The intersection at Stephens – connecting PGR with the York bikeway – is now complete (map here):
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It used to look like this:
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So the neighbourhood gets a traffic-calmed street and a few slices of green space. And something more.
A gardener.
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This is Julie Marzolf, a nearby resident, trying to lay in plants she purchased for a landscape design she came up with (and agreed to by the city). I say “trying to” – because she keeps getting interrupted by people like me asking to take her photo, and then we start a conversation, and her neighbour shows up and joins in, and then her husband comes by, and another passer-by asks what’s going on …
Well, that’s what happens when you give people an opportunity to connect.
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And guess what, there’s already talk about planning special events for the Folk Music Festival, when thousands are expected to ride PGR to Jericho.
This is a city that often bemoans the loss of connectedness, of increasing loneliness, of empty houses and condos, and grieves for a Vancouver that seems to be disappearing with every demolished house that was once a home.
Community, however, is something that can always be nurtured, assuming there are small places to plant the seedlings.
Love it! This is the kinda stuff I love reading on PT.
Count me as one of those bothersome passer-bys. Julie and her husband told me about the green streets program, and how designated plots (e.g. traffic circles or bulges) are usually maintained and change hands by local word-of-mouth. I had been musing on the fine job the city did on landscaping the Stephens connector, and should have known that volunteer green thumbs were behind it.
What a wonderful exercise in community building.
Excellent upgrade. Like, what was up with those phallic shrubs in the back there? 😉
haha. That is Crazy. Its seriously appears as someone has prepared the base of the cypress in a certain way. Love Point Grey!
I called the house the “phallus palace”, with the motto “We stand on guard for thee”. The trees have been neutered now — such a pity.
They got castrated and bobbitized.
I miss them too. It made me love living on the open minded West Coast. We’re not scared of normal anatomy.
There should have been postcards of Vancouver with them in.
Did you happen to get any pictures of the hedges from before?
It all seems like deja-vue. I keep thinking about the pushback when traffic calming was introduced in the West End. At the time, a vocal few were upset they could no longer race through the side streets to cut a couple of minutes off their commute. They cried like it was the end of the world. And look where we are today: a far more connected community that relishes its peace and quiet—and its mini-parks—steps from the core of the city.
What a pleasure it was to bike along PGR to Granville Island this weekend with our kids! Last year we tried biking into town with them a couple times, but it was a bit nerve-wracking negotiating the hills and side street traffic with two young ones. We’re looking forward to accessing the city on two wheels a lot more from now on!
I hope the Point Grey transformation inspires similar initiatives across the city.
Another example of the Marzolf’s unlimited caring spirit!!! Awesome!