On Friday, Sept. 9, Residents for Community Control on City Development will host a meeting of the leading mayoral candidates in the upcoming Vancouver election. (The RCCCD is a group of Vancouver residents from different neighbourhoods concerned with City Hall’s lack of consultation with residents, and the over-densification of our city.)

Five candidates have been invited to take part in the event, including Colleen Hardwick (TEAM for a Livable Vancouver), Kennedy Stewart (Forward Together), Fred Harding (NPA Vancouver), Mark Marissen (Progress Vancouver), and Ken Sim (A Better City).

To date, only Hardwick and Harding have confirmed they plan to attend.

The group says the Broadway Plan (which came into effect on Sept. 1, 2022) and the Vancouver Plan call for mass densification and will affect nearly every neighbourhood in the city, with towers spiralling up to 40 storeys at subway stations. 

The plans will lead to thousands of demovictions and traffic gridlock, they say, and do not require developers to set aside a percentage of housing units for affordable housing.

The RCCCD questions the validity of the argument that the plans will bring down the price of housing, and asks why neighbourhoods were not consulted. 

The meeting will be held on Friday, Sept.9 at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church, located at 1440 West 12th. Ave. (12th. at Granville), from 6-8 pm.

How the Broadway Plan Will Permanently Change the City

We have an important collection of stories to share with you regarding the 500-page Broadway Plan. The first, written by retired developer and urban planner Arny Wise, tells us that the densities proposed in the Broadway Plan are not supported by any data estimating Vancouver’s expected population growth. The second, by CityHallWatch, is a general piece describing the Plan and what’s at stake for our city if the next Council endorses the Plan.

Read this excellent summary of what Vancouver will look like under the Broadway Plan, by Facebook’s VanPoli editor, David Fine. Did you know, for instance, that developers can build up to 18-storey towers in the residential areas near the Arbutus subway terminal? Fine uses maps and photos to show how the Kitsilano neighbourhood will change.

Upper Kitsilano residents should take note because the same thing will happen to our neighbourhood if/when TransLink secures the funds to extend the subway to UBC.

Then we have a piece written by former architect Brian Palmquist, who looks at a neighbourhood-based approach to city planning. (Continue below)

Town Hall Meeting in Fairview

This just in: If you missed the TEAM Town Hall meeting at St. James Church on Aug. 23, you’ll have another chance to see Colleen Hardwick and her team of candidates on Oct. 4 at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church, 1440 West 12^th Ave. The meeting begins at 6:30 pm. More details to come.