Insight into Vancouver

I've been noticing a few things here in Vancouver. The population is 1/4 Chinese. That is quite a large amount. In the area where I live, there are Chinese, Japanese, Korean, European, and South Asians, well, a little of everything it seems. When I walk around town, I hear many different languages. English is not clearly dominant among the crowds of people. When I do hear English, it tends to be from someone speaking it as a second language. Its quite interesting to see how all of these different cultures interact with each other. In Chicago, there are definitely different cultures all thrown together. In fact, I'd say that there is even more variety in Chicago. The thing is, the west end is not very large, so the different communities cant be too separated. There is lots of overlapping. To me, it seems like there is less prejudice between the groups (although, there is always prejudice no matter where you are).

Interestingly, I did notice quite a few racially mixed couples here. There are many European Canadians with Asians. Its not always the oh so common Caucasian male with Asian female either, I have seen many Caucasian females with Asian males. Also, I have noticed South Asians with Hispanic, Caucasian and Afro-Canadian, and many other combinations. Its quite a good thing in my opinion.

One other thing I noticed about this area, and its not good at all, is the amount of homeless people. Every city has its homeless people, but there is an unsettling amount here. Many of them clearly have drug problems as well. There is a large China Town as well as a trendy area called Gastown; however, the surroundings of both areas get seedier as the sunlight wanes. It is unfortunately not uncommon to see people with needles in their arms around those parts.