24 hours on Vancouver's Granville Street: 'The good, the bad, the ugly'

12:01 A.M._

_IT’S ONE MINUTE AFTER MIDNIGHT ON A FRIDAY AND THE ROXY IS ROLLING. THERE’S A LONG LINEUP OF REVELLERS WAITING OUT FRONT, ONE OF THE FEW CONSTANTS OVER RECENT DECADES ON A STREET THAT HAS GONE THROUGH MORE TRANSFORMATIONS THAN ANY OTHER IN THIS FAST-CHANGING CITY. _

_A DOZEN PEOPLE ARE STANDING, SITTING OR LYING ON THE SIDEWALK IN FRONT OF THE GRANVILLE VILLA SINGLE-ROOM OCCUPANCY HOTEL. SOME ARE SMOKING OPIOIDS WITH GLASS PIPES. OTHERS ARE UNCONSCIOUS. _

_A BLOCK AWAY IS A NEIGHBOURHOOD FIXTURE. THE MAN KNOWN AS “SPOONS” WHACKS HIS THIGH, PLAYING HIS NAMESAKE INSTRUMENT ON THE GRANVILLE SIDEWALK WHERE HE’S BUSKED FOR ALMOST 30 YEARS. HE SAYS THE STRIP IS “PRETTY DEAD” NOW COMPARED TO BEFORE COVID, BUT HE’S STILL HERE PERFORMING EVERY NIGHT. “GOTTA MAKE THE RENT, MAN.”_

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