This is my 3rd year in Vancouver and I continue to be bowled over whenever I witness the amazing landscapes which frame the city. I took this natural beauty for granted until I was informed that our multiple views of the mountains aren’t there by accident. Our fantastic views onto the Grouse, Cypress and Seymour Mountains are not just there by chance – they are the result of a forward-thinking urban planning policy which protects a whole bunch of “view corridors.” This started with a city planning initiative 30 years ago, when citizens were asked what their top priorities for the city were and preservation of views came out on top.
By the late 1980’s view protection rose on the city’s priority list as anticipated development around downtown south and north False Creek meant that views of the mountains from the waters of False Creek could be permanently compromised or entirely lost. Communities mobilized and progressive individuals in the urban planning office at City Hall took action. After a lot of uphill work, pioneering View Protection Guidelines were issued in 1989 containing 26 protected view corridors.
View Corridors from False Creek
The policy protects views of the North Shore Mountains, the downtown skyline and the waters of False Creek from a number of public view points located along the south shore of False Creek, arterial roadways, and from the Granville and Cambie bridges.
According to the City, “In the intervening 20 years a significant number of new buildings have been added to the downtown skyline. The view corridors have had a visible effect on the site location and design of buildings, resulting in the retention of panoramic and narrow views in and around the downtown area.” Check out this walking map and video to explore the view corridors for yourself.
Today, these views and the policies protecting them are coming under threat. The city is conducting a review of the view corridor policy seeing if “ the Council adopted heights limits and view corridors” could undergo changes “to achieve additional development capacity.” The city claims that, with this study it’s 100% behind “the objective underlying the current height and view corridor policies.” Not exactly – this is just window dressing: the purpose of this “study” is really to see which of our views the city could eliminate, paving the way for more downtown skyscrapers: It will “ determine which views the public values most, and work to preserve those views, while possibly altering others.” How noble. Not only does it look like that the vision of Vancouver’s city’s planners will be eroded, the unique harmony between the city and the mountains could be permanently disrupted. Once a view is gone, it is gone. There is no turning back.
So, I have two simple requests:
1) If you hear from the city and are asked which view you value most, say “All of them”
2) Tell everyone you know that, or don’t for that matter, that Vancouver’s amazing views have been put there by us and that we need to keep them there.