There are more than 7,500 metered parking spaces in Vancouver. By reclaiming some of these spaces, we hope to encourage people to re-imagine the possibilities for new and different types of public space in our urban landscape.

The VPSN intervention will be part of several taking place. The Robson Street Business Association has been working with the City’s Viva Vancouver to help create a series of interventions along the street. Be sure to drop by during the day and check out the placemaking magic. You’ll also see other activations by the Vancouver Design Nerds and CityHive.

BACKGROUND
Originally devised in 2005 by ReBar, a San Francisco-based art and design studio, PARK(ing) Day challenges people to rethink the way streets are used and reinforces the need for broad-based changes to urban infrastructure. Since 2005, the project has blossomed into a worldwide grassroots movement: The Vancouver Public Space Network has been undertaking Park(ing) Day interventions since 2008.

In the 20th century, we built cities around a grid of car-accessible spaces. When roads were planned, on-street parking was incorporated into the outside lane, offering parking in close proximity to businesses, homes, and services. It was widely assumed that generous parking would encourage people to visit a business partly due to the convenience of free or easy-to-find parking nearby.

As society progressed into the 21st century, the car began to lose its stronghold on the reign of transportation modes. In Vancouver, 50% of trips are now made by transit, by foot, or by bike. With this shift in transportation modes in mind, is it reasonable to expect that the abundance of space once reserved for storing cars be preserved for parking in the future? And, if we were to reconsider how to use this land space, how can we use it to benefit the community in which it exists?

The San Francisco Experiment

In 2005, three urban designers at a firm called Rebar in San Francisco considered exactly that. They viewed on-street parking as an under-appreciated land use type and aimed to conceptualize a new use for it. One immediate benefit: on-street parking was essentially cheap real-estate, available to rent by the hour for literal pocket change.

So one day in late September, they found an underused block lined with on-street parking, covered a parking space with temporary grass, added a potted tree and a bench, and plugged the meter for a few hours – thus creating a temporary park in what was traditionally a parking space. As the designers stood back to observe their experiment in place-making, it wasn’t long before people began to use the bench and enjoy the space, similar to how a park would be used.

24th Street Parklet, San Francisco. Photo: San Francisco Planning Department

This led to the birth of Park(ing) Day, which soon became a global experiment in repurposing parking spaces for more public purposes. The one-day event has been held every year in late September, and has spawned hundreds of creative placemaking activations in cities around the world – including several in Vancouver starting in 2008.

But if Park(ing) Day is about temporary interventions, then perhaps a larger outcome of this idea of utilizing parking spaces for something other than parking is the birth of the parklet. Here, parking spaces are transformed into a more permanent extension of sidewalk space.

Much like Park(ing) Day, the parklet also has its birthplace in San Francisco. And also like Park(ing) Day, the initiative has grown and spread worldwide. Since they launched their first parklet in 2008 (with the help of Rebar), the City of San Francisco has expanded their parklet program to over 50 spaces throughout the city, offering miniature park-like spaces to people in places where there is a need for more and better public space.

Vancouver Recognizes the Benefits of Parklets For People

Vancouver has embraced the parklet concept, and, since 2011, has introduced 11 in locations around the city. Three of these are new this year, and one was removed owing to maintenance issues. (Find a complete list here).

Parklets are often found in proximity to busy coffee shops, ice cream parlours, and restaurants. A benefit to parklets is that they can add seating off the sidewalk, keeping the pathway clear in areas that often see high pedestrian volumes. Importantly, unlike the new sidewalk patios that are also being introduced, parklets are meant to be accessible by everyone – not just the patrons of the nearby business.

