IHII NDUIIR Pl N L-.-- THE CITY'S STRATEGY FOR MANAGING CHANGE

Transcription

1 IHII NDUIIR Pl N L-.-- THE CITY'S STRATEGY FOR MANAGING CHANGE JULY 1986

2 VANCOUVER CITY COUNCIL Mayor Michael F. Harcourt Donald Bellamy May Brown Gordon Campbell* Libby Davies Bruce Eriksen Marguerite Ford Warnett Kennedy** George Puil Harry Rankin Bill Yee Bruce Yorke * ** PUBLISHED JULY 19a6 BY THE CITY OF VANCOUVER PLANNING DEPARTMENT, RAY SPAXMAN DIRECTOR

3 In mid-1984, after reviewing extensive public comment, Vancouver City Council concluded discussion of the draft Vancouver Coreplan. That discussion had begun nearly a year earlier and had involved over fifty public meetings and group presentations, a forty-foot display which toured the city, two public questionnaires, extensive media coverage, and over thirty written and oral briefs to Council. The last required two special Council meetings to receive. The Coreplan resulted from over two years of research and thought about city trends and policies. It proposed a strategy to deal with some very significant, but uncertain, changes in store for Vancouver's future. These changes originated in the core - the downtown and surrounding centre city - but they had consequences for all of Vancouver. Therefore, The Coreplan strategy addressed the entire city. In recognition of this city-wide scope, City Council directed that The Coreplan, modified in response to public comment, become The Vancouver Plan. This booklet describes that plan. THE VANCOUVER PLAN has five parts: THE FRAMEWORK for understanding change page 2 THE CRITERIA for eyaluating change page 6 THE OPTIONS for choosing change page 7 THE DIRECTION for guiding change., THE PROGRAM for preparing change Together, they are THE CITY'S STRATEGY FOR MANAGING CHANGE. ", page 8.. page 16 1

4 THE FRAMEWORK for understanding change The Vancouver Plan seeks to understand and then guide change by focusing on the relationship among four key elements of the city: core employment, city housing, transportation, and urban environment. CORE EMPLOYMENT Employment in Vancouver is undergoing a transformation. While natural resources, shipping, and manufacturing remain important, many new job opportunities are tied to growth in the service and information sectors of the economy activities which occupy offices, rather than factories, and process numbers and ideas, rather than minerals and timber. Office activities tend to concentrate in the metropolitan core - the downtown and adjacent areas - and recent change in that part of the city has been phenomenal. The current growth in offices began in about Since then, the amount of downtown office space has nearly tripled, from about 7 million square feet to almost 19 million square feet near the end of The employment growth associated with all those new offices has been less pronounced but still significant. Between the census years of 1971 and 1981, employment in the core increased by 27 percent. All net growth was in so-called "white-collar" occupations. During the last decade over 46,000 new white-collar jobs were added to the core. By 1981 there were close to 220,000 people working in the metropolitan centre. These employees were divided about equally between the small, dense downtown and the larger outer core, including central Broadway. For a variety of economic and technological reasons, the rate of future core employment growth is highly uncertain. But the zoning ---~ffigutations1}ovefatrgeoredevefopfaentwotlld allow much more growth than has occurred to date. Present zoning defines an office development capacity for the core of about 70 million square feet - 50 million square feet of this in the downtown. Were development to continue at the same annual percentage rate as over the past two decades, the amount of office space in downtown Vancouver would nearly triple again by the end of this century all within the zoning which exists today. Net job growth would not follow in lock step with new office construction, but development within DOWNTOWN OFFICE SPACE SO. FT (MILLIONS) 22 r 20 r 18 ~ ~ 16r 14 ~ E 12 f 10 ~ :1 EMPLOYMENT EMPLOYED (THOUSANDS) 250 f 200 ~ f,i I I I, I, I I I I I I I,,, I, I, I I, I,, r (T1 1O r-... Cl... ('l"') t.n r-... ttl,~ (T) ~ ~ w w w w w ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ w w 0' CITY HOUSING 1981 tbl3prl3sl3l1t:z()nil1gc;()ljlcjpl3ef11ita.fl1il1if11ljf11!5q_ percent increase in employment. Under slightly more liberal assumptions, permitted new development would result in at least a doubling of the number of people working in the core. All these new core workers would have a considerable impact on other elements of the city. Many new core employees would want to live somewhere in the city. But, if trends persist, fewer and fewer would be able to do so. In 1971 fully 2

