westcoasttransplant
New Member
Toronto is messy and marvelous
A popular website, Wikipedia, describes "Vancouverism" thusly:
Vancouverism is characterized by high-density development with narrow towers to preserve views.
Vancouverism is an urban planning and architectural technique pioneered in Vancouver, Canada. It is characterized by mixed-use developments, typically with a medium-height, commercial base and narrow, high-rise residential towers to accommodate high populations and to preserve view corridors.[1] [2][3] With a large residential population living in the city centre, no express ways connecting the core to the suburbs, and significant reliance on mass public transit, Vancouver is somewhat unique among large North American cities. In part, these reasons contribute to the fact that it is consistently ranked among the most livable cities in the world.[4][not in citation given] Other cities have begun to take note of the principles of Vancouverism and have begun to incorporate this approach in their own planning directions.[1]"
As counterpoint:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/25/books/25cnd-jacobs.html?pagewanted=all
The late great Jane Jacobs in a NYT article. She is really the pioneer of Urbanism--she fought the extension of the Allen Expressway into the city; she fought for truly "mixed use" neighborhoods and space use.
The "frosting on the cake" of Vancouverism is simply architects and planners copping from people like Jane Jacobs and as well trying to justify their being a need for themselves--and helps developers make "airtight" communities that can be sold as hyped and expensive "mini spaces".
It's interesting...the people who tell us what the most livable cities are in the world, are the same ones who have a huge stake in making sure we believe them...
My sense of all this, having come from there is the following:
1) Vancouverism is better on paper than in practice. If tiny units and "antiseptic" concrete terrariums are your thing, then terrific (take a walk around coal harbour--nothing but concrete and "planned" gardens of great banality. There is nothing unique, natural or organic at all.
2) The greatest beneficiaries of "Vancouverism" are developers and corporations. They wisely make us think it's "good for us" and "better"--and we believe them! I certainly respect the marketing.
3) Ironically, the public transit is terrible in Vancouver--back when I lived there and currently--as I visit friends there often. Anyone who can afford to live there owns a car. You just cannot get around otherwise without spending a day on a destination. e.g. say, one friend lives in Kits, the other in West Van, the other near UBC--impossible to get around--3 buses, and hours of time.
4) The best part of Vancouver is not what is BUILT there, but what is NOT built there. i.e. the beaches, the natural beauty and the weather. If you removed the city from the delta of the Fraser river, you'd have a paradise with no city; as a comparison, if you removed the city of Toronto from the shore of Lake Ontario, you'd have a humid bug-filled summer and frigid winter on the north shore of a frozen lake without a city. This should make one think about what Ontarians built here--there is no paradise-- only what they built.
i.e. would people really think it was so great if the weather suddenly turned to Ontario's? People still live in Toronto despite the awful weather...would they still live in Vancouver if they had to deal with the same?
5) Tragically, Robson street, Granville street, which used to be centers for urban and immigrant culture--unique places--bookstores, ethnic bakeries, unique boutiques of many kinds, plus homegrown BC goodness have all been absorbed into chain stores and franchises (with the notable and wonderful exception of some local Asian restos etc. These are most excellent). I can walk down any street in any major city in the world and find all those things. The last bastion of alt/urban/ethnic culture is on Davie street...for however long that lasts.
6) Finally, as a former west coaster, I can say, that the people of Toronto and Ontario have truly amazed me to have built such a magnificent crucible of cultures and done so in a way that integrates rather than separates. And done it all in a wintry climate that would challenge the hardiest of souls. And, I have never owned, nor needed to own a car and virtually none of my friends do either (as in contrast to the west coast where it was essential and most of my friends do have cars).
Perhaps my greatest respect for Toronto has come from the fact that not only does the rest of the country "hate Toronto"--as I foolishly used to before I moved here--Torontonians themselves are deeply critical of their own city. This makes for a dynamic and self-reflective discourse that I have never heard uttered on the West Coast.
I say, Bravo, to being confident enough to be self-critical and thanks for welcoming me to your city and for all the opportunities and excellence that are already here.
