Here's my recap of the Transportation Workshop, just one more to go after this! However, there will be open houses to cover the results of the workshops, as well as a design charette at a later date.
Due to personal reasons, I wasn't quite my sharpest at this workshop, so most of the experience information will be provided by my partner.
Much like the previous workshop held at Creekside, the turnout was more diverse with only 60% of attendees coming from within the neighbourhood, and a younger mix as well. By now, I've started recognizing a good handful of faces, though there were a few fresh ones as well. This time there was a different keynote speaker from the neighbourhood, who concluded her speech by asking for a reinstatement of community shuttles that would take residents from the neighbourhood to attractions Downtown.
Considering the neighbourhood seems to pride itself on being anti-car, I found the comparable statistics for trip type quite shocking:
FCS |Core| City
19 | 30 |9 Walk
7 | 8 | 6 cycle to work
27 | 26 | 30 transit
46 | 35 | 49 car
As you can see, most stats from FCS match the Metro Core, however those who walk to work are noticeably lower, as is the percentage of those who drive. That said, there were still cries to ban cars from 6th Ave. I should stress, these call from a vocal minority. One last tidbit, the street car is still on the City's agenda, and to that end, a new streetcar consultant has been recently procured. It was also stressed that the City was open to forming partnerships with Granville Island, and other interest groups, in order to fund/better plan the street car project,
Phase one of the workshop had groups map out their individual commutes/methods of transport around and through the FCS. In phase two, groups were asked to highlight what areas they felt hindered or helped their travel experience.
After a dinner break (more sushi and pizza
), the tables were divided into themes as shown in some of the later photos.
Each table was then asked to present ideas for the future of the area that would reflect their table's identity. The final phase was to fantasize about what transportion in the neighbourhood could look like in 40 years. There were certainly some wild ideas; a gondola linking Broadway to FCS to Yaletown; A tunnel connecting FCS to the Oak and Broadway M line station, and; converting 6th Ave into a tunnel. One of the most reasonable in terms of cost, was a suggestion to set up a kayak sharing service (like Car 2 Go). One that I felt was particularly silly was for golf carts to be provided for seniors on the seawall, provided they were confined to the bike lanes.
Overall, I feel staff now have a good grasp on how to host these events; The neighbourhood has opened up more to densifying the outer edge, and seems to realize the neighbouring communities really care how the process turns out. In the last section of this workshop, the fantasy phase seemed to go a little off the rails, but I think that's the nature of asking people to be silly. I know some members said they also planned to attend, and I'm curious what their experience was. As I mentioned in my last recap, the final workshop is going to set the tone for the community plan in a lot of ways (ie density, heights, etc). Even though all seats are booked, I highly suggest coming down to the event, as there are usually a few seats open due to no shows, and dinner will once again be provided.
Character and urban design
Date: Saturday, February 3, 3:30pm - 6:30pm
Location: False Creek Community Centre, 1318 Cartwright Street
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