Pacific Metropolis

Vancouver Gets a Freeway

It looks like Vancouver is about to join the big time with our first real freeway, which if approved, would be completed by 2013.

On the positive side, the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge should help ease the congestion problems on highway #1. On the negative side, there will of course be tolls, but even worse, the freeway means that more traffic will be headed Vancouver's way.

Among other projects, the BC government's proposed Gateway Program will see Highway #1 expanded from the current 6 lanes to 8, between 200th street in Surrey to the Grandview interchange. From Grandview on in to McGill, the highway will be expanded to 6 lanes from its current 4.

The big question though, is whether all of this will really help to alleviate congestion. Experience in other cities shows that when you build more highways, the benefits are typically short lived - more cars eventually wind up on the wider roads, and you're back to where you started.

Even Transport Minister Kevin Falcon appears to admit this, according to the following article from the Vancouver Sun:

Academics and environmentalists say -- and Falcon has agreed in the past -- that you can't build your way out of congestion. But, he suggested Tuesday, you can keep it at arm's length for a time.

The official Gateway Project report says that its models don't indicate that the expansion of highway #1 will "substantially" increase traffic along First Avenue into the city, but it doesn't say much about traffic flows along the Grandview Highway/12th Avenue route, nor along Hastings or McGill streets.

Might we one day hear people calling for these routes to be turned into highways? (After all, these roads will themselves become congested.)

Proponents of the freeway would say that the combination of tolls and public transit should help to reduce the number of cars on the road. But let's not kid ourselves either, a $2.50 toll isn't going to get people out of their cars and onto transit - New York City charges USD $6.00 per car to enter Manhattan, and $36 for vehicles with six axles...we'll be seeing higher tolls in the long run too.

Got an opinion on this or other aspects of the Gateway Program? Have your say below.

For more information, click here (pdf) for the full 90-page Gateway Program report, and here (pdf) for a one page map that highlights all the changes. The main website for the program can be found at www.gatewayprogram.bc.ca

Update: Living Shangri La

A few months back, the Shangri-La was our very first post (see below), so we figured that by now we're long overdue for an update.

First off, here's a link to the construction site's webcam, in case you want to check in on how things are coming together. The shot below was taken on Sunday January 29th.

Second, here's another link to the Shangri-La Hotel chain's website, which has a few more nice shots of the Shangri-La building. Included is an illustration of the new tower over the Vancouver skyline (not exactly to scale).

And third, according to the Vancouver Sun, a few months ago Westbank Developments got permission to increase the height of the Shangri-La building by one storey, partly as a means of offsetting additional construction costs. The tower's new height will be 61 storeys (648 feet).

Original post:

Construction of the Shangri-La building, located at West Georgia and Thurlow has finally begun in early 2005. Scheduled for completion in 2008, it will be Vancouver's tallest building at 60 storeys (640 feet).

According to the Vancouver Courier, the Shangri-La will be another mixed-use building, which will include a five-star hotel and private residential units.

Details can be found at the link below. Check out the 'Architecture' tab for some sharp photos of the building's design model.

www.livingshangri-la.com

Architects' Shangri-La in the clouds [Vancouver Courier]

English Bay Webcam

Any time you want to check the weather, but you're just too lazy to go to the window, simply type in www.katkam.ca, and you'll get a fantastic picture of English Bay and the Burrard Street Bridge.

It's also great for checking traffic in the mornings, and watching the sunset at night. Scroll one third of the way down the page to get the following view, which is updated every five minutes.

Shangri-La Webcams

Click on the link here to get the latest update on construction at the Shangri-La site. Photo below taken on March 17th, 2006.

The developers have added a second camera (link here), after the building reached ground level in July 2006. The following photo was taken on October 3rd, 2006.

The Sun Tower

Down in that busy little corner of Vancouver where new condo towers are going up at the International Village and Spectrum sites, and where Beatty Street seems to be coming alive with several heritage building renovations, is one of Vancouver's most recognizable buildings - the Sun Tower.

Vancouverites might be interested to know that it was originally called the World Tower, as it had been built by Louis Denison Taylor, publisher of the World newspaper, and Vancouver's longest serving mayor.

Apparently the building's nine barebreasted maidens caused quite the scandal when it was first unveiled to the public in 1912.

In 1924, the Vancouver Sun bought the struggling World, but did not move into the World Building until 1937, when the Sun's offices burned down. At that point, the building was renamed the Sun Tower - a name that it has retained ever since, despite the fact that the Vancouver Sun has since moved on to another building itself.

For more information on the Sun Tower and additional pictures, link here to Vancouverhistory.ca's website. Wikipedia has a brief entry on the Sun Tower as well - link here.

Facadism in Vancouver

As a counterpoint to some of the heritage building restoration that's been going on in Gastown and other parts of the city, this 2004 article from the Vancouver Review takes a skeptical view, noting that much of what winds up being restored is nothing more than the building's facade:

"In most cases, only one wall or corner segment remains, facing the public thoroughfare, its fancy details intact while the rest of the structure has been gutted. The gaping emptiness behind these old façades sometimes lasts for months; and the destiny of most sites is to be filled in by new structures that bear little relation, in style or scale, to their pasted-on frontage."

On the other hand, the author is careful to note that,

"...while demolition is forever, not all façadism is bad, of course. In the case of buildings from the late 19th century, made of unreinforced masonry, it’s better to shore up the façade and replace the rest than lose the whole thing to the first tremor."

Salient developments

Several months ago we gave a rundown of all the renovation going on in Gastown. Unfortunately, we neglected some of the fine work being done by the Salient Group.

Founded by former Concord Pacific employees, the Salient Group focuses on converting old character buildings into new lofts. Although most of their work is in Gastown, they've also got a project going in New Westminster - the Trapp Block.