The first parklet, Parallel Park, was located in front of two busy coffee shops at Main and 14th Streets, and has been so well loved, that it is currently being refurbished and upgraded into a full public plaza. Further south on Main Street, the French Quarter Parklet was a collaborative project between local businesses, property owners, a design agency, and a construction company. The vision of this parklet was to create a space that brings neighbours together, while at the same time being a community-building project that had input from the wide range of people who would use it. Downtown, on Robson Street – a busy pedestrian and retail corridor – the Urban Pasture Parklet can be found in front of Café Crepe, providing an urban garden setting with bench seating and tall grass in planters. Another Robson parklet – in front of Japadog – is just opening, while several others can be found – on Fraser Street, Commercial Drive, and West 4th Ave… and shortly also on Davie Street.

Sunny Slopes Parklet, East 4th Ave & Cypress. Photo: Daniel Maldoff

Meet the Parklet, Main Street at E 27th Ave. Photo: City of Vancouver

Parklets Fill a Need In Their Community

Local designer Luc Bagneres has been following the evolution of parklets and is currently writing his masters thesis on the subject. In addition to researching this new type of public space, he is also collaborating with two local enterprises – DUDOC and Earnest Ice Cream – on a proposed parklet that they hope to see installed in front of the Earnest ice cream parlour in East Vancouver.

According to Bagneres, it is imperative that parklets be built with the intention of filling a neighbourhood need. And in filling the need, one must first know the neighbourhood, the people who live there, and the businesses in the area.

For example, does a neighbourhood lack green space, ample seating, or bike parking? Is pedestrian flow along a sidewalk hindered due to people congregating outside a popular business? Is there potential to offer space for an urban garden, a children’s play space, public art, or a cultural landmark? This sort of thinking is a good approach to the design of public space in general but especially so on these micro-spaces. A parklet, properly planned and placed in the right location, can fill many of these needs in a simple, and relatively cost-effective fashion.

Planning, Design and Permitting

The City of Vancouver supports the development and implementation of parklets by reviewing designs and assessing transportation-related impacts. Parklet designs are guided by their Parklet Design and Construction Manual – and a successful proposal must respond to considerations related to location, platform height, construction, accessibility, and seating. Beyond the technical considerations, parklet designs must also have community support, be insurable, and be independently funded.

Within these parameters, the opportunity to customize a parklet to complement the look and feel of a neighbourhood has a wide latitude of possibility through materials (they can be fabricated with wood, concrete, or tiles, as long as the platform surface remains flush with the adjoining sidewalks), configuration (they can be terraced or flat), and amenities (which can include different types of seating, lighting, canopies for shade or rain protection, and landscaping).

Like any construction project that requires City approval, the application and permitting process can take some time. At present, the processing of applications is estimated to take 8-12 months, depending on the comprehensiveness and suitability of the design proposal. For better or for worse, this sort of timeline ensures that only the most dedicated of teams applying for a parklet permit remain invested in seeing the project through to completion. But as the popularity of parklets continues to grow, it seems reasonable to ask whether or not there are ways to streamline the review and approval process.

Urban Pasture Parklet, Robson St at Thurlow. Photo: Paul Krueger

Responding to Grumbles

While parklets create a benefit in adding more public space to neighbourhoods, the response is not always 100% positive. Feedback has generally been good in Vancouver, but some cities have seen a more active debate about the pros and cons of parklets.

Chief among the concerns are the loss of parking, increased public lingering, the potential encampment of homeless individuals, illegal activity, and general late-night rowdiness. There have also been concerns from urbanists about the quality of design. The degree to which these are significant or not is often a matter of perspective – but suffice to say, city officials hear from both sides on the matter. On that note, municipalities sometimes also expressed challenges with parklets, as they can be more cumbersome for engineering departments to work around. This is one of the reasons that parklet designs will usually include a solution for easy transportation and removal from the site, when required.

At least some of these concerns may be dispelled as people quantify the benefits that come with these types of interventions. For example, one study out of Chicago showed that neighbourhood parklets increased foot traffic to any area by up to 80%. This foot traffic, in turn, brought an with it an increase in revenue, with food and beverage providers nearby seeing an increase in sales by 10-20%. Other studies have shown that pedestrians and cyclists tend to spend more in one month on small expenses than drivers do – suggesting that amenities like parklets can encourage pedestrians and cyclists to visit a place, linger, and to spend money when they do.

