This city life

The Fall (and Subsequent Rise) of the Independent Bookstore

Last month, I took a short trip to Portland, Oregon. My husband and I arrived late on Friday night and one of the first places we went to was Powell’s Books. Leaving almost 3 hours later with several bags full of purchased books, it is easy to see why Powell’s consistently ranks as one of the world’s greatest bookstores.

While so many cities have lost their independent bookstores - first to major book retail chains, and now to Amazon.com and e-readers - Powell’s Books is thriving. It is a hub of community and culture, a great spot to people watch and will totally turn you on to books, even if you don’t consider yourself much of a book lover. I wish every great city had a bookstore like this.

Powell’s flagship store, dubbed the “City of Books,” occupies an entire city block in downtown Portland’s Burnside neighbourhood, and carries more than one million books. It is the largest used and new bookstore in the world. The sixty-eight-thousand-square-foot space is divided into nine colour coded rooms, which house more than 3,500 sections that range from Alchemy to Vintage Cookbooks.

At Powell’s, anyone is welcome to walk around and browse the store until late at night.  According to its website, 3,000 people walk into Powell’s just to browse and drink coffee every day, while another 3,000 people actually buy something. When I was there, no salespeople were hassling me. I ended up in sections I wouldn’t normally visit, buying books I would never have discovered in a chain bookstore or online. The best part of walking into these sections was eavesdropping and watching the people who visited them (like the Goth girls in the astrology section who were analysing their astrological compatibility with their boyfriends). 

Powell’s Books also hosts events that bring the community together to celebrate artists and writers. Each month, its Basil Hallward Gallery hosts a new art exhibit, as well as dozens of author events featuring acclaimed authors and thinkers such as Joyce Carol Oates, Annie Leibovitz, and President Jimmy Carter. 

It used to be that every great city had a bookstore like Powell’s. Vancouver had Duthies (its last location closed in 2010). New York City had the Gotham Book Mart, where Allen Ginsberg was once a clerk. It closed in 2007. Even when I was in Palm Springs last fall, they had a great independent book store, Latino Books y Mas, that was closing due to complications with its lease.

I don’t need to go into analysing why these bookstores are closing. It is difficult to compete with the lure of cheap books from Amazon and the ease of e-readers. But as usual, with every technological gain we make, we lose something more valuable - a connection to our community and our city that can only be offered by a local bookstore. On the closing of Vancouver’s Duthies Books, the owner Duthie Legate, said in an interview with the Georgia Straight:

“It’s the books you find when you’re here, and you go, ”˜Oh, that looks so great’ and get it—the four or five books that you find not because you’re looking for them, but because you walk through and you see them”.You know, I talk to everybody that comes in. I know my customers. I might not remember their names all the time, but I know that they’ve got kids or they’ve just been to Italy or read this book—I know them. And that’s going to get lost.”

With every independent bookstore that closes, a city loses a special piece of community and culture (the same can be said of the demise of independent movie theatres). But before you go crying into your used copy of Hemingway’s Moveable Feast purchased at Paris’ Shakespeare and Company, it turns out that 2012 was actually a banner year for the independent bookstore. 

The Christian Science Monitor ran a cover story last month about the rise of independent bookstores in the U.S., as sales at independent bookstores rose 8 percent in 2012 over 2011, according to a survey by the American Booksellers Association. The article states that “bookstore owners credit the modest increases to everything from the shuttering of Borders to the rise of the “buy local” movement, and to a get-‘er-done outlook among the indies that would shame Larry the Cable Guy. If they have to sell cheesecake or run a summer camp to survive, add it to the to-do list.”

Independent booksellers are holding strong, running events and coming up with new ways to foster relationships with the people in their community. According to the Christian Science Monitor article, “at bookstores nationwide, the community event has replaced the cat as de rigueur. Independents have added cafes and costume plays, and sell everything from locally made cards, T-shirts, and toys to chocolates and calendars.”

“These days, community-building is the most important key to an indie bookstore’s success,” says Christine Onaroti, owner of the Brooklyn bookstore, WORD. “I believe that the days of just putting books on a shelf and hoping people will come in to buy them – [that] is not realistic…. There’s not a lot of room for pretentious, snooty booksellers these days.”

