BC Provincial Government Housing Policies 2023

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by csbvan

Yes, I think that would be reasonable. Ultimately, I think it needs to be treated differently than a bus exchange if we are talking separated lanes and platforms.

Yeah, agreed. In fact, as I thought more about your point, I think it would be better if they just treated any rapid transit as being the same. The whole point is simplification, we don't want a re-creation of municipal planning regulations here. At the local level, sure, you could play around with the decimal points, but when you're setting policy at a provincial level, in a province with a severe housing shortage, screw it - let er rip.

[logan5]

The land use map for the Renfrew & Rupert Station Area Plan Phase 2 shows 12 story towers (12 to 18+) out to the 800 meter mark, as opposed to the Provinces plan, which shows 3 FSR/8 story towers from the 400 to 800 meter mark. Maybe this will be the template for the rest of the stations in the CoV.

[officedweller]

If BRT is implemented as a temporay measure before a SkyTrain line is built, then maybe separate requirements should apply in case the SkyTrain line takes a different route. i.e. 98 B-line was down Granville - whereas Canada Line was built down Cambie.

In Burnaby, the Provincial requirements may mix up the 4 Town Centre model. That's already being changed with density near Sperling (but only on the large parcels so far). Other stations that'll see potential change are Royal Oak, plus Lake City and Production Way (esp. south of Lougheed Hwy).

Also Braid, Sapperton and 22nd into adjacent single family house areas.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by officedweller

In Burnaby, the Provincial requirements may mix up the 4 Town Centre model. That's already being changed with density near Sperling (but only on the large parcels so far). Other stations that'll see potential change are Royal Oak, plus Lake City and Production Way (esp. south of Lougheed Hwy).

Also Braid, Sapperton and 22nd into adjacent single family house areas.

Burnaby also has Urban Village plans that cover some of those locations - updating them to follow the provincial plan may make some Nimbys unhappy but it won't be much of a problem otherwise.

In New West there's been talk about upzoning the area around 22nd Street for years. Sapperton is next to the hospital and the Brewery District, while Braid Station is more of an industrial area - there's pretty limited SFH there.

[GMD]

Originally Posted by officedweller

IOther stations that'll see potential change are Royal Oak, plus Lake City and Production Way (esp. south of Lougheed Hwy).

Also Braid, Sapperton and 22nd into adjacent single family house areas.

Don't forget Burquitlam... some of those 7000 sq ft lots 200M from the station might have to go!

[officedweller]

I was thinking of the 'Sapperton village' area across from the Brewery District. I think they have been resistant to change.

To the west of Braid there's a residential pocket. There's a rental tower going up there.

Originally Posted by GMD

Don't forget Burquitlam... some of those 7000 sq ft lots 200M from the station might have to go!

Oh, that's right. All the towers to date are on the Coquitlam side!

[djmk]

Don't get too excited. Massive change is not going to happen any time soon. Homeowners still need to sell their homes to developers and land assembly extremely hard and expensive.

Unless there is talk of governments expropriating land from homeowners, Brentlawn will not be looking like Barecelona anytime soon

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by djmk

Brentlawn will not be looking like Barecelona anytime soon

None of Vancouver will look like Barcelona ever. Most of the street network around that city's iconic superblocks are the width of Water Street.

[djmk]

Originally Posted by FarmerHaight

None of Vancouver will look like Barcelona ever. Most of the street network around that city's iconic superblocks are the width of Water Street.

OK I fixed it

Unless there is talk of governments expropriating land from homeowners, Brentlawn will not be looking like Barcelona (without super crammed streets, the smell of sewage and hordes of tourists) anytime soon.

[mcj]

Originally Posted by FarmerHaight

None of Vancouver will look like Barcelona ever. Most of the street network around that city's iconic superblocks are the width of Water Street.

Measuring on Google Maps, they're about ~25m wide, whereas Water Street is ~15m wide. They're more similar to Burrard/Georgia Street in width.

[djmk]

Originally Posted by mcj

Measuring on Google Maps, they're about ~25m wide, whereas Water Street is ~15m wide. They're more similar to Burrard/Georgia Street in width.

the sections where people actually live is super tight. Less than 15m

barely any room for pop up parties and random drum marches. Its a fun city

[GMD]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Oh, that's right. All the towers to date are on the Coquitlam side!

Still remember my son asking me if Burnaby was a poor country one day when we were driving up North Road...

