Tag Archives: greenest city in the world

Urban Densification and the Death of the House Party

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About a month ago, Daily Gumboot Correspondent Steve Sloot and I were having a brainstorm of a chat about his going away party (he’s since left for France to, get this, learn French – what a guy). As we tend to do, Steve and I got to riffing and idea-making as he lamented that “none of our friends own a house, so we’ll have to have the party in a restaurant or something” to which I replied “man, urban densification will be the death of the house party.” Genius. I know.

On many an occasion, friends in Vancouver have crammed upwards of 30 people into their 692 square foot apartments. And a few times since moving to Vancity in 2008, I’ve seen many of those same 30 people party in a fairly spacious household setting, where – throughout the course of the evening – components of the party will actually take on  identities all their own: the kitchen might turn into a cauldron of political debate, a guitar-playing sing-along might erupt in the living room, a game of croquet might take place on the lawn, and people might check out wedding photos on the computer in the den.

These things can’t evolve naturally or independently in an apartment. Here are some other differences between parties in houses and apartments/condos:

Party Things Happen

IN AN APARTMENT

IN A HOUSE

Loud Party Noises

 Even infrequent or spontaneous collective belly-laughter can evoke a broom-to-the-ceiling or a loud kick-to-the-floor from other apartment dwellers.

This one time, due to our board-game-playing, laugh-riddled-high-jinks, a few of us received a strongly worded – yet hilarious – letter signed by the other seven apartments in the building.

 Noises have to be pretty loud and sustained before neighbours get involved.

Settlers of Catan is played

 Game becomes the awkward focal-point of an otherwise cool gathering. Slowly, people are drawn to the exclusively interesting playing surface – probably the dining room table that you have to pass to get to the kitchen/living room – and, before you know it, this unassuming board game has turned into a spectator sport.

The only thing worse than this situation is when people start watching YouTube videos. That’s when you know the party’s over.

Nerds are relegated to the Den/Study, where they belong.

Food Served

 “Is the table for sitting and eating or serving and dishing? If the latter, then where do we sit? I’m confused and someone just bumped into me with a plate of hummus!” You might have a table – or a few tables – that function for 30-person grazing, a sit-down meal, or buffet-style serve-and-sit. There’s enough space even when Kurt Heinrich sits himself down at the table amongst all the food and just digs in!

Game of Bocce

 Your 5×5 balcony is not a suitable or safe place to hurl rock-hard balls. Try the living room… Front or back yards are great places for the strategic, exciting and community-building game of bocce. Have fun with it!

Intense Political Discussion

 Begins in the kitchen, but soon embroils and consumes the entire party until someone calls someone else a racist socialist fascist anarchist. The party ends shortly. Contained nicely in whatever room it begins and people can back slowly away.

Needless to say, house parties are pretty awesome.

Now, urban densification is an important and necessary thing here in Vancouver. It’s important for people to live where we work (or as close as possible) and to be able to get to schools, parks, stores, etc. by a 20 minute walk, bike ride or transit trip. The future of our communities needs to me more about mixing commercial and service spaces with residential ones, preferably in a way that fits a minimum of 12-18 households into ever acre of urban space. Check out the Portland Plan for more information on ideas like this.

This whole discussion got me thinking about places like London, New York, Hong Kong, and Buenos Aires where, for myriad different reasons, house parties are an absolute rarity. The fact that these cities also rank high on the international list of urbanly dense communities certainly has a lot to do with it. According to a study by the Recent Findings Institute, there are several other major cities who have – for decades and/or even centuries – found celebration within small spaces. The study found that Hong Kong (350 square feet), New York (700) and London (650). Through use of vibrant (or ones that are “just there”) public spaces, lounges, bars and restaurants, as well as everything from parks to movie theatres to community centres, these three world class cities know how to make party public.

So, does Vancouver’s path to becoming a greener, closer, denser urban environment mean the end of the house party as we know it? Will myriad-raging gatherings break out in laneway domiciles? Well, as more and more of us make our homes in smaller spaces, celebratory gatherings will change in size, scale and space.

But, hey, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t party.

20-Minute Neighbourhoods

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From this brainstorm about Community Re-Development came a fantastic idea about 20 Minute Neighbourhoods.

So, I just finished my UBC Continuing Studies class in Sustainability and Transformational Leadership. Last week, teammates Heidi, Roger and I created a consulting firm – 20:15 (we present the concept of “20-Minute Neighbourhoods” in 15 minutes) – and delivered a presentation that outlined a pretty cool strategy for re-developing communities in vibrant, local and stranger-less ways. Here’s a synopsis of our pitch.

