New Media » CityView

Conflict of Interest In My Own Neighborhood

jnarvey — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 07:12:20 +0000

My neighborhood of Mount Pleasant has been one of Vancouver’s fastest growing areas in the city from 2006 to 2011. In general, I’ve liked what I’ve seen since I moved in here six years ago; a Canada line along Cambie; more businesses along Cambie, Broadway and Main; cool restaurants, cafes and bars; amenities like a new public library and community center. Along with business, condos have gone up, which can be good and bad.

Businesses in the neighborhood tend to be at ground-level. The condos that have gone into the neighborhood recently have been around four storeys or higher.

And now we have the Rize development; 19 storeys of 241 market-rate condos being considered by Vancouver City Hall. Here’s a quick roundup of my thinking:

The city is unaffordable. According to normal economic theory, more condos should make the neighborhood more affordable, but…
Realistically, given that Vancouver is now a “world-class” city with a significant number of international buyers, this development will not move market prices noticeably downward. In fact, the price per square foot will be significantly higher than what I paid when I bought in six years ago; and I still paid a premium then that I try not to think about. I’m no expert, but I’m guessing developers would need to simultaneously plunk down tens of thousands of units around Vancouver just to slow down the cost of housing in this city. Long story short: anyone who advocates for the Rize on affordability grounds (as in, affordable enough for even lower-income people to buy in) is fooling themselves. Without some kind of government subsidy, no new development in Vancouver will ever be affordable.
The Rize seems too high to me. I’m a fan of development. The changes that have already occurred these last years have been very positive. But nineteen storeys is a game-changer. It’s a gut feeling — but I also don’t see how a developer can’t make a very healthy profit with a shorter building. Instead of really high towers, how about going with a Parisian model of lower-profile buildings of four storeys or so?
We’re not just talking about the Rize. If that development goes ahead in its current planned form, others will follow. It’s the thin edge of the wedge. Even if I were fine with one 19-storey development, I wouldn’t be so accepting of three or four.

So, that’s where I’m at. As a guy who wants a sustainable city and thriving neighborhoods, development is good. But I’m not convinced this particular development is right for Mount Pleasant.

Video. The Neighborhood of Hastings Sunrise A neat video tour of the East Vancouver neighborhood of...

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What’s the Deal with Vancouver’s Population?

jnarvey — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:29:06 +0000

Vancouver-based journalist, blogger and city-watcher Frances Bula has some good questions following the release of new census data. Best question of the bunch:

I’d like to hear some explanation from the data nerds on why the city of Vancouver’s population is only 603,000 when all the provincial projections have been pegging it at around 630,000 for the last couple of years. Were the projections based on the numbers of units built and, in fact, those units are not occupied by people counted in the census?

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Video. The Neighborhood of Hastings Sunrise

jnarvey — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 06:40:39 +0000

A neat video tour of the East Vancouver neighborhood of Hastings Sunrise by my uber-talented and compelling-as-heck friend, Kevin Spenst. Watch it. You won’t regret it, Vancouverites and wannabe-Vancouverites.

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Stay Classy Vancouver. Photos Of The Day After The Riot

jnarvey — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 06:37:03 +0000

It is the day after the riot in downtown Vancouver following the Canucks loss to the Bruins in the Stanley Cup final. The city has come together, cleaned up most of the mess and shown true civic spirit in the aftermath of a very bad night. Some images I took with my iPhone from Granville Street in the heart of Vancouver.

My Favorite Tweets From The #Canucks #Riot Vancouver may have had the most well-documented riot in the...

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The View From Vancouver

jnarvey — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 19:08:55 +0000

You can’t beat the view. Here’s my video from the top of Harbour Centre in the heart of downtown Vancouver. YouTube doesn’t quite do it justice — you really do have to be there. But it’s a rite of passage for longtime Vancouver residents and tourists alike.

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I’m Honored, National Magazine Awards

jnarvey — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 07:25:37 +0000

Funny, I didn’t even know I was in the running. Looks like I’ve been recognized with an Honorable Mention by the National Magazine Awards for my articles in Granville Magazine’s EcoDensity Special. Congratulations to my fellow honorees!

If you’re curious about what I wrote that deserved this honor, here are the articles that were recognized for extraordinary awesomeness:

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The Future of Food

jnarvey — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 18:55:27 +0000

Where will we get our food a few decades from now? Is our current model sustainable? Will we be able to feed the world’s teeming billions? Is “breakfast in a can” the thin edge of the wedge for where we’re headed? Learn more in my feature article in Sharp Magazine, The Future of Food — or even better, actually buy a copy of the magazine at Chapters or some other newsstand

(NOTE: If this topic doesn’t really grab you, check out the magazine anyway. Aliya-Jasmine Sovani’s boobs are practically falling out of her shirt on the next page after my story ends, on page 64. In her feature by Leo Petaccia, “Sharp sits down with MTV Canada’s most infamous host to talk about the merits of social consciousness, the importance of breasts and why we all need to lighten up once in a while”. Worth a look.)

An excerpt from my story:

“Make a better breakfast faster, Batter Blaster!” The tongue-in-cheek jingle is not the only addictive thing about entrepreneur Sean O’Connor’s invention. His waffle mix in a spray can is now in 13,000 stores across North America, including Costco and Walmart, with plenty of accolades and YouTube testimonials by dedicated fans of the product. “Just shake, point, blast and cook,” the slogan goes.

