Downtown Vancouver Updates

[Denscity]

New school and maybe some housing.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Denscity

New school and maybe some housing.

New school, childcare and 60 non-market housing units, 58% for families (2 and 3 bedroom).


[changing city blog]

[MIPS]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

wow Bentall 1 and 2 are sitting on a gold mine of potential Height.

I would imagine they will both be taken down and replaced within the decade.

I'd say you were crazy but they tore the Landmark down so that could very well be on the table still.

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by Zepfancouver

Awesome photo. I like the framing, the overall composition, the density in the background and the color of the grass. Also tack sharp on a mobile screen. Nice one!

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by Klazu

The Dunsmuir project looks like a nice little tower, but I am sad about losing the water feature. Moving here, I do remember taking note of how many there are in Downtown and how nice they can be.

True. Wonder if the city would consider a height waiver in return for replacing the waterfall?

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by MIPS

I'd say you were crazy but they tore the Landmark down so that could very well be on the table still.

When they announced that new tower they seemed to hint that more growth could be on the table.

“We’re going to take 1.5 [million square feet] and make it two [million square feet] and grow from there.”

[Zepfancouver]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Awesome photo. I like the framing, the overall composition, the density in the background and the color of the grass. Also tack sharp on a mobile screen. Nice one!

Oops! I forgot to credit the images to Alain H., which I just now did. All images I post by Alain H. are not cropped or color corrected.
I like this one also (over all composition), no wasted area on the canvas.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by NewfBC

30 days before we see caution tape and pylons up at this park.. with things damaged needing repair.. 90 days before toilets are out of service.

We can't have nice things here.

Maybe they should have set up a Community Police Station instead of a coffee shop.

Ron.

If this doesn't happen, what do I win?

[vanman]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

Well, I didn't get to the new park today at Smith and Richards but my husband wandered over for a look see.
He said it was mobbed by kids and their parents.

He took this pic.





April 29 '22, my husband's pic

I checked it out last night with a friend and there were plenty of full grown adults making use of it. It is much better than you would expect. The roller slides and trampolines at least are fun for all ages.

My pic.


I do believe security and maintenance will be an ongoing concern. Already saw one person smoking what looked to be a crackpipe under a gangway. I could see in the future the entire thing having to be fenced off at night like many parks in New York are.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

Well, I didn't get to the new park today at Smith and Richards but my husband wandered over for a look see.
He said it was mobbed by kids and their parents.

The new park will be well used, and appreciated. The new census data released this week showed the number of kids in the City of Vancouver (14 and under) didn't really change between 2016 and 2021. However, The Downtown peninsula added 1,375 aged 0-14, while the rest of the city had 1,335 fewer aged under 15. It's why the new schools in the West End are needed too.

[jollyburger]

I say it won't last a week until someone tags some of the playground equipment

[hollywoodnorth]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

I say it won't last a week until someone tags some of the playground equipment

I give it less than 6 hours till someone uses the playground as a toilet. and 15 minute till its used as a shooting gallery.

to each their own I guess.

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by vanman

Already saw one person smoking what looked to be a crackpipe under a gangway.

so how many days did it take since opening?

but in all seriousness, if they don't crack down on that kind of thing, it will snowball out of control.

Originally Posted by vanman

I could see in the future the entire thing having to be fenced off at night like many parks in New York are.

can that even legally be done here? its like how we cant have cost recovery for public bathrooms. or kick people out sleeping in parks even when the park is closed dusk-dawn.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

so how many days did it take since opening?

but in all seriousness, if they don't crack down on that kind of thing, it will snowball out of control.

can that even legally be done here? its like how we cant have cost recovery for public bathrooms. or kick people out sleeping in parks even when the park is closed dusk-dawn.

I wonder if the coffee shop will have to clean out the washrooms

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

can that even legally be done here? its like how we cant have cost recovery for public bathrooms. or kick people out sleeping in parks even when the park is closed dusk-dawn.

It's technically legal, the problem is that the Parks Board only grows a spine when there's whales involved.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by Feathered Friend

Looks like that community centre in Surrey built with mass timber.

[NewfBC]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

so how many days did it take since opening?

but in all seriousness, if they don't crack down on that kind of thing, it will snowball out of control.



can that even legally be done here? its like how we cant have cost recovery for public bathrooms. or kick people out sleeping in parks even when the park is closed dusk-dawn.

We're already there.. unless you ask the mayor, of course.

Ron.

[cov]

Originally Posted by NewfBC

We're already there.. unless you ask the mayor, of course.

Ron.

I don't know if you know this, but the mayor isn't in control of the BC court system. It's against the law to jail people waiting for their court dates when their crime is below a certain threshold. This isn't just BC, but all of Canada.

Voting out a mayor won't change anything. The change can only be initiated at the provincial level, where the "law and order" crowd never shows up.

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

I wonder if the coffee shop will have to clean out the washrooms

anyone know if the washroom is inside or outside accessed from the shop? if it is outside, i imagine it would have to be Van PB. though if there is a lease agreement, anything is possible. though i could see making the shop responsible being a sticking point for any business who knows the issues of public bathrooms in this city, downtown specifically.

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

It's technically legal, the problem is that the Parks Board only grows a spine when there's whales involved.

i would be surprised they'd do it, even if legal. can you imagine the protesting? look at all the people that support the tent-slums in parks.

Originally Posted by NewfBC

We're already there.. unless you ask the mayor, of course.

i agree in general the city is just getting worse and worse. and there really is no way out. ever "solution" proposed seems to be the same. give the vagrant more free stuff, and punish them less for their actions.

yeah because ~15yrs of that has worked so well. whats the definition of insanity again? oh right, doing the same thing over and over and over and over expecting a different result.


i would love for us to be able to have nice things, and a safe city with a strong economy. but as long as the politicians, courts, judges, justice system in general keep repeating the same patterns, it will only get worse and worse, as it has for the last ~15yrs.

i mean, i have seen cops camped out handing out tickets at the end of the month on Boundary Road @ Marine Way, on the downhill slope. this while people talk about "lack of resources" to stop the random assaults @ an average of 4/day. that doesnt include all the unreported crime that has been normalized.


do people not see how f**ked the priorities in this city seem to be? it's like living in some weird universe where up is down, down is up, left is right, right is left and if you follow the law, you're fucked by those vagrants who've been convicted 50x but let out each and every god damn time. i mean holy shit people.


anyways, that is enough late night ranting for me.

[cov]

while i think jailing offenders is a somewhat naive approach to vancouver's social economic problems, I will support more jails if all expenses associated with inmates, facility, and the judiciary process are paid for through a land value tax

is this a good compromise?