midweek edition WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 8, 2010 Vol. 101 No. 72 • Established 1908 • East
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Snap judgment Epic trek
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Dunsmuir Street bike lane receives mixed reviews Bike lane protected by barriers Mike Howell Staff writer
Bahman Afshari, owner of Fresh Slice Pizza on Dunsmuir, is OK with the bike lane.
photo Rebecca Blissett
Almost three months since it opened, the city’s firstever downtown bike lane protected by barriers continues to receive mixed reviews from business owners. But cyclists continue to love it. The Dunsmuir Street bike lane runs between the Dunsmuir viaduct and Hornby Street and is protected by three types of barriers—planters, parking spots and concrete medians. On the day it opened in June, Bahman Afshari of Fresh Slice Pizza on Dunsmuir told the Courier he was optimistic the lane wouldn’t affect his business.
The Courier visited Afshari last Friday while he served customers during lunchtime. Fresh Slice is located a few steps from Seymour Street, which is home to many language schools. “It hasn’t affected my business, at all,” said Afshari, who believes the city should make the lane permanent. “There’s less stress for the cyclists, for the people walking in the street and for the drivers, too. People who have an office here are telling me they should start using their bikes to get here.” Afshari, who rides an electric scooter, said the planters outside his restaurant are nicer to look at than cars. And when he has time, he waters the flowers, he said. See FORMER on page 4
Non-profit in Chinatown outfits men for the workforce Working Gear aims to collect 400 pairs of steel-toed boots Cheryl Rossi Staff writer The men were ready to work but lacked steel-toed boots to wear on job sites and proper clothes for job interviews. So in late 2007, a group of employment counsellors started a nonprofit called Working Gear Clothing
Society to provide men with appropriate work and interview clothes. Working Gear helps men, referred by agencies aiding them in their job search, on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 87 East Pender St. in Chinatown. Each man gets a halfhour appointment with two volunteers. “Sometimes it’s even teaching
a guy how to tie a tie,” said Lani Johnson, an employment support coordinator who volunteers once a month to help men find the right clothes and serves as Working Gear’s board vice-chair. “It’s a bit of a mix between What Not to Wear and Extreme Makeover where we’re like ‘Don’t wear that!’ and then the next moment we’re crying because
something is just so magical.” Volunteers aim to instill confidence with the right clothes. “When they walk into the interview, knowing that they are the right person and they look it,” Johnson said. She helped Darby Norton, a clean-cut looking 33year-old find the steel toed boots he needed for the labouring jobs
he was pursuing until he got his career in real estate back on track, and two suits “that just looked ridiculously amazing on him.” Norton, whose story is profiled on Working Gear’s website, intensified his drug use after his wife committed suicide and he lost everything, Johnson said. See VOLUNTEERS on page 4
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