Last Wednesday, the City of Vancouver, Simon Fraser University, BC Transit Museum partnered together to host an event called ‘Regeneration: How We Move Out City’ that they billed as “an intergenerational dialogue sharing stories of active transportation for Vancouver’s Greenest City goals.”

I was particularly eager to talk about cross-generational conflict and the differences that we’re seeing in the choices they we are making versus those that our parents or their parents made. I was hoping to learn from people with first hand experience the shifts in transportation modes in Vancouver over time. What I got was not quite that.

Participants were split up into groups (which was nice so get people mixing) and the night was started with a series of ‘stories’ or presentations.

Angus McIntyre, who retired in 2010 after being a bus driver in Vancouver since 1969, presented the room with stories of how transit had changed over his tenure. Here’s a short video that played:

One of the more interesting things that he mentioned was how citizens in the suburbs that had no bus service into Vancouver would form ‘Commuter Clubs’. They would hire charter buses during peak hours to take them to and fro. Citizen action!

Next, walked us through Vancouver citizen’s fight against the Freeway system in the 60s and 70s. These historical events tend to get a lot of airplay in the success story that is Vancouver’s livability. One thing that was missing from the re-telling was that while Gastown, Chinatown, and Strathcona were saved, we still lost Hogan’s Alley.

Robyn and Graham from Shift Delivery

The last two presentations took us into present-day: one by Tanya Paz from Modo (the Car Co-Op) and Robyn and Graham at Shift Delivery, Vancouver’s cycle-based distribution service. Both presentations shared some common themes: times are changing, we have to re-think the way we do things, and that determination and persistance pays off.

Overall, stories from great people up to great things.

We were then told to discuss these stories in our groups with the help of our moderators. I didn’t find this part of the night particularly useful or fruitful. I was actually disappointed in that the organizers seems to have missed the whole ‘intergenerational’ aspect of their event. For the most part, it was overwhelmingly people my age or thereabouts. Intergenerational issues didn’t even come up.

For one, I would have asked the groups to raise their hand if they lived in the city. I would have then asked them to raise their hand if their parents lived in the city. That data could have posed some interesting questions.

Last part of the night (and what I think the event was for all along) was a presentation on Vancouver’s Transportation 2040 plan by Councillor Andrea Reimer. Again, a great presentation by a great and very engaged councillor.

After Reimer’s talk, we were organized by ‘neighbourhoods’ based on where we lived and discussed what our vision of Vancouver in 2040 would look like. Some really great ideas came up like making the alleyways into streets and taking over the ‘real’ streets as public space or a successful bike share program (hopefully implemented sooner than 2040!).

But, where was the dialogue? I went hungry looking to talk about generational shifts in transportation choices and was left wanting. It seems that those that have the greatest stake in the future always show up to these events but the question is how do we get those that got us here at the table?

Robson Square

Jarrett Walker, author of the popular blog Human Transit, gave a lecture at Simon Fraser University’s Harbour Centre on Tuesday, January 17, to promote his new book, Human Transit: How clearer thinking on public transit can enrich our communities and our lives.

During Walker’s last lecture in Vancouver, Walker spoke persuasively of key ideas and useful tools to describe and understand the challenges associated with public transit’s role in urban mobility, so as to raise the level and thoughtfulness of common debates about transit. His talk last week attracted an attentive crowd of planners, urban designers, transit advocates and interested citizens wanting more of his characteristically well-structured insight and thoughtful observations of the local state of transit affairs.

Here are five key takeaways from his lecture for you to ponder and absorb:

1. The essential task of transit, in Walker’s estimation, is, “Abundant personal mobility without personal vehicles over distances too far to walk.” Many of the other things that we might think are transit’s main task — like walkable communities, expanding equitable access to destinations in a region, or the sheer fun transit — Walker sees as positive side benefits rather than transit’s core, central purpose. In Walker’s view, this non-intuitive answer to what transit is supposed to do makes conversations more difficult.(A quick sidenote: Walker pointed out his deliberate choice of the word “abundance.” Given how often discourse on transit infrastructure is framed as a collective burden or problem, rather than something which enables a wide range of activities and ways of living, it was a welcome breath of fresh air. That’s not to say he’s not pragmatic about the costs of things: Walker points out that abundance in the constraint of fixed budgets is functionally equivalent to the concept of efficiency.)
2. Abundant personal mobility means “making the blobs bigger for as many people as possible.” By blobs, he’s referring to the shaded areas in these commute-time maps (see yours by typing in your address at Mapnificent; see an example below). These maps (available for US cities through WalkScore) show the destinations that you can go to on public transit depending on the amount of time you are willing to travel. Being able to get people as many places as they might possibly want to go, says Walker, should be a goal of transit agencies. (Note that this might also be achieved by using space efficiently and making more destinations in spaces as well.)
   

