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“Where am I going? “I’m living on my old-age pension,” said Fairview senior Winona Hill.
Representatives of more than 20 neighborhood associations and community groups in Vancouver were in town hall protesting Broadway’s plan, which proposes a huge increase in density in an area of the city’s 500 blocks. Photo by Francis Georgian / PNG
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Fairview senior Winona Hill was determined to protest Vancouver’s $ 3 billion plan to extend SkyTrain by 5.7 kilometers on Broadway Avenue, near her home on the Heritage Housing Cooperative. She commissioned HandyDart’s services to reach the town hall stairs on Saturday afternoon.
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The 85-year-old woman was among more than 100 protesters, including many of her neighbors, waving signs in fierce opposition to more than 300 high-rise buildings proposed to seal Mount Pleasant, Fairview and Kicilano, adding up to 50,000 residents to the 50-block area over the next three decades.
“Where am I going? I live on my old-age pension, “said the 26-year-old tenant.
Fairview’s Winona Hill (in a green jacket), surrounded by other protesters. Photo by Francis Georgian / PNG
“How can a middle-class family afford to live elsewhere in Vancouver?” I am worried about the children who do things together around our building and bring me a lot of joy – you will not get this in a high-rise building.
Hill’s neighbor, Josh Zumstien, said the co-op’s most valuable feature is its common backyard space. There, his two children, aged six and eight, spend hours playing dizzyingly with other residents their age.
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“We are scared. We are not sure that we will have a place to live. It’s still in the air and the city doesn’t tell us anything, “Zumstien said.
Representatives of more than 20 neighborhood associations and community groups in Vancouver were in town hall protesting Broadway’s plan, which proposes a huge increase in density in an area of the city’s 500 blocks. Photo by Francis Georgian / PNG Representatives from more than 20 neighborhood associations and community groups in Vancouver were at City Hall protesting Broadway’s plan, which proposes a huge increase in density in an area of the city’s 500 blocks. Photo by Francis Georgian / PNG
Although the proposed multi-million dollar development is freeing up space for tens of thousands of new residents, it does not include the construction of new schools, parks and public facilities, said Palmquist, an outspoken critic of the project.
The problem with the project, said the Vancouver architect, comes down to affordability.
“The high model of high-density development does not work. The higher we rise in the air, the more each square meter of lower and upper space costs to build and consumes significantly more energy to operate than low- and medium-level alternatives. “
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These increased costs will be passed on to daily tenants, Palmquist said, “condemning generations of Vancouvers to an unbearable future.”
Scott Hane, a professor at the University of British Columbia, said his first impression of the Broadway plan was that it looked like “Metrotown stretching across the corridor of Broadway.”
“These are huge towers, bigger than Downtown South,” the former senior urban designer told the city. “The one on Granville and Broadway has big shading effects, especially on the slopes of Fairview.”
Kicilano resident Bill Tilleman said his teenage daughter is likely to be out of her current location on the West Broadway corridor if the expensive project continues.
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“This is a battle for the soul of Vancouver,” Tilleman said. “We can increase the density, gently and with the approval of neighbors and neighborhoods, without destroying people’s homes.”
Census data show that for every state-subsidized affordable apartment block developed in the city between 2015 and 2019, three other available units in the $ 750 to $ 1,000 per month range were lost as a result of the renovation.
Reality is not lost for Lindsay O’Shea, who is forced to find a place to live after more than 19 years in Alma Blackwell, a 46-member social housing complex in Grandview Woodland.
The Vancouver-born resident will have to pay more than double her current rent of $ 1,600 a month to live in one of the new units of the six-story complex, which will be built on the site of her 39-year-old building.
“No matter how excellent I am in my two jobs, I will never catch up with this housing market. When I’m “demonstrated,” I can’t afford to rent. “
“With files from John Mackie.”
sgrochowski@postmedia.com
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