5 62 percent of those working in the metropolitan core lived in the city of Vancouver. Thirty-five percent lived in the core itself. By 1981 the proportion of core employees residing in Vancouver had declined to 54 percent, and only a quarter of all core employees lived in the core. Between 1971 and 1981 the number of occupied housing units in the city increased by only 20,000 or 13 percent. Core employment increased at twice that rate. Outside the city, in the rest of the Greater Vancouver region, the occupied housing stock grew by a full 58 percent, a net addition of nearly 111,000 units. Opportunities for new core employees to live near their jobs are decreasing. The city of Vancouver is now just about completely developed there are only a very few small vacant areas leftand redevelopment at higher densities is constrained by restrictive residential zoning. That zoning allows a maximum of about 210,000 housing units. The city currently has about 180,000 units and is rapidly approaching the practical limit for development under present zoning. Net additions to the city's housing stock are declining annually and, without changes in permitted residential density, could come to a standstill during this decade. City housing supply would then become effectively stable. But housing demand near the core, stimulated by new core employment, would continue to rise. This would produce an upward pressure on housing prices. Many households would be priced out of the city market, and Vancouver's long-term goal of more affordable housing would be thwarted. A rising proportion of core employees would need to commute over longer distances from suburban homes. Additional pressure for housing development would be placed on agricultural land and on other environmentally sensitive areas near the suburban fringe. However, while recognizing the problems arising from lessened housing opportunity, most city neighbourhoods continue to resist proposals to change residential zoning and raise average housing density. Higher densities and neighbourhood change are commonly thought to threaten the quality of city life, and city development policy has emphasized the preservation of existing physical scale in many residential areas. Nevertheless, demolition and redevelopment do occur - with substantial social and economic change but with very little net addition to the housing stock, as new housing is built at the same density as the old. CITY HOUSING NUMBER OF UNITS r l ~ ol TRANSPORTATION As the residences of core employees become more and more separated from the core work place, demands on the city and regional transportation system grow correspondingly. Of the net 46,000 jobs added to the core between 1971 and 1981, 34,000 were filled by suburban residents. That means that about three out of four new core jobs were taken by people who must commute from outside the city. Most of this new commuting occured during the 7-9 AM peak period. Between 1971 and 1981, the number of people entering the downtown during the two-hour morning peak increased by about 19 pefcenrff6ri1 63,OOOl675,OOO. lfmighfhave increased more were the transportation system not already operating near capacity and therefore inducing a high proportion.of commuters to travel during non-peak hours. Of the 12,000 new peak-period trips added during the past decade, fully 11,000 were accommodated by transit and only 1,000 put more automobiles on the road. However, use of the transit system stopped growing in about 1980, probably because there was no more room on the morning buses. The number of buses in the fleet has been about 3

6 the same since the mid-seventies. Since the beginning of this decade, automobile commuting seems to have been gradually increasing, filling up what little capacity remains on the city's streets. In 1981 morning peak traffic volumes on arterials entering the city were estimated at about 88 percent of saturation capacity Optimum use of the system is considered to be about 80 percent; above that level significant delays begin to occur. Some routes, particularly bridges, were much more congested. Congestion has also become a fact of life at midday and during the afternoon peak. At these times shoppers, deliveries, and business trips combine with home-bound commuters to create severe congestion, especially within the downtown and on major business routes such as central Broadway. The future transportation situation is dependent on a number of very uncertain assumptions and therefore is very difficult to predict. However, because of the present near-capacity situation, major improvements may be required to accommodate even moderate core employment growth, especially if most new core jobs continue to be filled by suburban residents. 20, , , HOUR TRAFFIC VOLUMES INTO CBD, 1984 o TIMES OF DAY -L--..L-...l--L,~---l.. _..J_..L...l.--L...J_.-L-J.--L...-..J..-.._J.._L.._L. Eru~~mw~oomo~E~ru~~mw~oomO~E l'o I I! r fit f... ~ C. I f I I! I I I I... co ~.,..ru~~mldr--_<d I I ruru... ru~~mld~<d I I ru I mo~~ mo~ ru ~ I '<rl I ~ ~ ~ ~... For example, were the downtown to grow by only 40,000 employees, about seven additional lanes of street capacity would be required to keep current levels of congestion from getting worse. Alternatively there would need to be at least a 30 percent increase in the proportion of commuters carried by transit. Even the billion-dollar investment in Advanced Light Rail Transit (ALRT) is not expected to produce that kind of change in ridership, so greater transit expenditures would be required along with a substantial shift in commuting preferences. URBAN ENVIRONMENT Changes in core employment, city housing, and transportation would together also change Vancouver's look and feel: the city's urban environment. Vancouver could become a much different city-both physically and socially-than we know today. Today Vancouver is a very special city. Its proximity to both mountains and the sea makes it an exceptionally attractive place in which to work, live, and play. Emerging high-quality development is now increasing the city's attractiveness. Vancouver is earning a reputation not just for its setting, but also for what it is doing in that setting. The last twenty years of growth and change appear to have greatly improved the opportunities for Vancouverites to enjoy a quality urban life both absolutely and per capita. Between 1961 and 1981, Vancouver's population increased less than 7 percent and the metropolitan area grew by 50 percent, but amenities in the city grew several fold. Restaurants, theatres, museums and galleries, libraries, community centres, swimming pools and ice rinks - all have increased in numbers much greater than can be explained by population growth alone. Park space and waterfront access have atso expahdedsobstanlially. As a""yesulf, there is much more for all to enjoy. The future should see continuing improvements to the urban environment, but not without challenges that have to be overcome. Redevelopment will inevitably change the existing characteristics of Vancouver, and many will find that change regrettable if it results in the loss of something meaningful for their lives Ways will have to be found to encourage the new and improved while also preserving the best of what people value from the past. 4

