The Downtown Eastside is a neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The area, one of the city's oldest, is the site of a complex set of social issues including high levels of drug use, poverty, mental illness, prostitution, it is known for its strong community resilience and history of social activism. Around the beginning of the 20th century, the DTES was the political and retail centre of the city. Over several decades, the city centre shifted westwards and the DTES became a poor, although stable, neighbourhood. In the 1980s, the area began a rapid decline due to several factors including an influx of hard drugs, the de-institutionalization of mentally ill individuals, policies that pushed prostitution and drug-related activity out of nearby areas, the cessation of federal funding for social housing. By 1997, an epidemic of HIV infection and drug overdoses in the DTES led to the declaration of a public health emergency; as of 2018, critical issues include opioid overdoses those involving the drug fentanyl.

The population of the DTES is estimated to be around 6,000 to 8,000. Compared to the city as a whole, the DTES has a higher proportion of males and adults who live alone, it has more First Nation Canadians, who are disproportionately affected by the neighbourhood's social problems. The neighbourhood has a history of attracting individuals with mental health and addiction issues, many of whom being drawn to its drug market and low-barrier services. Law enforcement policies are among the most progressive in Canada. Since the real estate boom began in the early 21st century, the area has been experiencing gentrification; some see gentrification as a force for revitalization, while others believe it has led to higher displacement and homelessness. Numerous efforts have been made to improve the DTES at an estimated cost of over $1.4 billion as of 2009. Services in the greater DTES area are estimated to cost $360 million per year. Commentators from across the political spectrum have said that little progress has been made in resolving the issues of the neighbourhood as a whole, although there are individual success stories.

Proposals for addressing the issues of the area include increasing investment in social housing, increasing capacity for treating people with addictions and mental illness, making services more distributed across the city and region instead of concentrated in the DTES, improving co-ordination of services. However, little agreement exists between the municipal and federal governments regarding long-term plans for the area; the term "Downtown Eastside" is most used to refer to an area 10 to 50 blocks in size, a few blocks east of the city's central business district. The neighbourhood's issues are most visible in a stretch of Hastings Street around Main Street, which the Vancouver Sun described in 2006 as "four blocks of hell."Some indications of the borders of the DTES, which shift and are poorly defined, are as follows: A 2016 analysis of crime in the DTES by The Georgia Straight focused on an area that consisted of a six-block length of Hastings and Cordova Streets, between Cambie Street and Jackson Avenue.

The City of Vancouver describes a "Community-based Development Area", in which places that are important to low-income residents are concentrated. This area includes Hastings Street from Abbott Street to Heatley Avenue, the blocks surrounding Oppenheimer Park. By some definitions, the DTES extends along Main Street to beyond Terminal Avenue, the DTES includes a strip of land adjacent to Vancouver's port. For some community planning and statistical purposes, the City of Vancouver uses the term "Downtown Eastside" to refer to a much larger area with considerable social and economic diversity, including Chinatown, Strathcona, the Victory Square area, the light industrial area to the north; this area, referred to in this article as the greater DTES area, is bordered by Richards Street to the west, Clark Drive to the east, Waterfront Road and Water Street to the north and various streets to the south including Malkin Avenue and Prior Street. The greater DTES area includes some popular tourist areas and nearly 20% of Vancouver's heritage buildings.

Strathcona in the 1890s included the entire DTES. By 1994 Strathcona's northern boundary was considered to be the alley between East Pender and East Hastings streets, though some place it at Railway Street, including DTES east of Gore Avenue; the DTES forms part of the traditional territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, Musqueam First Nations. European settlement of the area began in the mid-19th century, most early buildings were destroyed in the Great Vancouver Fire of 1886. Residents rebuilt their town at the edge of Burrard Inlet, between Cambie and Carrall streets, a townsite that now forms Gastown and part of the DTES. At the turn of the century, the DTES was the heart of the city, containing city hall, the courthouse, the main shopping district, the Carnegie Library. Travellers connecting between Pacific steamships and the western terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway used its hundreds of hotels and rooming houses. Large Japanese and Chinese immigrant communities settled in Japantown, which lies within the DTES, in nearby Chinatown, respectively.

During the Depression, hundreds of men arrived in Vancouver in search of work. Most of them returned to their hometowns, except workers, injured or those who were sick or elderly; these men remained in the DTES area

The Tennessee and Pacific Railroad was a 19th-century American company that operated a rail line from Lebanon, Tennessee, to Nashville, Tennessee. The state of Tennessee chartered the railroad on May 24, 1866; the original plans were to build a line from Knoxville eastward through Lebanon and Memphis to Jackson, where it would interconnect with westward-leading railroads to the Pacific Coast. Hauling coal from the nearby Cumberland Mountains to western markets was an important intended source of operation income, as well as from passenger service and produce and freight hauls. Among the early investors and executives was former Confederate general George Maney, who would serve for nine years as the president of the Tennessee & Pacific, starting in 1868 when he succeeded the late James D. B. DeBow, the well known publisher of DeBow's Review. Plagued by difficulties in raising enough financing, the company began construction in June 1869 of the 29-mile line between Lebanon and Nashville. Funds were generated to commission the Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works to manufacture two 4-4-0 locomotives for the new T&P, which were delivered in 1870.