Reconsidering parking spaces as small urban parks offers a community more room for people to meet, congregate, experience, and enjoy their city. As the preference for active transportation grows and car usage declines in many cities, let’s envision more people-friendly purposes for parking spaces. With any luck, the transformation of idle road space and private car storage into vibrant people-places will become a legacy of the 21st century.

Jada Natalie Stevens is an urbanite and designer who is motivated in exploring how our personal actions can contribute to a better urban society.

Photos by: Paul Krueger (lead), City of San Francisco, Daniel Maldoff, and City of Vancouver; Video courtesy of Street Films.

An informative blog post from our last Park(ing) Day describes a short history of the transformations of underutilized parking spaces into engaging temporary installations.

Back in 2005, a group of bold, creative folks at the Rebar Art and Design Studio in San Francisco transformed selected metered-parking spots into a park for a day. Using ‘guerilla’ tactics, this group started a global movement called PARK(ing) Day to expand and challenge the definition of a parking space. Since then, a number of cities have participated in PARK(ing) Day with a variety of temporary installments to demonstrate the underutilized potential of your average parking space. The Vancouver Public Space Network has been taking advantage of this opportunity to creatively and boldly participate in the public realm since 2008.

Marking the 7th year that the VPSN has held a Park(ing) Day event, this year’s “Bike-in Movie Night” will turn the GOPark parking lot on Hastings Street at Hamilton Street into an open-air theatre. The VPSN hopes to provide a fun night of movie watching under the stars for bike lovers, movie buffs, public space conveners, interventionists, and other fine folk.

GOPark parking lot at 300-block W Hastings. Enter from the north side alleyway between Cambie & Homer

Ride your bicycle, take transit or just put your Feet to the Street – VPSN encourages all to attend! The evening starts with bike-focused short films from Vancouver Cycle Chic before the double-bill feature films: The Triplets of Belleville followed by Premium Rush. Movies will begin at 8PM.

FEATURE FILMS

Triplets of Belleville

When her grandson is kidnapped during the Tour de France, Madame Souza and her beloved pooch Bruno team up with the Belleville Sisters–an aged song-and-dance team from the days of Fred Astaire–to rescue him.

Premium Rush

Dodging speeding cars, crazed cabbies, open doors, and eight million cranky pedestrians is all in a day’s work for Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the best of New York’s agile and aggressive bicycle messengers. It takes a special breed to ride the fixie — super lightweight, single-gear bikes with no brakes and riders who are equal part skilled cyclists and suicidal nutcases who risk becoming a smear on the pavement every time they head into traffic.

The Bicycle Valet will be on-hand to babysit your bicycle; brought to you by BEST (Better Environmentally Sound Transportation). Bring blankets, chairs or something comfy to lounge on. VPSN’s Park(ing) Day Bike-In Movie Night is a Rain or Shine event. See the Facebook event page for RSVP details.

September is upon us, and that means a new round of exciting late-summer and fall public space activities. We’ll be reporting out on many of these in our next full-length Public Space Newsletter; however we wanted to let you know about a few upcoming events – including Park(ing) Day and the inaugural Vancouver Design Week  and Doors Open Vancouver.

More specifically: we’re looking for help with each of these, so if you have some extra times and are looking to lend a hand with one or more cool projects – please get in touch!

 – The VPSN team

Friday, September 19 – Park(ing) Day 2014 
Park(ing) Day is an annual celebration that takes place around the globe. It invites participants to creatively re-imagine metered parking spaces as… parks, mini gathering places, theatres, dance floors, landscape installations, art stations, you name it! It’s a challenge that’s been producing some excellent results since it was first started (in good ‘ol San Fran) back in 2005.

2014 will mark the 7th year that the VPSN has held a Park(ing) Day event in Vancouver, and this year, as always, we’re looking for volunteer assistance to make it a success.

