Category Archives: Food & Health

Vancouver Broadway Plan, and Its Impact on the Kitsilano Neighbourhood

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This past Thursday evening, in an event sponsored by CityHallWatch — the online activist civic affairs journal — in a crowded, overflow event held at Kitsilano Neighbourhood House, a broad spectrum of speakers addressed the Broadway Plan — an extensive development plan for the future of Vancouver’s Broadway corridor, a growth plan that envisions an additional 50,000 residents who will take up residence along the corridor from Clark to Arbutus streets, between 1st and 16th avenues — and the implications of the Plan on the Kitsilano neighbourhood.


The Broadway Plan will provide a framework for the types of buildings, with towers between 20 to 40 storeys allowed in the light blue ‘centres’. The graphic above was supplied by the City of Vancouver.

The evening was MC’d by Larry Benge, a co-founder and co-Chairperson of the Coalition of Vancouver Neighbourhoods — an alliance of more than 20 community and residents’ associations, who have long sought and continue to seek a respectful relationship between the powers that be at City Hall,  and the 23 neighbourhood communities that comprise and are at the heart of the City of Vancouver.


Video | Vancouver’s Broadway Plan: What does it mean for Kitsilano? Townhall Meeting March 14, 2024

Well-informed, respected and accomplished speakers at Town Hall included …

    • Brian Palmquist, a Vancouver-based architect, and publisher of the ‘you must subscribe to’ City Conversations substack, an in-depth journal that provides detailed coverage of development in the City of Vancouver, and its implications for the health, safety and well-being of those of us who reside in the city;
    • Arny Wise, an urban planner, retired developer, and mediator of municipal housing disputes in Vancouver;
      In front, l-r: Stephen Bohus, Brian Palmquist, Randy Helten. In behind: Arny Wise.
    • Michael Geller, an urban planner, real estate consultant and property developer, who serves on the adjunct faculty of Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Sustainable Development and School of Resource and Environmental Management. His blog may be found at gellersworldtravel.blogspot.ca;
    • Scot Hein, a retired senior urban designer employed by the City of Vancouver for more than 30 years, and at present an Adjunct Professor in the Master of Urban Design Programme at UBC where he works with his colleague …
    • Patrick Condon, the James Taylor chair in Landscape and Livable Environments at the University of British Columbia’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, and the founding chair of the UBC Urban Design programme.

    In addition to those named above, during the question, answer and commentary portion of the meeting, former Vancouver City Councillor Colleen Hardwick spoke about the lack of civic democracy, while an architect present with his family in attendance spoke of the work of an old Simon Fraser University pal of VanRamblings, the University of Victoria’s Robert Gifford, a Professor of Psychology and Environmental Studies, who in his paper titled The Consequences of Living in High-Rise Buildings [PDF], writes …

    “… high-rises are less satisfactory than other housing forms for most people, are sub-optimal environments to raise children, social relations within high-rise towers tends to be more impersonal and less than satisfactory than is the case with more ground-oriented housing forms, there is an increased incidence of crime and fear of crime among those who reside in high-rise developments, social cohesion is more difficult and substantively less present in tower developments, while independent studies have found that tower high-rise living may well be a strong contributory and determinative factor that can lead to an increased incidence of suicidal ideation and actual suicide among residents who live in concrete, steel and glass tower constructed buildings.”


    The future of the Kitsilano neighbourhood along the West Broadway / West 4th Avenue corridors

The thrust of Arny Wise’s address to those gathered at the Kitsilano Neighbourhood House Town Hall was that the advent of environmentally unsound steel, concrete and glass towers to increase density in the Kitsilano neighbourhood is simply not an optimal form of development to achieve the density desired by planners at Vancouver City Hall.