   From Mapnificent: the light-coloured areas show places accessible by transit from Main and King Edward in a 15-minute trip.

3. We tend to get hung up on transit technology (is it light rail? bus? SkyTrain?) because it’s, well, easy.As far as the qualities of transit goes, the experience of a vehicle is easier to have an opinion on than deeper questions about the nature of the quality, says Walker, because it seems comparable to the experience of buying a car — something most people have an easier time understanding or imagining. The main issue with that, however, is that buying a car tends to be a highly emotional decision — how does it makes you feel? How do you look riding in it? How fast does it go? But when we think about transit, we should ideally be thinking rationally about trade-offs in cost and the qualities of the service required to be appropriate for the people it needs to serve.
4. Frequency is freedom.This point, which Walker has made on his blog, refers to the idea that frequency allows for spontaneity, convenience, empowerment (because “waiting is the opposite of freedom”) and “getting on with the stuff of life.” Frequency even matters more than speed, because it makes the difference between a service you can work into your life, versus a service that you need to “make an appointment with.”
5. Frequency is both central to high-quality service, and the hardest thing about transit for non-transit users to understand. Speed, capacity, and reliability tend to relate to be one-time decisions that have to do with right-of-way and the vehicle or technology, and they are, again, pretty easy for car drivers to grasp. That leaves frequency and span, says Walker, as the things about the service that are most susceptible to service rollbacks due to budget cuts. (Those of us using transit at the edges of the Metro Vancouver region are intimately familiar with this, given TransLink’s service changes in the past few years.)

Walker had a lot more to say; Stephen Rees’ summary of the event has more detail if you are interested in Walker’s thoughts on the grid, being “always on the way,” or specialized or “symbolic” transit services, as does Walker’s new book — an undoubtedly handy and useful resource for anyone interested in just about any aspect of public transit.

Walker closed with his perspective on proposals to pedestrianize Robson Square. (Recall, if you will, that the VPSN has done some work on this issue.) “Urban designers,” he advised, “be sure to check the impact of your ideas on transit early in the process.” He displayed a map highlighting the current 5 Robson route, underscoring how effective the 5 is as a transit route that runs the length of the street, and the way it serves those in the West End wanting to get to the south part of downtown. He then refreshed the maps to show how a re-route of the 5 would affect the effectiveness of the bus.

The Vancouver Public Space Network has continually advocated for careful and open consideration of what is possible to improve Robson Square for pedestrians while being mindful of the function that the 5 bus service provides for those living, working and moving through downtown and the West End of Vancouver. That is the reason that our petition gave opportunities to say either Yes and No to changing traffic patterns at the 800-block of Robson, as well as allowing people to be even more specific in their support, giving them the option to support closure to all vehicle traffic or only to cars while still allowing transit to pass.

We believe that the opportunity for Robson Square is worth discussing openly and considering closely, including what trade-offs are available between supporting transit service and enjoying Robson Square as a public space. We are grateful to Jarrett Walker for weighing in with his analysis, which, like the rest of his lecture, goes a great way in articulating the complexity of what’s happening in the space.

Picnurbia, at the 800-block of Robson Street, Summer 2011.

UPDATE (Jan 23/12): The City has extended the deadline for the first of its two Request for Expressions of Interest processes pertaining to the creation of temporary summertime public spaces.  Seasonal and Recurring/Roaming/On-street applications are now due at the same time – on February 14, 2012. 

Parallel Park, Picnurbia, Laser Graffiti… these were three of a number of temporary public space initiatives funded last summer as part of the City’s Viva Vancouver program.

