Density is good for the poor…say the poor
What surprised the city planners was that what they considered major issues for the area: namely historical context and less density, were viewed differently by the community who welcomed higher densities as a way to bring enough people into the area to support the shops and services that were needed locally. The Woodward’s redevelopment will have one million square feet of building area, including over 500 market and 200 non-market residential units as well as office, retail and community non-profit space and Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts. Extra height on the 397-foot tower was traded to the developer in return for 31,000 square feet of non-profit space.
the tyee
A great article on the transformation of the semi-skid row along West Hasting Street in Vancouver.
“The community” in this case are, for the most part poor, often drug addited or alcoholic, people living in SROs, shelters and or the street. These are people who have been entirely left behing in Vancouver’s (in my view ill advised) rush to become a “world class” city. But this community has absorbed Jane Jacobs through its pores. Couldn’t miss it when they had to walk miles to buy reasonably fresh food or a razor.
The anti-density mantra of the NIMBY yuppies is often a code for keeping the sort of people who live near West Hastings out of their neighbourhoods. But for the sort of people who actually live near West Hastings, density is one of the few things which can help tranform their neighbour hood and with it their lives.
Written by jay on April 4th, 2006 with
3 comments.
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#1. April 4th, 2006, at 7:34 PM.
This is Canada, it’s the government’s job to take care of homeless people. Besides, I don’t want them creeping too close to my back yard while I’m BBQing — getting a whiff of their B.O. just ruins my appetite.