Scot Hein made reference to the Arbutus Walk neighbourhood, west of Arbutus Street and West 12th Avenue that, originally, was presented by the Molson-Carling developers and planners back in the day at Vancouver City Hall as three 50-storey concrete and steel towers — a development which the neighbourhood residents very much objected to — that under Mr. Hein’s watch was transformed into a neighbourhood-friendly and livable townhouse, 3-5-and-10 storey condominium and affordable housing development, with a walkable green space centering the development, and a 10-storey housing co-op established in the northwest corner.

It should be noted in passing that the final Arbutus Walk neighbourhood achieved much higher densification, overall, than would have been the case had the originally planned three 50-storey podium and tower development gone forward.

Two final notes for today (there’s more coming tomorrow) …

As UBC’s Patrick Condon pointed out at meetings’ end …

“Vancouver has tripled the number of housing units in our city since the 1970s, more than any other urban centre on the continent, certainly a laudable and unprecedented development feat, far outstripping the number of developments elsewhere. Yet, if supply is “the answer”, why is it that even with a 300% increase in development in Vancouver, we have the poorest supply of affordable housing for residents, the highest land prices, the highest rents of any jurisdiction across the continent, and the most expensive condominiums? Supply, alone, is not the answer.”

And, finally, on a somewhat hopeful note: both Arny Wise and Brian Palmquist pointed out during their presentations that the Planning, Urban Design and Sustainability Department at City Hall has had a change of heart respecting tower development along the Broadway corridor. No longer will citizens face the prospect of dark corridors lined with towers on either side of arterial streets.


Sensitive Urban Infill Charette Report City of Surrey. Drawing: Neda Roohnia, Landscape / Urban Design

Rather, arterial streets like the Broadway corridor will allow six storey developments, while the allowable 20-to-40-storey tower developments will be situated one block behind either side of the arterial street, so as “to prevent shadowing” and obviate the dark arterial corridor residents have made known in no uncertain terms to Vancouver City Hall that, that under no circumstance they want or desire.

Arterial streets must remain walkable, and neighbourhood friendly.

Not good news, of course, for those residents who live along the tree-lined streets, off Broadway (9th Avenue), along West 10th and West 8th Avenues.

But there you have it, for what it’s worth. As we say above, more tomorrow.

#SaveOurParkBoard | A Passionate, Reasoned, Well-Attended Town Hall

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This past Thursday afternoon, Green Party of Vancouver City Councillors Pete Fry and Adriane Carr, and One City Vancouver Councillor Christine Boyle organized a spirited Town Hall — with more than 200 passionate, reasoned citizens in attendance, who oppose the elimination of an independent, elected Park Board — the event taking place in the Joe Wai Room, on the main floor of Vancouver City Hall.


Vancouver City Councillors, l-r:  the Green Party’s Pete Fry and Adriane Carr + OneCity Vancouver’s Christine Boyle

One of the most compelling speakers of the afternoon was Terri Clark, Vancouver Park Board’s Public Affairs Communications Manager from 1973 through 2008.

“In all my years at Park Board, our General Managers worked productively with Vancouver City Managers Fritz Bowers (1977-1990), Ken Dobell (1990-1998) and Judy Rogers (1999-2008). Ours was a relationship of mutual respect and co-operation.

Necessary funds were always provided by the City for the upkeep and maintenance of Vancouver’s parks, pools and community centres, in order to best serve the public interest.

               Photo credit: Elvira Lount
First row, above: l-r, Park Board Commissioner Tom Digby | John Coupar, former Park Board Chair | Tricia Barker, Commissioner, last term | Laura Christensen, current independent Commissioner; Bottom row, l-r. Michael Wiebe, former Commissioner, former City Councillor | Sarah Blyth, former two term Commissioner | Brennan Bastyovanszky, current independent Park Board Chair.

Recent maintenance problems at the Aquatic Centre or Kits Pool would never have been allowed to happen in Mr. Bowers’,  Dobell’s and Judy Rogers time as City Manager at Vancouver City Hall.