[mcj]

Originally Posted by djmk

the sections where people actually live is super tight. Less than 15m

barely any room for pop up parties and random drum marches. Its a fun city

I guess it depends on which part of Barcelona you're referring to, I was referring to the street widths in Eixample which are anywhere from 15m for the street the friend I stayed with lives on, to 25m for some others, to 50+m for the avenues like Gran Via, Av Diagonal or Avenue Roma. (most of Vancouver's street widths are well within the 15m to 50m range, there's actually a lack of streets wider than 25m in Vancouver).

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by mcj

Measuring on Google Maps, they're about ~25m wide, whereas Water Street is ~15m wide. They're more similar to Burrard/Georgia Street in width.

I didn't know you could measure with Google Maps.

Using Google Earth and measuring from building-to-building (hereafter referred to as "ROW"), I get just under 20m for most local streets in Barcelona. There are some wider arterials like Passeig de Gràcia which is 60m wide (although only 17.5m is used for six vehicle lanes while 42.5m is for bike lanes and sidewalks!) or Passeig de St. Joan which is 50m wide (12.5m for four lanes, the rest for bikes and pedestrians). And some of the local streets are close to 30m if they have parking.

Georgia and Burrard are around 30m ROW (setbacks vary). Water Street is just a bit under 20m, Silver Drive and Skyline Drive, both in Burnaby, are about 18m and 25m, respectively. A good apples-to-apples comparison would probably be some of the West End streets, like Comox or Haro which are both about 28m wide.

In general, the non-arterial streets in Barcelona are narrower than Vancouver's local streets, and especially the suburbs' local streets. But I think a bigger piece is the distribution of those streets among the various user groups. On almost every street I looked at, Barcelona dedicated a far greater portion of its streets to sidewalks than Vancouver does. Now, perhaps that makes the commute into and out of Barcelona hellish for those that drive. But I know tourists, and I imagine many local residents, appreciate the extra space to walk.

A few observations:

1. I measured ROW and not the roadways because I think the full streetscape - sidewalks, landscaping, bike lanes, patios, etc. - impact a pedestrian's experience.
2. Parking really impacts the ROW. E.g., Skyline Drive mentioned above is a fairly narrow "street" (more like access to the SOLO District's parkade and drop-off areas) but nose-in parking on both sides add almost 12m to the ROW.
3. Barcelona's streets feel much narrower than Vancouver's, even when some of them are wider. This is because on the wider streets there are very mature trees. de Gracia, Barcelona's version of a six lane arterial which I mentioned above, has a tree canopy similar to the West End. I think street like Georgia must have narrower trees because of the narrower sidewalk, as trees cannot encroach over the vehicle lanes.

[Bcasey25raptor]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Re: the suburbs, I'm betting on a dipolar system - Whalley coming into its own as a downtown core and the cheaper (albeit less desirable) alternative to the CBD, Vancouver's centre of gravity slowly drifting southeast toward Commercial-Broadway, and Metrotown serving as a high-density bedroom community between the two centres.

New westminster is our regions 2nd downtown, not whalley

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

New westminster is our regions 2nd downtown, not whalley

Um, No.

If you live in the River District perhaps it is thought of as a downtown but I can assure you nobody from Vancouver or Richmond is thinking of New West as a "second downtown". The comment I get when I go there with friends is "why are there so many bridal dress places here?"

[Migrant_Coconut]

New West may have the advantage now, but downtown Surrey has flat-out more room to grow overall. It's only a matter of time.

[BaddieB]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

New West may have the advantage now, but downtown Surrey has flat-out more room to grow overall. It's only a matter of time.

Metrotown will always be the second downtown. Metrotown is the second busiest skytrain station. Surrey is just a handful of apartment buildings with zero attractions.

[Tvisforme]

From today's Vancouver Sun:

B.C. Premier Eby announces road map for adding 250,000 homes in next 10 years

B.C. Premier David Eby has announced a road map for how the province can deliver 250,000 more homes in the next decade, including through sweeping changes in zoning bylaws that municipalities must pass in the new year.

Eby — talking to a group of business and government leaders at a B.C. Chamber of Commerce event Thursday — said the Housing Ministry convened a panel of economists to do modelling on the initiatives introduced in the legislature this year, showing how a quarter million new homes can be built across B.C. in the next 10 years.

By analyzing examples from places like New Zealand and Washington state that have recently introduced zoning changes along the same lines as B.C.’s proposal, the panel found anywhere from 216,000 to 293,000 net new housing units could be built in B.C. by 2034.

“Over the fall session, our government passed comprehensive laws to deliver more homes for people faster — in every part of B.C.,” said Eby in a prepared statement. “We are in a housing crisis, and we will continue to take strong action to deliver thousands more middle-class homes families can afford.”
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https://vancouversun.com/news/local-...homes-10-years

[madog222]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

New westminster is our regions 2nd downtown, not whalley

Historically, not currently.