These noble efforts of local bookstore entrepreneurs just may help lure back online book buyers and attract a new generation of readers. As someone who buys books online and supports my local used bookstore (those Amazon books have to go somewhere once I am done with them), being in Powells Books made me realize what an awesome bookstore Vancouver could have if we supported the small independents. I definitely will be supporting my local bookstore more from now on, and hopefully so will more city dwellers. According to Vancouver’s Duthie Legate:

“I think bookstores are going to become a niche thing, like vinyl records are a niche item now, and there will be only maybe one or two, depending on the size of the city, but the people that know where it is will go there and be really passionate about it. So I don’t think it’s going to go the way of the dodo, but it will be further and further on the fringe.”

The National Post: Gentrification in Vancouver’s Eastside

Vancouver’s gritty East Side is increasingly in the media spotlight, as it has been attracting new businesses and residential development over the past year. Some local residents are taking to protests, hunger strikes and vandalism to oppose the movement of new money and socio-economic classes into the neighbourhood. The National Post wrote an article about it (and interviewed me). You can read it here.

Photo: Ben Helms for the National Post

Can a City be too Pretty? How Gentrification Affects a City’s Art and Soul

A city isn’t really a city without a little grit. That edge, that grittiness I am referring to comes from a city’s built form - it’s industrial land; the train tracks; the port cranes; its older, unkempt graffitied buildings. A city’s grit also comes from it’s people’s struggles - the new immigrant taking a night shift cleaning office buildings to make it in a new world, or the artist eking out a living making art in an abandoned warehouse.

Gentrification is a hot issue in Vancouver’s gritty Downtown Eastside (Photo c/o DisposableLandscapes)

Maybe it all sounds a little clichéd, but without these gritty elements, a city runs the risk of becoming an over-planned, over-regulated yet lovely, resort town. Nice to visit, but not much substance. Grittiness is often what makes cities fascinating places to live. It creates the determination that inspires people to help other city dwellers, improve themselves and their surroundings, and to make art. Author Candice Bushnell once wrote about New York’s gritty roots:

“The city was different back then—poor and crumbling—kept alive only by the gritty determination and steely cynicism of its occupants. But underneath the dirt was the apple-cheeked optimism of possibility.”

As cities around the world like New York and my hometown of Vancouver are becoming more desirable places to live, their grittiness is under threat. Market forces are bringing in new money in the form of fancy refurbished lofts, new condominiums, expensive farmer’s markets, and high end restaurants and shops. Its pretty great for those who have the money to enjoy and appreciate these revitalized areas, but it is pushing out many of the low-income people who moved downtown when it was affordable and less desirable.

Gentrification Poster in Brooklyn, NYC

Arguably, a bit of grittiness in city life creates the authenticity and diversity that makes cities attractive places to live and work -  yet overzealous developers and urban planners are often eager to smooth out a city’s rough edges and replace them with polished concrete and glass condos. Many of the people being displaced in the world’s great cities are artists. As they contribute to making the most downtrodden areas trendy, the cultural venues they live, work and perform in are now sitting on valuable land which they typically don’t own.

I’ve been to a couple of lectures and speaking events over the last month on the subject of gentrification and the arts. The common theme at these events is how artists are “victims” of real estate speculation, land values, politics, etc. If this is true, then the real question for our cities and their artists is:

How can artists shift from being victims of gentrification to becoming agents of change?

The now destroyed Pantages Theatre in Vancouver (Photo c/o DisposableLandscapes)

In Vancouver, Canada, artists have seen many of their spaces destroyed and replaced with condos (Richards on Richards, the Sugar Refinery, the Pantages Theatre, The Ridge Theatre, etc.). The biggest uproar that finally lead the City to wake up and take action was when it was discovered that a local developer bought the Waldorf Hotel, a historic building and popular hangout for the city’s arts scene.

Citizens, politicians, journalists, and local and international artists used social media to express their outrage. And it worked. Gregor Robertson, the Mayor of Vancouver, issued a statement about the historic and cultural importance of the Waldorf and placed a 120-day moratorium on any demolition permit the new owners might apply for. The freeze would give the city time to conduct a “statement of significance” to assess and document the building’s heritage importance. As it stands, although still in tact, the Waldorf is no longer the swinging hub of arts and culture it once was.

