False Promises for False Creek, Part 2

City Conversations No One Else is Having, #4

City Council met today to consider a staff report about the future of False Creek South. I made the following remarks:

I have lived in Vancouver for 46 years, three of them in False Creek South in one of the rental buildings slated for replacement by this report. We were some of the residents cross subsidizing lower income neighbours, and we were just fine with that. I have fond memories of that time, the community we were part of, the special place we lived.

I have been an architect in this city for 45 years, designing and building almost every type and scale of building, including some of the existing buildings around Leg-in-Boot Square. My project experience also includes serving as Managing Architect for the Overall Community Plan for the North Shore of False Creek. Its Community Plan was approved after an exhaustive, open and transparent 18-month public and city staff participation process that I still consider a career highlight.

More recently, I have authored a series of City Conversations No One Else is Having, real and imagined conversations with my adult children and others about the current state and possible futures of Vancouver. Conversation #4 was subtitled “False Promises for False Creek.” It describes a real conversation with my 30-something son in early July, as we cycled around the South False Creek seawall.

Among the predictions I made to him that will sadly come true if this report and its concept plan are approved:

·      The integration and balance of housing types, including co-ops, social and strata housing will be lost in at least two ways:

o   Firstly, the overall proportion of affordable housing such as co-ops and non-market rental will be substantially reduced in favour of high-priced market rental and condos; and

o   Secondly, housing types will be segregated—there is no other word for it. When we lived in South False Creek, the housing across the narrow pedestrian street from our affordable rental included: high end strata; housing for severely disabled adults; and housing co-operatives. The proposed plan destroys that integration. Even the North Shore of False Creek manages to integrate market and non-market housing in a non-segregated way.

·      The views from most residents of Fairview Slopes will be obliterated by the wall of midrise and high-rise buildings pushed back against 6th Avenue, not to mention the high, crowded wall of buildings against the Cambie Bridge

Among the predictions I did not make to my son that day, the following will sadly come true if this report is approved:

·      Firstly, the elementary school that is currently embraced by family housing and a park will be relocated, backing onto 6th Avenue, with no housing nearby;

·      Secondly and of personal sadness to me, the rental project I lived in for 3 years, as well as several neighbouring rental and co-op buildings will be demolished and replaced by a dozen mid-rise and high-rise buildings also backed up against 6th Avenue. In so doing, all their internal courtyards that allowed children to be safe while thousands walked and rolled by on the sea wall will be lost. I don’t see a place for families in these higher building blocks.

·      Thirdly, the eastern end of the project around Leg-in-Boot Square pushes its low-rise, court-yarded co-ops into mid or high-rise blocks. Also, much of the square and its surroundings is doomed to be shaded for most of the year by the incredible buildup of height and density adjacent the Cambie Bridge. From an urban design standpoint, this eastern conglomeration is way more dense than the North Shore of False Creek.

Finally, there are two major risks for you to consider that are absent from this report, nor included in the 24 Key Inputs, Building Blocks and Feasibility Testing:

·      Firstly, False Creek South soils have never been remediated—the eventual community plan for False Creek North was largely driven by soil remediation management, which this south side report mentions only twice and in passing. Remember that the north side’s remediation costs were paid by the province, which funding will likely not be available for the south side. Also know as context that the city of Toronto completely abandoned its ambitious Aratiri waterfront housing development in 2001, after investing $350 million and discovering remediation costs would exceed $1 billion in year 2,000 dollars. Compare this to the Real Estate Department’s $550 minimum estimate of land value as is. No developers were prepared to take Aratiri on;

·      Secondly, much of False Creek South sits on soils of poor bearing capacity, which fact goes completely unmentioned in this report. My boss at the time watched piles for mid-rise Leg-in-Boot Square buildings disappear entirely during driving, as they encountered what soils engineers affectionately call “loon shit.” Excessive piling costs in False Creek South almost bankrupted the construction company owned by the late Frank Stanzl.

Neither of these two risks becomes real until and unless major redevelopment occurs. They can be mitigated by careful, iterative development—this plan is not that.

My adult son was dismayed when I explained to him in July some of the likely changes coming to False Creek South on the heels of the undemocratic process that has given rise to this report. When I tell him the rest of what is now proposed, he will be distraught, as am I. I don’t know from where this plan springs, but it is NOT Vancouver.

Brian Palmquist is a fully vaccinated Vancouver-based architect, building envelope and building code consultant and LEED Accredited Professional (the first green building system). He is semi-retired, so not beholden to any client or city hall. These conversations mix real discussion with research and observations based on a 40+ year career including the planning, design and construction of almost every type and scale of project. He is the author of the Amazon best seller “An Architect’s Guide to Construction.” He is also a member of team for a livable Vancouver, a new political party dedicated to restoring a livable Vancouver starting with the 2022 civic election.