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Feral hops
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2021 RD AWA D IA E M E K LY LEG E | COL AR WE E L AC - YE P IN N T WO
PRODUCED BY LANGARA JOURNALISM STUDENTS | WWW.LANGARAVOICE.CA
NOV. 17, 2022 • VOL. 52 NO. 3 • VANCOUVER, B.C.
Buy low now, buy far later Locals might be forced to travel for groceries if Fraser Street's Buy-Low Foods is redeveloped By RIGO BACALTOS
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Falcons land in fifth Special national coverage...P5-8
Drink, if you can hold it
Pilot at Langara Park permits drinking without toilets or bins
By ANDREA DANTE
A
s ABC Vancouver takes over Vancouver city hall and moves ahead with a promise to make drinking in public parks permanent, some Langara students wonder if nearby Langara Park is ready for that. From June 3 to Oct. 16, the Vancouver park board temporarily allowed alcohol consumption at Langara Park and in 21 other parks across the city. According to the City of Vancou-
ver, each pilot park had to guarantee public amenities such as garbage cans and washrooms to maintain cleanliness. It was the first year Langara Park was included in the project, which also included a pilot in the summer of 2021. ABC Vancouver, which won a majority on the Vancouver park board in the October civic election, promised to make drinking a permanent feature in Vancouver parks. Langara social sciences and humanities students began a study in May on the pilot program to iden-
tify its issues and strengths. The closest amenities for Langara Park are at the college and Langara Family YMCA, neither of which are designed to handle park users drinking alcohol. A public park board survey conducted after the first year of the pilot project showed one of the main concerns was littering, said Apsara Coeffic-Neou, a design formation student who worked on the study. “I can’t remember if they mentioned broken glasses, but that was something I certainly brought forward.”Colin Mills, an instructor
in Langara’s geography department who guided the student study, would not comment on the suitability of the pilot project, but said it would take a long time to update drinking parks to acceptable standards of cleanliness and hygiene. He said the success of adapting the parks to public drinking will depend on how seriously the city takes the results of the project. “It will be many years before all of that gets rolled out and turned into things on the ground,” Mills said. See langaravoice.ca for full story
he potential redevelopment of the Buy-Low Foods grocery store on Fraser Street could leave many locals without an all-purpose market. Locals have long relied on the only all-purpose grocery store on Fraser Street between 41st Avenue and Southeast Marine Drive and would be left spending more time and money traveling to further locations to buy food. Bridgette Cayabyab, a resident who regularly purchases her groceries from Buy-Low Foods, is worried about the store’s closure. She said that the potential redevelopment would put immense stress on her and her family. “I’m kind of scared because my family depends on it a lot, and it has all the stuff that we need,” said Cayabyab, who does not own a car and would now need to take the bus to grocery shop. Customer Mariam Tang said Buy-Low Foods has specialized selections for produce which she is unable to find in other markets. She said the redevelopment will be a challenge for her. “It would be a little hassle,” Tang said. She shopped at Buy-Low Foods after “hitting three grocery stores” that didn’t have what she needed to buy. “This store is a little more specialized.” The proposed development would allow for a seven-story mixed-use building. An application is in place for the 6095 Fraser St site with the City of Vancouver. Kenneth King, the rezoning applicant and architect for the redevelopment, said Buy-Low Foods owners supported the application and the store would eventually move into the new building once construction is finished. “It’s been a successful grocery store,” he said of the Buy-Low, which has been at that location for the last 20 years. King said the application process needs to be reviewed by the City of Vancouver, but the public can still voice their concerns and provide feedback.