Supporters of the Waldorf held a rally outside Vancouver City Hall (Photo: Yoland Cole) 

At one event I went to following the news of the Waldorf Hotel, many artists expressed frustration that they and their peers were again losing a performance/work space. Some of the ideas suggested to help artists become more empowered were:

• Stop relying on government funding and become more business-like in promoting artistic works.
• Form artists’ co-operatives in order to buy land/buildings.
• Engage the city in developing a “cultural land trust” to protect artist’s spaces.
• Stop working in isolation and find ways to collaborate at a regional and national level to promote the arts.
• Encourage people to engage in the arts as participants, not consumers.
• Find more unconventional spaces to promote arts (as opposed to typical established theatres, galleries, etc.)

A musician assembles a banjo in a workshop she shares with other instrument makers in buildings reserved for Montreal artists. (PETER MCCABE / FOR THE TORONTO STAR)

A recent example of empowered artists protecting their community happened in Montreal’s Mile End neighbourhood. Since the 1980s, Mile End has been known for as a home to artists, musicians (such as Arcade Fire and Grimes), writers, and filmmakers. In the 1990s,  a computer graphics software house Discreet Logic made a mark on the area by renovating an old clothing factory which later become home to computer game developer Ubisoft. The city started to revitalize the neighbourhood with nice bike paths, walkways, etc. and then the condo developers moved in, rents rose and artists were under threat. They responded by forming the Pied Carré which successfully lobbied the government to make a ground-breaking decision: issuing a development moratorium on 200,000 sq. ft of art space in the area for thirty years. 

When artists unite like this, they can become a powerful force against gentrification. In fact as I was writing this article, the City of Vancouver announced that it will become the first city in Canada to allow arts performances as a temporary use in warehouse and retail buildings. 

These examples demonstrate how city planning can play a role in supporting the arts. In fact, there are many promising trends in city planning right now - walkable communities, urban agriculture, increased public transit, bike lanes, mixed use developments - but in this rush to polish our cities for a new generation of urban dwellers, we run the risk of losing the grit and the artistic expressions that make up a city’s soul.  

We need beauty in our cities in the form of architecture, nature and public art, but often appreciating this beauty comes from seeing its contrast in derelict buildings, dive-bars and run-down theatres. Sometimes I wish cities would stop trying to be so pretty all the time.

Graffiti in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (Photo c/o DisposableLandscapes)

Revitalized Public Market Helps New Westminster Get Back to its Roots

Also featured on Spacing Vancouver

New Westminster’s first Public Market (c/o New West Archives)

When you think of suburbs, you don’t typically think of a charming, local shopping experience. Big box stores, retail chains and sprawling parking lots are more likely to come to mind. But it doesn’t have to be this way, as suburbs like Metro Vancouver’s New Westminster are proving. With its re-invented public market, the city is helping bring back the local shopping experience and attracting a new generation of young families to its historic downtown core in the process.

Originally the capital city of British Columbia, Downtown New Westminster sits along the banks of the mighty Fraser River - once a hub of trade and commerce. Its main street - Columbia Street - is lined with brick heritage buildings, and nearby Front Street along the waterfront was originally home to one of British Columbia’s first public markets in the late 1890s.

New Westminster got another public market - Westminster Quay Public Market- over 100 years later (a period in which the entire city burned to the ground and lost its provincial capital status to Victoria, BC). The new market was developed in the mid-1980s to revitalize the fledgling Metro Vancouver suburb. Its popularity was relatively short-lived.

With the rise of global big box supermarkets, Westminster Quay Public Market, like many local shops in suburban areas, lost its way. As of July 2007, the Quay’s commercial component had noticeably decreased, with many vacancies. It was around that time when Mark Shieh, a budding Vancouver entrepreneur, urbanist and developer, saw an opportunity to turn things around, revitalizing the market - and the entire downtown of New Westminster - in the process.

Westminster Quay (photo c/o Arbron)

“A few years ago, if you came to the Quay, you would be disappointed: half of it was empty and the other half was a mix of imported products,” said Shieh.” It was a downward spiral. If a customer comes to the market and the fish isn’t fresh, they don’t come back and if they don’t return, it gets worse and worse.”

