April 04 2013
Courtney McLaughlin: A Farewell to Global Site Plans and The Grid
They say that when something is meant to be, you begin to see signs of it everywhere; life begins to push you in the direction you are supposed to go. I can certainly attest to this phenomenon in my experience with urban design. Once I discovered how strong my interest was in this field, I [...]
March 21 2013
Unleashing Economic Potential with Public Transit: The Future of Vancouver, British Columbia’s Broadway Corridor
Is rapid transit a key factor to unleashing a city’s economic potential? A new report from accounting giant KPMG indicates that this is certainly the case for Vancouver, British Columbia’s Broadway Corridor. The Corridor is a ten-kilometer stretch of roadway that spans the length between historic Commercial Drive and the largest university in Vancouver, the [...]
March 07 2013
Will Evergreen Mean Forever Green for Metro Vancouver? Transit Accessibility in British Columbia’s Largest Urban Centre
Vancouver, British Columbia consistently ranks as one of the “most livable“ cities in the world. However, what is frequently ignored about Canada’s most livable city are the multiple suburb municipalities that surround it. The Metro Vancouver region is composed of twenty-two municipalities and a population of just under two million people, many of whom work and [...]
March 05 2013
Traffic Signals on the Scale of Cyclists in Montreal, Canada
As a part of its plans to invest in sustainable transportation, Montreal has built several bicycle lanes over the years. However, traffic signals for bicycles have yet to follow in many neighbourhoods. Although there are traffic lights directed towards drivers and pedestrians, traffic signals on many streets do not “speak” to cyclists. While traditionally cyclists [...]
February 21 2013
Democratizing Urban Design: A Public Square for Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia
Vancouver, British Columbia can only be described as picturesque; mountain framed and seaside, the city begs to be photographed and experienced by tourists and locals alike. Along with the gorgeous scenery and temperate climate has arisen a high demand for real estate in the downtown peninsula, which has gradually resulted in a real lack of [...]
February 19 2013
A New Bike Coalition in Montréal, Canada
Montreal is awash with bicycling advocacy groups. In recent months another group has formed: the Montreal Bike Coalition, an initiative of the Mile End neighbourhood community organization “Ruepublique” (literally, public street). The Bike Coalition aims to connect all the grassroots cycling organizations and citizen cyclists, with a focus on utilitarian cycling, while not replicating the [...]
February 07 2013
Taking to the Street: Redefining Public Space in Vancouver, British Columbia
How can city streets be better used to create a sense of community and engage locals in conversations about public space? That’s the question that The Vancouver Public Space Network (VPSN), a grassroots organization focused on public space issues, sought to explore during their four week “Lunch Meet Series“ last summer. Each Thursday during July 2012 [...]
February 04 2013
(The GRID Blogger) Michael Lytton: San Diego, California
A big Global Site Plans welcome to our newest blogger, Michael Lytton from San Diego, California. Michael Lytton is a peripatetic planner and writer. Originally from Vancouver, B.C., he has lived in Victoria, Toronto, New York, Charlottesville, Tirana, Albania, Los Angeles, and now San Diego. He is a city planner with LEED Sustainable Design certification. He is [...]
January 31 2013
(The GRID Assistant Editor) Debra Hawryzki: Vancouver, British Columbia
A big Global Site Plans welcome to our newest Assistant Editor, Debra Hawryzki from Vancouver, British Columbia. Debra Hawryzki is a recent business graduate from the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University, where she obtained a concentration in marketing and a publishing minor. Although she grew up in Nanaimo and Victoria, she considers [...]
January 24 2013
Riding Towards Sustainability: Vancouver, British Columbia’s Canada Line and the Growing Pains of the Cambie Corridor
Just months prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver authorities proudly announced the opening of “The Canada Line,” Canada’s only fixed link between a major city and its international airport. The rapid transit train, which runs primarily underground between Vancouver’s city center and the outlying suburb city of Richmond, takes only 25 minutes to move [...]
