Just discovered the maps that the Vancouver Sun has posted, graphically presenting a huge amount of data from the 2006 census in a very readable form:
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Chad Skelton has written up some of the conclusions to be drawn from all those coloured boxes. Like:
About 40 per cent of West End residents walk to work
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Not big news, but the map so effectively lays out where the pedestrian hot spots are, not only downtown but around the region.
Nicely interactive.
Lots of fun to scour through this for hours. I think it’s good to note, though, that when they say Metrotown has the highest transit usage, they don’t mean the whole area. Specifically, they mean that little neighbourhood of low-rise apartments just north of the station, not the newer, high-rise neighbourhood, which has significantly lower transit uptake and higher car usage: 40 per cent instead of 53 per cent. The other top neighbourhoods include around VCC-Clark, Broadway-Commercial, New West, and finally Collingwood. Of all those, only one: Collingwood, is one of our newfangled high-rise neighbourhoods. Amazingly, Yaletown has (pre-Canada Line) transit usage at just 9.6 per cent, and more amazingly, vehicle commuting sits at 58 per cent, higher than the neighbouring areas. I expect the differences we’re seeing here are to do with income: worth some consideration whether gentrifying transit-oriented neighbourhoods is the best plan, in particular those at the Metrotown philosopher’s cafe who wanted to “fix” what is the “most transit-friendly” neighbourhood in all of Metro Vancouver.