In 2008, Shieh and his team embarked on creating River Market, a “food-led revitalization” of the Westminster Quay Public Market, aimed at strengthening the local food economy and on reintroducing the public market as a focal point of community life.

“We were interested in this idea of how do you reinvent a public market. In the 1980s there was a lot of excitement about public markets. People just thought if you had a waterfront location you could make these things work but they are much more complicated than that,” said Shieh. “Now, there is competition from the chain grocery stores, like Urban Fare and Choices, which have adopted a market feel and can locate wherever they want. There was less of a reason to go to the public market - and that was the start of our project - how do you reinvent the public market to offer more than a supermarket so it is relevant in your life?”

According to Shieh, River Market was modelled on the 3Cs: “the market side is commerce but the public side is community and culture.”

The once half-empty market is now home to popular independent Vancouver grocery and food retailers like Donald’s Market, Re-Up BBQ, Wally’s Burgers, Wild Rice, and a Winter Farmers Market, which all reside on the main floor, dubbed the “Hungry Floor.”

“We went out and looked for some of the best independent restauranteurs,” said Sheih. “We may have to do some convincing - maybe even begging - but it worked!”

On the second floor - the “Curious Floor” - there is Vancouver Circus School, an artisans market along with work/sell studios that are occupied by potters, soapmakers and other artisans. There is also a banquet hall and the Network Hub, which provides shared workplaces for entrepreneurs.

As Mark and his team at River Market move into the next phase, they are trying to determine how to support local businesses so they can thrive, looking for even more ways to get people out of their homes and shopping locally.

“In a context that favours big boxes and chain stores, how do local businesses compete?” said Shieh. “There is globalization, but there is also the rise of local. What makes neighbourhoods interesting is those small independent businesses. Being able to walk down a street and have eclectic quirky stores. It is a struggle to compete. Some people will come to the stores at River Market and comment on the price - ‘why can I find it cheaper somewhere else?’ And it comes down to how do you interpret value. You could say there are timeless human needs to be healthy and to connect people and the outdoors and those probably won’t change much.”

In addition to offering a walkable, local shopping experience, River Market hosts a diverse array of events to bring people together, such as lunchtime yoga, children’s baking and Lego classes, a farmers market and a Philosopher’s Cafe.

“The next framework will be the activity economy, where we are cooking together, growing food together, demanding physical contact,” said Mark. “At the same time we are getting globalized, we are also getting localized.”

Mark’s long-term goal is for River Market to become one of the top 10 food markets in the world by 2020. His team’s efforts are already paying off. River Market was given a Land Award at last year’s Real Estate Foundation of B.C. Land Awards. And according to Mark, local residents are showing up at the market in droves, embracing his vision of local food and community.

“There are a lot of young families in New West. We already have stroller jams!”

Vancouver Circus School at River Market (photo c/o River Market)

Vancouver would be better if……

…you could walk to Granville Island. Easily. Without having to bother with cars.

Once upon a time, I was an obsessive runner that used to get up at 6am and run around the False Creek seawall every morning (an 8km run - or maybe 9km, I never really knew the exact distance).  It was never a big deal to run an extra 1km or so up to the Burrard Bridge in order to cross from False Creek’s Granville Island into Downtown Yaletown.

But lets face it, I’ve slowed down and have become someone who prefers a nice long walk. So when my husband and I went for a walk around the False Creek seawall the other day, I didn’t enjoy spending an extra 15 minutes walking across the car-oriented Burrard Street Bridge, barely able to talk above traffic noise, just to get from False Creek to Downtown Vancouver. 

Imagine how awesome it would be if you could get from downtown to Granville Island and back on one of these:

A new conceptual design by Paris-based studio AZC won the “Bridge in Paris” competition …  They’ve dreamed up an inflatable bridge that’s outfitted with giant trampolines that allow you to bounce your way from the Left Bank over to the Right Bank (Source: Flavorwire).

Or this:

Peace Bridge is a pedestrian bridge, designed by renowned Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, that accommodates both pedestrians and cyclists crossing the Bow River in Calgary, Alberta. The bridge is open for use as of March 24, 2012 (Source: Wikipedia).

Or this?