Maybe you have an idea for something equally cool for the public realm? If so, sharpen your pencils and get planning. The City is now gearing up for a new series of summertime space endeavors and has issued a pair of Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEOI) documents.

The first, due at the end of the month, (now, February 14, 2012)  is for the creation of seasonal public spaces, which are defined as “pedestrian oriented temporary public spaces that are created through the closure of select roadway on a 24-hour basis for an extended duration, ranging from weeks to months.”

The second, due on February 14, is for recurring public spaces, roaming public spaces and on-street murals (in some ways a bit less “fixed” or large-scale than with the first application, but still intended to be mostly site specific). The City’s RFEOI defines these three types of space as:

Roaming public spaces use select roadway to create pedestrian-oriented temporary public spaces that may last from a few hours to a day. [T]hese creative spaces are intended to be experienced by the public as ‘unexpected’ or as ‘spontaneous’…

Recurring public spaces are pedestrian-oriented temporary public spaces that are created through the closure of select roadway for one or two days on a regular weekly basis over a period of three consecutive weeks or more…

An on-street mural is artwork that is painted directly on to the road surface. The mural would provide the neighbourhood with unique art that has distinguished characteristics and/or wayfinding opportunities…[Portland's CityRepair 'Intersection Repair' initiative is a great example of this sort of thing - ed.]

To apply to create one of these spaces start by reviewing the relevant RFEOI document(s). The application utilizes the City’s standardized procurement form, which is longer and a bit more daunting than the 2011 documents. Take your time to read the questions through carefully.

You can find them here:

• Seasonal Public Spaces (Due January 31, 2012 - extended to February 14, 2012)
  http://vancouver.ca/fs/bid/bidopp/EOI/RFEOI-PS20110710A.htm
• Recurring, Roaming Public Spaces and On-street Murals (Due February 14, 2012) - http://vancouver.ca/fs/bid/bidopp/EOI/RFEOI-PS20120041.htm

Note that the process for applying is different – and a bit more complicated – than with the 2011 round. The RFEOIs are just as they say – an expression of interest. This means that if your idea passes muster (i.e. is well thought out, financially sound and has community support) then you’ll be invited to flesh out the concept as part of a more robust application process.

(If you get stuck, don’t worry. You can contact the ever-helpful Viva team of Jen Sheel or Krisztina Kassay via the City’s Viva website)

Okay public space brainiacs – time to design some awesome summertime interventions. Go to it!

There’s a Cities Summit coming to Vancouver?

Who’s in charge of getting the word out?! I love cities, and this is the first I’ve heard of a conference happening in two weeks. Is anything they’re talking about worthwhile….lots of people moving to cities, yep, knew that…. those people want to pay less, but be served well, and “heard”. Yep, we’re a selfish species like that. Data can help us. I want to know what they’re thinking here…

Can widespread wi-fi all over the city take us to the next level? Will it mean a boost in money coming in and flowing around? Does it serve only those who have iPads and Kobos and leave behind those hobos that can’t afford to be ever-connected?

Can software drive more efficient sewage systems? The tech fix – what does that mean for jobs for humans – will they talk about that?

How can cities support sustainable start-ups? And how much priority do newbie companies get over  existing ones for investment to innovate from their current products? What added value is there in knowing an established company will be more careful about their reputation and promises?

The Summit website uses a lot of snazzy city-speak. Very trendy blurry words that make me question if the speakers will talk the same way and I’d come out of a session wondering what I was taking away. Still curious though.

Anyone planning to attend that wants to report back?

January 16, 2012

Mayor Gregor Robertson,
Members of City Council
City of Vancouver
453 West 12th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V5Y 1V4

Re: Motion on Notice – BC Place Digital Signs
Dear Mayor Roberson & Members of Council,

I am writing on behalf of the Vancouver Public Space Network (VPSN) to offer our support for Councillor Geoff Meggs’ motion on BC Place outdoor signage.

We are concerned both about the material aspects (size and functioning) of these signs, as well as the process through which they were installed. We are encouraged that Councillor Meggs is proposing that the City request “a clear action plan by PavCo to bring the signs into compliance with City standards and processes.”

