Strathtopia | Slang/Noun | A new tongue-in-cheek sobriquet for the traditionally working class Strathcona neighbourhood on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. It was first heard in early 2016 in the context of how the area was being sold by real estate marketers as ideally positioned, incredibly cool, and so damn authentic (hashtags not included). We’ve heard it many times since employed in terms of genuine jealousy, longing, satisfaction, frustration, and anxiety. Chances of it sticking? It’s already stuck. See also: Rennification.
Common variation: The People’s Republic of Strathtopia.
Usage: “All my friends and their small dogs are moving to Strathtopia…”
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It was a utopia for a while but peak-Strathcona has passed. The Harvest Festival is on haitus and the diversity is leaving the neighbourhood. The homes which used to house artists and students are selling to executives and investors for multi-million$. (I don’t have a problem with executives, some of my best friends are _EOs, but nobody wants a whole block of ’em.) It could still be the best place to live in Vancouver for another decade or so but it’ll be a home for the wealthy, just give it time.