In September 2009, before Susan Mundick, Park Board’s General Manager (1998-2009), announced her “retirement“, City Manager Penny Ballem had stripped Ms. Mundick of all her duties, stating she would “help park board choose Ms. Mundick’s replacement”, a selection process City Hall had never previously been involved in.

If our pools and community centres are in disrepair today, as Mayor Sim has pointed out, such a circumstance arises from City Hall’s decision to cut Park Board out of any and all maintenance decisions, ceding those responsibilities to the City, which over the past dozen years has largely ignored the needs of what was once a world class parks and recreation system of which we were proud.”

Several past and current Park Board Commissioners addressed those who had gathered at City Hall last Thursday, including: Michael Wiebe, who spoke about the role of Park Board Commissioners in preserving the natural environment; past Park Board Chair, John Coupar, who addressed the role of Park Board in creating a livable city;  both Sarah Blyth and Tricia Barker reminded those present that “Ken Sim and his ABC Council were not given a mandate to abolish the Vancouver Park Board”; while formerly ABC Vancouver but now independent Park Board Commissioners Brennan Bastyovanszky, Scott Jensen and Laura Christensen committed to continuing their work in the community to preserve the invaluable 135-year legacy of an independent, elected Vancouver Park Board that serves the interests of all British Columbians and “those who visit our beautiful city”.

Several speakers referenced an article in The Vancouver Sun, written by Canadian gardening legend Brian Minter, who writes …

“The Vancouver Park Board maintains 242 parks that comprises 11% cent of Vancouver land. In addition, Park Board maintains 22 kilometres of seawall at Stanley Park, and walkways along False Creek. Park Board’s mandate includes 10 ocean beaches and a freshwater lake beach. Not only are they responsible for the city’s recreation programmes, services and community centres and facilities, park infrastructure comes under their jurisdiction.

In a time of significant climate change with the huge challenges of heat and drought, and the drive to expand green spaces, a high priority must be placed on the viability of parks. The importance of green spaces, the many proven benefits to both our health and wellness are well-documented, as our needs continue to grow.

The Vancouver Park Board is one of our region’s most important public assets and needs dedicated people and citizen engagement to ensure the long-term viability of  B.C.’s, and indeed, Canada’s, most spectacular green spaces, for generations to come.”

And then there’s the disposition of the 242 Vancouver’s parks, one hundred of which do not a have a protected park designation.


Former ABC, now independent PB Commissioners, l-r: Laura Christensen, Brennan Bastyovanszky, Scott Jensen

Perhaps the most articulate and moving participant in Thursday afternoon’s Town Hall was Laura Christensen’s month-old daughter, who cried throughout most of the proceeding, voicing the despair clearly felt by her mother — to whom Mayor Ken Sim had committed his support, when he asked her to run as a Park Board Commissioner on his ABC Vancouver slate — and the despair and frustration of those who had gathered together in common cause to, as one speaker, said “fight ABC’s undemocratic initiative to abolish our cherished, independent Park Board.”

#SaveOurParkBoard | Vancouver | Grassroots Democracy at Its Best

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Erin Shum | community centre advocate | One of Vancouver’s best ever Park Board Commissioners

In Mayor Ken Sim’s mad dash to eliminate the independent, elected and very much esteemed Vancouver Park Board,  over the past weeks there have been many issues that have been shunted to the side in the current debate surrounding the efficacy of an elected Park Board or, most egregiously, not considered at all.

As an overreaching, autocratic ABC Vancouver civic administration seeks to move inexorably forward in their shameful quest to eliminate an elected Park Board, Mayor Ken Sim seems intent on creating the conditions that will give an already overworked gaggle of Vancouver City Councillors even more work to do than is the already the case, respecting Vancouver City Council’s overstuffed civic agenda, such that no reasonable human being could possibly give the necessary consideration of the critically important issues that would come to the fore were our elected Vancouver City Councillors —  in addition to all of their other time consuming work — to take sole authority over Vancouver’s Board of Parks and Recreation.

There simply ain’t enough hours in the day.

