What good is an unlivable city?
The good accessible AMENITIES that we still have are a major point of attraction in Vancouver. We are, however, quickly losing them.
Densifying without expanding the existing community centres, without increasing the number of school spaces and day care centres, without increasing park space, only leads to one thing only: making the existing amenities inaccessible by overcrowding them.
What about ROAD WORKS, PUBLIC TRANSIT, and PARKING SPACES?
Densifying without caring where the new cars will park or how much more crowded our public transit is going to be, or how congestion on the roads will affect us all, only leads to one thing: increasing the time it gets us to get to work and increasing the stresses of every day life.
We have to be careful in maintaining the Vancouver that everyone wants to live in, and that cannot be done without giving communities the right to decide what happens to the place we call home.
Livability matters.
Where will our children play?
George Monbiot, writing for the January 6th 2015 issue of The Guardian, worries about city development that eliminates the outdoor areas in which children can gather and play and thereby destroys the essence of communities [Click on the picture to see the article]. His article revolves around the government’s masterplan in England but it should give us pause for we are well headed that way.
Changes impose lower standard of living
How much traffic we have to fight on our way to work, the comfort of our living quarters, the green areas around us, our access to a pool or a gym, the quietness and safety of our street, the air that we breathe… are factors that determine our quality of life.
The lower the income bracket the more important the above factors become. For those with limited income, what the neighbourhood offers is all that there is. It's difficult to get a membership in a private club if one is on a budget.
For the homeless, what the neighbourhood offers can make the difference between life and death. Basic life challenges have more of a chance of being met in a beautiful community-oriented green city, than in a crowded impersonal concrete one.