North False Creek and the Viaducts

Often overlooked is the fact that this densification is wedded to the multi- North False Creek storey underground parking garage. The dramatic rise of the Vancouver skyline is paralleled by an unseen “dirtline” of 4-10 storeys. The cost of the average parking space seems to be in the $30-$40 and the Viaducts thousand range, and reflects a high CO2 cost to excavate and truck away earth, then build complicated underground concrete structures. There is Time for a Real Change also the need for continual 24/7 artificial lighting and ventilation of this vast underground city, hardly compatible with a city whose goal is to be Introduction the greenest place on earth. Vancouver faces a curious drift these days with planning staff shepherding These spaces pose a perceived and real danger to all, and are particularly shiny new towers proposed for downtown and large new houses on the incompatible with the lives of children. West Side through the approval process. The towers may sex up the skyline but the exclusivity of these buildings that often provide just one of Residences and commercial spaces above are no longer housed in mere many temporary homes for very wealthy people, do little for the overall buildings with simple access to the common realm of the street. Rather, we livability or affordability for average people. have complexes of elevators, scissor stairs and tortured corridors that more often seem to draw their occupants to the parkade then out into the Much attention has also been given to the design of an art gallery on a street shielded from their fellow citizens by an amour of steel and glass. piece of City-owned land that is questionable as the best location for such a building. Vancouver urbanism has a peculiar suburban quality as a series of semi- autonomous vertically gated communities complete with private and Initial drawings of proposals for North False Creek have been released exclusive recreation facilities and services. The so-called “windows on the showing a return to an urbanism based on the broad-brush strokes of the street”, are not accompanied by a direct connection to the street as Jane traffic engineer, with concern for the pedestrian apparently an Jacobs saw them, but more like the forced smile of the housing complex. afterthought. New townhouses especially in the Concord Pacific lands have a muted emptiness about them with their drawn blinds and unused patio furniture. It is in this context that I would like to offer a critique of Vancouver urbanism, and proposals to address these issues. The Oxymoron That Enables Bad Habits Vancouverism- A Critique The City has started to provide a support structure for new electric vehicles that are beginning to come on stream. This ignores the evidence that CO2 The very real achievement of the densification of the downtown peninsula emissions are not just about running a car, as the embodied emissions in over the past few decades has been part of why this city has consistently producing a car typically rival tailpipe emissions over a car’s entire lifetime. been lauded as one of the most livable in the world, and a model for urban Lifecycle costing of hybrids and electric cars show they are no better and planning in North America. probably worse than many conventional vehicles especially simple efficient compact cars. The quest for a “sustainable” automobile maintains the Deep, Dark, Artificially Lit Secrets illusion that it is okay to continue with the same formula. While this “eco-density” has reduced vehicular traffic into downtown, a full Our best option is to make our settlement patterns not only less car environmental accounting of this typology hasn’t actually been carried out, dependent, but also less car enabling. nor has there been an acknowledgement of how it has contributed to Vancouver’s reputation as a lonely and unfriendly place. A New Kind of Plan Amenity spaces such as swimming pools are not possible in smaller buildings, but private pools are lightly used and a source of significant CO2 Fortunately there are new trends and realities that planners and policy- emissions. Larger public pools are more heavily used and are thus more makers would do well to take note of in developing a comprehensive plan energy efficient on a per capita basis, while contributing to the sociability of for North False Creek. I have tried to illustrate how these could have an the community. impact in a few attached plan and sectional drawings. Lanes and courtyards are free of the noise created by ventilating New Realities and Possibilities For Auto Accommodation underground parking. Vancouver is home to one of the most dynamic and extensive car-sharing Trash and recycling can be disposed of through shafts that empty into bins economies in the world, something planners need to consider and on the ground floor. A garbage service company can maintain this system encourage. and move the waste by hand or with small trucks to spaces in the parking courts to be picked up by larger trucks. The “millennial” generation is less interested in owning a car and moving to the suburbs, and more interested in living, working and raising a family in Courtyards are no longer built over waterproof membranes with a 20-year a dynamic and active city. cycle of expensive maintenance and repairs, but can be on solid ground with substantial trees as part of the landscaping. Automated parking systems (APS) are now as cheap if not cheaper to build than a conventional storage garage and have become very reliable. They The savings in both dollars and CO2 emissions are substantial. take up half the space, and do not require expensive lighting and exhaust systems to keep the air breathable as cars are not running as they are A richer neighbourhood with buildings of varying scales is created to being stored, nor are people actually in theses spaces. The lack of exhaust accommodate a wider range of people including ordinary Vancouverites of grills means that air is no longer being annoyingly exhausted into streets, limited means, as well as the homeless. lanes and courtyards. The systems are modular and easily adapted to most buildings. They can be expanded or reduced to suit demand. With the use With the presence of soil on site that may be contaminated or offer poor of a computer or smartphone one’s car or preferably one’s shared car can bearing capacity, not having to carry out substantial excavation and be brought down to a street lay-by or a small parking court on demand removal may be of some benefit. near one’s home. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_parking_system While the medium and small-scale buildings will appeal to many, they will not necessarily appeal to wealthy investors seeking yet another trophy Implications home. As such they may be more immune to the inflationary Vancouver housing market. Developers are very conservative and may resist this If we locate these parking systems adjacent to major streets such as the approach, so if planners and policymakers see value here, they need to new Georgia Boulevard, we can separate the storage of vehicles from make clear and firm rules. The larger scaled developments along the major buildings, and a number of possibilities open up. streets with their more expansive views will appeal to the well-heeled. It makes it feasible to build high-density medium and small-scaled A Neighbourhood of Small, Medium and Large buildings that have a stronger connection to a network of open spaces such as narrow pedestrian-scaled streets, courtyards and laneways. A larger One of the defining characteristics of Gastown and Chinatown is that they percentage of circulation is in the public realm. Even if people want to go to were built at a time when there were few automobiles, and buildings were their cars, they have to go onto the street and will invariably run into their not required to provide storage for them. As a result, buildings are smaller neighbours creating a stronger sense of community. with a traditional figure/ground relationship and a fine matrix of delightful open spaces at significant densities. I believe that this should be one of the models for developing North False Creek. The major street, which I call the Georgia Street connector is a grand Figure 2 shows a prototype of a simple seven-storey apartment building on boulevard defined by large buildings on either side, the largest being near a 50’x80’ lot and which can house up to 25 suites of varying size, that the stadiums. It makes its way to the east on a direct route, requiring a could accommodate families small or extended. Flexible ground level suites raised sky-train guide way that could include a platform for a new station provide opportunities for different kinds of modest businesses. as well as new buildings to mitigate it’s impact on the neighbourhood. Figure 2 also illustrates the smallest model of simple but dignified and Park that Thought. Big is Not Necessarily Better affordable housing that would be inserted wherever there are blank walls that could be covered up. Initial drawings and some proposals from the Reconnect competition show a substantial park that amalgamates Creekside Park with the already large Since we also have to provide a replacement for the viaducts for vehicular Andy Livingstone Park into one large entity through which Expo Boulevard access from the downtown to the East Side, we need to develop a new wends it’s way in the manner of a Robert Moses style “parkway”. I think pattern of development that allows for traffic flow and auto storage.

Load more