Kinda sad. Kinda crazy. Kinda something. See what happened at a recent Park Board meeting at Strathcona Community Centre when the Vancouver Park Board met with residents and community activists (and crazy people) to discuss the Grandview Park re-design.

Grandview Park ... all guns and drugs? Or good 'ol family fun?

 I vividly remember listening to a lively CBC radio debate – lively enough that the tension seemed to permeate along with the radio waves through the room – in Fall 2008 about the potential redesign of Grandview Park in East Vancouver. Stephanie Maingot, Commercial Drive resident, was advocating for the allotment of $1 million from the city in order to ‘redesign’ the park, which she described as being fraught with drug dealing, crime, violence and illegal protests. The tension within the interview arose when Ms. Maingot was unable to pinpoint exactly how these funds would be used to address these issues, and was likely fuelled by the fact that the radio host, at the height of the interview, slipped in the fact that he is a proud East Van resident. Ms. Maingot’s plight is supported by both a group of neighbors calling themselves the ‘Friends of Grandview Park’ and the Commercial Drive Business Improvement Association. For more on Ms. Maingot’s views, check out this Vancouver Courier story in which she was interviewed on the topic. 

Earlier this year, the Vancouver Parks Board announced that this redesign project was approved, with construction set to begin in Summer 2010. The ‘Friends of Grandview Park’ were very involved in this approval process, presenting to the Parks Board on the necessity of this redesign. More details and conceptual design options can be found on the Parks Board site. Of course, there are those in opposition to the redesign, stating gentrification of the area as their main concern. The argument can be found on their Defend Grandview  website. 

Now. I live quite close to Grandview Park, and frequent it regularly. I’ve seen some shady transactions take place, very open displays of drunkenness, and homeless people sleeping in bushes. I’ve also seen amazing drum circles, children playing, and lovers picnicking. DG correspondent Kurt Heinrich was lucky enough to see a bike polo match the other weekend (which may or may not be played by resident ‘hipsters’). One can’t help but feel a sense of community when visiting Grandview Park, and if not accept, then tolerate the more systemic issues that confront residents that frequent the park. I don’t have anything against the redesign, per se – I can’t really argue against park improvements such as a better drainage system, new playground equipment, and more benches and flowerbeds – but it seems to me that a $1 million dollar redesign of the area will do little to address the more systemic issues that face the individuals who visit Grandview Park and the surrounding area. How will this redesign address homelessness? Mental health and addiction concerns? Poverty?  Is the intention of the ‘Friends of Grandview Park’ group to see these individuals move along to another park, or are there other initiatives happening parallel to this that provide support for our community members? If so, I haven’t seen any indication that this is occurring.. As a wise man once said, “Every society is judged by how it treats the least fortunate amongst them”.

Granville Street Redesign

When this website was but a nascent blog, I lamented Vancouver’s lack of a public square. A year later, as condo towers continue to spring up all around us, and the pressure to expand transportation infrastructure remains unabated, the need to carve out and protect public spaces is more necessary than ever.  Through the course of its development, Vancouver seems to have missed out on some great opportunities create public spaces. Downtown building density makes it difficult to congregate before and after concerts and films. Outside our stadiums, celebrating a sports victory takes place along the sidewalks of Yaletown or in areas adjacent to glassy towers.  Robson square, while great from a design standpoint (Kudos Arthur Erikson), fails as a public gathering site, in my view. Its basement-like quality leaves it ignored and under-used. Why go there, when the sunlit steps of the VAG beckon above?

It’s not all bad – Vancouver does hold plenty examples of embracing public space in all kinds of creative ways. We just need to do more.

For example, the Olympics have helped turn things around. The task of “hosting the world” in 136 days (and counting), has pumped creativity and dollars in dusting off two of our most important public spaces:

• Recently capped withsnazzy glass domes this year to the tune of $1.6 million, Robson Square will enjoy a place in the limelight this February as a central media hub. Time will tell if this will give the square a new lease on life. Perhaps the lit-up glass domes, will act as a lure for more impromptu gatherings than the square currently sees. I sure hope so.

• The near-completed redesignof Granville Street into a majestic promenade promised to inject new life into the city’s central artery, having languished in seedy obscurity for too long.

On a less glitzy but no less important scale, grassroots efforts at promoting all kinds of varied public space deserve a place in the spotlight as well.As described in a recent post, entitled Getting to know your Community Art, Kurt Heinrich describes how the  Commercial Drive community is using its walls as a backdrop for wonderful community art. I also love how, in neighbourhoods across the city, busy residents take part in creative gardening and often artistic gardening, transforming traffic intersection into sites of public, green pride.

The advocacy effort for Vancouver public spaces received a huge boost last Tuesday with the exciting launch of PubliCity, a newly minted magazine put out by theVancouver Public Space Network (VPSN)The VPSN is a grassroots collective that engages in advocacy, outreach and education on public space issues in and around Vancouver. Efforts include combating advertising ‘creep’ in public spaces, promoting creative, community friendly urban design, monitoring private security activities downtown and looking at ways to re-green forgotten spaces and alleys of the city. PubliCity will provide a great vehicle for creating awareness of these issues and inspiring democratic debate about how best to promote, create and use public space in all its forms.

It goes without saying, that without public space, community can and will not flourish.