Carnegie Housing Project and its organizers frequently speak to the media and write articles about the reality of housing needs in the DTES.
Media inquiries can be directed to carnegiehousingproject@gmail.com. Please include your deadline!
Keep scrolling to read a selection of press coverage.
Opinion: The DTES plan isn’t renewal; it’s erasure
By former CRAB Park residents, published in The Georgia Straight
The City of Vancouver calls its new Downtown Eastside (DTES) Plan a “revitalization.” But for people who live and organize here, it feels less like renewal and more like removal—displacement dressed up as progress.
A New Plan for the Downtown Eastside Fails Residents
By Gilles Cyrenne, published in The Tyee
This motion radically changes Downtown Eastside zoning bylaws while ignoring complex affordability and health problems that affect all of Vancouver.
Residents unconvinced by Vancouver's plan to replace Downtown Eastside rooming houses
DTES resident quoted by The Canadian Press
His biggest worry about the plan is gentrification and displacement of entrenched members of the community in favour of moneyed interests looking to cash-in on redevelopment opportunities.
Housing advocates not in favour of Vancouver’s rezoning plan for Downtown Eastside
CHP interview with CBC’s On The Coast
What [this rezoning] is really overlooking — and actually City staff acknowledged this — is that the current zoning has been really successful in creating thousands of units of social housing in the last decade.
Downtown Eastside plan draws backlash
CHP and community members quoted by CTV News
Dozens of people who live and work in Downtown Eastside spent Tuesday evening rallying at City Hall, voicing their resistance to a rezoning plan that could significantly alter the neighbourhood.
‘Wrong direction for a solution’: Vancouver Downtown Eastside groups oppose proposed social housing changes
CHP quoted by Vancouver CityNews
Housing advocates and tenants in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside are pushing back against a rezoning proposal they say will accelerate gentrification and leave low-income residents behind.
Proposed changes to DTES plan risk affordable housing for local residents
OpEd authored by 6 members of the Order of Canada, including Jean Swanson, published in the Vancouver Sun
Ten years ago Vancouver city council adopted a plan to ensure affordable non-market and market rental housing in the Downtown Eastside.
End Legislated Homelessness | Jean Swanson
In this episode of Policy Crimes, Tristan Markle and Lina Moskaleva talk to Jean Swanson about how “poor-bashing” has distracted from government decisions to limit social assistance rates and cut public housing programs.
Governments once built tens of thousands of social housing units each year …
Jean Swanson: An open letter to housing minister Gregor Robertson
By Jean Swanson, published in The Georgia Straight
We’re counting on you to create housing that homeless people can afford.
FIFA World Cup prep sparks displacement concerns in Downtown Eastside
CHP quoted by the Vancouver Sun
Advocates in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside say they fear that residents will be removed from the neighbourhood as the city prepares for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Townhall in response to Vancouver mayor's plan to stop new supportive housing in DTES
CHP quoted on CBC Radio’s On The Coast
The question is: revitalize it for whom? DTES is full of people who’ve been excluded from everywhere else around the city because they can’t afford to live there.
Vancouver mayor plans freeze on new supportive housing as part of Downtown Eastside revitalization bid
CHP quoted by CBC BC News
Sim's plan to not add any additional supportive housing is going to be "really bad for low-income folks," Jean Swanson said.
The federal government’s housing strategy is failing Vancouver’s most vulnerable
By Jean Swanson, published in The Georgia Straight
We agree that continuing to rely on an unregulated, for-profit market cannot be the primary response to address a housing and affordability crisis across Canada.
Making temporary Vancouver housing permanent
CHP quoted by CBC News
Temporary modular housing plays an important role in addressing homelessness in Vancouver. But what happens when it's torn down to make room for development?
‘Social Housing’ Is Leaving Low-Income People Out in the Cold
By Jean Swanson, published in The Tyee
All levels of government should align their definition of social housing, at a minimum, to the DTES definition of one-third at shelter rate.
BC housing expert’s theories reveal some appalling problems
By Max Harper Campbell, published in The Georgia Straight
I heard Tom Davidoff speak about housing at an event—and I have to say that I’m appalled. With the Province and the media taking his advice, it’s no wonder we’re on the wrong track.
Downtown Eastside residents march to raise awareness of housing crisis
CHP quoted by CityNews
“We need thousands of units of social housing — but not just any old social housing,” said Jean Swanson … “Most social housing excludes poor people, because you need to make a certain amount of income.”
Vancouver protesters decry lack of affordable housing for low-income people
CHP quoted by CBC BC
About 70 people joined an affordable housing protest in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside on Saturday.
Report predicts spike in homelessness in the next 6 years
CHP quoted by CBC News
Vancouver is on track to lose up to 816 modular housing units as their leases expire or new developments move in.
Vancouver Spent $550,000 to Evict Hastings Campers
CHP quoted by The Tyee
The number of unhoused people in Vancouver shot up by 16 per cent between 2020 and 2023, meaning there are now 2,420 homeless people in the city, according to the most recent homeless count.