7 The preservation of decent air quality will require particular care in the face of more daily commuting and growing congestion on city streets. If the transportation problem is not vigorously attacked, automobile emissions could rise significantly, and many will find a traffic-clogged city less livable even without pollution. But dealing with transportation may require large investments of public funds. Those funds may then not be available for the other improvements which are necessary to maintain a high-quality environment and ensure equitable access to that environment. In tight fiscal times, there could be a strong temptation to postpone that which is not perceived as absolutely necessary. New private amenities may also be postponed, not necessarily by lack of funds but by lack of market. New restaurants, shops, and theatres require a growing base of resident population. Restraints on the provision of new city housing would reduce population growth and hence market stimulus. CURRENT ZONING LIMIT 70 MILLION SQ. FT CURRENT ZONING LIMIT UNITS UNITS 1984 ALRT AT FULL CAPACITY + 25% CURRENT CAPACITY t % 88% CORE OFFICE SPACE UNEQUAL CAPACITIES FOR GROWTH CITY HOUSING TRANSPORTATION PEAK PERIOD 5

8 .. THE CRITERIA for evaluating change In 1979, after a survey of over 5,000 Icc,uverl1es the Vancouver City Planning Commission produced Goats for Vancouver. No synopsis can do Justice to the entire set of goals, but the most fundamental qualities which Vancouverites seek in their city can be summarized as eight criteria for change In addition to providing a perspective for evaluating the change described in THE FRAMEWORK, these criteria serve as a general checklist for assessing the desirability of any plan, policy, or project affecting Vancouver. 1. PROSPERITY Change should maintain a thriving metropolitan centre within an economically strong region 5. BEAUTY Change should occur with high regard for Vancouver's natural setting and for the city's built form and character. 2. VITALITY Change should enrich and diversify the opportunities for all to enjoy and learn from urban life, 6. SECURITY Change should result in increased levels of safety, comfort, and confidence in the urban environment. 3. EFFICIENCY Change should be accommodated at the lowest possible public cost for any given level of benefit, I. and public benefits ; should always exceed public costs, ~. 1 I ~\ ; I, 1 4. EQUITY The benefits and costs of change should be fairly and distributed among segments of the population; in particular, change should improve the lot of those already disadvantaged, not worsen it. 7. HEALTH Change should produce an environment conducive to high standards of physical and mental well-being. 8. OPENNESS The process of deciding about change should be considerate of all those affected by change. 6

9 THE OPTIONS for choosing change When THE CRITERIA for change are applied to the emerging relationship among the four key elements of the city, as described in THE FRAMEWORK, a number of potential problems in Vancouver's future become clear, Among these are: less affordable housing and more displacement of low-income households from the city (reducing equity and openness); more congestion and more traffic cutting through Vancouver neighbourhoods (reducing efficiency and security); longer commuting, higher private transportation costs, more air pollution, and more wasted energy (reducing efficiency and health); a loss of prized aspects of the Vancouver environment and a deterioration in the quality of life (reducing beauty and vitality); high taxes for expensive capital improvements (reducing efficiency and prosperity); growing reasons for new economic activities not to locate here and for established firms to move out of Vancouver (reducing prosperity and equity). To deal with these problems and to provide alternatives to the trend, The Vancouver Plan actively and continuously considers four options for change. Each has advantages and disadvantages, and none can be pursued in pure independence of the others, but together they help clarify the choices which will have to be made as Vancouver manages change These options are: LIMIT CORE EMPLOYMENT GROWTH Vancouver could limit the development of new office buildings and thus reduce the potential for new core employment This would reduce the environmental improvements would also be lessened, But stopping or even slowing core growth could decrease the Job opportunities available to Vancouverites and hinder Vancouver's entry into the new North American service and information economy, INCREASE CITY HOUSING POTENTIAL INCREASE TRANSPORTATION CAPACITY By building more roads and transit facilities, Vancouver could serve the commuting demands created by continued employment growth in the core and residential development outside the city, This, too, would avoid the economic risks in limiting employment growth, and it would reduce the need to increase housing densities in city neighbourhoods. But adding new transportation capacity is very expensive and would place a burden on taxpayers. New or expanded commuter routes could also disrupt neighbourhoods. PROVIDE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS By undertaking environmental protection measures such as traffic diverters and noise berms, Vancouver could soften some of the environmental effects of continued core employment growth. But these improvements would be merely band-aids, Ultimately the city would still have to deal aln~ctlv with the imbalance between ornn,n\lrnonr, and trarlsport;3ticln 7

