The majority of voters in the Vancouver Centre riding are apartment dwellers, stretching from the West End and across False Creek.

Some say it's the most environmentally conscious riding in the country.

"They are very green, bike, walk, take the bus," says Green Party candidate Adriane Carr.

But there is another side to this riding: poverty.

In a one block stretch of Davie Street, four panhandlers fight for hand outs. Voters have noticed.

Paul Bennett lives in the riding, and is homeless.

"You might be able to send us to jail for a bit, but when we come out we are in the same situation," says Bennett.

For five terms, Liberal Hedy Fry has held this riding.

"People come to me and ask me to help them and I do so," says Fry. "Immigration issues, people losing their jobs, seniors losing their pensions."

But Fry's critics charge she has lost sight of the larger issues affecting her community -- and say this year Fry is vulnerable.

"Ms Fry has been there, been coasting, she's a bit tired I would suggest," says NDP candidate Michael Byers.

"She's had her time, been here for a long time, and its time for a change," says Carr.

But Fry disagrees.

"What do they know what's been going on in Vancouver Centre? How would they know?" Fry asks.

It's the first time Green candidate Adriane Carr and NDP Michael Byers have run in Vancouver Centre.

"Solving the housing and homelessness crisis is not difficult like find the cure for HIV/AIDS, it's simply a question of political will in a country as rich as Canada," says Byers.

"It's going to take hard work to solve this and devotion and I'm committed to do that," says Carr.

As a former Liberal MLA, Lorne Mayencourt pursued legislation against aggressive panhandlers. He's now on the Tory ticket.

"In the very short term in the last year and a half I've been able to deliver a lot of housing in this neighbourhood," says Mayencourt.

Paul Bennett, still without a home, doesn't see the benefits.

"I tried the free shelters," he says. "My stuff was stolen, (there were) bed bugs - it's hard to feel safe in one of these places."

Poverty and homelessness is a crisis that Fry's opponents say escalated under her watch. They blame Hedy Fry, and they are hoping the voters will too.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Lisa Rossington