Designed by Amsterdam-based NEXT  Architects, the structure connects the new neighborhood  Weidevenne with the old town center.  The bridge spans 66 meters over  the Noordhollandsch Kanaal and consists of one part for pedestrians and another  part for cyclists or wheel chairs. At it’s highest point, the bridge is 12  meters above the water level (Source: Price Tags).

MMM….maybe not the last one.

Many cities with minor waterways have built pedestrian-oriented bridges or “passerelles” (I  discovered many of these on Gordon Price’s blog. He has whole section devoted to them).

Paris and London are full of these types of bridges. Why not Vancouver?

Surely someone has thought of this, but I couldn’t seem to find any information until Google directed me to Sarah Wright, a Vancouverite who was proposing a Granville Island Pedestrian Bridge as part of a BC Ideas Competition last year. According to Sarah:

“This bridge will become the preferred access point to and from Granville Island for most pedestrians and cyclists. As you are walking along the seawall on a brisk November morning, you decide a coffee would be lovely. You cannot resist making a swift right over the attractive new pedestrian bridge toward the rolling green lawns of Granville Island. While there, you realize you might as well get groceries instead of making a separate trip later…seeing as it’s 30 mins less walking with a heavy bag now. OR, You are a starving Emily Carr student wondering if your vegetarian legs can possibly push the pedals around another 100 times. Oh look! A bridge! Now my feeble body need only generate 10 more rotations, AND BONUS - I won’t be risking my life at that highly dangerous crossing at the ‘traditional’ neck of Granville Island.”

Yes! I totally agree. She didn’t win the competition, but maybe this is something Chip Wilson would want to fund….

Citymaker: Rommy Ghaly (aka Vancouverish)

How to Connect with People in Your City

Photo c/o Atlantic Cities

Once upon a time, people only wanted to spend time in the city for employment and then retreat safely to the privacy of their suburban homes. But there is a new generation of city dwellers who choose to live in cities because they want be around creativity, commerce, culture and mainly other people, even if they don’t know them.

If this is true, why do we all feel so disconnected and lonely? Last year I wrote a piece on whether or not Vancouver was a friendly city. It generated a lot of interest and a few months later the Vancouver Foundation launched a study confirming that many Vancouverites feel lonely and disconnected from each other. Here are a few recent comments I have heard from readers supporting this theory:

I’ve come to think of Vancouver as the world’s suburb -  a place people go to be away from the noise and bustle of a real city, while still being close enough to do things. Vancouver has become a city of leisure, where people retreat to their private pleasures. Where are our public spaces? Where are our public forums? I think this is at the root of our unfriendliness, if we are unfriendly. We are a constellation of privacies without any physical or conceptual or cultural public space.

Another reader’s comment:

Overall Vancouver is not a friendly city. I have lived here for over 10 years and I can tell that people in general may be polite but that does not mean that they are friendly. It is very hard to meet people as they are very reserved or they believe that they are some kind of special entity of this planet, so nobody is good enough for them. Worst of it all is that it is just a head game of their own, because a lot of them look very lonely and unhappy.

All Photos below c/o Vancouverish

Urbanist Jane Jacobs once wrote that people like to be around other people, yet remain private: “a good city achieves a marvel of balance between its people’s determination to have essential privacy and their simultaneous wishes for differing degrees of contact, enjoyment and help from the people around.”

The problem in many cities like Vancouver where people live close together, is that while we all like to be around each other, often we tend to stay very private and don’t try to connect with each other when we are out and about in the city. Instead, we prefer to stick to our cliques, play with our iPhones or retreat into the comfort of our condos with our televisions and the internet. Solitude is a beautiful thing. But admittedly as human beings, in order to feel connected to life and the earth we all need to just look at each other sometimes.

Last year, I had a health crisis (post-viral fatigue) that changed my perspective on how I connect with everything - the universe, God, nature, animals, myself, food, my friends, family and people in general. I realized that in many of these aspects of my life I was disconnected. I was always very busy and without realizing it, spent a lot of time in my head - worrying about my future plans, thinking about things I desired, checking my phone, looking at my various screens and other social distractions etc. One of the best things I did to heal was to bring myself into the present and improve how I connect with people and my environment. This started with getting out in the world and going for walks around my neighbourhood (which, luckily, is very walkable with parks, shops, and lovely sidewalks all outside my door).

