Friday, July 31, 2015

Time for fresh ideas Nanaimo —
South Downtown Waterfront needs
an open design competition

I have concerns in regard to the South Downtown Waterfront Lands process that began in 2013 under the leadership and guidance of VIU VP Dave Witty. The early months included a greater degree of civic inclusivity than Nanaimo had experienced before. The site opened up for boots on the ground information fair and shuttle bus tours of the site. A visioning process that included a well attended public presentation by former Vancouver Co-Director of Planning, Larry Beasley. A design charrette composed of many and disparate stakeholders. The formation of a City advisory committee, chaired by Dr Witty to "aspire to establish a set of Guiding Principles and a high level vision for the general area”. The committee’s report “Framing the Future” was presented to Council in early 2014. The committee last met on May 1 of this year and minutes of that meeting are not on the City’s website.
The report —
http://www.southdowntownwaterfront.ca/p/home.html
strongly urged Council to consider the establishment of a public development corporation governed by a detailed charter, to oversee development of the site which Larry Beasley described as having “transformative” potential for Namaimo and which former Councillor Fred Pattje called “Nanaimo’s last urban frontier.” From the report—
There is a long tradition in Canada and the United States of local governments creating special purpose public development corporations. These corporations are designed to implement longer term public policy objectives, particularly for special areas of a municipality that require extraordinary attention, and a unique combination of public and private sector participation. Clearly legislation in British Columbia provides for such entities, and there are many variations across the province.
On July 20, three months after the last committee meeting and five months after the last meeting minutes were posted, Staff presented the following Master Plan Terms of Reference report to Council—
http://nanaimocommons.blogspot.ca/2015/07/httpswwwnanaimocauploadedfilespathsites.html 
The recommended charter and development corporation are rejected by Staff. They make it clear they intend to control every aspect of the site working with Staff friendly consultants. From the report to Council—
The Planning and Design Section will be responsible for this project, with consultants engaged for key plan components including land economics, stakeholder engagement, land use and transportation planning. The necessary Request for Proposals will be prepared for issuance in July 2015.

Has the committee been disbanded? • Why were its key recommendations rejected by City Staff? •  The "potentially transformative" site needs not only to follow Dr Witty’s guidance, it requires an open design competition. 

Time for fresh ideas Nanaimo.

In these sleepy days of summer I have been unable to get clarification from any of the principles who were involved with the excellent work done Dr Witty’s committee but I will continue to try get feedback. Has the committee been disbanded? Why were its key recommendations rejected by City Staff?
The site needs not only to follow Dr Witty’s guidance the further development of the site requires an open design competition. Time for fresh ideas Nanaimo.

Thursday, July 30, 2015

From CityLab —
Getting smaller cities walking

After counting pedestrians on hundreds of blocks (sampled for different densities, districts, and Walk Scores), a group of researchers found that active uses (i.e., well-trafficked buildings or busy parks, schools, and cafes), street furniture or items (from benches to fire hydrants to ATM machines), and first-floor windows (measured by window-to-facade ratio) all had statistically positive relationships to the number of pedestrians. 
But are these findings applicable elsewhere? There’s so much that sets New York apart from other American cities: its density, its walkability, its spread of urban versus suburban development, among others. What about smaller towns? What are the design traits that most encourage pedestrian activity on these streets? Read more: New Study Shows Urban Design Matters When It Comes to Pedestrian Activity in Salt Lake City - CityLab

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From @slowstreets —
"We tend to underestimate the total cost
of automobile transportation"

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

From The National Film Board —
City Limits with Jane Jacobs, 1971

City Limits by Laurence Hyde, National Film Board of Canada

Monday, July 27, 2015

Nanaimo downtown harbourfront @storify

#Nanaimo harbourfront walk cc @MikeVelonas

Posted by Nanaimo Commons on Saturday, July 25, 2015

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Sidewalks are a social space... oh, and
they can also be used for walking

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