 November 2006 (UTC)