10 THE DIRECTION for guiding change In considering THE OPTIONS and choosing THE DIRECTION for guiding change, Vancouver must confront substantial uncertainty about its future. This uncertainty is of two kinds: UNCERTAINTY ABOUT FACTS There is only one prediction that can be made about Vancouver's future with complete confidence: there will be surprises. The unexpected always happens, throwing off even the most careful projections and forecasts. At best, The Vancouver Plan can only deal with what might happen; it cannot say what will happen. The city's future could be quite different from that expected on the basis of the immediate past. Long-term changes in the North American economy, including reduced demand for B.C.'s traditional products, could cool the growth stimulus that so dramatically changed Vancouver over the last two decades. In particular, the large North American baby-boom market could now be moving into a stage of life where the consumption of housing and other B.C.-related hard goods would be much less important. Without a new aemographic and economic phenomenon, like the baby boom, the growth rates of the '60s and '70s may be difficult to sustain. On the other hand, Vancouver's ability to take advantage of Pacific Rim trade, its appeal as a tourist destination, and the emergence of a knowledge industry could result in higher growth rates. A bright future may lie in new markets and new activities which can only be dimly perceived today. Other significant changes could occur regardless of the overall growth rate. Technological developments (such as electronic fund transfers,...~- wordpfocesstflg;anggeneratfmprevementsfr telecommunications) could change the amount, composition, and location of future office employment. Vancouver could end up with an economically thriving downtown but with fewer downtown employees. There has already been an increase in office space per employee that has reduced the impact of new office construction on job growth. But then again, the gains in productivity resulting from office automation could provide the capital for all sorts of new downtown activities and jobs that cannot yet even be imagined. It is still too early to tell. Uncertainty also surrounds the housing and transportation elements. Few accurately predicted the high rate of new household formation which so dramatically affected housing demand during the '70s. More surprises may be in store. And the transportation impact of ALRT on the Vancouver region is far from fully predictable. There is only limited experience with modern rail systems in cities similar to Vancouver and no other system anywhere quite like Vancouver's. UNCERTAINTY ABOUT VALUES Studies leading to the The Vancouver Plan reviewed a large amount of public opinion data about Vancouver, particularly three sample surveys conducted at different times over the past decade. While confirming a great deal of stability in general community feelings about change and about the urban qualities which Vancouverites regard as important, these surveys also reveal a persistent ambivalence. The same ambivalence can be observed in public meetings about major projects and in many government decisions about city change, including some current area plans. Vancouverites are of two minds about the way their city should change. On the one hand, they want Vancouver to be a thriving urban centre, a world city, with more jobs and business opportunities and with a greater variety of things to see and do. On the other hand, they want to preserve Vancouver's present small-city character: relatively low-density housing, peaceful neighbourhoods, and quiet streets. Vancouverites seem to want all of the benefits of a world-class Pacific Rim metropolis without any of the changes which normally accompany city growth. But as Vancouver moves through the next several years, it will have to make trade-offs between the two conflicting images of the city's fufure.noffomakethosetraae~offsistoaenyfhe~- " inseparable connections among the key elements in THE FRAMEWORK. However, not all trade-offs can be made at once, nor should they be. The conflicting interests are too ingrained and the stakes are too high. Value uncertainty can only be worked out over time with a great deal of on-going debate. Fortunately, the continuous tension resulting from conflicting interests will also help Vancouver navigate an uncertain future by better exposing all the consequences of individual decisions. 8

11 Given the uncertainties about what will and what should happen in the future, any single-minded approach to coping with change is likely to be inadequate. An effective plan for Vancouver must be flexible to changing circumstances and responsive to conflicting and shifting values. It has to hold open options, and it has to permit continuing debate of important issues. The Vancouver Plan has to be a continuous learning process, not a once-and-for-all act. A plan which tries to make all decisions at once runs the risk of locking Vancouver into difficult and expensive solutions for which there are no problems. The Vancouver Plan needs to minimize the risks of being wrong, yet ensure that appropriate actions are taken when needed. It also needs to recognize that the city's ability to take bold and costly actions is limited by the scarcity of public financial resources. Therefore, the direction which Vancouver takes toward guiding change must prefer choices which require modest spending to those which are costly; prefer choices which can weather changing circumstances to those which depend on fragile assumptions; prefer choices that are adaptable to new situations to those which must be pursued inflexibly; prefer choices which open up options to those which constrain future decisions. After considering THE OPTIONS together with the qualities required to confront uncertainty and fiscal restraint, The Vancouver Plan identifies THE DIRECTION which the city will take to guide change. This direction is defined and pursued through ten action decisions described below. t~~~g~~~ ~~~~rit~~!~rowth. DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL THROUGH NEW ZONING. The city will take a cautious attitude toward future employment growth and toward control. While some minor redistributions and adjustments of commercial development potential are possible, the city anticipates no major alterations in zoning at this time--either to reduce or increase overall potential. MAXIMUM COMMERCIAL FLOOR SPACE RATIOS DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER The core's present 70 million square feet of development potential provides ample room for office employment expansion until at least the turn of the century, even were there to be a continuation of accelerating growth. In fact, given present plans for housing and transportation, the potential for employment growth is much greater than can be comfortably accommodated by the rest of Vancouver. Whether the ability of Vancouver to accommodate full potential, or anything near it, will ever be tested is highly uncertain: the era of accelerating tlowntowngrowlheooldbe endingooitsown accord. Until the trend becomes clearer, it would be unwise to reduce core employment potential. In a fragile economy, any constraint on growth could be interpreted ne!jatively by investors and the Vancouver area could lose needed new job opportunities. Before embarking on that dangerous route, other remedies for Vancouver's possible growing pains will be tried first. On the other hand, major additions to office development potential are neither anticipated nor encouraged. There is no shortage of developable 9

12 land for employment activities, and adding to the already large surplus would merely redistribute development from one site to another, There would be little, if any, net economic gain in the short term and potentially more difficulty in the long term when dealing with the consequences, 2CONTINUE TO SUPPORT REGIONAL TOWN CENTRES OUTSIDE VANCOUVER BUT WITH MORE REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS. In the early seventies, the Greater Vancouver Regional District introduced the idea of regional town centres, These new downtowns in Burnaby, New Westminster, Surrey, and Coquitlam were intended to act as centres for suburban office growth and to receive office development deflected from Vancouver's downtown, The concept of regional town centres continues to make sense, If they could attract sufficient development, they would provide jobs closer to suburban residences and they would focus suburban jobs near the transit system where they are more accessible to all (including city residents), However, regional town centres are by no means a panacea for the consequences of core growth, While the core is zoned for 70 million square feet of office space, all four regional town centres combined are planned for no more than about twelve million square feet. Even if the town centres were phenomenally successful in achieving their own development objectives, they would barely make a dent in the growth prospects for the Vancouver core, And to date development has been very slow, Since 1972 the combined growth rate of all regional town centres has been about one-tenth that in the core. The city will continue to assist the development of regional town centres. The most significant sslstance.wiube..tg oosurethatthezootng potential for activities appropriate for regional town centres is not increased elsewhere in the region, including the non-core areas of Vancouver. Appropriate investors will also be actively informed of town centre opportunities, Ultimately regional town centres can be of real benefit to Vancouver, For reasons of efficient transportation, urban amenity, and best utilization of scarce land resources, town centres are clearly preferable to diffuse and centreless suburban development. However, at least in the short term, REGIONAL TOWN CENTRES they will not be enough, Vancouver will have to deal with the city-wide implications of core growth much more directly and immediately. 3ACCOMMODATE EMPLOYMENT GROWTH FIRST THROUGH EXPANDING THE CITY HOUSING STOCK AND ONLY SECONDLY THROUGH IMPROVEMENTS TO THE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM. More housing is the principal means which the city will employ to cope with the implications of core employment growth. By providing more housing opportunities, Vancouver will attempt to counter the trend toward increased suburbanization and accompanying expansion of the transportation system. Over a ten-year period, the city will attempt to increase the zoned potential for housing in Vancouver by 50,000 units, This would bring total potential to about units and would allow Vancouver's hou~ing stock to increase by almost 50 percent if there is sufficient demand. Th~f11C1jgrr~9$QnJQL~nQQW[ggiDQ..mQJfZbQusiD.Q in the city is to provide an alternative to expensive investments in transportation. Sig,nificant new transportation spending would be required If most of the housing demand generated by added core employees were to be met by new dwellings in the suburbs, Core employees who lived within the city could either walk to work or more likely take advantage of an already dense and efficient in-city transit system. Suburban housing development, on the other hand, would require both new roads and new transit services at considerable public cost. 10

13 Expanding the city's zoned potential for housing is also less risky than investments in transportation. This is very important given the uncertainties about the magnitude and timing of continued core employment growth. If growth does not occur as anticipated, the cost of under-utilized zoning potential is negligible compared to the cost of redundant transportation capacity. There are other advantages too. The present zoning regulations restrict the supply of housing. If the development industry takes advantage of more zoned potential, there could be a substantial increase in the number of units available, and this should help to moderate future increases in the cost of housing. This, in turn, may permit more households to live in the city, thus making better use of expensive public services already provided in Vancouver and reducing the need to provide these services elsewhere in the metropolitan area. Further, more housing in the city would provide an increased market for the retail, restaurant, and entertainment amenities that make Vancouver such an interesting place to live. There would be more variety for everyone. Increasing housing in the city could change the character of Vancouver's neighbourhoods. But the nature of the changes would depend on how and where the new units are built. If it responds to community concerns, more housing need not result in a deterioration of the Vancouver quality of life. And relying instead on suburbs to handle residential growth would not prevent Vancouver's neighbourhoods from changing. They would change anyway through the redevelopments that are already occurring, through the turnover of their residents, and through the effects of increased traffic and new transportation arteries. 4..LOCATE POTENTIAL NEwMED'..UM-DENS' IN AREAS OF HIGHTy EXISTING HOuS'..NG. SERVICES AND AMENITIES. In general the city will try to achieve new housing opportunities through zoning for medium-density, ground-oriented housing such as townhouses, patio-homes, conversions, and garden apartments. The region's population future suggests a stronger demand for this kind of housing than for higher density alternatives, and the market for high-density accommodation is likely to be saturated by Be Place and by other core developments under existing zoning. MULTI FAMILY SINGLE FAMILY PRESENT MULTI-FAMILY AND SINGLE FAMILY ZONING Much of the new medium-density potential is likely to be outside the core, in or near areas presently zoned for single-family detached dwellings or duplexes. In these areas of relatively low existing density, the city can achieve a greater net increase in potential dwelling units without going to extraordinarily high densities. Redevelopment in single-family or adjacent non-residential areas also requires the demolition of fewer existing affordable units. In selecting areas for greater housing potential, the city will look first at areas where the cost of providing municipal services to new developments can be minimized. These areas should have surplus physical infrastructure (such as sewer capacity), surplus community services (such as schools, community centres, and parks), and good transit access to employment. New medium-density areas should also have higher than average amenities (both public and commercial) so that they will be attractive for redevelopmentaruj.l)0that more residbnlsgan gain ready access to the special qualities that make life in Vancouver so enjoyable. Obviously, increased hou.sing potential will have to be introduced very sensitively, so that the act of sharing Vancouver among more residents does not make it less worth sharing. The city will consult with existing residents before recommending increased potential in their neighbourhoods More housing units should only be introduced into city neighbourhoods with a minimum disruption of the present quality of life. 11

14 Most. if not all, of those involved should perceive the changes as beneficial-both in financial terms and in terms of a better, more interesting community in which to live. 5IMPROVE THE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM THROUGH TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT AND OTHER EFFICIENCY MEASURES BEFORE CONSTRUCTING MAJOR CAPITAL PROJECTS. Even with more housing in the city, some transportation improvements will be needed to serve the travel demand generated by core growth. In fact, some minor improvements are warranted by current changes and present conditions, irrespective of future growth. These projects-including the new Cambie Bridge, the Cordova Street extension, and the link between Highway 1 and the Second Narrows Bridge-are being constructed as soon as possible. Other improvements will await a complete assessment of their need and feasibility. Some may be justified on the basis of the current and developing transportation situation and others may not, but all will be evaluated together so that scarce capital funds will be spent on the most beneficial improvements. Potential city-initiated projects which will undergo a coordinated assessment include the Bute-Nelson or Haro-Bute tunnel, the Grandview Cut route, the Malkin Avenue project and its link to the Grandview Cut, and the Quebec-Kingsway connection. A number of senior-government projects would become part of the city's transportation network and, because of various funding formulas, could compete for some of the same tax dollars as the city projects. Therefore, they will also be included in the comprehensive evaluation of the city's transportation needs and be part of a... priority~janked.transportationinvestmeatpfegf3m: Among the projects to be jointly evaluated are the port service road and connections to the city street system, the extension of rail rapid transit to Coquitlam and Richmond, commuter rail to the northeast, and the expansion of the Seabus system. As they are identified, other projects of similar scale will be subjected to the same process of comparative evaluation and priority-ranking. Government cannot afford all the proposed transportation projects at once, so choices will GRANDVIEW CUT e POTENTIAL TRANSPORTATION INPROVEMENTS ALRT STATIONS have to be made. These choices will profit from a careful analysis of relative costs and~f3flf3fit~: Beyond the first-priority ALRT line and the projects identified above, the city is not committed to any major investments in transportation at this time. The identification and evaluation of other costly capital improvements will be done after resolving some of the current uncertainty about the core's real growth prospects. The city does not intend to engage in expensive planning studies for facilities which will not be needed if growth slows down or is restructured. As well, the city's housing initiatives will be given a chance to work before committing to transportation investments which 12

