VPSN Public Space News & Events | 5 July 2010

Happy July folks! Hope you all had a great (and perhaps long) weekend. From Canada Day to the Jazz Fest there was a festive air despite the patches of gray. And on Granville it was actually the street that got sodded and turfed for a change. Kudos to the City for pushing the animation programme there.

VPSN PUBLIC SPACE PROJECTS & EVENTS

• Tuesday, July 6 – Transforming Broadway – Workshop
• Tuesday, July 6 – Surveillance & Security Working Group Meeting
• Wednesday, July 7 – VPSN Volunteer Orientation
• AGM Update
• Great Trees Contest – Support the Urban Forest

VPSN BLOG

• The new BC Place casino – a different kind of bird?
• Granville gets its groove on

OTHER EVENTS

• Saturday, July 10 – Parkour Gathering
• Monday, July 19 – Archival tour of the West End
• Monday, July 19 – Psycho!Geography Bike Ride

 
VPSN PUBLIC SPACE PROJECTS & EVENTS

Tuesday July 6 – Transforming Broadway: What would it take to make Broadway a Great Street?

Join us on Tuesday for the second (and last) of our “Transforming Broadway” workshops. Our Mt. Pleasant event last week was stellar (thank you participants!) and we’re looking forward to another excellent discussion this week.

Both the City of Vancouver and Translink are currently engaging in planning exercises that will shape the future of Broadway. This means that we now, collectively, have a very good opportunity to lay down a sense of direction that will enhance the street. Our position? Let’s take this chance to transform the city’s great east-west corridor into something fantastic!

The facilitated workshops will be focused around a simple question: what would it take to turn Broadway into a Great Street? We need your help to find this out. 

The evening’s session starts at 7:00pm and snacks and drinks will be served. Please note – the event is free, but seating is limited. Register to get your name on the list. 

:: For more information/to register – broadway [at] vancouverpublicspace.ca
:: VPSN Transforming Broadway webpage and backgrounder
:: City of Vancouver Central Broadway Corridor webpage

Tuesday, July 6 – Surveillance & Security Working Group Meeting

Our ever-vigilant S&S Working Group meets this Tuesday in Room 3047 of SFU Harbour Centre. On the agenda: ICBC’s new surveillance camera plan for Vancouver’s intersections, update work for our surveillance mapping of the downtown core, community policing issues and other issues pertaining to safe spaces. Please RSVP for the meeting as space is limited.

:: To RSVP – heather [at] vancouverpublicspace.ca

Wednesday, July 7 – VPSN Volunteer Orientation

Join us for our monthly volunteer orientation and learn about opportunities to make Vancouver great! Session takes place at 7pm in Room 3047, SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings. Please RSVP.

:: More information or to RSVP – erin [at] vancouverpublicspace.ca

AGM Update

Thanks to everyone who came out for our VPSN Annual General Meeting last Sunday. You’ll be hearing more from our Board this year as we move into planning work around the VPSN’s long-term strategic goals. In the meantime, we’re please to present our Board officers for 2010: Erin O’Melinn (Chair), Adam Vasilevich (Vice Chair), Stephanie Doerksen (Treasurer) and Josh Paterson (Secretary). Rounding out the Board are Heather Forbes, Eliana MacDonald, Jaspal Marwah, Karen Parusel and Andrew Pask. 

:: More information on the VPSN non-profit – info [at] vancouverpublicspace.ca 

Great Trees Contest. Support the Urban Forest. Win a Prize!

Each week we give a way a prize to one lucky Vancouverite who likes trees. The process is easy and the odds are good. If you want to participate, all you have to do is send us a picture of your favourite Vancouver tree with a few words on why you feel its so awesome.

We’ve been publishing the submissions we’ve recieved, along with other neat articles on Vancouver’s urban forest on our Great Trees blog. In the next little while, we’ll also be kicking off our community-based map of the city’s favourite leafy giants. 

If you have a chance this week, take a moment to snap a picture of your favourite tree and send it our way! Help us to pay homage to our urban forest.

:: For more information – www.GreatTrees.ca

VPSN BLOG

The following are some of the recent posts from our blog. 

June 30 - The new BC Place casino – a different kind of bird?
Earlier this spring the BC government released a major announcement about a downtown development project. Unveiled in a new proposal was Extreme Makeover: BC Place Edition, in which Vancouver’s downtown stadium will be getting a new retractable roof along with other building improvements, to the tune of $450 million. (Eat your heart out, Ty Pennington.) [more…]

June 26 – Granville gets its groove on
A roving team of 50 percussionists turned Granville Street into a giant drum, testing the resonance of street furniture, sidewalks and signs alike… Part of the VPSN’s Stick it to the Streets event, the pavement-level gig changed the soundscape of the street — animating it for passers-by and showcasing the real acoustics of Vancouver’s “entertainment district.” [more…]

OTHER EVENTS

Saturday, July 10 – Parkour Gathering

BC’a largest annual Parkour gathering takes place on July 10 starting 1pm at the Vancouver Art Gallery. The crew plans to “re-purpose” the urban landscape throughout downtown Vancouver, running, clambering and jumping through the city’s spaces. Lots of fun! This is probably one of the rare chances people get to see over 100 traceurs of all different skill levels from all over Canada and the US get down in the city. More importantly, it’s a great opportunity for the curious to give it a shot. 

:: For more information – www.pkbc.ca

Monday, July 19 – Archival View of the West End – Friends of the Vancouver City Archives

James Johnstone presents a virtual street by street tour of the old West End using images from the Archives photographic holdings. For more information, please visit the Friends of the Archive webpage. The event is free and there is no need to reserve a space.

And speaking of the Archives, they also have a new exhibit running in their gallery called Edifice: Exploring Art, Archives and Architecture. It’s on display until August 27 and represents a collaboration between the Archives, artist Graham Winter and Heritage Vancouver. You can visit the Archives over off of Chestnut Avenue in Vanier Park.

Monday, July 19* – Psycho!Geography Bike Ride

Join Gallery Gachet and artist/activist RedSara on this unique guided bicycle ride through the twilight summer night…. featuring stops at one ‘high incidence of car crashes’ site, one crazy industry site for screaming, one quiet river refuge, and the ICBC crashed car parking lot. In the evening River Road along the North Arm of the Fraser River is a quiet and beautiful place where industry meets nature, all reflected in water.

Ride departs Marine Skytrain Station at 8:15 and crosses the Fraser to Richmond, with stops for early evening observation & photography along the way. Ride ends at 22nd Street Skytrain Station, a distance of approx 20 km.

Participants should register in advance, and also be sure that they and their bikes are in good enough functioning order to be able to ride for 20km (will take approx 3 hr with stops). Assistance is available for people with unique mobility needs who wish to join the ride through tandems, chariots or loaner bikes. Please inquire. Note: rain date – July 26, 2010.

:: For details or to register – email sara [at] redsara.ca

SUPPORT THE VPSN

The Vancouver Public Space Network is an all-volunteer, community-driven enterprise that works on advocacy, education and outreach pertaining to the city’s public realm. We depend on your contributions in order to undertake our projects and activities. Looking to lend a hand? Please consider making a donation or signing up for one of our volunteer projects. Thanks!