Speaking at a recent Urban Land Institute series organized to discuss Vancouver in 2050, three of the city's former planning directors expressed grave concerns over the city's ability to adequately handle its future growth, reports Jeff Lee.
For a city renowned for its excellent design, livability, and smart growth, it was somewhat surprising to read that Vancouver's future growth is being imperiled by shortsightedness by the city council and a lack of long-term planning. At least that is the conclusion reached by three of the city's former planning directors - Larry Beasley, Ray Spaxman and Brent Toderian.
According to Spaxman and Toderian, "the city is putting too much emphasis on solving here-and-now issues at the expense of long-term growth."
With affordability becoming a key concern, Beasley said, "the region needs a 'brand new' metropolitan plan, 'a plan that
thinks about the issues of the future, a plan that is not shy, a plan
that does not have parameters and you can't talk about this and you
can't talk about that."
"And until we get that plan, we are not going to
solve the problems of the inner city, the affordability, our heritage
program, our culture, whether we have enough office space. We just are
not going to solve it unless we get a much broader concept of our
metropolitan core and we get a plan for it.'"
FULL STORY: Former Vancouver planning directors say city ill-prepared to deal with growth

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
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.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie