Should Vancouver build over the 1200 ft development limit?

Migrant_Coconut · #27 Posted **Dec 16, 2019, 6:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by fredinno

The reasons for West Van shrinking have a lot to do with electoral attitudes. City Council doesn’t really want to keep the city shrinking for obvious reason, and that was part of what spurred Cypress Village- it’s either accept a city without a long-term future, or go against your own people to try to build one.

Well, a piece of land ether size of New West is not small.

I would be sceptical that they NIMBYs would all die out and don’t just get replaced with new ones. Maybe reduce. Willowgbhy as a whole is about as large (~15 Km2), so it’s not exactly not going to make a dent either. I don’t think the housing situation would be any better if not for Willowgbhy.

Maybe there is the potential for a Density Only solution, but I don’t see it. Even Tokyo sprawls out slightly. http://atlasofurbanexpansion.org/cities/view/Tokyo

I guess East Maple Ridge and Silverdale are ‘in the way’ of bus services and WCE to Mission, as few as there are. But the distances are also much greater both to Vancouver and to anywhere else, with the developable area spread out between ALR land. Unless we get rid of that.

Pretty much nowhere else significant is really ‘in the way’.

Sometimes leadership involves making unpopular decisions. While I can sympathize with the politicians for once, politically convenient decisions like density in the mountains will cost the town (I hesitate to call it a "city") in the long run.

It's entirely possible that NIMBYs are recycled instead of replaced, but it's worth noting the vocal minority of West Van's young adults that came out in support of the B-Line. Whether they keep that attitude or they turn into senile reactionaries over time is anybody's guess, but there's hope.

Yeah, but Tokyo's also got the population of all of Canada. Personally I'd wait for the 3.5M or 4M mark (or at least a North Shore SkyTrain) before we consider building up the mountains.

I wouldn't call either suburb "transit-oriented." Cypress Village planners may be using TOD as a selling point, but that's not going to work in practice - the geometry is all wrong for buses and trains. Maybe a gondola.