15 could make suburban housing more attractive. For the time being, the city will maintain accessibility by increasing the efficiency of the present transportation system; that is, squeezing more capacity out of existing facilities and services before building more. Using such relatively low-cost techniques as computerized signals, left-turn bays, parking restrictions, and exclusive bus lanes, the city will attempt to manage traffic so as to smooth out flows, encourage car pools and transit, and allow more people to travel over the same streets in the same time as now. PERCENT OF HOUSEHOLDS o FLZI G PROMOTE TRANSIT USE BEFORE PROVIDING ADDITIONAL CAPITAL-INTENSIVE AUTOMOBILE FACILITIES. One of the most obvious ways of getting more efficient use of the transportation system is to get more people out of cars and onto transit. If conditions are right, transit can move many more people much less expensively than automobiles. But for transit to be effective, both in attracting riders and moving them at reasonable cost, it must go from where a lot of people are to where a lot of people want to be. That is, its attractiveness and efficiency depend on the densities of residences and activities. The low-density suburban subdivision, which has dominated residential development in greater Vancouver, creates excessive costs for the transit operator and excessive inconvenience for the transit patron. Dispersed commercial activities do not contribute to a transit solution either. Therefore, the city will seek to concentrate new work and shopping locations and new residential development in higher-density clumps, closely related to the new ALRT and to the existing bus system. In the long run this could substantially restructure Vancouver. In the shorter the will ;::::.. ~" '~"'~:......'J' " operators to travel more rapid and convenient and hence more attractive. Among the measures which the city will pursue are exclusive bus lanes, park-and-ride facilities, more and better bus shelters, larger buses, and improved transit information services. Recognizing that the price and availability of parking can also influence the choice between transit and automobile commuting, the city will also continue to use parking policy to complement Its transit initiatives. LENGTH OF RESIDENCE MORE THAN TEN YEARS 1IDENTIFY AND PRESERVE THOSE ASPECTS OF THE VANCOUVER ENVIRONMENT THAT ARE CRITICAL TO THE CITY'S IMAGE, CHARACTER, AND QUALITY OF LIFE. As the core grows and other aspects of the city respond, the look and feel of Vancouver will change. Regardless of the characteristics of this change, many Vancouverites will regard it as negative simply because it is change. Vancouverites have an intense love of their city Just the way it is now, and they are reluctant to alter any aspect of what they believe to be a nearly ideal home and work environment. But in spite of an intense desire to keep things as they are, the city will continue to change-perhaps dramatically. Even the most severe growth controls will not keep Vancouver from changing, as population and economic shifts influence the city's character independently of anything Vancouver itself does. Trying to keep the things the same, in fact, may not stop change but only produce a different kind of change, just Accepting change as inevitable, the essential task is to identify those aspects of Vancouver which are truly worth keeping under any circumstances and then work to preserve these in spite of change. Preservation will not occur by assumption or default, but will require an active program to counter the pressures which otherwise would destroy Vancouver's unique quality of life. Part of the work has already been done by the Goals for Vancouver program, which identified 13

16 the general qualities that people value in Vancouver. The city will now supplement that work with a more detailed inventory of special features requiring protection and nurturing. These include significant public and private views, natural amenities, water areas, landmarks, heritage areas and structures, other urban design attributes, air and water quality, and social and cultural resources. Clearly knowing those physical and social aspects of the community which are inviolate, the city can then actively intervene to protect and maintain them. BCAPITALIZE ON NEW DEVELOPMENT TO IMPROVE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY. In addition to protecting that which it already has, the city will seek to improve on its environmental attributes as change occurs. It will attempt to do this using both public resources and private development. First, however, the city will get its priorities in order. Recognizing the likelihood of continued fiscal scarcity, combined with many competing demands on public resources, the city intends to establish clear priorities and an investment program to ensure that the most needed new public facilities are provided first and existing inequities in the provision of amenities are not exacerbated. With a clearer sense of needs and priorities, the city will be in a better position to direct its own funds to areas where they will do the most good. It will also be in a better position to capitalize on opportunities to provide public-oriented amenities in association with new private development. The development negotiation process will be enhanced by an explicit identification of the environmental improvements which the city regards as most important. As well, a well-articulated amenity investment program will help differentiate those areas requiring public funds from those where private financing (either individual or pooled) may be more appropriate. To accompany its investment program, the city will develop a package of financial mechanisms and other means to secure the improvements identified. This, too, will help separate and private alternatives for environmental enhancement and amenity provision. 9RESERVE THE OPTION FOR MAJOR NEW TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES IN THE EVENT THAT TRANSPORTATION EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS AND ADDITIONAL HOUSING ARE NOT SUFFICIENT TO ACCOMMODATE EMPLOYMENT GROWTH. If core employment growth continues to the potential under present zoning, and if the combination of housing and transit-oriented efficiency measures is not successful, then Vancouver will need to seriously consider more difficult transportation options. This may include building new roads or more rail transit lines, depending upon an assessment of need and feasibility. Both roads and rail transit are likely to be very expensive and very disruptive to existing neighbourhoods. Decisions on new transportation facilities are not to be taken lightly, and they should be based on knowledge of what works in Vancouver and what does not. Therefore, the city will participate in an evaluation of the ALRT E3XpE3riE3rl9i3 befori3. g ri3i3ingjq ggijiqdaljacjjjtieil... of comparable scale and expense, whether for transit or automobiles. However, to minimize future costs and negative impacts on communities, the potential corridors for future transportation facilities will be identified as soon as possible. Measures will then be taken to protect these corridors from development or other change that would alienate their use for any high-capacity transportation purpose. By reserving corridors now, the city will prevent a great deal of trouble and expense later 14

