Livable Vancouver

City planning and livable communities has been a major topic of interest over at The Tyee. Their coverage is generally more thought out than the “Condos are hot!!! Rah! Rah! Rah!” type content that is available in the local papers. But that doesn’t mean that I agree with it.

As this article outlines, Vancouver’s two current city planners, Larry Beasley and Ann McAfee, have stepped down. There are statements in the article that I don’t agree with and some statements that are not precise. Some of the comments attached to articles are just plain misinformed.

Firstly, I take issue with this statement.

Local architecture critic Trevor Boddy has pointed out that Beasley’s reputation hinges on the apparent success of the “Living First Strategy” and as such he would likely continue to promote it — despite the fact that it is a major factor in jobs moving out of the downtown core.

I wasn’t aware that jobs have been moving out of the downtown core. I have not seen any numbers to back this statement up. The article itself does not refer to any literature where I can verify this claim. The above quoted statement is also quite awkward. I can’t quite decide if this is the opinion of the expert, Trever Boddy, or if this is the opinion of the writer of the article.

Proof by authority certainly does not make an argument sound. Especially, since I have never heard of the aforementioned authority. I was able to Google this reference to a Vancouver Sun article.

Boddy’s first point is that there is no new development west of Granville Street, where business actually wants new development. Well, duh. There is no new land west of Granville Street therefore it’s is tough to have new development there. I currently work in Bentall 5 in the heart of the financial district. Bentall 5 is currently going through Phase 2 of its construction. Ten more floors are being added to the building. The building was originally constructed amidst the bursting of the dot-com bubble. The development company decided to cap the construction of the building since they would not be able to lease out the floors anyway.

There are a number of condo towers being constructed in Coal Harbour and North Robson. Boddy could be refering to this development. Living Shangri-La would be the most apparent example of this.

However, new startup companies just can’t afford office space in that neighbourhood anyway. Gastown and Yaletown are the two hotbeds for startups in Vancouver. They have the small office space that small business really needs to get off the ground. I can name three different game development companies in Yaletown just starting to get off the ground. The LiveWork program in Gastown is highly successful too. They have the distinct advantage of being close to Peer 1 ( 1, 2 ).

The large corporations are the ones that want the large office buildings west of Granville Street. We may decide to cater to these corporations, but that is a discussion for another time.

I am still not convinced that the number of jobs available downtown is outstripped by the number of people living downtown. There are no numbers that I am aware of to back this up. And here is a subtle distinction. A large number of people that work downtown don’t actually live downtown. This is the metric that nobody seems to account for. If a person works downtown, residential options are required for them to actually live downtown too.

This is exactly the case for higher commercial tax in downtown Vancouver too. The consumer of a service should be the one that actually pays for the service. Retailers should pass along the cost of commercial tax to their customers that come downtown to shop. Businesses should pay for the costs associated with transporting their employees from the suburbs to their buildings.

As citizens, we shouldn’t accept any more park space in exchange for higher densities until we have housing for everyone — including families and people with low incomes.

This statement flat-out contradicts previous statements in the article. A 500-square-foot condo is livable because park space. When I lived in a 5oo-square-foot apartment on the corner of Denman & Barclay, the apartment was livable because of the park space. Stanley Park was my back yard. English Bay was my back yard. And they were better than any back yard you would find in any single detached home in suburbia.

On to the comments.

I don’t consider a downtown full of glass towers with 400 sq. ft. apartments fit only for singles & childless couples all that livable.

You would be hard pressed to find a 400-square-foot apartment. There are 475-square-foot bachelour suites available for rent, but not very many of them. Developing residences for families downtown is not a very good idea. There are two elementary schools and one high school downtown.

The provincial government doesn’t seem to be interested in putting anymore schools downtown. They are already thinking about taking away St. Paul’s Hospital. It would be negligent for city planners to build residences without taking into account factors that they have no control over whatsoever.

I don’t consider the ghettoization of our communities of various ethnicities to be all that livable.

Ghettoization? Wow, that is a pretty harsh term. The hyperbole keeps stacking up. The commenter should have a walk through Compton or Long Beach before trying to compare that to South-East Vancouver or Little India or Chinatown or whatever neighbourhood the commenter is referring too.

Actually, I walked through Compton when I was in LA way back in 2001. It wasn’t all that bad. I’d like to check out New York one of these days and walk through Brooklyn and the Bronx.

One would not consider putting zoo animals in what passes for condos!

That’s quite misinformed. The last place I lived in was about 550 square-feet. My current place is 659 square-feet. It’s not that bad. It seems that most of the commenters haven’t actually lived in a condo in downtown Vancouver.

The downtown is decidedly children unfriendly as it has mainly been designed for singles not famillies.

That’s because there aren’t enough schools downtown. This is provincial jurisdiction and out of the city’s control really. The Vancouver School Board doesn’t have the funds to build a school downtown. They barely have enough funds to keep the current schools going.

All in all, the retiring planners have made a politically correct city, where fun is considered getting drunk at 3 am and not getting stabbed or shot outside a club!

Wow, comment ripped from the headlines of The Province. The clubs are filled with tourists and young frustrated suburbanites on Fridays and Saturdays. It really skews the entertainment scene downtown.

The commenter should consider catching a show at The Commodore Ballroom, Orpheum, or the Centre for Performing Arts. Or grab brunch and a coffee in Yaletown. Or go for a bike ride along the sea wall. Or play volleyball on the beach. Or go for a swim at the Aquatic Centre. Or hike through Stanley Park. Or catch an independent film at Tinseltown or Granville 7. Or check out the new show at The Art Gallery. Or go to a book signing at Chapters.