Category — Environment and Sustainability

Cities are the engine rooms of the global economy, says urbanist Richard Florida, and Vancouver ranks 20th of the top 25 most powerful cities economically.

Tucked between Montreal and Vienna, Vancouver scores well for financial services and innovation. Number 1, surprisingly given all the talk about Japanese economic stagnation is Tokyo. Says Florida:

“Economists increasingly argue that clustering, concentration, and density stand alongside land, labor, and capital as key features that shape economic growth.”

Despite cynicism in some quarters, Vancouver is increasingly strong as a centre for green jobs and important creative sectors like film and digital entertainment. As for density? It’s fair to say that’s a work in progress.

Where’s the voice of transit riders in the debate over funding Translink expansion?

Anyone who rides the system knows that most buses are bulging with riders. Finding a seat on any crosstown Vancouver route is a miracle, watching a loaded bus pass by is a routine occurrence.

With 30 percent of Translink routes experiencing daily trip levels well above safety and comfort benchmarks, transit riders should be demanding the funding increases. After all, fares are rising to the legal maximum while service levels stand pat.

But transit riders have no voice, leaving the debate to politicians wary of property tax increases, gas tax increases and Translink’s dysfunctional governance structure, a legacy of Kevin Falcon’s period as transport minister. (Frances Bula elaborates on her Globe story here.)

Translink’s current “service realignment,” which is moving buses from low ridership routes to those where traffic is heaviest, have a certain logic, but may be shooting the system in the foot over the longer term. [Read more →]

Today’s Sun is a perfect example of generational disconnect on how to tackle the city’s — and the planet’s — problems.

In the comment section, Harvey Enchin sees Mayor Gregor Robertson’s Greenest City Action Plan as an “Orwellian nightmare” with antecedents in the Soviet Union and Cuba.He seems to think the plan proposes to control population by ensuring water conservation: ” . . .the plan calls for restrictions on the water supply . . . People can’t live without water; they’ll have to get out of town or die.”

But alert readers will have noticed that on page 1,  “more students want to study green,” driving an expansion of post-secondary programs on sustainability. Every business now has a sustainability aspect, according to curriculum planners.

What must be even more disturbing for Enchin: the entire September issue of Scientific American is dedicated to green cities, including features like “How Green is My City?” and “All Climate is Local.” Whatever is the world coming to?

The groundbreaking report on the Viaducts and False Creek Flats going to council next week shatters five myths about the Viaducts that stand in the way of a better city.

Chief transportation engineer Jerry Dobrovolny and chief planner Brent Toderian stand the issue on its head, challenging Vancouver citizens to help them design the future of the city in the key area from BC Place Stadium east to Clark Drive that now sits under old freeway, asphalt or simply abandoned behind the Pacific Central Station.

They’ll make sure the traffic needs are met.

The report gives us permission to consider the city in new ways, with shorter Viaducts, a single viaduct, or new connections from Pacific and Expo to Georgia and Dunsmuir. Here are the five myths they busted to open the door to a new plan:

Myth No. 1: the traffic now on the Viaducts has nowhere else to go

Fact: “Due to the reduction in vehicle volumes entering the downtown over the past 15 years, there is available vehicle capacity on adjacent streets to accommodate some of the diverted traffic . . . A 20 percent reduction [in Viaduct capacity] would have minimal diversion of traffic. The 100 percent reduction scenario would require additional transit infrastructure.” [Read more →]