“We believe we’re consistent with the innovative path that led to microwave popcorn, or lettuce in a bag,” O’Connor notes. It’s organic, easy to use and, increasingly, represents the future of how we prepare our food.

There are certainly enough other examples of packaged foods, unrecognizable a few generations ago, that have become commonplace. But as the demand for high-tech foods increases, so does the demand for organics and local food. Once again, we face a paradox.

Is this the future of food?

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Urban Planning Through Deliberate Sabotage

jnarvey — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:30:25 +0000

When a neighborhood’s resiliency derives so much from affordability for the working class, artists and small businesses, should a neighborhood deliberately avoid making improvements? Deliberate sabotage of a community seems rife with risk and the threat of unanticipated blowback.

But for the funky, vital neighborhood of Commercial Drive in Vancouver, gradual improvements will just keep adding to the trend of gentrification that has made home-ownership for lower incomes totally out of reach and made some local business owners concerned about their long-term future. Without more massive infusions of subsidized housing, how can the Drive retain its character as the neighborhood becomes irresistible to Yuppies? My comments in the Granville Magazine blog post, When livability and resilience collide

Can Commercial hold back gentrification? If it can’t, is it possible to retain the neighbourhood’s distinct character? These were the sorts of questions that participants were dealing with at the recent Drive to Resilience forum on envisioning the future of Commercial Drive, hosted by the students in the Semester in Dialogue program at SFU. Those in attendance included residents, local business owners and representatives from various neighbourhood organizations who were guided through a day-long exercise in collaborative problem solving.

Much of what participants discussed revolved around developing more support for affordable housing, help for artists and small businesses, and even programs to support the integration of the area’s homeless and marginal people into composting efforts. In this sense, much of Commercial Drive’s character seems dependent on low rent and subsidies for those with low income.

Ironically, the characteristics that define Commercial Drive may have actually become more pronounced due to the gentrification of areas like Kitsilano, which has sent artists and working-class holdouts fleeing for the Eastside. But in a few more years, rent increases for residents and businesses may conceivably turn the area into a slightly more mellow version of South Granville—with its Le Chateau, Pottery Barn and Chapters stores—sending purists and the area’s poor fleeing for some other as-yet ungentrified corner of the city.

If the consensus from neighbourhood residents and Vancouver-area citizens who make the Drive their second home is to preserve a working class neighbourhood and artist refuge in the midst of a rapidly growing, trend-setting cosmopolitan metropolis, the simplest way to keep rents down is to disincentivise certain yuppie types from moving into the neighbourhood. How to do that without going so far that you actually put the area into decline is tricky.

How Does Commercial Drive Retain This?

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Gimme Shelter

jnarvey — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:03:35 +0000

“Homes, not Games” has been a consistent rallying cry of anti-Olympics protesters. But visitors to Vancouver may not realize that progress on this file has not been utterly lacking. The social housing we’ve built for our most vulnerable may even be a model for other cities around the world to follow.

Here’s an excerpt from my report in Granville on the viability of Woodward’s as a living example of social housing that works:

Of course, since about 2000, Vancouver’s residents and politicians have made substantial efforts to change this neighborhood. Without an umbrella organization to direct taxpayers funds effectively, many projects have seen pitiful returns on investment. But as I noted last week, the Woodward’s building is an example of a project that has provided real benefits to residents—and in the bigger picture, our city.

New Woodward’s resident and DTES-based new media specialist April Smith can’t say enough good things about her new accommodations on an upper floor of the building. She understands the importance of basic shelter to the living conditions of her fellow citizens in the area: “Housing is vital. It can change lives. Certainly changed my life. I went from being homeless to having the best housing I could possibly get.”

She’s not understating the quality of the place. Overlooking the newly renovated neighbourhood and with a view of the water, April has what some people might consider to be a million-dollar view.

The space is smaller than a typical studio apartment, but each room comes with a full kitchen and washroom. Residents have free Internet, phone and cable. There’s laundry on the top floor next to a community lounge and an outdoor space as well.

There’s also the convenience of mixed-use zoning: “To have a real grocery store right underneath you, it’s really good for those residents who have mobility issues. It works out well for me too—I’m trying to be healthier and eat better.”

There’s no question that April and other residents of Woodward’s are now able to live with dignity in a supportive environment. But this improved living condition didn’t come cheap. Not everyone is pleased about the scale of the investment. As one friend who lives in Vancouver South confided in me the other day, “I understand people need housing, but why do we have to spend so much so that they can have views of Canada Place and brand new couches? I mean, do people really have a ‘right’ to live in some of the most desirable real estate in the world?”

Tough questions. But I think our city has provided some balanced answers in the Woodward’s experiment.

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Vancouver is in a Party Mood

jnarvey — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 07:07:24 +0000

Olympic spirit is transforming the look of Vancouver’s downtown with some very neat public art and some excited onlookers. I took a few photos of the action.

While I was wandering, I noticed a protest in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery for Iranians against the thuggish regime. Very pleased to see these people getting the attention they deserve from the masses out on the streets today.

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