Quote:
Originally Posted by HelloKitty
I am by no means a NIMBY person.. hehe. Noise from such developments are expected within reason (I've lived in a more lively city...) Unnecessary disturbances aren't. . . . I just hope it won't turn out like Granville. . . . couldn't get home 'cause they can't drive and there's no public transit available anymore
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This is exactly my concern. The proposal was for restaurants and evening entertainment, and I supported it. I expected people out and about until certainly 11:00. That would be a good thing, because the presence of people would make the area safer and keep open access through the development to the Skytrain. I recall long ago visiting a neighbourhood of narrow streets with apartments and restaurants near Shibuya in Tokyo; I have long thought of it as a possible future for Brentwood and other town centres.
Seven days a week, 2:00 AM AM with alcohol and no transportation, on the other hand, could be a problem. Yaletown is one thing, the Granville strip is another (to borrow your example). Some of you are calling NIMBY: the term implies not in
my back yard, but in someone else's. Where drunken louts are concerned, I have never been one, never associated with any, and don't want to see them in
anyone's back yard.
I once lived in a small, dense Swiss city. With fewer than 100,000 people, its night life was more vibrant than anything I have seen here. Yet rowdiness and noise were not problems. (With the exception of the delightful Fastnacht festival a few nights a year, where costumed revellers wander the streets into the wee hours playing music.) For a while I lived in the red light district (cheap rents), with a bar across the street from my 3rd-floor window. Again, no problem: probably because the Swiss are strict about their noise rules: they are what makes it possible to have such a vibrant place, where people are comfortable despite being packed close together.
To answer officedweller's point, I did read recently that noise was a major reason for the invention of zoning. I don't want to go back to the bad old days: I want mixed zoning to succeed. Many of my neighbours were not keen on the development (parking! traffic!). As they see the benefits, I believe their resistance will evaporate (just as happened to Skytrain, formerly known as the crime train). For that to happen, we need to find ways to effectively manage things like this so that they don't get out of hand. Like it or not, history has shown than organized home owners are a potent political force. If you want more night life, you're better off finding ways to make things like this succeed for everyone, rather than simply caricaturing every criticism as NIMBYism.
I am hopeful and keeping an open mind. My biggest worry is the late closing. If there are problems, I suspect the single most effective measure would be closing before Skytrain service ends.
Mind you, it probably won't affect me much; I'm on a suburban street half a km away.
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