Friday, June 27, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Last Installment
As the tour proceeded, some of us shopped for starter homes.
Some of us listened attentively.
Some of us had sore feet.
This is the giant street that manages much of the traffic that passes through Vancouver. There is no freeway passing through Vancouver, much to Gordon's glee. There is some intensive traffic engineering required to make this work. I can't remember how big this right-of-way is, but it's big - bus lanes, travel lanes, parking strip, sidewalk, etc.
Some of us have Really Giant Heads.
That was the end of the tour. On the way out of town we noticed that there are actually other parts of Vancouver beyond the tiny section we explored. The art museum! The apparently terrific Museum of Anthropology. Whole neighborhoods, like the Pearl-District-esque Yaletown, Gastown (the "old town"), Chinatown, etc.
Then we went home.
Some of us listened attentively.
Some of us had sore feet.
This is the giant street that manages much of the traffic that passes through Vancouver. There is no freeway passing through Vancouver, much to Gordon's glee. There is some intensive traffic engineering required to make this work. I can't remember how big this right-of-way is, but it's big - bus lanes, travel lanes, parking strip, sidewalk, etc.
Some of us have Really Giant Heads.
That was the end of the tour. On the way out of town we noticed that there are actually other parts of Vancouver beyond the tiny section we explored. The art museum! The apparently terrific Museum of Anthropology. Whole neighborhoods, like the Pearl-District-esque Yaletown, Gastown (the "old town"), Chinatown, etc.
Then we went home.
There is great Indian food to be found in Vancouver, try Davies street
so I was a little bit scared of the tall, tall buildings in Vancouver and decided to go on a walk around Stanley Park. The loop is 7 miles and it has some great views. If you like the outdoors and biking this is the thing for you. If you stay at Tropicana its just down the street.
there was an artist along the sea wall making rock carions and selling post cards. he was proud of his work.
If you like birds there is no shortage of them here so bring your bird book and your binoculars! Our van also saw 5 Bald Eagles in our way into Vancouver, at the side of the road. it was really cool! sorry no pics of them tho:(
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Oz
We moved on to the downtown-y part of town.
I forget what the nickname was for it, or if there was one, because I couldn't stop thinking of it as The Emerald City. Apparently there was a craze for green glass at the time much of this building happened.
We stopped at a building the name of which I have also forgotten, which was incredibly ugly and looked like the fabulous futuristic dream of somebody in the 1960s. Apparently it was the first time that they used the "scissors stair" in building - the two required staircases no longer had to be at opposite ends of the building (a requirement that promoted the building of lots of long skinny buildings) but could be placed side by side, separated by a wall. If you're interested in reading more about Gordon's thoughts on the "Vancouver Style," check out this article. Sadly, I don't have a picture of the incredibly ugly building, but this is what people look like when they look at it.
The downtown buildings in Vancouver seem to be either gently decaying ugly concrete blocks from the 1960s and 70s, or green glass behemoths from the 1990s and 2000s. The buildings from each era pretty much look alike. Gordon mentioned that this is what you get when you build a lot of buildings all at once - they look kind of interchangeable.
Gordon talked about the fact that all the condo-building was getting the city nowhere near accommodating the need for housing, as Mary-Rain mentioned. That was pretty depressing...
Anyway, there's a lot of water in Vancouver, around it and in it. Planners/architects/everybody seem to have thought about Vancouver's watery nature and incorporated water features into a lot of their building.
We stopped at a grassy knoll to admire the view to the west of the waterfront and to the east of the city rising up behind us. The building in the center was built by some famous architect, and preserved serendipitously by the city. I am grateful, because it isn't a green glass behemoth, and even if you don't like the architecture, it seems to me you've got to appreciate a little variety.
Gordon explained that there was a community center and playground built into this development. (I believe this was "Coal Harbor," but I'm not sure.) It was a little surreal, what with the wholesome frolicking children on the grass, and the skyscrapers behind.
We walked along the waterfront briefly. There's a trail for walking/biking around the perimeter of the downtown peninsula, mostly along the waterfront, that will soon be a complete loop.