20-Minute Neighbourhoods Are…

A 20-minute neighbourhood is a place with convenient, safe, and pedestrian-oriented access to the places people need to go to and the services people use nearly every day: transit, shopping, quality food, school, parks, and social activities. A 20-minute neighbourhood is a walkable environment where people can go and get their basic needs met in about twenty minutes from their home. Many researchers believe that the key to making great strides with climate change rests within cities. Cities are the most densely populated areas; therefore it is also where between 50 to 75 per cent of greenhouse gases are produced.

The 20-minute neighbourhood is not a new concept. In the 1920’s when the car was not yet the main way of getting around, most people lived in 20-minute neighbourhoods by necessity. Even with a growing popularity of the car, there was a strong desire to preserve 20-minute access to all needed day-to-day human needs. In 1949, the famous writer E. B. White described the same small-city concept in an essay called ‘Here Is New York’:

“Each area is a city within a city within a city, thus no matter where you live in New York, you will find within a block or two a grocery store, a barbershop, a newsstand and shoeshine shack, an ice-coal-and-wood cellar, a dry cleaner, a laundry, a delicatessen, a flower shop, an undertaker’s parlor, a movie house, a radio-repair shop, a stationer, a haberdasher, a tailor, a drug store, a garage, a tearoom, a saloon, a hardware store, a liquor store, a shoe-repair shop.”

Twenty-minute neighbourhoods have the following three basic characteristics:

  1. A walkable environment
  2. Destinations that support a range of daily needs (i.e., shops, jobs, parks, etc.)
  3. Residential density

Create a 20-Minute Neighbourhood by…

Going to Portland! The City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability have written a great report and we adapted it for our project and summarized some of their “next steps” ideas below. Broadly speaking, 20-Minute Neighbourhoods succeed when there is social (people in the community/neighbourhood) and organizational (leaders in the community as well as municipal representatives) buy into the project. The 20-Minute Neighbourhood campaign must always start with a “living laboratory” or a “living show-room” – many communities from Halifax to Victoria are already in possession of some (or all) of the “20 minute essentials” and these neighbourhoods must be found, approached and given the additional elements required to become champions of this concept.

Set Priorities for These Three Things

  1. Walkability. We propose that your cities understand what it feels like to walk places. To get started, we recommend that the City Council – your Municipal Leaders – forfeit your cars for a month, which will give you a true sense of what 20-minutes of walking feels like and where – from your home – you can reach in this amount of time. As leaders in the community, people will take notice of this, which leads us to our second recommendation surrounding walkability: the City should provide incentives for people who voluntarily surrender their car(s) in favour of walking, cycling, public transit, or a car-share/co-op program.
  2. Residential Density. Creating partnerships with developers who are interested – and excited – about urban densification is another key part of our 20-minute Neighbourhood strategy. These developers will know where it will be possible to create neighbourhoods with 18-20 households-per-acre (as well as where such neighbourhoods already exist).
  3. Living Showroom. One of the key outcomes of 20-minute Neighbourhoods is tourism. By finding a champion – an existing 20-minute neighbourhood, such as the West End of Vancouver – the city can create a “living showroom” that perfectly captures the cultural landscape of a 20-minute Neighbourhood. By entering these “living laboratories” guests – and community members – will be able to explore the concepts of a 20-minute neighbourhood for themselves in real time.

By implementing these three things – and addressing the questions (follow this link) outlined within each priority (thanks, Sam Adams!) – a city will be able to document its current capacity to champion existing 20-minute neighbourhoods as well as assess gaps between their current urban landscape and the one they want to create. Because the future should only be 20-minutes away.

Vancouver vs. Pepsi

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The City vs. The Corporation

It was bound to happen. Vancouver – the upstart, self-proclaimed Greenest City in the World - and Pepsi – the upstart, self-proclaimed Anti-Brand Counterculture Fresh Innovative Social Media Grassroots Not-Coke-We’re-Different-COOLNESS! – were going to run into each other. And I’m pleased to be the one to make the connection. Speaking of “connections,” how the heck did this one happen?

This morning, I updated my status on an up-and-coming social media widget called “Facebook” and asked people to send me ideas for community-minded blog posts, as I would be writing one today. Daily Gumboot Correspondent, Theodora Lamb, sent me this article about Vancouver’s Talk Green to Us campaign. Herro Hachi frontwoman and BFF, Kym Banguis, suggested – awhile ago, I’ll admit – something similar to Vancouver’s newest greenest campaign. It’s called the Pepsi Refresh Project. With each initiative calling on everyone to submit and vote on ideas, they are both democratic and inclusive. But are they equally innovative? Can one change the world better than the other? Which refreshing, world-changing initiative will make the biggest difference for our global community?

