Pacific Metropolis

Metropolitan Core Jobs & Economy Land Use Plan II

The Metropolitan Core Jobs and Economy Land Use Plan is now in Phase 3 of 4, as City planners seek feedback on the basic principles of their vision, before developing a more detailed plan over the next few months.

Click map for a larger version.

Among the main policy directions that they're proposing are the following:

• Increase allowable height and density in the Central Business Distrcit (CBD)
• Discourage the conversion of office buildings to condos
• Outside the CBD, pursue opportunities for more mixed use residential/commerical space
• Develop transportation and parking strategies that support modes of sustainable transportation

For a summary of Phase 3, which includes more detailed information on the proposed policy changes, click here (link to pdf).

A copy of the full report can be found here (link to pdf).

The Metropolitan Core Jobs and Economy Land Use Plan

Although it's title is a bureaucratic mouthful, the above-mentioned study will be one of the biggest reports to be published by the City of Vancouver in quite some time.

For the past two years, planners have been looking at land use in Vancouver, with a focus on how zoning should shape the City's future mix of commercial and residential development.

Besides the downtown core, the Metropolitan Core study also considers land use along the Broadway corridor, the False Creek Flats, and in East Vancouver, out to Clark Drive.

While Vancouver has done an excellent job of bringing life to the City's urban centre, there are concerns that residential development may become a victim of its own success - that it is now gobbling up the remaining land available for downtown office space, which may in turn drive jobs out of the City.

The study looks at related issues as well, such as the need to locate both jobs and services nearby residential areas as a means of reducing people's reliance on cars.

Furthermore, planners are looking for ways to concentrate office jobs around transportation hubs, to better accommodate commuters that come into Vancouver from outside of the downtown core.

As of June 2007, much of the information gathering has been completed, and the City is now soliticiting feedback on its broad policy goals, before moving ahead with the more detailed planning stage.

We'll provide further information about these new goals in our next post.

In the meantime, for more info on the Metropolitan Core Jobs and Economy Land Use Plan itself, check out the study's main web page here.

The Streetcar Rolls On

The latest word on the Vancouver Streetcar is that preliminary work is continuing on Phase 0, the proposed stretch between Science World and Granville Island.

(Click map for a larger image)

According to this article from the Vancouver Courier, a local engineering firm called HMM has been chosen to work on the detailed design plans for the project.

Among the new details to emerge - Vancouver's streetcar will run on a planted (grass) median, rather than a paved one.

It also sounds like the Downtown Historic Streetcar will still continue to operate on this First Avenue stretch of tracks, even after the new system is in place.

Funding remains a question mark, however, as the $60 million required for the Science World-Granville Island stretch still hasn't been committed by the provincial or federal governments.

It will cost an estimated $100 million to continue the line on to Waterfront Station, and another $20 million to bring it all the way out to Stanley Park.

Extravagent Tree Fort Slated for QE Park

Apparently a plan is afoot to erect a giant viewing deck in Queen Elizabeth Park, as a means of reinstating the long-lost view of the city.

Stupid trees, nature.

If the Parks Board approves the project, the owners of the 150-foot tower plan to market it as the highest spot in Vancouver, charging somewhere around $10 a head for tourists to go up and gawk at the city.

Predictably, the NIMBYs don't like this thing one bit.

As for the rest of us, from the early feedback we've heard, the new platform looks a little too George Jetson for some, and not Calatrava enough.

Judging by the renderings, we'd have to agree - frankly, it's reminiscent of Troy McClure's house. ("It's so modern, it's ultra-modern").

While we applaud the creativity, it's probably better to take a pass on this one.

The Sun has more details on the proposal here.

Disaggregating Gateway II

If the aim of the Gateway project is to improve Vancouver's position as Canada's 'gateway' for goods from across the Pacific Rim, why are we being told that the widening of the Trans Canada Highway and twinning of the Port Mann Bridge are essential?

This seems misleading, since the vast majority of containerized cargo that is off-loaded in Vancouver is shipped out of our region by rail, not by truck - rail is much more efficient over long distances, and most cargo winds up going outside of BC to the population centres of eastern Canada and the US.

(Click map for a larger version).

If the aim is to improve the efficiency of our port system, it would therefore make the most sense to improve road connections between the ports and railyards.

Indeed, the Gateway project's South Fraser Perimeter Road will do a good job of connecting Deltaport with key CN and CP intermodal railyards located on the south side of the Port Mann Bridge, while CP also operates a major railyard at the Port of Vancouver.

So with relatively little container traffic heading for the Port Mann, why should we twin it?

Rather than going ahead with a strategy that we know will offer relativly little benefit to the trucking industry, and instead promote greater reliance on automobiles, the first option should be to encourage greater population density - a strategy that we know works well from our own experience, wherever we've built new transit lines.

As part of his argument in favour of a widened Trans Canada highway, Kevin Falcon is promising that new roads will lead to rising property values for his constituents.

However, the promise of commuter rail would likely do just as much, if not more for people out in Surrey and Langley - just look at what's happened to property values in communities located along the West Coast Express line, or in Richmond, along the Canada Line route.

It's clear that improved public transit should be the first option, while expanding the freeway should be the last. Unfortunately, Kevin Falcon has it completely backwards.

His approach isn't exactly helping the trucking industry either - Gateway is fast becoming a dirty word among Lower Mainland residents, who would rather not see more urban sprawl in their region.

Fortunately, this doesn't have to be the case, if we could simply remove the most controversial segment from the project.

