[Phil McAvity]

WBC, I'm about to make your "tirade" look like an off-the-cuff remark. Here we go:

Originally Posted by WBC

No we are not attempting to be Toronto and I am aware of the decentralized plan for our development.

I can sure think of worse cities to try and emulate than TO but I would say that if anything Vancouver started the urban residential trend starting with the West End. It seems to me that both Vancouver and Toronto have similar agendas of making their downtowns increasingly residential.

Originally Posted by WBC

Everyone on this forum is well aware of the fact that by catering to condo developers Vancouver downtown is being turned into a resort/burb.

Okay, and that's bad how?!?!?!

Originally Posted by WBC

While the number of commuting trips downtown is declining or stagnating, the number of trips that downtown residents take to work in the burbs is on the rise.

Streets are funny that way in that most tend to go in both directions. Once again, I wonder what your point is.

Originally Posted by WBC

Nobody wants to invest any money in commercial buildings downtown as it is more profitable to build condos and high end hotels.

Now that the city can do something about but i'm still not sure what's so bad about it.

Originally Posted by WBC

Any time developer shows up and suggests to build a new condo, city council backs down as developers throw a few goodies their way - a city plaza here, a restored old building facade there, a new fountain somewhere else and the rezoning permit is granted.

It seems every city council in Canada operates on the same socialist principle and it's something i've never understood. It's not enough that developers transform old run-down neighbourhoods and buildings into bright, new lively neighbourhoods, create countless jobs, places to live and parking spots but civic governments also extort public amenities out of them. I thought extortion was illegal but as long as the government does it, then it's fine.

Originally Posted by WBC

Now you have a central business core with condos popping up at every corner. As a result you have daycares next to liquor stores and clubs, office buildings next to co-ops and so on. That is not planning -that is crap.

So (central) planning (which worked so well in the USSR) dictates that every business should be similar to every business next to it? What are you talking about? One of the greatest things about any downtown is the sheer variety of options provided by business.

Originally Posted by WBC

As new residents move in (and especially as they age and have kids) they will demand piece and quiet and eventually they will win thus making pressure on businesses to get out of the area.

Again, you don't make any sense. Very few businesses make any noise at all. In fact out of the tens of thousands of streets in Greater Vancouver I can only think of one part of one street I wouldn't want to live on for that reason (Granville St. downtown).

Originally Posted by WBC

So what is the point of this? To turn downtown into a new residential area by continuing to erode the business infrastructure downtown?

I fail to see how allowing more residential downtown erodes the business infrastructure downtown. If anything, I would say it helps it.

Originally Posted by WBC

Another thing is that this idea that everyone is going to live, work and shop in their own little town center is at best Utopian. Do you know how much people change jobs in this country? So every time I get a new contract or change a job am I supposed to move? Or does this mean that I cannot freely travel from one location to another to shop or to be entertained just because some geek city planner had this fantasy about how we should live our lives? The freedom of movement, travel and trade had made the Western world what it is today. That does not mean that I am saying we should build highways and overpasses over the entire city. But as other posters said, I think that we need great public transit and the best road-network we can afford.

It took a while but I finally agree with you about something.

Originally Posted by WBC

The biggest problem above all is that we tend to elect small minded Vancouver mayors who need a map to find the Main street and who think that Vancouver consists roughly of Shaughnessy, Kits and Downtown. And to whom City of Copenhagen is a mythical example of how things need to be done (incidentally, did you know that roughly 60% of adults in Denmark are either employed by some level of government or are supported by some form of government payments. I bet that our mayor or Stephen Rees fail to mentioned that little fact when they show up all spandex-up to talk about Copenhagen and their great bike network and how we should build one. They also fail to mention the 25% VAT tax plus the 43% to 63% income tax. Yes, I bet that everybody is riding a bike because they are all on welfare and can't afford anything else). And yes, in that world you can travel everywhere by a bike and you don't need overpasses as you have all the time in the world. But guess what? Vancouver and its suburbs is a bit bigger than that and are not a welfare state.

I'm glad to see you ended on a sensible note as well.