Since this is about democracy (for people who are literate with computers, anyway), I’ll leave the final decision to you!

The Case for Vancouver

It all starts with Gregor. When he’s not turning right at red lights or challenging transit fines or dropping F-bombs, our Mayor is a pretty darn good one. Innovative and visionary, even. And Gregor’s vision is pretty contagious and quite myriad in its scope, too. The city’s Ten Greenest City Goals, after all, include economic, health, style, and educational objectives, not just natural ones. Vancouver’s initiative also benefits from it being centralized and localized – sure, ideas are coming in from everywhere, but they will mostly be from folks in the GVA and Cascadia regions. Pepsi, on the other hand, will have to wade through a lot of crap noise. Not to toot my own horn, but in 2009 I submitted an idea that may or may not have started this whole thing (Editor’s note: it most certainly did not start this whole thing). Here is the idea: stationary bicycles that are connected to the city’s power grid. That’s just one idea. Anyway, what Vancouver has right now is a lingering sense of celebratory community. And I think that our leaders are smartly realizing it. The Olympics changed things. Right now – in this moment – there are many folks in the Lower Mainland looking for something very positive, very hopeful and, perhaps, very ridiculous to believe in and support. This Greenest City business could be that thing. And isn’t it something great to believe in?

The Case for Pepsi

Instead of positioning itself as the counterculturecool brand with Beyonce or Britney Spears, Pepsi is building community by engaging thousands of people from around the world and their scope is much, much bigger than Vancouver’s. “Green” is a slightly more limiting lens than “Refresh Everything.” Currently, there are 1,232 ideas in the running and they span the following categories: Health, Arts & Culture, Food &  Shelter, The Planet, Neighbourhoods, Education (Editor’s note: Kurt, these might actually be better “community-minded” categories than the ones we have now – let’s think about it). The  corporation is offering just $1.3 million to get these ideas started. Ironically, the organization mired in post-Olympic debt is standing to outspend a vibrant MNC by, well, quite a lot. Of course, Vancouver actually has to follow-through with its ideas, whereas Pepsi simply gets to fund meaningful little (and big) projects around the world. Finally, in spite of Coke’s dominance (according to a report by the Recent Findings Institute they are about to purchase advertising space on the moon), Pepsi  – and hopefully CEO Indra Nooyi, because she seems pretty cool – has more staying power than Vision Vancouver. One of the reasons that long-term thinking doesn’t jive with politics is because liberal democracy is about self-interest and, more specifically, about getting re-elected. A 10-year-plan, as noble as it may be, is tough to execute for any politician.

Vote Now!

So there it is. Two very different, um, nouns who are both pushing great, world-changing ideas. In the long run, which initiative do you think will make the biggest global impact?

Which initiative will make the biggest difference for our global community?

View Results

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A Vancouver Transportation Story

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For my post this week I was originally going to write about the concept of reputation, with a particular focus on Lebron James and his classless, drunk-on-ego Superfriends performance (filtered nicely through the thoughtful lens of two heroes, Alexandra Samuel and Steve Nash). And then I was going to argue that rural living is superior to urban living in every way. And then I was going to discuss the ridiculousness of how 90% or more of medical, financial, delivery, and professional services operate on a 9-5 time line, which is exactly when most of their clients are working.

But that all changed after an epic 99 B-Line bus ride from Commercial Drive to UBC.

Here is the Cast of Characters who made up our commuter community today:

The Bus Driver of Bus Number R8061: a fortysomething man clad in a hipster hat and in possession of a pocketful of righteousness.

Broadway Bike Rider: a woman dressed all in black, wearing a helmet, fearless, full of conviction.

Jack Sparrow with a Bicycle: nice guy, we chatted logistics as we put our bikes on together at Commercial Drive (mine went on first because I was getting off at UBC)…and he looked like a pirate.

Thoughtful Young Commuter: glasses, short haircut, clever looking backpack: everything about the kid looked smart.

Engaging Senior Citizen: a very “big picture” thinker who tried to find common ground amongst our Wednesday morning commuter community.

The Chorus: the background opinions and verbosity that echoed the primary dialogue and also piped up to fill the heavy silences.

It happened exactly like this, more or less:

Suddenly, there was a fierce braking by the driver followed by a long, loud, incessant honk of the horn (not me, the bus’s horn).

“You’re in the middle of the lane!” said the Driver.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” said Jack Sparrow. “What are you doing?! That was not right. You’re only a foot and a half away from her! Jesus. You could’ve killed her.”

“She’s gotta share the road,” replied The Driver.

The Chorus: “What happened? What happened?”

“She is sharing the road,” spat Jack Sparrow.

“She’s in the middle of the lane. It’s a bus lane,” spat back The Driver.

