Where We Want to Live by Ryan Gravel —
A Nanaimo perspective
In Where We Want to Live—Reclaiming Infrastructure for a New Generation of Cities, author Ryan Gravel takes us through the story of how the re-purposing of Atlanta's Beltine rail network became one of the largest revitalization projects in the city's history. It's a story I found touched down in relevance here in Nanaimo a number of times.
Gravel expands the story of the decades long evolution of the Beltline into, in effect, a manual for cities everywhere re-purposing obsolete infrastructure and correcting the mistakes of past generations. Getting new community-building value—social, civic and economic—from old infrastructure.
The story begins with the Masters thesis of a young Urban Planning and Architecture student who after having spent a year studying in Paris returns with a fresh view of his hometown: Atlanta, Georgia (!)
This is where the story first touches down here in Nanaimo. Gravel stresses the importance of the university environment as "nurseries for ideas." I'll be sure to bring Where We Want to Live to the attention of both the new Masters of Urban and Regional Planning program at Vancouver Island University and to the recently appointed Nanaimo Chief Administrative Officer, Tracy Samra. Samra has also been recently a lecturer at VIU in resource management and indiginous rights. She has assigned students a role-playing exercise whereby they represent the City of Nanaimo, the Snuneymuxw First Nation and the Port Authority to brainstorm collaboratively the revitalization of our downtown waterfront rail yards.
Here briefly are Gravel's 8 lessons that he hopes will point us toward "a more intuitive and organic understanding of how to build cities for actual people instead of abstract census numbers." 1. Think big; 2. Include everyone; 3. Promote authenticity; 4. Compel change; 5. Inspire life; 6. Stay focused; 7. Emphasize people; 8. Band together.
He looks at city infrastructure within each of these categories: Catalyst; Health and Well-being; Economic Prosperity; Equity; Civic Identity.
Two things locally come to mind. VIU VP Dave Witty's initiative on the South Downtown Waterfront and a City and BIA led initiative to solve the considerable problems caused by a Provincial highway that tears through the heart of the City.
Gravel describes the critical importance of the community buy-in key to the eventual success of the Beltline. He explores other instances in other cities which "didn't have a viable political framework like [Atlanta's] Neighbourhood Planning Units to effect change..." Concluding that change won't come without it. He mentions examples of City and BIA initiated projects that succeed or fail based on their willingness to risk turning the vision and it's outcome over to the community.
Witty's efforts resulted in what I think Gravel would agree is an intuitive and organic community vision documented and now serving as the basis for next step planning. Though sorry to say by all indications, the process has stalled indefinitely due to the inability of the primary stakeholders to agree and very concerning for me it has apparently disappeared behind closed doors at City Hall where some kind of "master-planning" is going on. Something Gravel didn't cover is the City's ability to co-opt neighbourhood activism essentially neutering it. It has become a common MO with our City Hall and is evident too with the Terminal Nicol Re-imagined Project. It's done with best intentions of course and somewhat more understandable in an environment that lacks the mentioned strong neighbourhood political framework. These inititatives, grass-roots or top-down should begin with Transit Consultant Jarrett Walker's question: Who's not in the room?
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