On that note, here are my tips to all Vancouverites and city dwellers in general on how to feel less alone in the world….and maybe even connect with strangers (including that lovely lady or gentleman on the bus, at the bar or wherever).

1.) Get out of your house and/or your car and walk - it is hard to connect with people and nature in the privacy of your home or personal automobile. Walk the streets of your city, hang out in its public spaces, spend time in local shops and restaurants. Before you know it, you will probably connect with someone - even if it is just a smile, eye contact or a few words.

2.) Be present - you may be out and about in the world, but if you are not present - observing your surroundings, listening to the sounds and feeling your feet on the pavement - you aren’t going to even notice the people around you.

3.) Empathize - it may sound clichéd  but instead of seeing that slow person walking in front of you as a nuisance, remind yourself that you are not an island. Every person out there in your way is a human being just like you with fears, desires, pain, and joy. We are all in this life together, so be patient and try not to think you are above any one.

4.) Look at people, not your damn iPhone - Twitter is amazing. All of your cool little phone apps are amazing. But, they don’t replace human contact.  I am always surprised when I walk the streets of downtown and look at people and smile. Some smile back, but many look away as if I am breaking the rules of normal Vancouver behaviour, which leads me to my next suggestion….

5.) Smile - this is very important. Sometimes when I find someone that looks unhappy, I try to smile at them or send positive thoughts their way. I don’t know if they can tell or not, but I do believe that we all give off energy - good and bad. If you have positive energy, it shows. You come across as more open and people will want to talk and connect with you.

5.) Small talk - I am not a fan of small talk and I’m not good at it either, but small talk doesn’t have to be inane. I recently had a girl in the line at Starbucks ask me if the gloves I was wearing were from Peru. I could have just said “no” and turned away, but instead I told her I got them from a recent trip to Joshua Tree in California and we ended up talking about her trips to Peru and her Peruvian boyfriend. Now we talk every time I see her in line for coffee in the morning. Voilà  Simple connection made over a question about my gloves.

6.) Express yourself through your art or ideas and share it with others - I have met so many people in Vancouver just through having a blog about city life. The simple act of pursuing your creativity or passion - whether through music, art, ideas, writing, etc. - and sharing it with others can put you in contact with like-minded strangers you would have never known otherwise.

7.) Volunteer - find a cause that you care about in the city (public space, nature, poverty, saving the Waldorf from impending demise ….) and get involved in an organization that represents your interests. It is a pretty big commitment compared to my other suggestions, but it will definitely help you and your city feel like a more connected place.

The beautiful thing about cities is that they offer anonymity, yet at the same time, a sense of being in the company of other people without actually having to know them intimately. The life and spirit of cities are made by the people who live there. And, the most exciting part of living in one are those chance, surprise interactions with strangers. It doesn’t mean you have to invite them into your private space, just look at each other, maybe even say a few words and share the present moment together. As Jane (Jacobs) says:

“Cities are full of people with whom, from your viewpoint, or mine, or any individual’s, a certain degree of contact is useful or enjoyable; but you do not want them in your hair. And they do not want you in theirs either.”

Vancouver is losing its middle class

In order for a city to thrive, it needs diversity on every level: in race, age, workforce, arts, economy and of course, income. Too many rich people creates a retirement/ resort community and too many poor people creates a ghetto. Unfortunately, you can’t have income diversity without housing diversity, and Vancouver is severely lacking in providing desirable housing to the middle class, so many of them are leaving.

I  know the story of Vancouver’s lack of affordable housing is getting old and tired, but I am bringing it up today because:

• A new study, Divisions and Disparities in Lotus-Land, published by David Ley and Nicholas Lynch of the Cities Centre, demonstrates Vancouver’s growing income disparity and disappearing middle class;
• The City of Vancouver recently established the Mayor’s Task Force on Housing Affordability; and, 
• My husband and I, who own a townhouse in Vancouver, have started casually looking for the last three months to buy a slightly bigger townhouse or duplex in our neighbourhood, but guess what? They don’t exist.

When it comes to housing, Vancouver has a missing middle. And as a result, it will start missing its other middle - the middle class.