We’ll be holding our next planning meeting tonight (Thursday), at Bean Around the World, Cambie and Hastings at 6pm. If you’re free later on, stop by and join in the discussion. There’s lots to be done.

For more information contact Aateka Shashank at aateka [at] vancouverpublicspace [dot] ca.

September 15 through 28 – Vancouver Design Week
Vancouver Design Week is a city-wide festival to celebrate established and emergent design talent; to spotlight broad spectrum design innovation; to cross-pollenate and empower designers and design-thinkers across disciplines, and ultimately to leverage the potential of design for transformative agency in Vancouver (and beyond).

For fourteen days in 2014, Vancouver Design Week and partners will host workshops, idea jams, exhibitions, open building tours and open studios. Special events and parties include the inaugural City of Vancouer Urban Design Awards. Vancouver Design Week has multiple ways to get involved: host a tour, submit an event, become a supporting partner, make a donation or volunteer as a #VDW2014 Ambassador before/during the event.

Get involved:
Follow @vandesignwk on twitter and instagram
Interested volunteers please contact info@vancouverdesignwk.com

Saturday, October 4 – Doors Open Vancouver
Doors Open Vancouver is a one-day, free, behind-the-scenes look at some of Vancouver’s most intriguing buildings. Over 20 buildings will be participating in the inaugural Doors Open Vancouver event that will take place on Saturday, October 4 from 10 am – 5 pm.

Doors Open Vancouver is brought to you by the City of Vancouver and Urbanarium, in association with Vancouver Heritage Foundation, the Vancouver Public Space Network and Cascadia Green Building Council.

We are looking to recruit three types of volunteers: General Volunteers, Team Leaders and Volunteer Support. There are various shifts and specific jobs associated with each of these categories. A few general requirements: volunteers need to enjoy working with the public, be 19 years of age or older, and be able to attend one of the volunteer orientation sessions that is being organized.

Our partners have come up with some sweet incentives as well. Volunteers will receive an official Doors Open Vancouver 2014 t-shirt, a “bypass the line” wristband to use when you’re not doing your volunteer work, and an invitation to the volunteer wrap party.

To sign-up, please register online.

… And looking ahead to late October and early November: help needed for the Halloween SkyTrain Party and VPSN municipal election events

If transit parties or local politics (or both) tickle your fancy, we’ll be discussing two more events at the next VPSN volunteer orientation, taking place on Monday, September 15.

If you’d like more details, please zip us a note at volunteer [at] vancouverpublicspace [dot] ca.

The Vancouver Public Space Network (VPSN) will celebrate PARK(ing) Day in Vancouver by reclaiming parking spaces at the corner of 8th Avenue and Cambie Street between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. VPSN volunteers will set up an urban ‘rec room’, offering passersby the chance to read a book, play games, and hang out with friends while thinking about how public space is allocated.

“There are more than 7,500 metered parking spaces in Vancouver, which take up a significant amount of space,” said the VPSN’s Simon Wong. “By reclaiming some of these spaces, we hope to challenge people to re-imagine the possibilities of the urban landscape.”

Community librarian Sarah Green from the Vancouver Public Library’s Mount Pleasant branch will stop by from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. to drop off coffee table books, sign up new members, and discuss user accounts.

Originally invented in 2005 by ReBar, a San Francisco-based art and design studio, PARK(ing) Day challenges people to rethink the way streets are used and reinforces the need for broad-based changes to urban infrastructure.

Since 2005, the project has blossomed into a worldwide grassroots movement: PARK(ing) Day 2010 included more than 800 installations in more than 180 cities in 30 countries on six continents. This year, the project continues to expand to urban centers across the globe.

-30-

About the Vancouver Public Space Network:
The VPSN is a grassroots collective that engages in advocacy, outreach and education on public space issues in and around Vancouver. This includes challenging the increase of advertising ‘creep’ in public places, promoting creative, community-friendly urban design, monitoring private security activities in the downtown core, fostering public dialogue and democratic debate, and devising creative ways to re-green the neglected corners, alleys and forgotten spaces of the city.

