Summer’s here and the weekend is only a few hours away. Weather aside, things are lining up nicely for some seasonal fun in the city’s public realm. Ready, set, go!

A few quick updates about some upcoming activities that you may be interested in:

• Robson Square Summer Plaza – Update on the 800-block!
• Starting July 5 – Lunch Meet! Long Table Action on Abbot Street
• Transportation Plan – Public Space Ideas
• Grandview-Woodland Community Plan
• St. George Street Rainway – Street Mural Painting

Robson Square Summer Plaza – Jazzing up the 800-block is just the beginning!

For the second year in a row, the 800-block of Robson Street, between Hornby and Howe, will be closed to through traffic. Like the Granville Street pedestrian mall around the corner, the expanded Robson Square will play host to a variety of street level activities through to Labour Day.

The closure begins tomorrow, June 23, and coincides with the Jazz Fest (check out their schedule for an awesome selection of free shows at this site and elsewhere). A few weeks hence the installation of Pop Rocks – a very cool outdoor seating installation – will take place. And if that wasn’t enough, look for other fun activities – including VPSN-led laser graffiti, speakers’ corner and public karaoke installations – to animate the space over the coming months.

As many of you know, the VPSN is quite supportive of the expansion of Robson Square. Our survey last summer saw an overwhelming number of people support the creation of a larger public gathering area in this space… and the current closure gives us yet another opportunity to see how the space supports public life in the city.

That being said, we know that there are a lot of different opinions on the space… and we want to hear your side of things too. To this end, we’ll be doing some evaluation work throughout the summer.

Please take a moment to let us know what you think of the expanded space. Send your photos, ideas, thoughts, concerns and ideas our way – we want to hear from you!

:: Feedback – robsonsquare [at] vancouverpublicspace.ca

Starting July 5 – Lunch Meet! Long Table Action on Abbott Street

And speaking of street closures… can we invite you to lunch in July? LUNCH MEET is a new City-sponsored initiative that we’re running every Thursday of the month. The 300-block of Abbott Street will be transformed into a place for people, with a long table and music provided by local artists. Grab a bite to eat from a local business, food cart or bring your own lunch and meet a neighbour, friend or work colleague.

The event kicks off on July 5th and we’re looking for a team of volunteers to help with event-related activities. Most volunteer tasks are 1 hour in duration, and would take place from 10:30 am to 2pm.

:: Lend a hand – contact adam [at] vancouverpublicspace [dot] ca

Transportation 2040 Plan – Public Space Ideas

The City is in the process of updating their Transportation Plan. The new policy document, called Transportation 2040, will provide a vision for the next 30 years and guide transportation decision-making for the next 15 years.

The draft document has been released, and the City is looking for feedback on a range of ideas – everything from improvements to pedestrian areas, bike lanes, public transport and more. This is a great opportunity to weigh on a number of important ideas.

Among other things, there’s a chance to have your say on a few aspects specifically focused on public space. Including a series of strategies and actions around

• Enabling and encouraging creative uses of the street; and
• Creating public plazas and gathering spaces throughout the city.

You can read more on these and other ideas on the City’s webpage (see below). There’s also a survey you can complete in order to share your feedback.

Stay tuned for a VPSN event on these items as well. We’ve got a small event in the works right now and will be announcing details shortly.

:: City of Vancouver Transportation 2040 webpage

:: VPSN Transportation 2040 Activities – Info – quinn [at] vancouverpublicspace [dot] ca

Grandview-Woodland Community Plan

Are you a resident of the Grandview-Woodland neighbourhood? Like to hang out on the Drive? Work in the hood?

Anyone interested in the future of G-W is invited to lend their voice to the Community Plan work that’s going on in the neighbourhood right now. There’s a Community Questionnaire and photo contest that is running through to the end of next week. Among the themes of planning work – public space (including parks, streetscapes and more).

:: City of Vancouver Grandview-Woodland Community Plan webpage

St. George Street Rainway – Street Mural Painting

The St. George Street Rainway Committee, the False Creek Watershed Society, the City of Vancouver Viva program and the Mount Pleasant Elementary School have partnered to create a street mural painting party and you are invited!

The community was consulted on the creation of this mural at various events and by door-to-door surveys (see a sample of this beautiful mural on the right!). Preliminary design work will happen on the 27th and on the 28th in the morning. Please join us on June 28 from 3:00 – 8:00 PM to paint the mural. The party will go from 6:00 – 8:00! Location: St.George Street, between E. 7^th and E 8^th Ave

:: More info – Shahirastgeorgerainway [at] gmail.com or City

Early concept for Pop Rocks by Matthew Soules Architecture &
AFJD Studios (final design not yet completed). Image from City of Vancouver powerpoint presentation.

Earlier today City Council approved a suite of temporary public space activations through its Viva Vancouver program. This is exciting stuff and we’re stoked to see the range of initiatives in play here.

First and foremost, we’re grateful for Council’s support for a series of projects that the VPSN is involved in. These include:

• Lunch Meet, a downtown long-table affair that celebrates the city’s culinary character while bringing people together to share in a communal outdoor meal;
• Laser Graffiti, our popular outdoor digital projection system – which will once again be lighting up building walls around the city with citizen-generated art;
• Outdoor Karaoke, a project that was initially conceived and launched by our friends at Urban Republic. We’re looking to lend a hand this year and roll out the ol’ karaoke machine for a few more rounds of urban space karaoke!

In addition to these projects… we’re also particularly excited to see the 800-block of Robson Street closed down for two whole months this summer.

Between July and August, the existing space of Robson Square will be expanded to take over the road between Hornby and Howe. Vancouver’s grand gathering place will be coming back to life with an zero waste installation called Pop Rocks – jointly created by Matthew Soules Architecture and AFJD Studios.

The project, as one City staffer described it, is “boulders meet beanbag chairs” – and will take shape as series of large scale seats stitched out of material repurposed from Canada Place sails. The early concept drawing (and the creators want to stress that the final design is still taking shape) even give it a bit of a Henry Moore feel. We look forward to seeing how people interact with the project.

Finally, on a related note… we’ll be having the next meeting for our Downtown Public Realm Project on Tuesday, May 22 @ 6:00pm. We’ve been documenting all the plazas and public space features in the downtown core. If you’d like to join in the fun please drop us a note! (Our walks last a couple of hours and involve some fairly straightforward inventorying and photo-documentation of spaces). Digital cameras are a plus, as are bikes. We also have walking routes available. Details and meeting locations can be had via robsonsquare [at] vancouverpublicspace [dot] ca.