For the last 20 years, Vancouver focused entirely on densifying the downtown core with highrise condos and plenty of green space, view corridors and amenities along its seawall. This successful concept, dubbed Vancouverism, has been duplicated in cities around the world (it was championed by the City’s former of Director of Planning, Larry Beasley, who is now bringing Vancouverism to Abu Dhabi as the country’s special planning advisor).

Views! Density! Amenities! That’s Vancouverism.

Having lived in a condo downtown I can tell you it is not for everyone. It is unrealistic to think most middle class people want to live in a highrise downtown.  I would even argue that focusing on condo development is what fuelled real estate speculation in the first place, because I highly doubt that real estate investors want to put their money down on a nice townhome off Commercial Drive. After all, people actually live in those townhomes and developers don’t make as much money from building them. As a result, nobody in the real estate market - buyers or builders - is going to get rich that way. The downtown condo I lived in was full of investment units - several of them just sat empty, the rest were rented out. Very few people actually owned a home there.

I would like to emphasize wholeheartedly that I am not against density or highrise development, I just think Vancouver spent too much time focusing on this type of growth in the downtown core, while ignoring the potential opportunity to promote gentle density that appeals to the middle class (i.e rowhomes, townhomes, du/tri/fourplexes, 3-4 storey buildings) in the rest of the city - such as the popular neighbourhoods of Main Street, Commercial Drive, Kitsilano, Strathcona, etc. 

Whither the forgotten townhome, Vancouver?

Thankfully, they have finally come around to realize that this is a mistake. The final report from the Mayor’s Task Force on Housing Affordability emphasizes the need for gentle density:

Currently in Vancouver, housing exists in two major forms – single family homes on single lots and apartment buildings (largely strata and some purpose-built rental). There is little in the continuum of housing beyond these two forms to meet the needs of families and smaller households…….Row houses, stacked townhouses and other options such as laneway housing that address the needs of families to access green space at home and live in complete neighborhoods are a priority identified by the Task Force.

I have argued in previous posts that most people my age (I am on the cusp of Millennial and Generation X), do not want a single family home, BUT they still want to live in something that resembles a home in a walkable community.

I am tired of the “Millennials want to live in a shoebox!” argument that keeps getting thrown around by well-intentioned planners, used as rationale for building more 300-600 sq ft highrise condos. These are a nice option, but are not a sustainable focus for urban development because some, perhaps even many, of those millennials may want to settle down and raise a family one day and will outgrow those ubercool mini condos that urban planners love. They don’t necessarily want a single family home, but they don’t want a condo - so where is the missing middle?

Unfortunately in Vancouver, if you don’t want to live in a condo and you don’t have at least $1 million dollars to throw down on housing, your options are pathetically slim. As a result of the lack of decent attached homes in Vancouver, I started looking at detached housing options in the $650-$800,000 range and here is a sample of what is available:

This charming tear-down or “potential for divorce-causing renovations” home is $769,000.

This house is  $799,000.

This one is totally out of my price range at $950,000 in East Vancouver. Too bad.

……Yeah. This is why Vancouverites came up with the game: million dollar home or crack shack? (give it a try! It’s pretty funny…unless you live here). As a result of this lack of affordable, desirable homes, Vancouver’s middle class is shrinking.

Ley and Lynch’s report, Divisions and Disparities in Lotus-Land, shows Vancouver’s withering middle class -   the areas in white - while the areas in blue are high income households and red areas are low income households. As you can see in Vancouver proper, there are a lot of high and low income areas, while the middle class live primarily in East Vancouver.

Ley and Lynch’s report concludes:

To paraphrase W. B. Yeats, “Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold.” While Yeats’ next line is at present too apocalyptic – “Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world” – the erosion of the middle-income class and the movement toward a two-class society brings back dark memories of older divided societies and their social theories. We have not yet returned to those Dickensian times, but the trend lines are unsettling.

It is unsettling. Vancouver has realized the focus needs to shift toward building more homes for the middle class if it wants to maintain its diversity. Now is the time to get cracking - I mean, ground breaking - on building those homes, because I really don’t want to move to the ‘burbs.

Robson Square’s pedestrian plaza: should it stay or should it go?