For more information, visit www.vpsn.ca

Media contact:
Simon Wong
Vancouver Public Space Network
(604) 780-0279
simon[at]vancouverpublicspace.ca

How would you describe Vancouver parks in general? Abundant? Innovative? Needs mowing?

What does your park mean to you?

Share your thoughts with us as we celebrate PARK(ing) Day on Friday September 16th!

For some people, a park is their “rec room” — a place to read a book, play games, and hang out with friends. Keeping this in mind, VPSN is setting up a little street-side rec room for the day on West 8th Avenue at Cambie Street where you are invited to do all the above and more.

For more information, click here to visit the Facebook Event Page

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world… a crowd gathers for New
Year’s celebrations at Mrs Macquerie’s Point in Sydney Australia.
Submitted by VPSN member Lisa M.

A late year greeting to all of you from the gang at the VPSN. This is it: day 365 of 2010 and we’re a mere few hours away from a brand new year. We hope you’re having a grand time with you various celebrations.

We wanted to take this opportunity to send you out a quick thank you for all your support this past year. 2010 has been an exciting one for us – and a busy year for public space related issues in the Vancouver. We had the opportunity to be involved in a great number of initiatives, and it’s been fun take this holiday period to reflect on the public space ‘scene’ in Vancouver over the past 12 months.

This time last year, Vancouverites of all political stripes were gearing up for the Olympics, planning a range of activities. In addition to some pre-Games advocacy work around Olympic gathering areas, corporate signage and the deployment of surveillance technology, the VPSN also launched our blog during the 1^st month of 2010 – using it to report out on urban issues – starting with the Game’s related transformation of the City. Since that time, we’ve seen our readership grow in leaps and bounds… and it’s been a great tool to connect with residents of the City about civic affairs issues.

2010 was also a big year on the active transportation front. The Olympic transportation plan marked a watershed moment for shaping urban mobility during the Games. But that was only the start! The Vancouver Courier recently declared their ‘Newsmaker of the Year’ to be the bicycle – no small tribute to the many initiatives that have taken place concerning the humble two-wheeler this year. Chief amongst these was the installation of the Dunsmuir viaduct separated bikelane in the Spring of this year and the more recent opening of the Hornby Street separated lane. These weren’t controversy free, to be sure, and yes, the process could have been handled better… but regardless, we feel that they will help to put Vancouver on the path to a more sustainable, healthful future.

Pedestrian issues have also begun to come to the fore and we’ve been working to support these where possible. There been an increasing focus on improving the pedestrian experience, the walkability of neighbourhoods, and attending to issues of pedestrian safety. And with the City focusing on “green mobility” as part of its Bright Green Future initiative and planning to develop a new Transportation Plan in 2011, this positive trend will only continue. Our prediction? 2011 will be to pedestrian issues, what 2010 was to the bicycle. Just watch what happens when the international Walk 21 Conference landing in town in November.

Animating the city’s public spaces has always been part of our strategy to focus attention on the public realm. This year was no exception! In the summer time we transformed Granville Street into a giant percussive ensemble with our Stick it to the Streets event. Later in the year, we were pleased to roll out two of our annual favourites: in September we participated in our third Park(ing) Day celebration – that international day of parking space reclamation (this year we had sites in Davie Village and at City Hall). Then in late October, we had our annual Halloween transit party – a massive costumed take-over of the Seabus. And then in November we managed to get 100 folks together on Vancouver’s coldest, snowiest day, to make a giant ‘ecological footprint’ as part of an international public art project.

In 2010 we continued to wear our advocacy hats on all aspects of Vancouver’s public space policy – from arguing against the deployment of surveillance cameras in schools to raising the alarm over new forms of corporate advertising, from to registering concern with increased fees for community-based events, to taking a stance against the proposal to extend the municipal vote to corporations.

We’ve also weighed in on site-specific spaces as well – we participated in the discussion around moving the Vancouver Art Gallery, developed new community gardens, completed an ethnographic film on Yaletown Park, and focused a considerable amount of resources towards advocating for a sufficient quantity and quality of public space (and other public benefits) as part of the development of Northeast False Creek. And of course there’s another item we’re very excited about: the push to transform the 800 block of Robson Street into a public square (a move that was recently supported by all three municipal parties!)

This was just a sampling of some of the things we were involved in last year. As with all our projects, the aforementioned initiatives gave us the chance to work with fantastic volunteers, amazing community organizations and stellar people in local government, schools and universities and the community at large. It’s an honour for us to be able to collaborate with Vancouver’s many excellent space-makers and urban enthusiasts. 

* * * * * 

VPSN Coordinators also took the first weekend in December to plan out some of our activities for 2011. Here’s a sneak peek of a few of the many things you can expect to see over the next 12 months:

• Where’s the Square II – stay tuned for our summertime animation of Robson Street – with a fantastic food-themed event.
• Vancouver Votes / Public Space Manifesto – 2011 is election year, and as with the last municipal contest, the VPSN will be developing a new manifesto and a number of election related events aimed at putting public space issues on the agenda. 
• Relaunching PubliCity – we’ve had an issue ready to go for a few months now… and we’ll be rolling this out in the first few months of 2011.
• Transforming Broadway – Due in January, our report on transforming Broadway into a Great Street will showcase exciting options for the future of Vancouver’s longest east/west corridor.
• Speaker Series / Backgrounders / Websites – We’ve been developing new backgrounders on public health, parking space reclamation, and greenspaces, to name a few. We’ll also be launching version 2.0 of our website, holding key speaker series events and a range of other open-source materials
• Collaborative ventures – We’ve got some exciting things lined up with the Museum of Vancouver and the Vancouver Art Gallery, and other projects in the hopper as well.

And there will be lots of other stuff coming as well… including all your favourite annual events, parties, film fest activities and more. 

Finally… don’t forget, the first big community opportunity to embrace public space takes place tomorrow morning, January 1, with the annual polar bear swim. Even if you don’t brave the chilly waters of English Bay yourself, the scene is a festive one.

The year begins and ends with celebrating in public space. Happy 2011 everyone! Very best wishes to you all.

Your friends at the Vancouver Public Space Network

• Friday, September 17 – Park(ing) Day
• Friday, October 1 – Greenest City Idea Slam (w/Image Contest & Design Jam)

VPSN MEETINGS & PROJECTS

• Wednesday, October 6 – Volunteer Orientation Meeting
• Monday, September 27 – Billboards & Corporatization Brainstorm
• Monday, September 27 – Halloween Transit Party Planning Meeting

ENGAGE: PUBLIC CONSULTATION OPPORTUNITIES

• Hornby Bike Lane Consultation

PUBLIC SPACE EVENTS

• Saturday, September 25 – Liveable Laneways Festival
• Wednesday, September 29 – Showcasing Urban Environmental Health Inequity
• October 4-7 – Gaining Ground Summit

VPSN PUBLIC SPACE FEATURE EVENTS

Friday, September 17 – PARK(ing) Day

It’s almost here! Join us for PARK(ing) Day this Friday as we transform two parking spots into temporary parks for the public good. Drop by and say hi or stick around and be part of the action!

For the third year running, the Vancouver Public Space Network will be participating in PARK(ing) Day – a global adventure that sees parking spaces transformed into public space playgrounds for young and old. Sound awesome? It is! This year, weather permitting, we will have locations active in the West End and at City Hall:

1. West End – 1218 Davie Street (SW Corner @ Bute). 9:30am – 5:00pm;
2. City Hall Councillors Parking (N side), 454 West 12th Ave. 11:30am – 2:00pm

:: More information – Simon Wong simon [at] vancouverpublicspace.ca
:: Join the Facebook Event Page to stay up-to-date

Friday, October 1 – Greenest City Idea Slam

We’re very pleased to announce our latest collaboration with the City of Vancouver and Simon Fraser University. The following is an excerpt from the official press release.

