Vancouver’s missing green space

A new study sheds light on the lack of green space, plus is West Van slacking on water fines?

Author

Geoff Sharpe
September 20, 2023

Good morning,

The term vibe shift, where it feels like things are changing, is sometimes overused. But I feel like this is happening with housing. You get the sense politicians are starting to grasp the horrible situation we’re in and are at least trying to fix it, or at the very least, realizing they cannot just ignore the problem.

Are the solutions perfect? No. Is it likely to be fixed in the short term? Also, probably no. But every little change matters. And as someone who these policies are meant to help — a millennial who has no hope of owning a home in Vancouver — it feels like progress is, ever so slowly, happening.

Today, we look at green spaces in Vancouver and whether Vancouver’s neighbours across the water are actually cracking down on homes that violate water restrictions.

Onwards!

— Geoff Sharpe, Vancity Lookout newsletter writer

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WEATHER


Wednesday: 19 🌡️ 11 | ☀️ 

Thursday: 22 🌡️ 12 | ☀️ 

Friday: 22 🌡️ 12 | ☀️

ENVIRONMENT

Vancouver neighbourhoods have huge green space disparities

If you’ve walked through less affluent areas of town, you might have noticed fewer green spaces. Well, a new study has backed up that idea with actual data.

What happened: Researchers at UBC have created an index showcasing communities in Vancouver with access to green space. The findings? Those in more affluent neighbourhoods have far greater access to green space than areas like Strathcona, according to CBC.

Neighbourhoods such as Strathcona, Grandview Woodland and Downtown struggled the most with green space access, while more affluent neighbourhoods like Kerrisdale, Shaughnessy, and West Point Grey had higher scores.

  • Highly developed areas and more ethnic neighbourhoods also had fewer green spaces.

Zoom out: A 2018 report by the city’s Parks Board mapped out areas that struggle with increasingly hot surface temperatures during the summer. Unsurprisingly, they map closely to neighbourhoods in this green space study — the less green space, the more heat.

Parks Bao

What it means: Policymakers may be able to use the data to build better green spaces for communities that need more access to nature, or better plan developments so they offer more green space access.

Thought-bubble: When I lived in Chinatown, it was very noticeable how there were fewer trees and grassy areas compared to other neighbourhoods (not to mention noticeably hotter).

VANCOUVER NUMBERS

🎤 15: The number of minutes people said Kevin Hart’s performance felt like at The Great Outdoors Comedy Festival in Stanley Park this weekend. His short set (they were forced to check their phones and watches, so there’s no exact time) left many disappointed in the headliner. [CTV]

💰️ $246,100: The minimum annual income you need to make to afford an average $1.2-million home in Vancouver. [Vancouver Sun]

📈 3.8%: B.C.’s year-over-year inflation rate in August, up from 3.5 percent in July, which is 0.2 percent lower than the Canadian average of four percent. [Business in Vancouver]

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MEMBERS-ONLY

Insider Bulletin: Vancouver chief planner out

What happened: Theresa O'Donnell is no longer Vancouver’s chief planner. An email was sent out Monday morning from city hall notifying the public about her departure.

Background: The chief planning officer is a critical position in the city. O’Donnell was named chief planner in April 2021 after serving as deputy director in the department since March 2019, according to Urbanized. She also was responsible for the Broadway Plan. She came to Vancouver from Dallas, where she served for nearly two decades in various roles.

This was first sent an Insider Bulletin, a breaking news story sent out directly to Insider paying members. To access this story, become a member today for 21 percent off your first year.

DREAM HOME

Realtor.ca

Every week, I check Realtor.ca to find exciting places to showcase. This is entirely unscientific, but a trend I’ve noticed is more two-bedrooms for under $800,000.

Here’s a place right near one of my favourite neighbourhoods, Commercial Drive. It’s two bedrooms, 888 square feet of space, with affordable strata fees, and a nice layout separating the bedroom area upstairs from the living area and kitchen downstairs. It’s not cheap, but for Vancouver, it’s a steal.

House of The Week is a home selected by the Lookout team and is not a paid advertisement. All ads are labelled as such. If you’re a realtor who wishes to feature your home in our newsletter, please contact our sales team.

REGION

Is West Vancouver skirting water restrictions?

Is West Vancouver not doing its part when it comes to enforcing water usage limits? That’s what the data could be indicating, according to the Vancouver Sun.

What happened: West Vancouver has issued a grand total of four watering tickets, three in the last weekend since Stage-2 water restrictions were brought in at the beginning of August. To put that in context, Vancouver has issued 358 fines and 539 warnings, according to Global. Current water restrictions mean no lawn watering throughout Metro Vancouver.

Problem: With the average household net worth exceeding $4.5 million in the area, a small fine may not be an actual deterrent to reducing water usage. Fines range from $100 to $500, which is nothing for wealthier residents.

  • West Vancouver sat at third on a peak-week average daily flow in 2021 — the last available data — behind Pitt Meadows and Delta.

The city told the Vancouver Sun it prefers to use the “carrots” approach, insead of sticks, when dealing with those using water, arguing that out of the 900 units that received letters about water usage, 700 reduced their water consumption.

  • Yes, but: As noted in the article, this was done before Stage 2 came into effect.