Of particular concern to the VPSN are:

• The size of the signs (many times larger than would be allowed under the City’s Sign Bylaw),
• Their luminosity (in particular their nighttime impact on both residents and drivers);
• The visual impact of the signs themselves (particularly with the western-most sign which overshadows the recently renewed Terry Fox Memorial; and
• The lack of any reasonable public process connected with the installation of the signs.

On this latter note, we understand that the fact that the Stadium site on which the signs were installed is owned by PavCo, a Provincial crown corporation. We further understand that this may have jurisdictional (or extrajurisdictonal) implications in terms of the application of the City’s Sign Bylaw.

Nevertheless, we feel that the present motion is the appropriate approach to take. It provides a more substantive follow-up to the Mayor’s earlier correspondence with PavCo and allows them a further opportunity to properly resolve this issue in the spirit of good neighborly relations.

At the same time, we encourage the City to be clear about what they feel “bringing the signs into compliance” might mean. There is some latitude for allowing variances to the Sign bylaw. We feel that it would be helpful (and in the public interest) for the City to declare its desired outcome – or opportunities for negotiations – beyond the request for adherence to the municipal Sign Bylaw.

Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to comment on this matter. Should you have any questions or comments about our letter, please do not hesitate to contact me at your convenience.

Yours truly,

Alissa Sadler
Vice-Chair
Vancouver Public Space Network
Box 2759, Station Terminal, 349 W. Georgia
Vancouver, BC, V6B 3X2 | vpsn.ca | @vpsn

On Tuesday, January 17^th City Council will debate a resolution permitting taxis to travel – but not stop – in on-street reserved bus lanes.  The resolution will be enacted as a pilot program and is aimed at improving the efficiency of taxi services within the City.

Presently, there are 7 streets with bus lanes in the City of Vancouver – the two longest being the right-most lane of Hastings between Howe and Renfrew and the section of the Broadway corridor between Arbutus and Commercial Drive – but the pilot will only be implemented on the existing bus lanes along Pender, Burrard, Granville, Broadway and the HOV/bus/bicycle lane on Georgia.  Supporters of this resolution include the city engineering department and the Mayor’s office, but the provincial Motor Vehicles Act requires that a resolution be passed in Council in order to implement the trial project.

The costs of this trial are expected to be $75,000: $60,000 to replace existing signage along the bus routes to include taxis, and $15,000 for the Engineering department to monitor the pilot program.

Find out more about the resolution here.

Interested in how the City of Vancouver spends money on its public spaces? Or on the broader issues of city finances and budgeting? If so (and we hope that was a resounding “yes” that we heard!), then this opportunity may be for you. It’s the time of year when the city’s ledger gets scrutinized and important decisions get made about what gets funded and what doesn’t.

This year, the City faces a considerable crunch. If it maintains its present level of service then there will be a budget shortfall of over $50 million dollars. These “budget pressures”, in turn, can be offset by increasing taxes and user fees, by making cuts, by reprioritizing expenditures and so on.  There are lots of challenging discussions ahead.

This makes it particularly important for people to weigh in on what’s important to them. If public space issues are important to you, then you’ll want to signal that funding for parks, community centres, streets (etc.) is important to you.

The City’s press release on the budget consultations can be found below. You can also check out the main consultation webpage at talkvancouver.com/budget2012.

City asks public for input on budget pressures

The City of Vancouver would like public input on priorities and other initiatives to manage the budget pressures in the City’s $1 billion budget.

A diverse public engagement process with a range of opportunities to provide input is now underway. The public is asked to provide feedback on spending priorities as well as ideas on how to deal with the $52 million in budget pressures, which represent the difference between anticipated 2012 City revenues and expenditures and challenge the sustainability of the City’s budget.

The public engagement process has been adjusted this year to move away from poorly attended information meetings of past years to more online activities, which the public has indicated they favour. An open-house session at City Hall and a City Council public hearing will also be held.

On the web, people can find general and detailed information about the draft budget, participate in moderated discussion forums and take an online survey at talkvancouver.com/budget2012.

A public open house will be held at City Hall on Wednesday, Jan. 25 from 7 to 9 p.m. in the main floor Media Centre. The session will feature a presentation on budget basics, displays and the opportunity to chat with financial staff.

