ThatFitVille
I've got to admit that I find what Josh Feit, writing in PubliCola, the hyperlocal Seattle journal of politics and culture, has to say about what might be the best way for that town's downtown core to revitalize itself pretty appealing.
And, get this, it has nothing to do with new building and/or new housing starts, at least at first:
But what about here in Lotusland?
Could something like that, which certainly seemed to have happened in Kitsilano fifty plus years ago, happen here, in the here and now?
Somehow, I doubt it given that land is worth so much that there doesn't seem to be any room, either financial or three dimensional, for the weirdo first step to take hold before big money-backed gentrification stomps down, hard, on any and all Vancouver neighbourhoods.
Case in point....We live near a strip of Fraser in the 20's that went from dilapidated to glittering seemingly overnight.
And if we have no room for the weirdos and the kids, what the heck will we do then?
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And then, of course, there is the bizarre situation out on the pointiest of the grey points out on our western-most edge where sizeable chunks of land ready-made for the stomping have suddenly been made available...This includes the Jericho Lands and what was once the heart of Pacific Spirit Park...But another chunk of terra firms that you may not have thought about recently is what used to be old Safeway site on 10th Avenue just east of the Gates of The West...The City Duo folks reported on the latest public meeting about the coming development of that site recently...Here.
I've got to admit that I find what Josh Feit, writing in PubliCola, the hyperlocal Seattle journal of politics and culture, has to say about what might be the best way for that town's downtown core to revitalize itself pretty appealing.
And, get this, it has nothing to do with new building and/or new housing starts, at least at first:
...The first step to reviving (Seattle's) downtown isn’t new housing, it starts with embracing the grim commercial real estate market, where vacancies recently increased from 22 percent to 24 percent...
{snip}
...And as rents drop, the weirdos, rather than the big employers, move in. And by weirdos, I mean: creative-class, art-centric, small-scale retail...
{snip}
...Call it the CBGB theory of city planning. During the sluggish mid-to-late 1970s, New York City’s famously abandoned and spent Lower East Side neighborhood, where CBGB set up shop on Bowery, attracted waves of bohemians who turned the neighborhood into the epicenter of an urban shock wave that would change cities into magnetic destinations for brains, youth, talent, and commerce...
But what about here in Lotusland?
Could something like that, which certainly seemed to have happened in Kitsilano fifty plus years ago, happen here, in the here and now?
Somehow, I doubt it given that land is worth so much that there doesn't seem to be any room, either financial or three dimensional, for the weirdo first step to take hold before big money-backed gentrification stomps down, hard, on any and all Vancouver neighbourhoods.
Case in point....We live near a strip of Fraser in the 20's that went from dilapidated to glittering seemingly overnight.
And if we have no room for the weirdos and the kids, what the heck will we do then?
______
And then, of course, there is the bizarre situation out on the pointiest of the grey points out on our western-most edge where sizeable chunks of land ready-made for the stomping have suddenly been made available...This includes the Jericho Lands and what was once the heart of Pacific Spirit Park...But another chunk of terra firms that you may not have thought about recently is what used to be old Safeway site on 10th Avenue just east of the Gates of The West...The City Duo folks reported on the latest public meeting about the coming development of that site recently...Here.
And speaking of the lazy, crazy, relatively short-lived, endless summer days of Kitsilano's spin as Haight Ashbury, North...Eve Lazarus, whose blog is new to the Crawl over on the left side of the page for non-palm-based device users, recently had a post on the 'Peace House' on Pt. Grey Road where the likes of the Grateful Dead once hung out...What's really crazy about all that is, though it seems, in retrospect, like they are hugely separated in every way imaginable, including across time, the Peace House's most famous days took place only a decade before all that became infamous at the punk house located cross-townish at Gore and Union.
4 comments:
' old Safeway site on 10th Avenue '
... would be a great place for the British Columbia Royal Museum, instead of on an island, at THE MOST south west corner of the Province..... and coincidentally, City of Victoria's advertisement: "Welcome to our Corner of the World"? They're not kidding, and unfortunately, they don't realize how much of an inconvenience it is for others, unless its the cruise ship deep pocket tourists who they are targeting, not British Columbians.
Royal British Columbia Museum Board Members? They all live on Vancouver Island, ... Greater Victoria.
