Granville Island Updates

[Vanville]

A bit of a fantasy perhaps but I would love to see a gondola over False Creek to access Granville Island. And one over to Lonsdale Quay from downtown as well. These could become major attractions but I'm not sure about initial cost & reliability factors.

[VarBreStr18]

What is the point of driving there and can't find any parking spot? I absolutely hate driving there and circle around to find parking. Despite snail speed traffic, there has been several pedestrian accidents, one of them fatal. I totally agree GI should be pedestrian only. Set up parking off site, but provide shuttle. Designate on site loading/unloading area for tourist buses, , private vehicles.

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by VarBreStr18

I totally agree GI should be pedestrian only. Set up parking off site, but provide shuttle. Designate on site loading/unloading area for tourist buses, , private vehicles.

what happens to the concrete plant? how do their big trucks get in and out?

i doubt that place wont be going away anytime soon. very central to a lot of building going on.

[osirisboy]

Originally Posted by VarBreStr18

What is the point of driving there and can't find any parking spot? I absolutely hate driving there and circle around to find parking. Despite snail speed traffic, there has been several pedestrian accidents, one of them fatal. I totally agree GI should be pedestrian only. Set up parking off site, but provide shuttle. Designate on site loading/unloading area for tourist buses, , private vehicles.

One fatal pedestrian accident doesn't really indicate that there is a safety issue, in fact one death in over 30 years shows how safe it is. If you find parking difficult maybe then we need to build more parking? Versus removing vehicles.

[VarBreStr18]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

what happens to the concrete plant? how do their big trucks get in and out?

i doubt that place wont be going away anytime soon. very central to a lot of building going on.

Those concrete trucks have not caused any problem as far as I know. It is the vehicular traffic that is the problem, never know which has the right of way. Some don't slow down as much as they should. Make GI pedestrian friendly , other than the concrete trucks route heritage route which become tourist attraction in itself.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

what happens to the concrete plant? how do their big trucks get in and out?

i doubt that place wont be going away anytime soon. very central to a lot of building going on.

That concrete plant should be the first thing to go. It has Zero to do with what GI is now about. There's plenty of suitable industrial land on the North Arm of the Fraser to replace it. CMHC which runs GI is supposed to be concerned with housing. Demolish the concrete plant and build much-needed rental housing there to liven up the island at night.

[YYCguys]

Originally Posted by whatnext

that concrete plant should be the first thing to go. It has zero to do with what gi is now about. There's plenty of suitable industrial land on the north arm of the fraser to replace it. Cmhc which runs gi is supposed to be concerned with housing. Demolish the concrete plant and build much-needed rental housing there to liven up the island at night.

+1

[sburnaby33]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Hit the nail on the head. If you take away transportation capacity and don't put it back somewhere else, all you get is less business.

All the more reason to build the damn streetcar, I suppose.

I agree. I live in Burnaby and already find heading into Vancouver to be a challenge, from the lack of parking in the West End to the plethora of permit only spaces in Kitsilano. Making Granville Island pedestrian only without replacing the lost parking spaces will be bad for business. If this is done the Island will be an island, only accessible to people living in the area and tourists. Public transportation to the area is awful as it would take me 1 hour to get there by bus and skytrain. By car? 25 minutes.

[rofina]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Hit the nail on the head. If you take away transportation capacity and don't put it back somewhere else, all you get is less business.

All the more reason to build the damn streetcar, I suppose.

I think the fact of the matter is that dense cities need to look at other options when it comes to transportation.

I really do believe that a ride sharing model is the future. In that the cars stay on a near constant move, and move people from spot to spot, without necessarily needing medium term parking.

I think its self evident that space simply does not permit for everyone to drive an SUV around town, that literally takes up to much physical space.

[WarrenC12]

Navigating and parking at GI on a weekend right now is a nightmare. It actually keeps me away. The streetcar is a no brainer, even just the simple version connected to OV Station.

[VarBreStr18]

Wishful thinking.......with careful forward planning, GI can be developed into a world class year round multifacet amusement park that can rival Disneyland, Trivoli Garden in Denmark. GI has the most central strategic location. With that in mind, I have to agree the concrete plant has to go, but retain its giant tanks as heritage monuments. There is currently lots of underutilized areas on the island. Yes Street Car is the answer. Off site parking. GI has unlimited potential.