In addition, about 500 residents and 250 businesses will be polled in a formal survey to provide feedback on spending priorities, which services are most important and where the City should make changes, if necessary.

Vancouver City Council will hold a public hearing on the 2012 budget prior to their final consideration and approval of the plan in March. The date of the public hearing will be announced shortly.

Vancouver residents and businesses interested in more information are invited to join the City’s information email list via budget@vancouver.ca

Don’t let the frosty mornings automatically dissuade you from riding, but do be careful! There are some tips to keep in mind on chilly days when the roads may be slick for bike tires.

A few things to keep in mind that may help:

1. Make sure your brakes are in good working order (and that the road will let you stop). Go test the conditions in advance. If roads are just too icy for your bike, consider a different mode today. If things are looking viable, then when you use your brakes, make sure you give yourself extra time to stop. Leaving enough room to pump your brakes on and off also helps prevent sliding.
2. Let a bit of air out of your tires so that it is at the low end of your tires recommended range. This means there’s a bit more surface area to grab the road, but not so much that it makes it harder to ride. If you have the choice to take a mountain bike with bigger knobby tires, this will fare better than a road bike with skinny ones.
3. When taking corners, slow down! and make a wider turn if possible. It is much easier with frost to slide out to the side if you are making a sharp quick turn.
4. Take your time. Factor in some extra trip minutes to let yourself be safer.
5. Don’t forget to be visible to other road users – wear some reflective stuff, and use your lights (front and back and side if you can) any time the weather isn’t clear and bright.
6. Bundle up, leave early, and have fun!

What are some other tips for biking in cold, snowy and icy weather? Let us know! Leave a comment on this post or on our Facebook Page

Harry Enchin – King and Bay

The nice thing about a vacation is that it allows you to slow down a bit. It’s literally a change of pace… and the ‘time out’ is reflected in a different way of walking through the city. Too often during the busy-ness of the week, one’s pace is all geared up the hustle and bustle of work, school and who knows what appointments. There’s stuff to do, places to get to, less time than would be ideal. The stride of everyday life is seldom taken at the sauntering pace that Thoreau found most ideal.

But when your schedule becomes loose and flexible, when you’re on an out-of-town sojourn, you can meander a bit and be a bit more attentive to your surroundings. And then… you never know where your feet will take you.  For me this means actually taking more time to slow down and step inside the cool little galleries that I find punctuating the neighbourhoods I visit.

On my recent trip to Toronto I happened unexpectedly upon a number of these places – three of which were showcasing a display related to the city itself. Each was quite distinct but wonderfully complimentary to one another. I’m showcasing two of them in this post and will save the third, on the subject of civic engagement, for later.

Dusan Petricic and the illustrated city.

The first came the day after I landed when, fresh from skating at Nathan Phillips Square, I found myself at Campbell House – a lovely old Georgian structure dating back to 1822. It bills itself as the oldest remaining building from the original town of York. It had been years since I’d last been inside, and I didn’t realize they had a little gallery upstairs.

What a treat! On display was a collection of political cartoonist Dusan Petricic’s work. Petricic, an émigré from Belgrade, brings what journalist Rick Salutin calls “an intellectual style of drawing” to his portrayal of city issues. While the themes he covers in his work are wide ranging, a good number of the drawings on display were about planning and matters relating to public space.

For example, in the last few years Concord Pacific (and other developers) have been building condominiums in the old railway lands near the CN Tower. The massing and height of these buildings has created a noticeable change in the Toronto skyline. Seemingly unimpressed, Petricic points a finger at city planning on this one.

(As an aside, coming back to Vancouver I was struck by how slender many of our downtown condominium towers are compared to their often gigantic, slab-like counterparts in Toronto).

Here’s an image that seems particularly germane to Vancouver. It was done around the time that public discussion on the future of the Gardiner Expressway was at its height. (The Gardiner is the aging elevated expressway that runs along the foot of the city, separating the downtown from the waterfront). At the time (and it’s still an ongoing debate) there was lots of talk about removing part or all of the highway, beautifying it, or trying any number of other schemes to mitigate the problems that it posed to the city. The conversation it provoked was (and is) not unlike the discussion we’ve been having around the future of the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts.

This last one is my favourite, playfully illustrating the idea of distance in Toronto and the walkability of the city.