Back in the city, some of the buildings that the Salient Group has already fixed up include the Taylor Building (pics above and below) and the Bowman Lofts, which are described as being located in (ahem) "Crosstown".

The Terminus is their latest Gastown project, which will reconstruct the facade of the former Terminus and Grand Hotels. Link here for a Vancouver Sun article (via Twarog) for an early update on the initial demolition phase.

Outside of their loft renovations, the Salient Group is also set to restore the Flack Block, which is located nearby Victory Square, for retail and commercial use. Link here (pdf) for a brief mention of the project in a recent Heritage Vancouver newsletter (page 2).

Meanwhile, just down the I-5

There was an interesting article in the New York Times last weekend, which examined millionaire Paul Allen's impact on the city of Seattle, from his construction of the Seattle Seahawks' Qwest Field, to the development of a live-work community that's designed to stimulate and support Seattle's growing biotech industry.

In relation to Qwest Field, Mr. Allen "asked his executives to try to re-create an atmosphere similar to the one Mr. Allen felt while attending University of Washington football games as a boy."

Sounds similar to those arguments in favour of the new White Caps stadium proposal.

And in regards to Pal Allen's plans for a new residential neighbourhood:

In the South Lake Union area just off downtown, he plans to build 10 million square feet - the rough equivalent of a dozen 50-story towers - of condos, European-style alley-fronted homes, biotech and medical research facilities, hotels and retail space, with a trolley car connecting it all. The projects are ahead of schedule, with the cluster of condos built around a luxury hotel, Pan Pacific, and a Whole Foods store set to open later this year.

This should sound quite familiar to anyone from Vancouver. However, the article goes on to say that, "South Beach in Miami Beach, the pedestrian shopping area in Santa Monica, Calif., and the Pearl District in Portland, Ore., were inspirations."

No doubt, certain elements from Vancouver urban planning were used as well, since concepts such as high density, mixed use and green building principles guided the project's developers. Indeed, as this August 2005 article from the Seattle Weekly indicates, Vancouver has definitely had a large impact on Seattle's own debates over urban planning, with one City Council member going so far as to consult Vancouver's famous planners, Ray Spaxman and Larry Beasley.

On the other side of the debate, Seattle's mayor has admitted that "he liked how development had shaped up in Vancouver, especially that city's emphasis on what the mayor calls "smart growth." "It's a great model for us," he says.

For more on the South Lake Union area development, link here to an article from the Seattle PI.

The Gastown Waterfront

The Central Waterfront Port Land Policy Statement (link to pdf) was origanlly passed in 1994 as a means of laying down general guidelines for the lands situated between Canada Place and Portside Park to the east.

In establishing general principles for the development of the Gastown waterfront, the document is intended to be quite flexible, and is therefore open to changes, such as the recently proposed Whitecaps stadium.

[For a larger view, click on map and/or picture below Source: link here]

As part of its broad vision, the policy statement calls for a "downtown-oriented" area at the western end of the site, closest to Canada Place. On the far eastern side nearby Portside Park, a "community-oriented" area is recommended, while a "transition" area is supposed to sit between the two.

Among some of the more specific proposals for the central waterfront include the possibility of a casino or convention centre expansion (remember, this report was written in 1994), additional office and/or residential development, and the extension of the Gastown street system down to the water.

Development of the entire site is estimated to take between 10 and 20 years.

With regards to the proposed Whitecaps stadium, the project would clearly lie at the "downtown oriented" end of the site. One question that arises, however, is whether the city will agree to build a sports arena in a space that could potentially be used for much-needed downtown office buildings instead.

Secondly, it's worth considering how the new stadium might look on Vancouver's skyline, along with the new convention centre on the other side of Canada Place. How will a collection of low, flat buildings look from across the water?

Building over the railyards will of course be a major development constraint to consider as well. It'll be interesting to see what the city decides, once it completes its review of the stadium proposal this spring.

At the very least, it's good to have people thinking about what we might wind up doing with the Gastown waterfront. Feel free to add your comments below.

...and soccer is our game

A few years back, the CFL's Montreal Allouettes unexpectedly made the playoffs, however they were unable to play their scheduled game at Olympic Stadium because the venue had been previously booked for a U2 concert that same night.

They wound up playing their match at the McGill University stadium instead, which despite being a smaller, outdoor locale, was a huge hit with the fans. In fact, it was such a success, that the next season's home games were scheduled at McGill. Since then, the franchise hasn't looked back, as fans flocked to the 'old school' venue and ticket sales went through the roof.

There's probably something of this lesson - that a stadium's atmosphere clearly matters - in the minds of the Whitecaps owners, who have recently proposed building a new stadium over the railyards next to the Seabus terminal.

Without question, a 15,000-seat stadium (expandable to 30,000 seats) on the Vancouver waterfront would make for an incredible place to go enjoy a soccer game, tennis match, or concert. Too bad the BC Lions aren't in on the deal too.

At present, the stadium proposal is under review by the City of Vancouver - a process which should be completed by March 20th, 2006. The earliest the stadium could be opened would be Fall 2009, according to the city planning documents (link to pdf).

According to this article from the Vancouver Sun, the Whitecaps' owner, Greg Kerfoot already owns the land where the stadium would be built. Furthermore, the entire project will be done with private funds.

Interestingly, the proposal has forced the city to dust off its old plans from 1994 for the Gastown waterfront area, which stretches East from Canada Place to Portside Park (aka Crab Park). Therein lies the problem though, as the question seems to be whether this unforseen proposal would fit in with the long term plans to develop this portion of the Vancouver waterfront.

More on this in our next post...