Zoom out: Water restrictions are becoming normalized as Metro Vancouver deals with shortages every summer. Water usage is up 20 percent year-over-year since May, according to CityNews.

What’s next: It’s unclear when the water restrictions will be lifted in Metro Vancouver.

THE AGENDA

👮 A park ranger was assaulted in Oppenheimer Park on Monday morning, they were allegedly hit over the head with an object. [Global]

🏠️ The B.C. government has announced a pilot project to start next year that will pay 3,000 homeowners $40,000 in forgivable loans to create secondary or accessory suites. These units would need to be rented at below-market rates for five years. [BC Government]

📈 How do home prices compare to Toronto? In July, Toronto’s average home price was $1.15 million compared to $1.2 million in July. The big difference? Townhouses were almost $200,000 more here in Vancouver, costing an average of$1.1 million versus $900,000 in Toronto. [BlogTO]

🚗 You may want to avoid downtown driving today. The rally and a counter-protest will take place at 1 pm at 696 Robson St. [Vancouver is Awesome]

📉 A new study says the lack of industrial real estate is posing a problem as many businesses cannot afford to set up shop in the city. It costs $1.5 million per acre to build on and the industrial vacancy rate is sitting at below one percent, which is very low. [Vancouver Sun]

EVENTS THIS WEEK

VIFF movies | VIFF | Ongoing | Mulholland Drive and CatVideoFest 2023 round up movies this week | Tickets $15

Canvas of Change 2023 | Heritage Hall | This Wednesday, 6 pm-9 pm | Artists create their best paintings in a short period of time, and you can bid on the art | Tickets $43

Lebanese Film Festival | SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts | This Friday to Sept. 25 | Free

Vancouver Etsy Co - Fall Pop-Up Market | Robson Square Ice Rink | Saturday Sept. 23, 10 am-5 pm | Featuring 90 local designers and creatives, plus it’s pet-friendly | Free

Bike Repair Fair | Richmond Cultural Centre | This Saturday, 12 pm-4 pm | Get your bike repaired for free! | Free

PREVIEW

Preview: Dispatches from UBCM

On Thursday I’ll be sending out a members-only newsletter breaking down the Union of BC Municipalities meetings, specifically a discussion of Minister of Housing Ravi Kahlon which gets into some very timely topics around the provincial government's future plans for housing.

I’ll also be sharing a review of a hidden Richmond food court that everyone needs to visit. Stay tuned!

But this is only available to members! For the next 24 hours, we’re dropping the price by 21 percent for your first year. So if you’ve been on the fence about becoming a member, now is the time!

SURVEY

I asked readers whether they wanted more pedestrian-only streets in Vancouver. Here are the results:

  • The city needs more pedestrian-only areas - 62%

  • More pedestrian-only areas are needed, but there needs to be a balance - 24%

  • Roads are for cars and walkways are for pedestrians - 14%

Thanks to the many responses I received. Here are a couple I thought would be worth sharing.

Reader: Cars are good, not bad. People need them to get around with their families and things and others need mobility for work. The anti-car ideology is based on sentiment rather than reality and has gone too far. Richards was four lanes south now chocked off to one, Howe was four lanes north now chocked off to one, the Granville Bridge is losing two lanes as did the Burrard bridge years ago; curb bulges and road obstructions and unused bicycle lanes are everywhere and serve no other purpose than to constrict flow to serve the far left obsession with their need to control and restrict their fellow citizens.

Geoff: I hear your concerns. But, and this is my personal opinion, think about when you travel in European cities. It’s a wonderful experience because you’re able to do everything by foot, bike or mobility device. People don’t rent cars because it’s not an ideal form of transportation when a city is built properly. There’s no reason Vancouver couldn’t do the same. The other problem with this analysis is that study after study has shown increasing roads increases traffic, which reduces everyone’s ability to get around. But I understand it’s not possible for some to get around, especially those with mobility issues.

Reader: And we certainly shouldn’t be replacing the heavily used bike lanes on Beach Avenue with two-way car traffic. Our city council announced this step backwards while Toronto announced they were limiting car traffic in High Park in sync with other major cities.

Geoff: I spent this week in Toronto, mostly biking around, and I can report their bike infrastructure is very good!

Reader: Especially market spaces like Granville Island. We would need clearly obvious & safe parking off the island with a steady flow of transit options like minibuses, shuttles, street cars, rickshaws who knows what. At least at the market end.

Geoff: Granville strikes me as a place that really does not need vehicles for visitors. It’s an absolute disaster to drive around and takes longer than walking or biking by far!

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

  • This is a very depressing taco for $11. Does anyone think tacos are overpriced in Vancouver?

  • Good news for DTES residents — Quest Market, which serves people in the area, has a permanent location at East Hastings Street and Princess Avenue. [CBC]

  • Be sure to add the Vancouver Outsider Arts Festival to your list of events happening on Oct. 12-17. [Miss604]

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GAME TIME

Congrats to Tammy Stewart, Doron and Azim who all guessed correctly that the street closed over the weekend for the Car Free Day was Main.

Today’s Vancouver Guesser is a popular park. Can you name it? Reply with the correct answer and your name to be featured in the newsletter.

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