Hi there! We are a group of friends who call Hastings Sunrise home. It is where we live, where we shop, where we meet with our friends. Like the kids who play in Pandora park, or the neighbours who walk their dogs at New Brighton, or all of us picking up groceries at Donald’s or Ugo and Joe’s or Wheelhouse, it is our neighbourhood…it is home.
When we learned the “Hastings Sunrise” banners were coming down in the business district and were to be replaced with the “East Village” banners, we had two big questions: Why? And How?
For us, a name means a lot. It is about identity, history, and pride. And to have this name change happen seemingly overnight didn’t seem right. We wanted to know how the neighbourhood felt.
So we did some digging and questioned if our neighbours, the rich and diverse population in Hastings Sunrise, knew about the banners and what they thought. We decided to take a survey of our own. We put up posters, had online surveys through twitter and facebook, we stood on the corner of Hastings and Kamloops and asked people to participate. It turns out a lot of you cared. Since the end of March until now, over 450 residents have stated what they think of the name change. We have been surprised and heartened to see how many neighbours care about this.
What’s your opinion? Share through the poll here.
What's Our Name 
The change of name seems unnecessary. I have no problem with the name “east village” in itself; however, it feels as if someone somewhere wanted to ‘re-brand’ who we are, which feels totally icky. Like your mother rearranging your hair before she introduces you to her friends even though you had spent a lot of time to have got it just like that.
Whoops – I see now I left the comment in the wrong place – I have since moved it.
Unaccountable BIA’s are the problem!
It is the unaccountable greedy BIA’s – they are the problem!
Of course city hall (shitty hall) loves them because they are not democratic, are connected to them by developers and other forms of collusion.
Hi! I wrote about the name change, thought I would share the link to the editorial with you. Thanks for your effort here!
http://www.capilanocourier.com/2012/04/from-editor-movin-on-up-sarah-vitet.html
This is a problem caused by the Trinity Street caba.
Hi Sarah, thanks for the editorial!