Today on VanRamblings, we will set about to elucidate one threat to civic democracy in Vancouver that has, to date, been overlooked by the media, and most certainly not considered nor addressed by a contumacious Vancouver City Council.


Vancouver’s Killarney Community Centre, with a community pool and ice rink available to members

One of the important responsibilities of an elected Vancouver Park Board Commissioner is to fulfill their elected duty to act as liaisons to various Community Centres across the city — as assigned by the Park Board Chair — to attend the monthly meetings of the community centre Board of Directors, listen to what the elected directors have to say, and once back at the Park Board table advocate for each of the community centres to which they have been assigned responsibility.


Vancouver Park Board Commissioner Erin Shum, re-election bid, 2018 Vancouver municipal election

In all the years of VanRamblings’ coverage of Vancouver Park Board we are aware of no finer, no harder working, no more well-respected liaison to the community centres to which she had been assigned than was the case with Park Board Commissioner Erin Shum, a shining star in Vancouver’s political firmament.

In our many conversations over the years, Ainslee Kwan, President of the Killarney Community Centre’s Board of Directors, had nothing but praise for the work ethic, the integrity for all that she did, and most especially for Erin Shum’s commitment to community engagement, as well as her steadfast advocacy for Vancouver citizens living in every neighbourhood across our city, to create an environmentally sustainable and more livable city in which all of us might live, where we might raise our children with adequate green space and vibrant community centres.

From its founding in 1887 through 1955, Vancouver’s elected parks advocacy board was called the Board of Park Commissioners, for that was what they were, Commissioners responsible only for oversight of Vancouver’s lush, verdant parks.

In 1955, the Vancouver Board of Park Commissioners became the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, which it remains to this day.

Prior to 1955, neighbourhood associations built and ran neighbourhood-owned and operated community centres, in most neighbourhoods across our city. From the early 1950s through 1955, the Board of Park Commissioners engaged in a negotiation with the neighbourhood associations across Vancouver to cede jurisdiction to what would become the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation.


The Kitsilano War Memorial Community Centre, a facility for all ages and abilities, offering childcare, special needs activities, a youth centre, seniors’ lounge, ice rink, fitness centre, and outdoor pool.

Central to the final negotiation which led to the creation of the new Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation was the commitment of the Park Board Commissioners to involve the community centre associations as partners in the decision-making that impacted their community centres. In addition, the new body would assume fiscal responsibility for the operation of community centres, committing as well to a greatly expanded number of community centres, such that every neighbourhood would be well-served with vigorous community centres.

Now, imagine if you will, each of the 10 Vancouver City Councillors pictured above taking on a liaison position with two or more of Vancouver’s 24 community centres, committing to attending the monthly meetings of the community centre boards of directors, and advocating for the community centres for which they have been assigned liaison responsibility. At present, community centre association boards have regular, direct, in-person liaison with elected Park Board Commissioners.

Lemme tell ya: it ain’t gonna happen. The more likely circumstance …

Vancouver City Council’s autocratic, anti-democratic ABC Vancouver majority Council contingent, should they succeed in their quest to eliminate Vancouver’s cherished, 133 -year-old elected Park Board, will also more than likely dissolve the Boards of Directors of  each of Vancouver’s 24 community centres, making it all the easier to sell off Vancouver’s community centres to private developer interests, which developers will then seek to build unaffordable condominium or rental housing on the lush green space adjacent to our existing community centres.

Bad enough that ABC Vancouver wants to destroy the Vancouver Park Board, Metro Vancouver’s last bastion of grassroots civic democracy — even worse, perhaps, that ABC Vancouver will, in all probability, remove the voices of neighbourhood residents entirely in the decisions that impact not only on the recreational needs of those living in each of Vancouver’s 23 neighbourhoods, but from the decision-making that impacts on the livability of the neighbourhood they call their home.

These are sad, desperate days for the citizens of Vancouver, all across our city.

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