One of the things that I found so appealing about it was the fact that it used the walking time between public clocks as a basis for the image: a splendid trope to use, and one that gives an affectionate nod to the role that these timepieces play in city life – both as reference points and icons, and for there more functional aspects. (Indeed, despite the fact that a digitial, iPhone literate city changes things a bit, the Downtown Design guidelines for Vancouver still encourage the placement of clocks in public gathering areas.)

Harry Enchin: change, continuity and juxtaposition.

A few days later I had a chance to hit the Twist Gallery on Queen West. Quite by luck I walked in on one of the last days of an exhibit called Toronto Tranformed, featuring the work of Harry Enchin.

Those of you who are fans of Vancouver’s Changing City blog (and props to our friends John Atkin and Andy Coupland for their excellent work on this) will appreciate Enchin’s images. They juxtapose digital photographs of city life taken over the last couple of years with archival photographs. But rather than stop at a site-by-site, side-by-side, before-and-after comparison, Enchin actually weaves old and new images of the same place together into a single picture.

Here’s a particularly striking example that will appeal to fans of Toronto’s streetcar network:

And here’s another that puts a 21st century CBC ad for George Stroumboulopoulos into an early 20th century street scene. The same building – now about 8 decades older and many retail turn-overs later – has worn the ‘Strombo’ ad for a few years now.

There were several dozen of Enchin’s works on display. Some held together better than others, but all of them produced a remarkable and overlapping sense of change and continuity.

Both Petricic and Enchin play with the theme of time and place in their work – one from the perspective of an illustrator providing comment on the issues of the day, the other as an photographer and archivist who revels in the nature of everyday city life. In so doing, both regard the Toronto as a dynamic entity – one marked by resilience, adaptation and metamorphosis.

Thankfully, in the process, neither seem too inclined to the sort of nostalgia and wistfulness that can easily wash-over the deck of projects like these. Theirs is work that respects the city on its own terms, as a living organism rather than a museum piece.

One of the new PavCo digital billboards. January 2012.

The new digital billboards installed around BC Place Stadium have been causing no end of headaches for nearby residents. The billboards are enormous – many times the size that would be allowed under the City’s Sign Bylaw – and they’re very bright. So bright, in fact, that one resident nearby told us that at 2:00am he can now read in his bedroom without any additional bedside lights whatsoever.

The signs were installed by PavCo, a Provincial Crown Corporation of the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation, following the renovation of the stadium. PavCo replaced a set of older, smaller digital billboards in roughly the same location – plunking the new ones down, it would seem, with nary a whit of forewarning or consultation.

The previous digital billboards – pre-renovation. April 2008.

Needless to say, people living nearby – particularly on the west side of the stadium – have been trying to get the billboards removed for some time. They’ve even started a blog on the subject, documenting the challenges they’ve encountered.

The City is also irked by the gargantuan signage. The Mayor wrote a letter to Minister Pat Bell, but it appears not to have resulted in much change.

Unfortunately for the City, the fact that these signs are located on a provincially-owned property means there’s a bit of jurisdictional conundrum. From a legal perspective, it doesn’t appear that the City can enforce the provisions of the municipal Sign Bylaw as a means to reign in the nuisance factor. That being said, it can, and has, asked PavCo to act in the spirit of good neighbourly relations and respect the provisions of the Bylaw. (It’s worth noting that it’s not clear if the intent of the City’s initial request was to encourage PavCo to reduce the size of the signs, remove them all together, or simply to eliminate the increased nuisance that comes from the brightness of the signs at night. We hope it was more than just the latter).

In any event, the issue of the PavCo signs is to be considered at City Council next week. Councillor Geoff Meggs has put a motion on notice that will be considered on Tuesday, January 17 @ 9:30am.  The motion asks for “a clear action plan by PAVCO to bring the signs into compliance with City standards.”

If you’ve got a position on this issue we encourage you to make your voice heard by emailing geoff.meggs [at] vancouver.ca and mayorandcouncil [at] vancouver.ca. The motion will likely be referred to one of Council’s Standing Committees later in the week. If this happens members of the public will also be able to make a short presentation in person (5 minutes).

Here’s the motion from Councillor Meggs: