An utterly unoriginal ad in 24 Hours (which is targeted to transit riders) for the River District development:
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Note the sweaty armpit to emphasize just how lowly and disgusting riding transit is. Another low blow in a long line of transit-disparaging ads.
Not everyone loves to sit in un-airconditioned buses that are crowded and wobbly. It captures the Zeitgeist and target market rather well.
Until we introduce more subways and far higher road tolls transit ridership switch from an air conditioned, convenient, empty car will not happen.
Why does the city allow dense developments without subways or LRTs to go ahead such as in Port Moody, River Green, River District ( this ad ) or Granville at 70th ? Poor city planning with poor MetroVan vision coupled with poor provincial legislation ( to co-fund subways or allow road tolls ) is the cause of this. Cities could increase property taxes, could increase development levies, could lower civil servants salaries & pensions, and increase parking fees but they do none of that. MetroVan thinks more wobbly buses stuck in traffic will cure traffic woes. Provincial government doesn’t allow road tolls nor co-funds transit investments. Plenty of blame to spread around. The rational result: ads like this !
It’s unfortunate that the ad is such a disconnect from the developer’s stated philosophy.
“At Wesgroup Properties, sustainability is the foundation of the
company’s operational philosophy in its residential, commercial,
retail, health and industrial ventures, and it manifests itself in a
commonsense way. “Sustainability for us boils down to creating
transit-oriented, mixed-use developments, which is our growing
specialty,” says Wesgroup president Gino Nonni.”
http://www.bcbusiness.ca/sites/default/files/p098-108-SUP-Wesgroup.pdf
It seems to be just another example of the one-face-two-face syndrome. One face when pitching the corporation, another face when it may stimulate sales — and never mind the contradictions. Sort of like Volkswagen, whose troubles go beyond the scandalous.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-commentary/volkswagen-corruption-crisis-isnt-a-scandal-its-a-syndrome/article26479332/
In this minor case, we also see Wesgroup making a disheartening play to nasty cultural biases, all about not wanting to be stuck in a semi-public space with “them”. Who are all stinky, by the way.
I thought the same Ken. there are definitely some racial undertones in that ad, aimed at a certain demographic… drive in a nice car instead of being stuck in transit with the stinky lao wai….
I do think it’s both unfair and inaccurate. I’m a regular user of transit of all kinds, at all hours of day and evening. I did a Google real time transit check for this development, from Georgia & Granville. Total travel time is 40 mins: Canada Line to Cambie at Marine (15 mins) plus frequent bus along Marine Dr. (14 mins), with the balance wait / walk time. I do agree that until we get real about incentives or disincentives re. peak hour SOV driving (How about a centre HOV lane for Lions Gate Bridge? 😉 the congestion vs. funding issues won’t be understood or solved.
I find the ad quite funny. Also interesting that the developer even focuses on rapid transit.
The rainbow above the car driver – barf. This was in the Georgia Straight last week and my architect spouse promised to line the compost bin with it… In the copy it mentions that you could buy a Tesla or two Smart cars with the $150K less in housing costs. That shows some unbelievably razor sharp market targeting. Heavy-handed, sure, but getting close to being clever. — I remember an ex-girlfriend’s dad calling the bus the “loser cruiser” in the early 2000s. Seems like streetcars and Skytrains get all the cachet.
The ad is stating that; if you live in a tower on the corner of Cambie and Marine Drive above a Skytrain Station you will pay $150,000 more than if you live at the far end of Marine Drive in a tower in the Riverview District, where there is no Skytrain service. That in itself is interesting.
I thought everything around here sells out with overnight line-ups. Why do projects have to compete with each other?
Not everything sells that well, especially if small homes but away from frequent transit.
Funny that Gregor and his gang did not include a suggestion for a branch of the Canada Line going along east and through this development that the city has been talking about for years, then linking with the Burnaby business park across the street. From there, over to New Westminster and you have a viable loop.
This would seem to be much more important, considering all of the residential, existing and potential, as well as all of the employees in the massive, and growing, Burnaby business park.
Isn’t this in TransLink plans?
I think light rail along the existing CPR tracks along the North shore of the Fraser River is in the plan