Slideshow: The Lost City

The rail yards and sugar refinery on Powell Street are among the last industrial sites in Vancouver.

A handful of industrial buildings dot Alexander Street in Vancouver’s East End.

Toby Barazzuol shares space with local residents on Heatley Avenue, outside his manufacturing plant.

Strathcona industry; marine warehouse

Strathcona industry: storage yard

Strathcona industry: chicken processing plant

Strathcona is a blip on the morning commute for downtown office workers coming from points east.

Discarded refuse is a common sight along Strathcona’s abandoned alleyways.

The Heatley overpass serves as a roof for the homeless.

Doorways are decorated with graffiti.

Enamoured with high-rise living and glossy downtown lifestyles, Vancouver politicians and city planners have neglected the city’s industrial needs for years in favour of condo development and live-work space. Developers are aggressively assembling land and flipping property to create sites for future townhouses, while prostitutes, drug addicts and squatters infiltrate abandoned warehouses awaiting redevelopment. Welcome to post-industrial Vancouver.

Click to read the full story: The Lost City by Ross Howard. This story has been nominated for a Jack Webster award (Industry & Economics category). Winners will be announced in Vancouver, BC on October 22, 2007.