Snowfalls like this are a bit rare in the city – and also provide an interesting opportunity to reimagine public space. For the urbanists out there – have you spotted any good sneckdowns?

Of course, the weather also creates extra difficulties for people with mobility challenges – so let’s all do our part to keep sidewalks clear! (And yes, we do think this should be a municipal priority – but it’s also something that residents of the city can also take on!)

This time around, equipped with my sketchbook and inspired by Cullen, I wanted to meander away from the central spine of the Seawall and explore its more hidden spaces along the way. There are a number of ‘mid block connections’ within the residential developments along False Creek that play an interesting functional and experiential role within the larger public realm system of the area. I sketched a series of vignettes as reflections on the contributions that these more narrow and semi-public spaces make in completing the spectrum of spaces provided within the area’s public realm.

Functionally, these spaces provide increased connectivity for people walking and cycling. They provide subtle apertures for people wanting to make their way to the water’s edge or back towards the city. Their narrow, intimate scale and tree canopy provide shade and comfort, particularly in hot summer months. Finally, they break the more predictable rhythm of the Seawall (and Vancouver’s prevailing grid), creating serendipity and potential for more intimate chance encounters. By softening the private/public edge condition and permeating the public realm through private developments, they create spaces for interaction and hospitality. These spaces are intriguing in the way that they often blur the boundary between private and public space. They are often undefined and malleable – and their secondary role as public spaces means they can be at times both easily overlooked, and often rigidly regulated by strata corporations and property mangers.

To my mind, the potential of these mid-block connections is only fully realized with the appropriate constellation of well-placed, well-scaled buildings and inviting ground-level activation – such as patios, soft and hard landscape features – and community use. These sorts of elements help to shape these liner passageways and ultimately an active albeit informal participation of people bring these unique spaces to life.

Cullen captures this potential more generally by stating, “a city is more than the sum of its inhabitants. It has the power to generate a surplus of amenity, which is one reason why people like to live in communities rather than in isolation…bring people together and they create a collective surplus of enjoyment; bring buildings together and collectively they can give visual pleasure which none can give separately” (p.7).

These mid block connections are a great example of such surplus amenity in the context of their surroundings, with potential for pleasure and enjoyment particularly if more artfully and actively utilized for sociability and public life. To this end, perhaps the hallmark of a good space is probably when it gets used for spontaneous activities that were never anticipated by the designers and architects who built the space. Imagine my happiness when, returning to my home after sketching a few of these places, I saw a couple holding a garage sale in one of these spaces while engaging with their neighbours. A perfect summertime activity in this intriguing public space.

The portion of the seawall under consideration dates back to the mid-1970s, and features a series of particularly windy and narrow sections, as well as a variety of surface treatments. It’s also one of the most picturesque areas of the city, and runs adjacent to a number of open spaces (including Charleson Park, Sutcliffe Park, Leg-in-Boot Square and Granville Island) as well as the False Creek south neighbourhood. It’s frequented by locals and visitors alike, and provides stunning views of the Vancouver skyline.

Poster boards detailing the improvements focused on pedestrian and biker safety, especially on designs separating bike and jogging/walking lanes. City staff will be on hand to answer questions and get feedback.

For more details about the plans, check out vancouver.ca/seawall or visit the open house. The event takes place today from 4 to 7pm at CityStudio, 1800 Spyglass Place. You can also provide feedback via a short online questionnaire (deadline: February 19).

The last week in May was Bike To Work Week and, for once in Vancouver, the weather co-operated to bring plenty of people out on their bikes! HUB’s online dashboard boasted over 10,000 participants, 2934 of which were new to Bike To Work Week. As one of those new participants I decided to jot down some of my thoughts on the event.

Aside from the fact that I love riding my bike and getting to be outside on my commute to the office, it’s actually faster for me to get there on a bike than it is to take transit, a fact HUB were touting for much of the week.

From the beginning I was super impressed with the way everything was set up for Bike To Work Week. The HUB website was easy to navigate and very informative in terms of how to log routes, where the celebration stations would be located and how you could win prizes. One of my favourite features was the group and individual stats on the dashboard page as it really put into perspective the benefit of cycling to work. I’d never really thought about how far I cycle in any given week but I was shocked to find out that it’s around 70km just for riding to and from work; those little trips sure add up fast!

Throughout the week I only saw a slight increase in the number of riders on my usual route but, as I rode to the free BBQ on Friday, there was almost a bicycle jam on 10^th Ave. There were so many people out riding! From the buzz I heard from other participants it sounded like there was a definite uptick in the number of people cycling around Downtown and plenty of inter-office competition which can only be a good thing for the state of cycling in Vancouver!

I think the celebration stations are a great idea and a great initiative for an event like Bike To Work Week. There’s nothing like the incentive of a free coffee or free snack to motivate people to stop by and chat on their way to work. Although there weren’t a huge amount of stations south of 10^th Ave, I made sure to detour to stop at one in Mt Pleasant for a coffee, free water bottle and protein square! Although the freebies seem like a small gesture it was definitely appreciated and I know it encourages more people to engage with the initiative as well as enhancing the experience of those who don’t usually ride to work.

The final event of the week was the BBQ in Creekside Park which again was a really well run event. There was a nice range of sponsors there, from bike wrenching stands to free food, raffle tickets and cycling gear. The BBQ line up was pretty busy the whole time but the ladies running it were lovely and patient and it was great to just sit down and soak in the atmosphere on the grass.

Photo from https://bikehub.ca/bike-to-work

In the future I’d love to see Bike To Work Week grow further. It would be great to see increased visibility and advertising before the event. I saw very little local news about Bike To Work Week in the days leading up to the event. It would also be great to have celebration stations more evenly distributed throughout the city to encourage riders south of 10^th Avenue.

In all, I had a wonderful first Bike To Work Week and it’s an experience I’d happily participate in again. Although the gorgeous weather definitely contributed to turnout, if even 10% of the participants decided to bike to work more often we would have a much happier and healthier Metro Vancouver!

The last few days have seen the mercury drop to a near-record cold in this city. Not the sort of cold that phases folks from Calgary, Montreal or other parts of the country, but chilly enough to cause some locals the sort of pained expression normally reserved for a Leafs game or discussions of Tea Party politics.

Just as in the hottest days of summer, extreme weather in Vancouver impacts public space differently than normal. In lots of ways actually. It strains our city infrastructure, changes usage patterns of community centres, parks and libraries, affects crime rates, mobility and transportation patterns and much more. A few more examples:

On the social planning side, the finger-numbing chill hits the homeless hardest. For regular users and inhabitants of the city’s public space – in particular, its streets, alleys and parks – the recent announcement of $1.5 million in Provincial funding to re-open four of the City’s HEAT shelters is welcome news.

On the aesthetic side, the crisp air and sub-zero temperature seems to imbue the surrounding environment — our visual environment — with a sharper, larger-than-life, quality. Particularly when the sun has been shining these last few days the North Shore mountains have been magic – every tree frosted white, every peak contrasting with an azures sky. I took a few panorama shots from the Burrard Bridge to try and capture this. You can see one at the top of the page, and the other ones on our VPSN flickr page.

Finally, something that has occurred to me a few times recently, as I’ve seen crews working outside on a variety of projects. The space-makers — the engineers, carpenters, painters, welders and others who make the public spaces that we enjoy — are still going strong amidst the chilly weather.

Last night I pedaled along the seawall and came across the crew that’s fixing the substructure of the city’s most popular greenspace. This team has the unenviable difficulty of only being able to work at night because of tidal patterns… and yet, with the wind blowing, things were more than uncomfortably brisk.

As I turned my bike off the seawall I came across one of the crew members, a guy probably in his mid 40s, taking a break and warming up in an apartment lobby. He was sitting on the floor, propped uncomfortably against the wall. His face was wind-chapped red and his eyes glassy. The expression on his face was one of dazed exhaustion – the look of hypo-thermal fatigue that people have when they come in from spending too much time in the cold.