Quote:
Originally Posted by Metro-One
but it is important to have a centralized core that is the strongest and most affluent of the bunch when it comes to Business and Entertainment, if not all we will have is a bunch of Saskatoons strung together with no true heart to our region that represents our population size. To me that would simply make us a Phoenix with towers and trains (both being equally boring and both being equally lacking in a true urban heart) There are many cities in this world that have several smaller city centers in their metro-areas, but there is always one that rises far above the rest. Also, those cities often have population above 10 million and their residential sections are more lively than our most urban area.
Again, it is a good idea to have smaller cores in the suburbs (such as Richmond and Metrotown and Coquitlam) but these should always remain secondary to the primary core, downtown Vancouver. If not, Vancouver is essentially wishing to commit business suicide and our region will continue to fall behind in attracting/generating major companies
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Vancouver's core will always remain *the* downtown of the region, whether or not it has viaducts. It has the historic build up, it has the geography, it has the name. The town centres will never compare. But that doesn't mean that we should be trying to put all the region's jobs into the downtown - that just doesn't make sense.
Each core should be self-sustainable. Small local firms that need cheaper office space should locate in the regional town centres, while national/provincial corporations should locate in downtown Vancouver. Hopefully, those who would downtown will locate close to it, while those who live in Surrey and Richmond work in their respective town centres. Obviously it's not as clear cut as that, but I believe that should be the goal.