The Vancouver City Council took a major step forward this week with an idea that it's been mulling for years: to tear down the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts located in the city's downtown.
"Vancouver city councillors have voted 5-4 to remove the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts, which connect the downtown core to neighbourhoods on the city's east side," reports CBC News. Mayor Gregor Robertson called the decision "a once-in-a-generation city-building opportunity," in a written statement following the vote.
The vote kicks off an 18-month planning process [pdf]. Brian Jackson, the city's general manager of planning and development, "said it was "a 'critical time' to remove the viaducts, because the development of nearby land owned by Concord Pacific would only make the proposition more expensive," according to the CBC News.
There's at least one provincial-sized obstacle remaining for the plan to come to fruition. British Columbia Transportation Minister Todd Stone took to a public platform the day after the vote to put the brakes on the city's plan. "I checked with my officials and it has been a number of years since the city took any meaningful steps to reach out to PAVCO which owns and operates B.C. place," said Stone, as quoted in a separate article by CBC News.
FULL STORY: Vancouver viaducts to be removed, votes council
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Google Maps Introduces New Transit, EV Features
It will now be easier to find electric car charging stations and transit options.
Ohio Lawmakers Propose Incentivizing Housing Production
A proposed bill would take a carrot approach to stimulating housing production through a grant program that would reward cities that implement pro-housing policies.
Chicago Awarded $2M Reconnecting Communities Grant
Community advocates say the city’s plan may not do enough to reverse the negative impacts of a major expressway.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.