17 PRINCIPAL TRANSPORTATION CORRIDORS 11 PREPARE TO CONTROL OR DEFLECT CORE EMPLOYMENTGROWTHSHOULDHOU~NGAND TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS PROVE UNATTAINABLE OR THE ENVIRONMENTAL TRADE-OFFS PROVE UNACCEPTABLE. Neighbourhoods may not accept the moderately higher densities implied by increasing housing potential, and the city will be reluctant to impose new residential zoning. Even if higher housing potential is achieved, developers, preferring a known suburban market, may not respond to the opportunity. As well, new transportation facilities may be judged to be too expensive or too disruptive, and the transit alternative could be found to be too inconvenient. For a variety of quality-of-iife reasons, Vancouver might simply decide someday that it does not want to become much bigger. If Vancouver cannot or does not want to make any of the changes associated with core growth and if growth does not subside on its own, then thecitywoujdhavelttttechotce battotmpose growth controls on the downtown and surrounding commercial areas. But should Vancouver decide to control growth, it would be starting on a difficult journey which few, if any, cities have travelled with unambiguous success. Therefore, the city will take some time early on to plan its potential path with care and to become aware of all the likely pitfalls. If a decision is taken to control growth, it will be taken with knowledge of the risks and side effects as well as the positive objectives. The city is also aware that an unconscious form of growth control could occur in Vancouver all too easily. By refusing to accommodate employment growth with more housing or transportation improvements, the city could discourage future economic development, but in a way which has its harshest impact on those least able to cope and in a way that clearly jeopardizes the Vancouver quality of life. Relying on more congestion and higher housing prices to ration downtown development is socially unacceptable. If Vancouver does not want to live with the implications of growth and change, then it is better to make that decision consciously and to take actions to reduce the inequities and other costs of that decision. Given the difficulty of achieving other changes, Vancouver has to hold open explicit growth control as an option of last resort. But growth control will be very difficult to do at all and nearly impossible to do well. The city's only hope is to take time and care. That is why it will start preparing early, whether it ever actually needs to control growth or not. 15

18 THE PROGRAM for preparing change The Vancouver Plan will be Implemented through a program of follow-up planning work. In addition to furthenng the intent of THE DIRECTION, this work will also help refine THE DIRECTION through continual test against new problems and new opportunities and In light of emerging public objectives The Vancouver Plan will, therefore, continue to learn and to change as the city's perception of its future changes The Initial follow-up program includes the following items CORE EMPLOYMENT Organize and service a committee, composed of members from both the public and private sectors, to review the fiscal implicalions of continued core growth and to recommend an approach to managing those implications Establish a cooperalive program with other agencies and with the private sector to continuously monitor the rate and Implications of core employment change. Develop a program to advise appropriate non-core-oriented firms of regional town centre opportunities Review non-core commercial zoning CITY HOUSING Prepare alternative scenarios for r;~i",,,,,;,,r, increases in housing potential and further develop the criteria needed to areas aclor,oonale for densities. Identify specific areas where increases in housing potential should be negotiated and initiate area planning programs TRANSPORTATION Prepare a transportation investment program, establishing priorities for corridors requiring reservation and devise appropriate develo()m(::;nt controls Identify an accelerated program of transportation efficiency improvements for inclusion In the next city capital plan Evaluate transit ridership exloe(~tatloi-is Transit as they affect the total off,r",,,r',, of the URBAN ENVIRONMENT Organize and service a broad-based committee to a city-wide amenity Inl/ontnn/ pnorities for amenity and environmental regulations and Incentives Report on the feasibility of and resource for a social development strategy, aimed at protecting and enhancing Vancouver's social and cultural environment Initiate procedures to use THE CRITERIA in project and plan evaluation Work on a number of area plans and other policy decisions will also be influenced by The Vancouver Plan This related work will, in turn, through its own conclusions affect the evolving shape and success of the city's general strategy as expressed in this plan By being conscious of The Vancouver Plan concerns and the relationship of these concerns to a variety of other city work will have the potential to significantly contribute to the achievement of the strategy and to improve It Willie work in pursuit of The Vancouver Plan does not commit the city to an irreversible course, it does start Vancouver in a direclion which could have Immense consequences In the longer-term future THE PROGRAM,,,,,,~I,r,r an active Intent to pursue more and densities in the accelerate I"","vr"",ornc",tc a clear set of mechanisms for the n"~rr",,r;l enhancement of ""'~+.~, account of the social of average ",tt,r;conr'li of the for future road and 16

19 MORE INFORMATION Readers interested in more information on the development of The Vancouver Plan and its rationale will find the following documents useful: The Vancouver Coreplan: A Proposal for Discussion, Draft, May 1983;.CorepfanMylhs;"NbVembefi983; Coreplan Public Involvement Program Responses, October 1983; Coreplan Follow-up, May 1984; Core Change: Update on Employment, Housing, and Transportation, June 1984, These are available at cost from: City of Vancouver Planning Department Information Services 453 West 12th Avenue Vancouver, B,G. V5Y 1V4