Onwards
Westcoasttransplant
A popular website, Wikipedia, describes "Vancouverism" thusly:
Vancouverism is characterized by high-density development with narrow towers to preserve views.
Vancouverism is an urban planning and architectural technique pioneered in Vancouver, Canada. It is characterized by mixed-use developments, typically with a medium-height, commercial base and narrow, high-rise residential towers to accommodate high populations and to preserve view corridors.[1] [2][3] With a large residential population living in the city centre, no express ways connecting the core to the suburbs, and significant reliance on mass public transit, Vancouver is somewhat unique among large North American cities. In part, these reasons contribute to the fact that it is consistently ranked among the most livable cities in the world.[4][not in citation given] Other cities have begun to take note of the principles of Vancouverism and have begun to incorporate this approach in their own planning directions.[1]"
As counterpoint:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/25/books/25cnd-jacobs.html?pagewanted=all
The late great Jane Jacobs in a NYT article. She is really the pioneer of Urbanism--she fought the extension of the Allen Expressway into the city; she fought for truly "mixed use" neighborhoods and space use.
The "frosting on the cake" of Vancouverism is simply architects and planners copping from people like Jane Jacobs and as well trying to justify their being a need for themselves--and helps developers make "airtight" communities that can be sold as hyped and expensive "mini spaces".
It's interesting...the people who tell us what the most livable cities are in the world, are the same ones who have a huge stake in making sure we believe them...
My sense of all this, having come from there is the following:
1) Vancouverism is better on paper than in practice. If tiny units and "antiseptic" concrete terrariums are your thing, then terrific (take a walk around coal harbour--nothing but concrete and "planned" gardens of great banality. There is nothing unique, natural or organic at all.
2) The greatest beneficiaries of "Vancouverism" are developers and corporations. They wisely make us think it's "good for us" and "better"--and we believe them! I certainly respect the marketing.
3) Ironically, the public transit is terrible in Vancouver--back when I lived there and currently--as I visit friends there often. Anyone who can afford to live there owns a car. You just cannot get around otherwise without spending a day on a destination. e.g. say, one friend lives in Kits, the other in West Van, the other near UBC--impossible to get around--3 buses, and hours of time.
4) The best part of Vancouver is not what is BUILT there, but what is NOT built there. i.e. the beaches, the natural beauty and the weather. If you removed the city from the delta of the Fraser river, you'd have a paradise with no city; as a comparison, if you removed the city of Toronto from the shore of Lake Ontario, you'd have a humid bug-filled summer and frigid winter on the north shore of a frozen lake without a city. This should make one think about what Ontarians built here--there is no paradise-- only what they built.
i.e. would people really think it was so great if the weather suddenly turned to Ontario's? People still live in Toronto despite the awful weather...would they still live in Vancouver if they had to deal with the same?
5) Tragically, Robson street, Granville street, which used to be centers for urban and immigrant culture--unique places--bookstores, ethnic bakeries, unique boutiques of many kinds, plus homegrown BC goodness have all been absorbed into chain stores and franchises (with the notable and wonderful exception of some local Asian restos etc. These are most excellent). I can walk down any street in any major city in the world and find all those things. The last bastion of alt/urban/ethnic culture is on Davie street...for however long that lasts.
6) Finally, as a former west coaster, I can say, that the people of Toronto and Ontario have truly amazed me to have built such a magnificent crucible of cultures and done so in a way that integrates rather than separates. And done it all in a wintry climate that would challenge the hardiest of souls. And, I have never owned, nor needed to own a car and virtually none of my friends do either (as in contrast to the west coast where it was essential and most of my friends do have cars).
Perhaps my greatest respect for Toronto has come from the fact that not only does the rest of the country "hate Toronto"--as I foolishly used to before I moved here--Torontonians themselves are deeply critical of their own city. This makes for a dynamic and self-reflective discourse that I have never heard uttered on the West Coast.
I say, Bravo, to being confident enough to be self-critical and thanks for welcoming me to your city and for all the opportunities and excellence that are already here.
Onwards
Westcoasttransplant
