Talk about deficient urban design! As if the Nelson-to-the-bridge problems aren’t enough, the north end of the city’s once-upon-a-time-most-important street is a train wreck, to mix metaphors, at the point where it intersects the CPR railyards. Where’s the waterfront?
Christina De Marco, spokesperson for the volunteer Downtown Waterfront Working Group, submitted an update to PriceTags and the Straight, where you can read the full article. (Full disclosure, as they say: I have attended some of the DWWG meetings partly due to my concerns about impacts on heritage Waterfront Station and the entrance into Gastown.)
In 2009, the City of Vancouver endorsed the Central Waterfront Hub Framework—a boring name for an exciting vision for the downtown waterfront. One of the most innovative and insightful aspects of the hub framework was reconnecting Granville Street to the waterfront. This would open up the potential to develop the woefully underused lands north of Waterfront Station for an exciting mixed-use development with public spaces and greenways overlooking the harbour.
It would also provide the opportunity to link the east side and Gastown area to Coal Harbour via Canada Place—and the extension of Granville is necessary to achieve this. When the convention centre was being planned, similar thinking and proactive planning led to the bicycle and pedestrian connections from Coal Harbour to Burrard Landing.
The sketch shows a reconfiguration of Granville at Cordova, looking north – what it might become.
When council endorsed the Central Waterfront Hub Framework back in 2009, we are sure that it did not intend it to collect dust for years on end. Council realized the federal government would need to be actively involved, especially with significant land holdings owned by Port Metro Vancouver. With a change in federal government and its interest in sustainable, vibrant cities, transit, the environment, heritage, and culture, now is the opportune time to get going on implementing the hub framework and reconnecting the downtown to the waterfront.
The DWWG got a kick-start 15 months ago due to the Cadillac-Fairview proposal for a large tower on the east side of Waterfront Station, which would have overwhelmed the potential plaza (now a parking lot).
Does it take a controversial design/development proposal to galvanize opposition and begin a new planning process, or will the city revisit this in an orderly way under a new Director of Planning?
Here is the very first CPR Station (1888):
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/First_Vancouver_CPR_station_1888.jpg
Then the next one (1903):
https://angelvancouver.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/cpr-station-vpl9384.jpg
And the current building with a Granville Street connection across the tracks to Pier D (probably 1920s or ’30s):
http://s3.amazonaws.com/everystockphoto/fspid/24/44/72/87/vancouver-pierd-historical-24447287-o.jpg
Wouldn’t it be nice to see the long planned but unfulfilled LRT/streetcar route from False Creek through Gastown, past the CPR station (as in the past) and thence to Stanley Park be an actual transit/tourist facility for Vancouver. It would bring back a transit, tourist and neighbourhood benefit to the former core part of the city.
That’s one tram line I can agree with as long as it moves more than tourists. However, the city can’t afford it alone, especially now that it has agreed to spend $55M on the Arbutus Corridor, which is the logical place to extend the downtown streetcar. It should be part of the TransLink network.
Cities all over North America, including Seattle and Portland, have used both private and civic funds to build their own streetcar lines, apart from the state or federally funded transit systems. The usual benefit is an increase in property development and improvement of the older rundown areas. If you really are suggesting Translink could or would do that, let me know when Delta gets a rapid transit rail link over the “new” Massey car bridge or there is a reasonable connection to UBC from the dump of passengers at Arbutus from the Translink planned Broadway subway.
Great and important topic and commentary. In the absence of an architecture and urban design forum or writer, PriceTags provides a very valuable service.
The much of the Hub proposal envisioned so far is excellent but it still has major problems. They propose removing about 2/3 of Granville Square and replacing it with… not much. The “public spaces” in the proposal are fragmented and road-side. Granville Square is a great respite from the noise stench and carnage of cars but the introduction of new roads through the Hub development means a net loss of urban car(e)free environments.
Why can the whole thing be car free? Deliveries in the mornings like European car free networks leaving lunch and beyond for the enjoyment of people. Best of all there are no worried merchants already there to erroneously claim a reduction in car access will hurt their business. If we can’t create a car free precinct on top of the biggest transit hub in Western Canada, where are we going to do it?
LOL “the noise stench and carnage of cars”… nothing like a little bit of over the top hysteria to make your case.
Spend some time on the pleasant, urban, car-free streets of Europe and you’ll see what I mean.
I agree with Ron. This is not over the top at all but simply stating a fact. Cars are noisy, smelly and do cause an incredible numbers of injuries and deaths. Unfortunately many are numbed to the fact that cars kill, but the fact is that about 2000 people a year die from motor vehicle crashes in Canada and those walking and cycling are disproportionately affected. Time for the slaughter to stop. Car free spaces will certainly help.
Good point re: fragmented pedestrian spaces.
While Granville Square offers stunning views over the Vancouver industrial waterfront, the square itself is hardly worth writing home about. It is barren, uses cheap materials and is ill-programmed for any gathering or public concert. Jack Poole Plaza on the west side of the new convention centre offers a far better space for programmed events as well as an equally stunning view of the mountains and Stanley Park.
I feel that a new plaza could be extended 100 m north of the Canada Place Way extension to Granville, basically between Canada Place and the SeaBus Terminal, and generously sized to approach 15,000 m2. The views would be almost as great as Granville Square. Cruise ships rarely come within 200 m of CPW to the south. The north half of Granville Square (where the views are) is only 2,400 m2 by comparison, and Poole Plaza north of the Wayne Flame is about 5,000 m2.
Imagine a well-programmed concert space, lots of accent paving, public art, beautiful pedestrian-scale lighting and possibly a big crashing fountain in a plaza that fills the space between Canada Place and the SeaBus in this graphic from the Hub plan:
http://www.vancitybuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/waterfront-station-hub-vancouver.png
Anyone know what the argument is against fully closing off Granville Street (bridge to waterfront) to motor vehicle traffic (save for public transit, taxis, and essential service vehicles)? Most traffic coming into downtown diverts to Seymour anyway, and it seems that the most vibrant parts of Granville Street are those where pedestrians feel the most comfortable. Coincidence?
That is a good debate to have. There is value and costs to both Granville as a 100% pedestrian street and as a heavily-used transit corridor. Taking cars off the road from the Granville Bridge to Smithe makes most sense in the pedestrian scenario.
Political courage to act may be another debate altogether.
They already close the nightclub strip on weekend evenings and divert the buses to Seymour and Howe.
The biggest push for opening the street back up to general traffic (the 1970s transit mall stretched farther south (to Nelson, I think)) was businesses that wanted more traffic out front – but that was when the Granville Mall was really run down (before it became party central with the relocation of bars and nightclubs from Downtown South to the Granville Strip, which reinvigorated it, for better or worse).
Nowadays there may be more of an argument that businesses can survive on a Granville pedestrian mall.
There was a push by businesses to bring cars and parking back to the Granville Mall not that long ago, and one of their arguments was that the loss of cars “killed” their business. That argument completely ignored that fact that the adjacent Pacific Centre Mall sucked all the people underground, like water going down the drain.
Today the surface mall is still closed to cars and parking, and Pacific Centre is continuing to do a great trade, yet Granville businesses are now doing much better. To me that was indicative that people bring in business, not cars, and rapid transit has arguably done more to bring more people carrying wallets to Granville (and the core) than anything else.
The Downtown Central Waterfront Plan is a good start. However, the Waterfront Station and surrounding site is ultimately of national importance, just as it was in the past when the first CPR train arrived under what is now Granville Square 129 years ago this May 23rd and essentially completed confederation.
The building world scarcity in cheap, conventional oil (the current glut is temporary), the impetus to provide meaningful policies and programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our cities (what better place to start?), and the increasing need to address economic stability, are conspiring to break the deep dependency between our current urbanism and price-disruptive, polluting fossil fuels.
It’s hard to imagine today, but connecting to Vancouver 50 years in the future will likely revert to continental passenger rail as flight diminishes through higher petroleum fuel prices, oncoming caps on carbon, and the lack of adequate alternatives to serve current volumes. The big differences from the days of CPR passenger trains will be electrification and speed. The new federal government would be well advised to look far ahead into the latter half of this century when planning infrastructure funding today, and to not shy away from getting directly involved.
In that respect, Port Metro Vancouver would ideally be instructed to start negotiating the purchase of the Aquilini and Cadillac Fairview properties with the purpose of maintaining the lands right up to Crab Park free of development until the site can be fully evaluated for its capacity to accommodate all possible forms of passenger marine, rail and road transport, as well as maintaining the current industrial and freight functions. Today passenger service serves the city and the Metro. Tomorrow it should serve Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast and the entire continent, all in this one land / rail / tidewater connection point where direct walk-off, walk-on service offers so much convenience it will generate high ridership levels.
In my view, the Waterfront Hub Plan fails in two key areas: (1) It devotes an inordinate amount of space to private office development; and (2) it carves up the site with too many roads. When I spoke to a TransLink representative at the open house held several years ago at the library, she mentioned that TL expects to gain revenue or profit from the development to offset their capital and operating budgets. This could be easily interpreted as an inadequate current level of funding, a scenario that must change the deeper we get into climate change and more efficient transport. In addition, the Cordova Connector and “Hub St” carve up what should become pedestrian space. I suggest it’s in fact entirely possible to serve the site with the proposed one-block northward extension of Granville St (through the existing parkade) and a one-block dogleg westward to the terminus of Canada Place Way. These road frontages should be able to accommodate bus and car drop off zones and return routes. The internal complex should be one giant covered indoor / outdoor interconnected series of pedestrian spaces with surface access and egress via the Granville extension and the area currently occupied by the parking lot between The Station and The Landing, which would in turn be converted to a significant pedestrian square. Universal accessibility should inform all aspects of the design, from the street to the train / ferry seating.
Continental passenger rail will require multiple elevated station platforms a minimum of 400 m in length, and therefore a station structure at least 500 m long as well as ticket halls, security areas, lounges, cafes and administration offices need to be carefully planned. Future expansion of the SeaBus service may require a third berth, and larger open-sea passenger ferries to Nanaimo and Victoria will require berths probably three times the size of the SeaBus. That is potentially six ferry berths with all attendant indoor pedestrian circulation routing that will occupy a significant amount of space.
Once office towers are built and the roads extended, the future capacity of this important transportation hub becomes severely crimped. In this respect, the Vancouver 2040 and Metro 2040 plans are not enough. The federal government needs to study and plan for all foreseeable future transportation issues in the port over the next half century, with a chapter or two devoted to the Waterfront Hub alone.
Only after the feasibility studies, land assembly and large scale planning are done and long-term funding sources committed, can the design begin to create one of the most treasured public icons in Canada. Regionalism (most inclusively indigenous), sustainability, functionality, resiliency, and design excellence are all very important considerations and should be strongly encouraged.
Please, no contorted towers or Design for Mediocrity allowed!
I like this vision.
Admittedly, there will be no place for HeliJet in this vision.
Once office towers are built and internal roads are extended …
Just a note that someone posted on SkyscraperPage.com that the site of the parkade at Cordova & Granville shown in the first pic – for which an office tower project has already been approved – has been recently sold by Greg Kerfoot (owner of the railway lands north of the CP Station) to Nat Bosa.
It is not known whether Bosa will build the office tower as approved or replace it with a new project (not sure of Nat Boa’s experience with large office projects).
I doubt the City would approve a residential condo at that location – but Bosa now owns the Empress Hotel, so a hotel (commercial) and condo project (like the Fairmont Pacific Rim a few blocks away) may check enough boxes.
Although it will be nice when the Waterfront Hub is eventually built out, I can’t help but turn the “complaint” lamenting “where’s the waterfront?” a bit on its head.
The complaint is tantamount to “where’s the waterfront – I can’t see it from [the comfort of] my car”.
The waterfront reveals itself to pedestrians in the expansive views from the Granville Square plaza.
Paring back the plaza to open up sightlines (the road could connect through the parkade) will make the plaza a noisier place and eventually lead to its demise.
Ultimately, plowing the road through will open up potential retail frontage and I can see what remaining plaza is left being redeveloped with streetfront retail.