These were named the "Wilson County" and the "J. D. B. DeBow."The segment opened in September 1871 in time to convey passengers to the Wilson County Fair. Headquartered in Lebanon, the fledgling railroad erected a sprawling Victorian-style passenger and freight station, combined with the general offices. Major cargo from local farmers included lumber, butter and other agricultural products which were shipped to markets in Nashville, where another station house was erected in 1872. However, the financial problems resurfaced and management could not repay the railroad company's debts. In 1877, the state seized the Tennessee & Pacific; the company and its assets were sold on March 1 to Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway; the T&P stayed in operation under its old name until 1888. Passenger service continued on the old line until 1935. Prince, Richard E. Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway: History and Steam Locomotives. Indiana University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-253-33927-8. Trainnet.org: Tennessee & Pacific Railroad

Thoreau is a census-designated place in McKinley County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,863 at the 2000 census, it is majority Native American of the Navajo Nation, as this community is located within its boundaries. All residents pronounce the town's name like "thuh-ROO" and not like "thorough" or "throw." A history of the town was compiled by local author Roxanne Trout Heath in her book Thoreau, Where the Trails Cross!, published in 1982, where she states that the town was named for Henry David Thoreau. The ZIP code for Thoreau is 87323. Thoreau is located at 35°24′52″N 108°13′25″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 15.9 square miles, all of its land. Thoreau is located at an altitude of 2,200 meters above sea level, 8 kilometers east of the continental divide. Thoreau is located in a broad valley beneath a large escarpment of Entrada sandstone, which marks the southern boundary of the Colorado Plateau to the north. Mount Powell and Castle Rock are landmarks along this escarpment adjacent to Thoreau.

The Zuñi Mountains are to the south. Interstate 40 and the historic U. S. Route 66 pass through the community, respectively. New Mexico State highways 122, 371, 612 pass through or terminate here. Additionally, two natural gas pipelines and a major railway pass through the community; the climate in Thoreau is desert, with the sparse vegetation typical of the region. Common plants include pinyon pine and juniper trees, sagebrush and some short, sparse grasses; the four seasons are well pronounced. Summers are mild, due to Thoreau's high elevation and persistently low humidities. Maximum temperatures do not exceed about 33 °C; the Southwest monsoon brings thunderstorms with frequent lightning in August. Autumn is pleasant with cool nights. Winter is marked by frequent snowstorms, with minimum temperatures sometimes dropping to about −15 °C or colder. Cold, persistent high winds are common in Spring through much of the month of March; as of the census of 2000, there were 1,863 people, 532 households, 405 families residing in the CDP.

The population density was 117.1 people per square mile. There were 599 housing units at an average density of 37.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the CDP was 23.19% White, 0.11% African American, 71.12% Native American, 0.05% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 3.27% from other races, 2.20% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.34% of the population. There were 532 households out of which 49.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.2% were married couples living together, 21.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 23.7% were non-families. 19.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.4% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.50 and the average family size was 4.16. In the CDP, the population was spread out with 40.7% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 17.8% from 45 to 64, 4.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.5 males.

For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.0 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $29,280, the median income for a family was $29,708. Males had a median income of $29,000 versus $23,092 for females; the per capita income for the CDP was $10,516. About 23.3% of families and 30.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 40.5% of those under age 18 and 26.9% of those age 65 or over. Thoreau supports three public schools in the Gallup-McKinley County Public School District. Thoreau Elementary School, Thoreau Mid School, Thoreau High School serve the town as well as surrounding rural communities in eastern McKinley County; the public school mascot is the Hawks, the school colors are green and gold. Additionally, the Saint Bonaventure mission operates a parochial school, the Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Academy, named after the first Native American Catholic saint in North America; the majority-Native American population is Navajo. Many practice the Navajo traditional beliefs.

Thoreau is located within the Navajo Nation, the largest Native American tribe in the United States. Its culture and history are strong in Thoreau; the Navajo Nation operates a Chapter House here, many Navajo residents speak their native language. Thoreau is a local trading center for artisans, who create through rug weaving, silversmithing and making turquoise jewelry. Anasazi archaeological sites connecting with Chaco Canyon can be found around the town. Casamero Pueblo, northeast of Thoreau