I forget what the nickname was for it, or if there was one, because I couldn't stop thinking of it as The Emerald City. Apparently there was a craze for green glass at the time much of this building happened.
We stopped at a building the name of which I have also forgotten, which was incredibly ugly and looked like the fabulous futuristic dream of somebody in the 1960s. Apparently it was the first time that they used the "scissors stair" in building - the two required staircases no longer had to be at opposite ends of the building (a requirement that promoted the building of lots of long skinny buildings) but could be placed side by side, separated by a wall. If you're interested in reading more about Gordon's thoughts on the "Vancouver Style," check out this article. Sadly, I don't have a picture of the incredibly ugly building, but this is what people look like when they look at it.
The downtown buildings in Vancouver seem to be either gently decaying ugly concrete blocks from the 1960s and 70s, or green glass behemoths from the 1990s and 2000s. The buildings from each era pretty much look alike. Gordon mentioned that this is what you get when you build a lot of buildings all at once - they look kind of interchangeable.
Gordon talked about the fact that all the condo-building was getting the city nowhere near accommodating the need for housing, as Mary-Rain mentioned. That was pretty depressing...
Anyway, there's a lot of water in Vancouver, around it and in it. Planners/architects/everybody seem to have thought about Vancouver's watery nature and incorporated water features into a lot of their building.
We stopped at a grassy knoll to admire the view to the west of the waterfront and to the east of the city rising up behind us. The building in the center was built by some famous architect, and preserved serendipitously by the city. I am grateful, because it isn't a green glass behemoth, and even if you don't like the architecture, it seems to me you've got to appreciate a little variety.
Gordon explained that there was a community center and playground built into this development. (I believe this was "Coal Harbor," but I'm not sure.) It was a little surreal, what with the wholesome frolicking children on the grass, and the skyscrapers behind.
We walked along the waterfront briefly. There's a trail for walking/biking around the perimeter of the downtown peninsula, mostly along the waterfront, that will soon be a complete loop.
A Bike Boulevard, and a Discussion
We walked a little further west, to some older, lower apartment buildings. Along the way, we learned about the importance of the alleys, or "lanes" in creating livable streets; because the buildings can be accessed from behind for parking or deliveries or whatnot, the sidewalks are not broken up by driveways. (The historic presence of lanes has allowed Vancouver to make some great strides toward livable density that would be harder for another lane-less city, like... Portland!) We also talked about the issue of height and density. Gordon pointed out some tall apartment buildings and explained that they are not actually as dense as some lower buildings that take up more of the lot.
Then we stopped at a traffic calming element, the name of which I cannot remember.
It lets bikes and pedestrians through, but not cars.
The street in which we are all standing is a bike boulevard...
Then Gordon got into a debate with a resident, who felt strongly that all new development that entails the eviction of tenants should include apartments for those individual tenants at the rate they were paying before. Gordon thought this was impossible. He also argued with her about whether or not the neighborhood was changing. She thought it was changing very quickly, and he said it wasn't. There was more to this conversation, but I missed it. The sun was shining.
Then we stopped at a traffic calming element, the name of which I cannot remember.
It lets bikes and pedestrians through, but not cars.
The street in which we are all standing is a bike boulevard...
Then Gordon got into a debate with a resident, who felt strongly that all new development that entails the eviction of tenants should include apartments for those individual tenants at the rate they were paying before. Gordon thought this was impossible. He also argued with her about whether or not the neighborhood was changing. She thought it was changing very quickly, and he said it wasn't. There was more to this conversation, but I missed it. The sun was shining.
Barclay Heritage Square: An Introduction To Gordon's Philosophy
I'm going to post some of the 90 billion pictures I took (only a handful of which, as expected, came out), with what I can remember of what we learned at each stop.
We started at Barclay Heritage Square, which was pretty and offered seating, for which we were grateful. Robert answered all of Gordon's questions, which included, among others, "Why are we not speaking Mandarin?" (a question that left me in an existential haze for the rest of the day). The answer is, I think, that Asian societies could very well have gotten to Vancouver and established outposts before the British ever got around to it, but they were prevented by politics.