January 02 2013
Jordan Rockerbie: A Farewell to Global Site Plans and The Grid
June 2012 will forever hold a fond place in my heart, as it signalled the beginning of so many great things. In June I received my degree from the University of British Columbia, embarked on my first full summer in Canada’s Okanagan valley, and started writing my first blogs for The Grid. I have since [...]
December 27 2012
Where Past Meets Future: Revitalizing Vancouver, British Columbia’s Chinatown Neighborhood
Chinatown is one of Vancouver, British Columbia’s original four neighborhoods. Located at the neck of the downtown peninsula, the district holds particular historical and cultural importance. In the past several decades Chinatown has seen a mass exodus of retailers and residents as Chinese communities have become more developed in Vancouver’s suburban cities. Recognizing the importance [...]
December 13 2012
Compassionate Design for Social Change: Vancouver’s Oppenheimer Park
Although frequently ignored in mainstream discourse, the City of Vancouver, British Columbia sits on unceded First Nations’ land. Years of systematic neglect have transformed Vancouver’s oldest neighbourhood, now called the Downtown Eastside (DTES), into essentially an urban reserve. The DTES, historically home to marginalized groups, is the single poorest postal code in Canada. Despite the [...]
December 05 2012
Infrastructure Projects Big and Small Make Cycling Safer in Kelowna, Canada
For a city of nearly 180,000, Kelowna, Canada boasts one of the most extensive bike networks in the country. Spread across the city are over 300 kilometres of bike lanes, multi-use paths, and greenways. Infrastructure projects such as the Mission Creek Greenway and Rails with Trails corridor show Kelowna’s dedication to encouraging cycling as a [...]
November 29 2012
Daylighting an Urban Stream: The Still Creek Enhancement Project in Vancouver, Canada
Often nicknamed the “City of Glass” for its towering downtown condominiums, it is hard to imagine that Vancouver, British Columbia used to be a dense cedar and hemlock forest hosting one of the most active above-ground water drainage areas in the Northwest. More than 100 years after the first European settlers arrived on Canada’s West [...]
November 15 2012
Making Changes at the Core: Transforming Vancouver, Canada’s Viaduct System
At the eastern edge of downtown Vancouver, Canada remains the elevated viaducts of a freeway system that never came to be. In the 1960s, after a display of public engagement that has become legend in Vancouver, a proposed expressway was successfully opposed making Vancouver one of the only cities in North America without a major [...]
November 12 2012
The Top 3 Similarities Between Spokane/Spokane Valley’s and Vancouver/Portland’s Metropolitan Relationships
Metropolitan areas always have a dominating, bustling municipality at the heart. These regional strongholds, with their loud industrial and commercial districts in which crime is common, soon sprouted the desire in residents to get the heck out of there and move outwards to a cheaper, suburban lifestyle. A “stronghold” is a larger, older municipality than [...]
November 01 2012
Playing for Greener Streets in Vancouver, Canada
By 2020 all residents of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada will live within a five-minute walk of a park, greenway, or other green space. This goal may seem far-fetched but the creators of Vancouver’s Greenest City Action Plan (GCAP), along with community supporters, are finding interesting methods of making this dream a reality. The city’s Neighbourhood [...]
October 25 2012
Ten Steps for Developing the World’s Greenest City
What does it take to become the world’s greenest city? Officials in Canada’s west coast city of Vancouver, British Columbia think they have the answer and plan to achieve this status by 2020. Using a variety of transportation measures, building codes, and urban design techniques, Vancouver is set to lead the world in sustainable living. [...]
October 24 2012
(The GRID Blogger) Courtney McLaughlin: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
A big Global Site Plans welcome to our newest blogger, Courtney McLaughlin from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Courtney McLaughlin is completing her undergraduate degree in Communication Studies at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. An avid traveler, her interests are public space modification in Canadian cities and sustainable urban planning. As an aspiring landscape [...]
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