Like the “RAVing about Cambie” video linked to in the previous post, most of the media buzz about the Cambie Village has focused on construction-related traffic upheaval and the hardships faced by local businesses. For municipal planners, however, the grumble of Cambie St. construction represents the knocking of opportunity.
Once built, cities are durable, inflexible things. As critics of the Canada Line project can attest, retrofitting an urban landscape is an involved process, slow and expensive. For one thing, much of the existing streetscape had to be dismantled in order for Canada Line construction to proceed. Once the construction is complete, InTransitBC is officially responsible for putting all those lampposts, trash cans, and lengths of sidewalk back exactly the way they were before all this began.
Instead, the City of Vancouver will jump at the opportunity to upgrade the area’s amenities. Municipal planners have accelerated preparation of a Cambie Village Streetscape Plan to coincide with restoration of the streetscape following construction. In a series of open houses held this spring, planners and local users of the street met to discuss issues such as the best style of street furniture, types of trees, location for bus bulges, and how to delineate the residential from the commercial sections of the Cambie Village. As a neighbourhood resident attending an open house, I was excited to imagine a brighter future for this street and its immediate neighbourhood.
The open house was held in one of several empty storefronts on Cambie. Outside, the dust and noise of ongoing construction was in full swing. Inside, residents and business people considered the prospect of new trees and elegant landscaping along the street, benches to sit on and observe lively street activity, and (finally!) abundant bicycle racks. Mention of the new streetscape’s suitability to accommodate periodic street festivals or farmers’ markets really surprised me. I had never even considered the Cambie Village to be the kind of area that could host those kinds of events. For the last two years, preparations for the Canada Line have dominated the street. Prior to that, I’m not sure that enough community cohesion existed to foster a street festival. If it did exist, it was certainly less visible than today.
And now? I’m very curious to see the unfolding and implementation of this streetscape plan. The timing outlined on the initial public process plan indicates “late spring 2007”, but a look at Cambie Street today suggests a later completion date! I do hope that after Cambie street is finally put back together, local spirits will run high enough to host a street celebration. It would be good to see people sitting on those new benches and enjoying themselves.