The local journalists, Vaughn Palmer, to name one of the three who report on all things political, get FREE visits, and the topic they keep raising is that the Museum's corner store is no longer accessible, to them, and oh, the public...too? All three are residents. Travel time is ZERO. I'd preferred to have the viewpoint of other journalists, from anywhere but Victoria, and with one preference, NOT a resident of Vancouver Island.
Then of course there's the cost of Mainlanders to and fro, travel to Victoria, on ships that can no longer travel on schedule, therefore forcing visitors to find a place to stay overnight, or IF they don't mind, they can bunk down in their vehicles in the BC Ferries parking lot. Not everyone can afford helijets.
And how about all those First Nation community's artifacts squirreled away in that there corner.
https://governmentofbc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=18c1c33d5b6040c5b81acb44d972e503
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/natural-resource-stewardship/consulting-with-first-nations/first-nations-negotiations/first-nations-a-z-listing
the old Safeway lot, affordable housing???? I'll believe it when I see it.
The suggestion that areas can be revitilized as the area in New York, is hopeful, but given how long it takes for a project to get up and running in any part of this province, and through City Halls, I'm not holding my breath. The Jericho lands will most likely be built faster and accomodate more housing. The land doesn't require the "permision" of City Hall, its band land. At the rate things are built in this province, most of those requiring decent affordable housing will be dead of old age.
There is great chatter about the Broadway line and new housing along it. that is going to be another mess. People who live in the area and told they can come back once the new housing has been built. Not so much. There will be one screw up after another and then well finances being what they are, there won't be affordable housing. It is a slum in the making. Its just going to concrete, glass and a rail line under ground going nowhere.
When it comes to dilapidated areas, we have Granville St., the DTES, and they've all been like that for years and getting worse. With an ever growing population of people with substance abuse health issues, mental health issu.es, homeless who can't afford to pay rent, its just going to keep going the way it is. Its almost like "holding property" just waiting until they can make a load of money abd redevelop. Surrey is growing faster these days than Vancouver. Its where there will be more events, etc. I'm just waiting for them to build something like b.C. Place out there
I believe Vancouver will become a city for the homeless and the ultra rich. Nothing in between. the rest of the population will be living and enjoying the area south of the Fraser.
NVG--
Everywhere you go, everywhere you turn, the Dean is there!
Of course, if the museum was on the other side of the Salish Sea you can bet that the members would not be taking the ferry to get to board meetings.
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e.a.f.--
I fear we are already very close to the 'nothing in between' in Vancouver already.
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Sadly.
Most houses run about $2Million and up. Just an empty lot will run $1.2Mn As an aging baby boomer many people I knew were able to purchase homes in lVancouver back in the 1970s Now if you are a youngrer generation who owns a house in Vancouver you will most likely have inherited it.
The Netherlands is discussing a new method of selling homes, so that middle income people can continue to live in areas they usually have. That neighbourhoods doi not change so they become te exclusive areas for the well to do. Here's the plan, If a house cines ib the market the government will decide who can bid on it What the practise will do is exclude those who are wealthier and could make an offer which others could not afford. It will enable people to remain in their neighbourhoods and hold down the price of homes. Now there are a lot who will say that is not fair, its not capitalims but it isn't the first "change" in how things are done in the Netherlands. It has a population of 18 Million in an area just a tad bigger than Vancouver Island. Its the second biggest export of food. Following wwII there was an extreme shortage of housing. If you lived in a large house with just your own small family,m the government came colling and advised you a second family would join yours. My Grandparents had a failry large home in Rotterdam, they moved upstairs in the house and a relative lived on the main floor. In the 1960s, if you did not work in downtown Rotterday, you didn't live there. Made sense to me. Lessened traffic and artifically high prices.
We look at housing as an investment, a way to make money. Its time we looked at it as a right which all should enjoy. Affordable stable housing is the corner stone of living a better quality of life. Its also much better for children and may save them a lot of stress and plrovide them some stablity. I do not know why we think its O.K. to let people live in fire traps which are crime ridden, dirty, unsafe, etc.
Its not hard to build housing. Find a piece of land, ensure city halls have enough staff to pass the plans within 30 days and start building. Modular buildings go up quickly. there just isn't any political will. If it does not change we are in for a world of hurt.
There is no such thing as working harder to get out of poverty. Its mostly luck, how much your parents made, how they managed their money, how well educated you were, if you will ill or well, did the parental units remain together in relative harmony and didn't blow their money on whatever. As a kid we know whose parents spend the pay cheque at the bar or played poker, etc.
A little more investmet in children would go a long way to improving society.
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