“You might not agree with what she’s doing,” piped up Thoughtful Young Commuter (TYC). “But that’s no way to deal with it. What if your brakes failed? Hell, what if one brake failed? You would’ve run her over.”

“Look. Right there. It says ‘BUS AND BIKE LANE’!” pointed Jack Sparrow.

The Chorus: “Did you see it? Did you see it? Should we just call Translink or the police, too?”

The bus pulls up to the stop sign.

“Hey! You can’t take up a whole lane. It’s for buses,” The Driver shouted out the window to the Broadway Bike Rider (BBR), who was on his left. “Share the road.”

The light turns green and the BBR sped out in front of the bus. As she rode, the BBR pointed to the “Bus and Bike Lane” signs that dotted the street every 15-20 meters. Interesting.

Honking continued.

“They shouldn’t have a shared bike and bus lane. It causes problems like this one right here,” the Engaging Senior Citizen (ESC) contributed to the discussion, which was very lively at this point.

“Fine, honk at her when she’s 100 meters away, that’s fine,” Jack Sparrow was coaching The Driver on proper techniques. “Keep your distance. Fine. Let her know you’re coming and use the other lane to swing out and go around her.”

“She’s not sharing the road,” repeated The Driver.

“Look, she’s allowed to ride three feet from the curb. It’s her right,” said TYC.

“Okay, here, look to your left. Just pull out into the next lane – even just a little bit – and pass her. See, it’s just that easy. No need to act the way you’re acting, man.” The Driver was steering, but Jack Sparrow was pretty much driving the bus.

Red light. The doors fly open and the BBR finds herself – yet again – to be the target of The Driver’s verbal barrage.

“This is a lane for buses. You can’t ride in the middle of it. Get out of the road before something bad happens,” yelled The Driver.

“The sign clearly says it’s a bike and bus lane. We share it. You can go around me easily,” yelled back the BBR.

“So share it,” retorted The Driver.

The Chorus: “Why isn’t she riding on tenth? It’s a bike street. This guy is an asshole! I’d be riding in front of the bus too if he tried to hit me. What? Do you want to get run over by a bus?”

Dramatic re-creation of the Character "Jack Sparrow...on a bike"!

“There shouldn’t be a shared lane for bicycles and buses,” offered the Engaging Senior Citizen. “It doesn’t make any sense. Especially on Broadway.”

“[INSERT SEVERAL EXPLETIVES HERE],” expressed Jack Sparrow. “You’re encroaching on her! You’re pushing her against the curb!”

Sure enough, the 99 B-Line was inching ever so slightly on an angle towards the curb. Out of the corner of my eye I notice a cyclist on the sidewalk – on the wrong side of the road – weaving through pedestrians. A wry, ironic smile creeps across my lips.

“Do you understand what you’re doing?” asked TYC. “What do you think this is doing to the rider? She’s getting scared. You’re making her an enemy of buses. Stop it now. You’re already in enough trouble. Just stop it.”

Exiting Chorus Members on their phones: “Yeah, the bus number is R8061…”

“You need to get out of the bus lane!” chided the unrelenting Driver, mostly to himself, as the doors were now closed.

“[INSERT MORE EXPLETIVES]!” Captain Jack Sparrow was getting close to vigilante justice. “You’re a terrible person and I hope you lose your job for this.”

Away went the BBR, ahead of the bus, continuing to point at the bus/bike lane signs. The Driver, as he held down his horn, moved out around the cyclist, back into the bus/bike lane, and continued along Broadway (later he would produce another long, angry horning, but it was because of a confusedly-parked driver and, folks, that’s another story for another time). The Driver – clearly – was having a very  bad day.

THE END

Vancouver is an interesting place to cycle (and, apparently, take the bus!). In the past year the city’s built landscape has changed a fair bit because of the bike-friendly creations on the Burrard Street Bridge and the Dunsmuir Viaduct. These things are supposed to make cycling safer. And we’re supposed to be future-living in the world’s greenest, most bicycle-oriented city. Or at least that’s the idea.

In the past few weeks one of my pedaling friends was hit by a car and another was hit by pavement after avoiding a car. This year I’ve seen half-a-dozen sprawled-out, injured cyclists at the horrible Clark-and-Tenth intersection, too. And then there’s Kurt Heinrich, whose casual cycling through stop signs and traffic lights has earned him over $300 in tickets. I confront annoying sidewalk-bike-riders on Commercial Drive nearly every time I go outside. And then there’s this – the above tale of a very overzealous bus driver. No matter how you spin or slice it, cycling is a messy business here in Vancouver.

So there it is. This story is just part of the larger fabric. And I bet ten more just like it pop up in your lives by the end of the week.

-  JCH