Since the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge would have such a significant impact on the day-to-day lives of many of us, this is one issue that's worth calling or emailing your MLA about.

You can find out how to contact yours here.

Disaggregating Gateway I

Vancouver's business community, headed up by the trucking industry, has started to rachet up the rhetoric in support of the Gateway project, as evidenced by this article from last weekend's Province.

As we mentioned in our own piece from a little more than a year ago, Minister of Transportation Kevin Falcon (MLA Surrey-Cloverdale) has cleverly packaged the entire Gateway program as a single project, thus giving its most controversial elements - the widening of the Trans Canada Highway and twinning of the Port Mann Bridge - a better chance of gaining approval.

While it's clear that Mr. Falcon's constituents might see short-term benefits from the expanded freeway, decades of experience in other cities shows that widening freeways does not reduce traffic congestion over the long term.

Even worse, it typically leads to more ugly, urban sprawl.

Consider New York City - since the 1930s, seven bridges have been built between Manhattan/the Bronx and Long Island, each with the stated aim of reducing traffic.

The net result? Traffic has only grown over the years, as Long Island suburbs have extended eastward, creating a wasteland of strip malls and endless suburbia. Traffic congestion at bridge and tunnel crossings has only expanded.

Over the long term, this is the same future that Mr. Falcon's 'vision' will deliver to his constituents.

In our next post, we'll consider how we can improve on Gateway, while still building the roads that the trucking industry needs to move freight around the Lower Mainland. 

Convention Centre Update

No news to report, although we did come across a few new photos of the Vancouver Convention Centre expansion project, plus a recent video as well.

The first photo is from the project's main webcam (click for a larger version).

This second photo is from the main contractor's site, PCL Constructors.

And finally, the following video was shot in April 2007.

Late Update: it turns out there is some news to report on the convention centre project.

According to this article from today's Sun, there are now 54 events booked at the VCC for 2009 and beyond, which will add an estimated $1.1 billion to the BC economy.

Of those events, 28 would not have occurred without the added space of the expanded facilities.

Golden Ears Bridge

As one of the top 10 non-residential construction projects currently underway in the GVRD, the Golden Ears Bridge reached a milestone a couple of weeks ago, with the completion of the structure's deep foundations.

Scheduled to open in June 2009, the six-lane bridge is expected to cost $800 million to build, up from earlier estimates that had put it at $650 million.

Once it's finished, the bridge will see as many as 20 million vehicle crossings per year by 2012, with motorists paying tolls of $2.85 per car and $8.55 for large trucks, at least when it initially opens - no doubt they'll go up.

The construction and management of the bridge is being carried out through a public-private partnership deal, which lasts until 2041.

On the positive side, Translink estimates that travel times across the Fraser will be reduced by 20 to 30 minutes, while it should also alleviate some traffic that currently crosses the Port Mann Bridge.

The Golden Ears Bridge is also expected to spur residential and commercial development in both Langley and Maple Ridge, two of the GVRD's eight Regional Town Centres.

For more information about the bridge, check out Translink's website here. The official project website can be found here.

Northeast False Creek - up for review

According to this planning document (link to pdf), the City of Vancouver is about to undertake a major review of the Northeast False Creek neighbourhood, covering the area from the Cambie Street Bridge to Quebec Street.

 

Among the parcels of land that will be up for discussion are the Plaza of Nations complex, as well as the BC Place Stadium site.

Planners caution, however, that their only intention is to consider a range of options for the land on which BC Place sits, while the provincial government still makes up its mind about the stadium's future (which won't occur before the study is completed).

All options appear to be on the table, from leaving the stadium as it is, to 'reconfiguring' it, or removing it entirely.

In addition to looking at future land use in the neighbourhood, the study will also examine pedestrian, bicycle and transit routes (ie the Downtown Streetcar) for the area.

Interestingly, the City also mentions that it will look at 'the possible removal of a portion of the viaducts when considering form of development and transportation options.'

The study is expected to take about twelve months to complete, after which a report will be presented to City Council by May 2008.

If you're curious about what one of the major landowners in the area has in mind, it might be worthwhile to stop by the new Concord Pacific presentation centre, which recently set up shop in a new location, according to this promo video from the Real Estate Channel.

Pacific Boulevard Redesign

Via Pricetags: construction work is underway on phase one of the Pacific Boulevard re-design.

(Click photo for a larger version).

Stretching from the Burrard Street Bridge to the Cambie Street Bridge, the entire project aims to turn the busy thoroughfare into one of Vancouver's 'great streets', which planners expect will transform it into a 'preeminent pedestrian promenade.'

They hope to accomplish this through the addition of a tree-lined median down the centre of the boulevard, along with a narrower side-street running parrell to the primary four-lane road. The side-street will be used by local traffic and for parking.

 

Besides adding more greenery to the boulevard, new bike lanes will also be built, plus space will be set aside for the eventual extension of the Vancouver streetcar.

The quieter atmosphere of the secondary roads is designed to make the area more pedestrian-friendly, as it will slow traffic and make the street more walkable, while it should also be easier for people to cross the wider sections of Pacific Boulevard.

Phase one is currently being installed along the stretch of Pacific Boulevard between Howe Street and the Granville Street Bridge. Later stages call for the creation of a neighbourhood high street, through the heart of Yaletown, between Cambie and Howe.

For more information, check out the 2002 City of Vancouver Policy Report here (link to pdf).

The cycling people do a more colourful job of presenting the details on their website here.