The Square was originally to be developed as a park, but the city ended up preserving some of the historic buildings and using them as, among other things, "social housing." Below is an example of this - Canadian public housing!
There are still, however, people sleeping on porches. Also, the streets do not run with milk and honey.
Then we went out to the street next to the Square to talk about density
.
Gordon walked into the street for a few minutes to make the point that a high-density neighborhood (the West End) does not necessarily have to have lots of traffic.
He argued that a dense neighborhood, if supported by good transportation options and land uses, will have less traffic because people will walk and bike and take transit, and stroll to the corner store for their groceries. We also looked at a corner store that was grandfathered in, but would be illegal to build under current zoning.
We started at Barclay Heritage Square, which was pretty and offered seating, for which we were grateful. Robert answered all of Gordon's questions, which included, among others, "Why are we not speaking Mandarin?" (a question that left me in an existential haze for the rest of the day). The answer is, I think, that Asian societies could very well have gotten to Vancouver and established outposts before the British ever got around to it, but they were prevented by politics.
The Square was originally to be developed as a park, but the city ended up preserving some of the historic buildings and using them as, among other things, "social housing." Below is an example of this - Canadian public housing!
There are still, however, people sleeping on porches. Also, the streets do not run with milk and honey.
Then we went out to the street next to the Square to talk about density
.Gordon walked into the street for a few minutes to make the point that a high-density neighborhood (the West End) does not necessarily have to have lots of traffic.
He argued that a dense neighborhood, if supported by good transportation options and land uses, will have less traffic because people will walk and bike and take transit, and stroll to the corner store for their groceries. We also looked at a corner store that was grandfathered in, but would be illegal to build under current zoning.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Tips for Next Years MURPs
1. STAY IN THE PENTHOUSE!
It is not tasty (not even if you're drunk).
It rocks! Carlos will treat you like royalty and keep
the pool open all night. Plus it only costs $10 more
and if you reserved both, you'll have room for 12
people up there. You can party all night long on the
balconies (yes there are 2) and enjoy an awesome view.
2. DO NOT EAT DRIED LIZARD ON A STICK
Even if your boyfriend of husband gives it to you.
It is not tasty (not even if you're drunk).
3. GO DOWN TO THE BEACH
There are lots of places to eat down there and it's
close to G Price's condo.
Enjoy the sunset over the water.
4. GO TO KARAOKE IN A PRIVATE ROOM!
Trust us, it's fun!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Disciples of G Price
G Price can talk about Urban Planning in Vancouver like nobody's business. I can't count the times we were gathered around him, like children at his feet, sprawled out on a curbside, some grass, or steps, learning about the history, architecture and politics of the city. There wasn't a question I heard asked that wasn't answered, with great detail and a Canadian quip on the side. By the end of the day, I didn't think twice about how "aboot" sounded different coming from G Price, I just knew I wanted more. Yes, by the end of it all, I felt like I had undergone a kind of initiation into the world of an expert......and if G Daddy ever starts his own religion of Urban Planning, you can bet he will have no shortage of dedicated followers.
We met one such individual at the beginning of the day, a older man from San Fransisco who claimed that "After his last G Price tour...... I was sold" He moved on up to Vancouver, to be closer to the glory that is the swift planning process under the parliamentary system.
The people of Vancouver were incredibly well informed about planning issues, or at least those that argued with G Price over a morning garden, or those employees of the coffee shop we asked opinions of. Vancouver had a Mayor Sam, as Portland may soon, who was on his way out due to scandal, controversy, or some other political mishap. The biggest issue seemed to be his decisions around placing a residential tower in a suburb. It sounds like the politicians of the city go out of office just as quick as the towers go up.
Although the city is a model for urban density, G Price made it clear that was has been achieved and constructed is still not sufficient. The current urban core houses about 80,000 people, and this is after 30 plus years of development. If Vancouver is to meet its housing needs and density desires, it is going to have to continue to sit on the political see saw.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Sara's photos
I set this up so that 10 random photos will show below. If you would like to see the rest of the photos, they are uploaded at http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarabhaus/sets/72157605665712054/
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