Green Ideas Sought for Vancouver’s Future; Top ideas chosen for panel review with CBC Radio’s Bill Richardson and Mayor Robertson

Building on the success of the “Talk Green to Us” campaign, the public is invited to participate in the on-line forum www.talkgreentous.ca to share ideas they want to put into action to help Vancouver become the greenest city. The public can also visit the forum to vote on their favourite ideas.

The most innovative and creative ideas with the most votes will be selected to be pitched to, and receive feedback from, a prestigious panel of experts facilitated by Mayor Gregor Robertson and Bill Richardson, host of CBC Radio’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera and In Concert programs….

Hosted by the City of Vancouver, the Vancouver Public Space Network and the Simon Fraser University (SFU) City Program, the panel event will take place at the SFU Woodward’s Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre. Poet laureate Brad Cran and musician Veda Hille will be providing entertainment while Jaime Kowal and Ryan Tomkinson will share art and photography… The public are encouraged to attend but must register for the event as space is limited: http://websurvey.sfu.ca/survey/64166248.

:: To see the complete press release check out the VPSN blog

Call for Artists and Creatives – Illustrate Our Transformation Into the Greenest City

Are you an aspiring artist, designer or photographer? The good folks at Green the City will be presenting a variety slide show of “Green City” themes as part of the aforementioned Oct 1 Greenest City event. They’ve got a call out for some artistic expertise and are looking for images that riff off of the theme “Where have we come from and where are we going?” Share your images and visual creations (archival mash-ups, conceptual renderings, photoshop madness… documenting Vancouver’s green past, present and future).

It’s easy to participate. Check out this month’s assignment below, and submit your images and artwork to www.greenthecityvancouver.com. The top-notch work that you submit will be broadcast live as part of the event!

:: To send in your work – submit [at] greenthecityvancouver.com

Design Nerds – Greenest City Jam

One final Greenest City gig that you ought to know about. Our good friends at the Vancouver Design Nerds will be hosting one of their ever popular Design Jam sessions this Friday (Sept 17). The goal of the evening will be to capture 20 Greenest City ideas, either new ones or improvements on existing ones on the talkgreentous.ca website. All ideas will be posted to the website by end of night. We’ll then ask you all to use your social networking powers to vote on your favourite ideas. Takes place 630-10pm at Recollective, 5 West Pender (Buzz 109)

:: More info – Design Nerds Facebook Event Page

VPSN PUBLIC SPACE PROJECTS

Monday, September 27 – Billboards & Public Space Corporatization

Our Corporatization Working Group is convening a meeting to brainstorm issues around the corporatization of public space – that is, the presence of billboards and outdoor signage, corporate branding and forms of privatization affecting Vancouver’s public realm. We’ll be preparing a discussion paper on the subject and we invite you to help us to think through the issues. The meeting takes place Monday the 27th of September at 6:30 pm. Location TBD.

:: For more information – stephanie [at] vancouverpublicspace.ca

Monday, September 27 – Halloween Transit Party Planning

The Public Transit Working Group will be meeting on Sep 27 and are looking for volunteers interested in helping us with our annual Halloween transit party. You remember that, don’t you? Crazy costumes, awesome tunes, lively transformation the region’s transit infrastructure? It’s coming again. Oh yeah. Meeting location TBD.

:: For further details – quinn [at] vancouverpublicspace.ca

Wednesday, October 6 – Volunteer Orientation Meeting

Join us for our monthly volunteer orientation and learn about opportunities to make Vancouver great! Session takes place at 630pm in Room 3047, SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings. Please RSVP.

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

ENGAGE – PUBLIC CONSULTATION OPPORTUNITIES

Hornby Bike Lane Consultation

We believe that Hornby street is a crucial link in creating a substantive and comprehensive bicycle lane network that will increase ridership and safety and will provide benefits for residents and businesses alike. Not everyone agrees. Either way, this is a good chance for you to sound off on your feelings about the City’s transportation directions.