[s211]

It's rather quaint to hear platitudes for off-site parking, but I've not heard of one site being offered up for such an intensive use. Somebody, please educate me. And don't forget to bring your chequebook. No BS fantasies here (i.e. get "some developer" to build it, and let them build dense multifamily on top in return for the cost to build the parkade). Let's hear some practical models for once that are economically sound, and realistically achievable.

[phesto]

It seems like there's a huge opportunity to leverage the redevelopment of the Molson Brewery site (and potentially the Squamish First Nations lands) to allow for significant parking and a shuttle/streetcar or even just pedestrian link at the foot of West 1st Avenue. How about a dedicated parkade at the closest corner on the Molson site and a new pedestrian bridge where the Fisherman's wharf is?

The Granville bridge elevator and Alder Bay bridge are both neat ideas but seem like they'll barely turn the dial in making a meaningful impact on generating pedestrian trips or decreasing vehicle trips.

As expected with CMHC, they went with a huge advisory board that has resulted in a bunch of disjointed, watered-down ideas that won't yield more bold solutions.

[phesto]

Originally Posted by s211

It's rather quaint to hear platitudes for off-site parking, but I've not heard of one site being offered up for such an intensive use. Somebody, please educate me. And don't forget to bring your chequebook. No BS fantasies here (i.e. get "some developer" to build it, and let them build dense multifamily on top in return for the cost to build the parkade). Let's hear some practical models for once that are economically sound, and realistically achievable.

I started posting before seeing your post!

Off-site parking is pretty much a non-starter generally speaking, though the two sites that I mentioned above are unique in that they are large and the City could leverage Molson (Concord) since the zoning nor OCP don't permit residential use currently. The First Nations land would be tougher.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by VarBreStr18

Wishful thinking.......with careful forward planning, GI can be developed into a world class year round multifacet amusement park that can rival Disneyland, Trivoli Garden in Denmark. GI has the most central strategic location.

I believe this is the part where I point out that the Island's already serving as our Fisherman's Wharf... and that even Universal Studios Singapore is 150% larger. Theme park-wise, we'd be better off overhauling the PNE.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by s211

It's rather quaint to hear platitudes for off-site parking, but I've not heard of one site being offered up for such an intensive use. Somebody, please educate me. And don't forget to bring your chequebook. No BS fantasies here (i.e. get "some developer" to build it, and let them build dense multifamily on top in return for the cost to build the parkade). Let's hear some practical models for once that are economically sound, and realistically achievable.

Doesn't the city own a lot of the land around the Southern off-ramps? Something could be done there if we had a mayor and council who weren't so relentlessly anti-car.

[GeeCee]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Demolish the concrete plant and build much-needed rental housing there to liven up the island at night.

They have a lease on the land until 2046.

While I support more rental housing in the city, I don't think this is the right answer. There are little to no services for residential buildings on the island.. (general grocery stores, bus service, K-12 education, etc)

I think the concrete plant doesn't fit the area (though apparently Ocean Concrete finds the proximity to downtown quite convenient), but we can probably come up with a better usage than housing.

Maybe a ferris wheel?

[phesto]

Originally Posted by GeeCee

Maybe a ferris wheel?

You win Jlousa's prize for being the first in this thread to mention a ferris wheel!

[WarrenC12]

No Ferris wheel but a nice glass elevator & stairs to the middle of the Granville Bridge would do wonders to make it accessible by foot from downtown. This would go nicely with the planned redesign of the bridge.

[ranvancan]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

No Ferris wheel but a nice glass elevator & stairs to the middle of the Granville Bridge would do wonders to make it accessible by foot from downtown. This would go nicely with the planned redesign of the bridge.

Originally Posted by GeeCee

They have a lease on the land until 2046.

While I support more rental housing in the city, I don't think this is the right answer. There are little to no services for residential buildings on the island.. (general grocery stores, bus service, K-12 education, etc)

I think the concrete plant doesn't fit the area (though apparently Ocean Concrete finds the proximity to downtown quite convenient), but we can probably come up with a better usage than housing.

Maybe a ferris wheel?

Absolutely agree, it IS the spot for one, it is an attraction and could re-invigorate GI, it would provide great views of the city from a close vantage point since we have no observation points in the downtown. And if done right, would look great. Look at London Eye or Tianjin wheel. I'm all over it, if not a wheel, a 250 meter tower, not office or residential, a view tower. (Miniature CN Tower or Seattle-like Space Needle that could become iconic)