Charles Gauthier, president and CEO of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA), says for years his members had wanted to perk up the city’s back laneways. …
WHAT THEY WANTED: With Vancouver’s sky-rocketing real-estate values, underused alleyways seemed ideal to redevelop for public use. The DVBIA hired HCMA Architecture + Design to redesign three alleyways for the city: the first being south of West Hastings St. between Granville St. and Seymour St. Gauthier says HCMA proposed the redevelopment of the area to the city. It went for it and gave the DVBIA a grant of $100,000, which covered the basic cost of the first laneway, Hastings West Laneway.
WHAT THEY GOT: Architect Paul Fast, from HCMA, says architects went for a ‘Play’ theme to contrast the neighbourhood’s business atmosphere. They pressure-washed the laneway, removed some of the bigger potholes, painted the street with street grade paint, as well as walls and dumpsters, in pink, purple and yellow. Fast says, “The colour scheme we chose was to make this a really bright, welcoming, vibrant space. The yellow was important because the colour palette of the buildings around it is a very grey stone muted colour palette. To get people into this space we had to have this strong punch of colour.”
WHAT THEY WANTED: With Vancouver’s sky-rocketing real-estate values, underused alleyways seemed ideal to redevelop for public use. The DVBIA hired HCMA Architecture + Design to redesign three alleyways for the city: the first being south of West Hastings St. between Granville St. and Seymour St. Gauthier says HCMA proposed the redevelopment of the area to the city. It went for it and gave the DVBIA a grant of $100,000, which covered the basic cost of the first laneway, Hastings West Laneway.
WHAT THEY GOT: Architect Paul Fast, from HCMA, says architects went for a ‘Play’ theme to contrast the neighbourhood’s business atmosphere. They pressure-washed the laneway, removed some of the bigger potholes, painted the street with street grade paint, as well as walls and dumpsters, in pink, purple and yellow. Fast says, “The colour scheme we chose was to make this a really bright, welcoming, vibrant space. The yellow was important because the colour palette of the buildings around it is a very grey stone muted colour palette. To get people into this space we had to have this strong punch of colour.”
HOW IT CHANGED THINGS: DVBIA stats show that before the laneway redevelopment, 30 people an hour went through it, now 73 people an hour use it. Six vehicles an hour used to travel through the space, now it’s three vehicles per hour. Also prior to the changes, 75 per cent of people going through the back alley were men and 25 per cent were women. Now it’s 57 per cent men and 43 per cent women. “Women didn’t feel safe walking through the back lane — this has now changed,” says Gauthier, who adds the city doesn’t have to spend as much money servicing the area now.
Well waddajano! I proposed exactly that, make use of the downtown back alleys, to the Community Arts Council back in 1968: back then I called my proposal ALLEYBACKS. I hope a more welcoming response is forthcoming than it did from Mayor Rathie back then.
Reality looks a lot different. I go for coffee next door most days of the week. Try sitting on the patio that flanks this lane on “car-free” Granville Street to watch the madness.
The numbers may show an improvement. That’s great. But it is still a gong-show where this lane intersects Granville – the big trucks regularly backing out across the adjoining sidewalk.
Especially worrisome are the trucks that back out of the lane opposite right across the entrance to the Canada Line Station.
For many many people the is “Welcome to Vancouver” – the first sight of the city from the ground is the back end of a truck bleeting at you to get out of the way.