Vancouver City Council recently announced that the 800 block of Robson Square would remain closed to traffic until 2013, allowing Vancouver’s only central, downtown plaza to remain pedestrian-oriented beyond the summer months. 

Since Robson Square was renovated in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics, the city has had numerous public space projects set up in this area. Food trucks, unusual public seating installations like Pop Rocks and Picnurbia, outdoor urban markets like Portobello West, karaoke kiosks, and live music performances have all been introduced to the space thanks to the closure of the 800 block of Robson Street - successfully drawing pedestrians to create a lively public space in the heart of the downtown core.

Can its success last beyond this unusual stretch of sunshine that Vancouver has experienced for the past 3 months (seriously..I have lived here my whole life and never seen the city go this long without rain)?

I think it can. With the holiday season coming soon, I would love to see a Christmas market around Robson Square (one of my favourite childhood memories is walking around the Square and seeing all the lights). I think there are many creative ways Vancouverites could use the space during the colder, rainy months too.

A successful public square is not weather dependent. Cities with as much rain as Vancouver, like Stockholm, which is typically colder and wetter than Vancouver (173 wet days annually to Vancouver’s 161), and Copenhagen (113 rainy days) have public spaces that manage to sustain a strong pedestrian life, with great benefits to local businesses.

A public square’s ability to draw people depends on its location, its design and the public’s interest (and city’s support) in coming up with interesting and fun ways to use it.

In the case of Robson Square, public support for keeping the space car-free has continued to be strong.  In 2011, the Vancouver Public Space Network conducted two surveys – designed to measure public support for keeping Robson Square car-free.  Over 1800 signatures were gathered in support of the expansion of Robson Square, while just over 40 indicated opposition to the move.

So what do you think? Should it stay car-free or should it go?

If you can, take a moment to share your thoughts on this issue:  consider writing a short email to Mayor Robertson (gregor.robertson@vancouver.ca), Penny Ballem (City Manager) (penny.ballem@vancouver.ca) or Peter Judd (City Engineer) (peter.judd@vancouver.ca).  

Vancouver Public Space Network Hosts Outdoor Movie Screening of Films About Public Space

A very cool event coming up next week! The Vancouver Public Space Network (VPSN) is hosting “Arts in the Heart of Mount Pleasant: a Night of Short Films about Public Space”.  The event will take place on Thursday, Aug 30th at 8:00 pm behind Our Town Cafe at Main & Broadway in Vancouver. Films will include a mix of local and international films about public art, neighbourhood character, creative communities and advertising  in public spaces. This year’s event follows on the success of “City Shorts”, a similar movie night hosted last year by the VPSN.

“We had a great response to our first public space film festival last year, and wanted to bring this year’s festival outside into the streets so anyone walking by is welcome to grab a seat and enjoy the show,” said Jaspal Marwah, organizer and member of the Vancouver Public Space Network.”What better place to consider the use of public space than deep in the heart of a thriving creative neighborhood - one that, like many before it and many to come, is struggling to balance its community in the face of rapid new development.” 

Some films showcased  will deal with neighborhood transitions, and in particular, the issues of development pressures on the character and future of the Mt. Pleasant community. Other films will explore the role of technology and its impacts on public space, and how it can be used in a manner that is invisible, or in a deliberate attempt to challenge urban conventions. Other topics include public art, parkour, parks, and the prevalence of advertising.

 “Local food, free movies and lots of bars nearby to carry on the conversations long after the show wraps up,” said Jaspal.

The event will be hosted in an outdoor public space with tasty treats available from local food providers. Partners include: Our Town Cafe, Beaumont Studios, the Vancouver Foundation, and Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House.

The VPSN is a grassroots collective that engages in advocacy, outreach and education on public space issues in and around Vancouver, British Columbia. This includes challenging the increase of advertising ‘creep’ in public places, promoting creative, community-friendly urban design, monitoring private security activities in the downtown core, fostering public dialogue and democratic debate, and devising creative ways to re-green the neglected corners, alleys and forgotten spaces of the city. We also like to devise ways to have fun in public space.

For more information or to schedule an interview, contact:

Jillian Glover – jgloverneve@gmail.com

Jaspal Marwah- Jaspal@vancouverpublicspace.ca