:: Have something to add? Email mayorandcouncil (at) vancouver.ca
:: City of Vancouver – Bike Vancouver webpage

PUBLIC SPACE EVENTS

Saturday, September 25 – Liveable Laneways Festival

Celebrate the transformation of a neighbourhood laneway into a cool space. This event showcases some excellent placemaking work being done in Mt. Pleasant. Meet at 8th and the Lane (just west of Main Street). With music, markets, a BBQ and more. in the laneway between Main and Quebec, from Broadway north to 7th Ave.)

While you’re there – stop by and say hi! The VPSN’s mapping team will be there gathering information for our community Green Map.

:: More information – Liveable Laneways Facebook Page

Wednesday, September 29 – Showcasing Urban Environmental Health Inequity: Insights from Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Toronto

You are invited to attend an animated final reporting on the community-based research DTES residents have completed since 2008 when a team of researchers from UBC partnered with the DTES Neighbourhood House and other local organizations.

Research focuses on understanding environmental health inequities in the city – with work going to support efforts to create a more “just” city. Takes place 1:00-5:00pm at the Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House, 573 East Hastings @ Princess.

:: More Info/RSVP – Email Rebecca Haber – rhaber [at] interchange.ubc.ca

October 4-7 – Gaining Ground Summit: The Power of Green Cities to Shape the Future

The Gaining Ground conference will have a whole range of interesting workshops and side programs connected with the future of urban spaces. Check out the program here.

We’d also like to draw your attention to a couple of interesting looking sessions
:

“Walking the Talk-the Footprint for Active Transportation” – Workshop and Learning Lab (October 4 8:00am-3:30)

As part of the preconference offerings of the Gaining Grounds conference, Walk21 in association with Green Communities Canada is presenting a one day workshop at Simon Fraser University. Join local leaders, decision makers and leading global experts on walking environments and walkability in a full- day workshop exploring this foundation of Active Transportation. This exciting day consists of a working breakfast session with professional training on walking environments, followed by an on street hands-on walking audit, analysis, and in- depth discussion. Learn innovative best practices that can be used by you to make communities more walkable.
This session will be led by Dr. Rodney Tolley from Walk21, Jacky Kennedy from Green Communities Canada, and Paul Young, with Public Space Workshop. This workshop and learning lab is $75.00 for the full day, inclusive of breakfast and bagged lunch.

To register – http://www.gaininggroundsummit.com/shoulder_program.htm

Public Lecture on Walkability (October 4)

There will be a free public lecture at 6:00 to 8:00 at SFU on walking and walkability led by Paul Young.

Healing Cities (October 7)

Healing Cities is a part of the larger “Gaining Ground” summit. Register now for an opportunity to explore how cities can be healed, and also be healing places for all of us to inhabit. This exciting and integrative conference will bring together planners, developers, architects, engineers, transportation professionals, massage therapists, physicians, counsellors, energy healers, spiritual leaders, and you! This day of conference will help us learn and explore new ways to approach the task of healing cities. We certainly don’t have all the answers or even all the questions, and we need your input.

:: For more information: Gaining Ground Website

This year’s PARK(ing) Day is a little over a week away! The plans for VPSN’s PARK(ing) spot are finalized and we promise you a very engaging, interactive, and entertaining one. It will be located on the 1200 block of Davie St., just off of Bute St. in Vancouver’s West End.

Of course, we always welcome enthusiastic volunteers who are interested in helping with the event. You can contact me at simon@vancouverpublicspace.ca for more info, or come to our next planning meeting on Wednesday Sept. 15th at Melriches Cafe (1244 Davie St.). Meeting starts at 6:30pm.

Speaking of parks, I was having lunch in Emery Barnes Park today on Davie and Seymour and watched a man set up his tent at the edge of the grass.

As he was inside it, a young man accidentally hit the tent with a soccer ball. The older man got out of his tent fuming while the young man apologized profusely. I say if you’re going to pitch a tent in a public park, be prepared to brave the elements.