If you stand at Granville and Hastings (just up the hill) the water and mountains are clearly visible.
http://i.imgur.com/hGwuvRP.jpg
http://www.bing.com/mapspreview?q=hastings+and+granville+vancouver&mkt=en&FORM=HDRSC4
You don’t have people complaining that the cruise ships (and Canada Place) block the waterfront views at the foot of Howe Street, do you?
The Granville Square plaza is a piece of 70’s urban design junk. It is merely the top deck of a concrete parkade structure with a few planters and a meaningless fountain tossed on top. Yes, it has a screaming view, but that remains its only asset. It is left over space from the construction of car infrastructure, an afterthought completely devoid of activity programming.
Should Granville Street be punched through the parkade, there will be no loss. The parkade is not Heritage A-rated, nor is the demolition of parking stalls going to cause Armageddon. IN fact, the parkade is a net liability that offensively blocks the lower half of the west facade of The Station, which IS Heritage A-rated. Another plaza six times larger and purpose-built with an exemplary program and design meant for the sole occupation and enjoyment of humans can be placed on the north edge of an extended Canada Place Way. The elevation will still be 15 m (about four storeys), just 5 m lower than the existing square, and people will be brought potentially 100 m out over the water.
I agree about views — they are not everything, and a tremendous amount of urban design opportunity started being ignored when views became a cult. I couldn’t give a flying donut about the views from cars downtown because I am always on foot there. Public pedestrian access to the waterfront is one concern that should be given a helluva lot more priority that it currently receives. Any extension of Granville and Canada Place Way must, in my opinion, place pedestrian access to the waterfront and devotion of significant internal space to pedestrians at the top of the planning and design list.
Ah yes, Make Believe, if only pigs could fly, if only you could have your way, what a wonderful world it would be. The fact is that there is a distinction between private property and public property, there is a distinction between private property with public uses and public property with public uses. What if your neighbour hatched a scheme to run a lane through the middle of your house because, well because it suited his sense of urban design?
The public square idea would be built over the Waterfront Road and the ocean, all of which are publicly owned through Port Metro Vancouver.
There is no reason on Earth why the Port Authority cannot negotiate the purchase of parcels of land with private owners. Note the word “negotiate.”
Howe Street:
http://i.imgur.com/J1MoIZH.jpg
http://www.bing.com/mapspreview?q=hastings+and+granville+vancouver&mkt=en&FORM=HDRSC4
Guest, take that view two short blocks north where Howe bends into Canada place Way and you are at the SW corner of the 15,000 m2 public square mentioned above with vast waterfront view and many possibilities for concerts, public art, beautiful stone paving, ornamental lighting, cafes, tourist facilities, a huge fountain …..
How about making Water Street a car free zone and extend this along the east and north sides of the proposal. The city does need more public plaza space and a large plaza at the north end of the proposal would be truly awesome.
MB, Note that the Hub plan has a streetcar line with a loop at CPR Station from Water Street and Cordova…at least that was the plan. I might refer some to Perth, Western Australia, which has downtown pedestrian malls on former main streets, four free circular bus routes, a Smart Card system for 12 zones on a bus, on an extensive electric (narrow gauge) railway transit system on former railway lines (Arbutus anyone?) and ferries. Despite having a rental car, it only made sense for my wife and I staying in the suburbs to take a five minute bus to the commuter railway and downtown. If only for Vancouver… I like your vision of a future Vancouver, with no daily Via Rail passenger trains in all of Western Canada-cf 30-50 in Central Canada, sad that it can not be for today.
The Waterfront Station and environs has a vast potential to be one of Canada’s premier transportation hubs. The potential tram line is only one of many passenger rail possibilities. I count five: two regional rapid transit lines, one commuter rail line, continental passenger rail, and a local tram line. Add three marine passenger transportation assets (SeaBus, Vancouver Island ferries, Sunshine Coast ferries) and all the converging road-based bus routes on Cordova and potentially an extended Granville, and that is one huge public transit dynamo that will serve the Coast well for at least a century.
The fact this can occur on one waterfront site makes it the ultimate in connectivity and convenience. And that is the reason I suggest the site must be protected from shortsighted (i.e. less than a 50-year forward view) development.