Opinion: Metro's plan has long been to move work to places where people can actually live, the suburbs
The city of Vancouver goes to the suburbs by trying to concentrate too much work along the Broadway Corridor. Ignore the long-standing efforts of. others.
Last month, the Vancouver City Council approved the Broadway project. The plan aims to turn 500 blocks of the Broadway Corridor into a huge "second downtown" with commercial towers, condominiums, rental skyscrapers and 120,000 jobs.
However, Christina Demarco faced long ago that Vancouver had agreed on a more comprehensive regional plan to make theSally Center a "second downtown". Then, the councilor's movement is said to fly. Work throughout the metro Vancouver provincial city center.
Sidneyand Demarco, senior planner in Vancouver, said adding a large number of office towers to the Broadway Corridor shortened commuting times and reduced carbon emissions. Said that it was inconsistent with the local effort to distribute work. Fair to the entire Metro Vancouver.
The main reason we need to reduce the growth of work in the Broadway Corridor is to provide jobs near our homes to the population in this area. This is crucial for quality of life, shorter travel lengths, climate mitigation, and efficient two-way passenger flow for transit systems.
DeMarco and others are concerned about their own interests, including earning most of their tax revenues by ignoring the obligations of the Vancouver City Council to the other 20 municipalities of Metro Vancouver. It strongly suggests that you are contributing.
In particular, Metro's plan is to develop locations such as New Westminster, Coquitram Center, especially Sally Center, into job hubs.
The City of Vancouver reportsMetro Vancouver 2040: Shape Our FutureandDraft Metro Vancouver 2050 Strategy "Beyond Work Goals" detailed
"The city of Vancouver has signed this regional plan, so how they justify aiming for so many jobs in the Broadway Corridor." I don't know. "
Broadway Plan is False Creek and 16th Ave. , In the zone between Vine and Clark, envisions 42,000 new jobs by 2040 and has acquired a new SkyTrain station.
However, DeMarco said it far exceeds Metro Vancouver's goal of a total of 57,000 future jobs across Vancouver's so-called "Metropolitan Core." This includes the Broadway Corridor, the downtownbusiness district filled with ultra-denseskyscrapers, and Strascona, which is expected to employ tens of thousands by 2040. At work, that means less other areas of Metro Vancouver. The economy doesn't stop at the borders of local governments, "Demarco said.
About 10 years ago, a metro appointed local government politician (including Vancouver) Has begun to restrict local governments from unilaterally creating new office zoning, including inaccessible industrial estates in transit.
"We needed regulation, not the goodwill to make this policy effective," DeMarco said.
Their important task is to reduce the time most of Vancouver's workers, who live in the suburbs where housing is cheaper, spend on commuting.
DeMarco cites the example of someone in Cloverdale in South Sally. "It takes at least 1 hour and 40 minutes for the person to reach the Broadway corridor. When the new Skytrain (extension) opens, it will probably be 5-7 minutes shorter, or by bus from Cloverdale to the Sally Metro Center. It takes 40 minutes. Saving 2 hours a day of commuting time greatly improves the quality of life. "
Vancouver review during discussions on Broadway plans CongressmanJanswansonsaid he voluntarily asked "innocent questions" about the effects of climate change. "If people drive to Vancouver for work, it's better to get more work outside of Vancouver because people don't have to drive so far," Swanson asked.
City senior planner Chris Robertson replied: People want to be here and always need to support it with a good balance of transit and work.
In DeMarco's view, planners will basically do everything they can to serve the market, whether or not it's good for workers scattered around the region. said.
Swanson asserts that work is generally good for the city of Vancouver, but she continues to say, "A new job that is attracted to the area and has no high income. Will win. " I can't afford to live there.
This includes a new position in Broadway's hotel sector, which has expanded significantly. Here, Swanson states that "most make $ 21 an hour," and she can't afford to rent or own. Broadway plans require that only 20% of newly built units be "affordable."
In addition, Swanson said that "probably" affordable units prioritize existing Broadway tenants pushed out of old buildings by new skyscrapers. "My fear is that the current lessee exercising the right to the first refusal will make them all (snapped)."
Swanson said. Together with councilors Melissa de Genova, Michael Weave and Colleen Hardwick, they voted against Broadway's plans.
Like DeMarco, Swanson is also wondering if the Broadway program will bring "uncomfortable density" to increasingly crowded areas.
This is another reason why it would be beneficial for Vancouver to reduce the work goals of the Broadway Corridor, DeMarco said. Aggressive housing density.”
Michael Heaney, former head of Sally City Center Development Corporation, says Metro Vancouver makes North Sally, a relentlessly changing population, the“ second downtown ”of the region. I confirmed the plan to do it long ago.
Veteran architects overtly monopolize their work with Vancouver councilors who consistently talk about the fight against climate change while living in Vancouver. He said that was "disappointing" and "false".
Tax revenue is already a major motivation for the Council to raise housing taxes by 6.3%, a record high. According to Heeney and DeMarco, offices and commercial towers are taxed at a much higher rate than residential ones. Vancouver also has the opportunity to demand high fees and profits frombuildersThe Metro Vancouver area believes that these taxing opportunities need to be more evenly distributed.
"Like most local government politicians, Vancouver politicians don't think across borders," Heeney said. "Vancouver is used to wielding its weight."
dtodd @ postmedia. com
@douglastodd
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