GC 2020
42 results found
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redesign the "islands" under the cambie bridge
The current granite rubble covering the piers of the cambie bridge is both ugly and sterile. This area could be easily redesigned into a viable habitat that would provide a sheltered/inaccessible piece of false creek to encourage both terrestrial and marine wildlife.
9 votes -
Protect wildlife habitats
An important part of living in a "Green" city goes beyond clean air, water, & waste management. It also includes protection of our local wildlife. I am always shocked each year with the number of black bears that are put down by wildlife management staff. Is this the best "management" policy of our wildlife that Vancouver can come up with? It's time for Vancouver & its surrounding communities to get to the root of the problem, which is urban development infringing on wildlife habitats and depletion of their food sources. I always say, that if you want to live in…
16 votes -
Support locals to green under-served local parks
I lived next to Tatlow Park for many years (2nd ave at Macdonald). It's a stunning little park, with a daylighted stream, but it's actually pretty bare and has so much more potential to be beautiful. The city could provide matching grants if a local community self-organized to plant more native plants to further naturalize the park, or it could provide these plants at cost from a city-run nursury, and provide technical support to how to green the park in a way that balanced the needs of all residents. Our parks are beautiful but some could use more love, and…
5 votes -
Change zoning to maximizing landscaping of back yards by disallowing garages and laneway houses.
Garages and laneway houses use up green space. Zoning should permit surface parking in rear yards provided the surface is grassy or otherwise landscaped.
5 votes -
Create tax incentives for businesses to add planted outdoor spaces for their patrons
[Submitted via mail by Penny Perry]
"usinesses should be rewarded with lower taxes if they supply a planted refuge for their patrons. I am thinking of the fabulous space provided by La Casa Gelato on Glen Drive."
4 votes -
Improve Wild Salmon habitat by creating mini road end parks along the North Arm of the Fraser River
[Submitted via email by Terry Slack]
One way to improve the quality of migrating Juvenile salmon habitat in the Fraser River is to improve the quality of water going into the Fraser River and restore small pockets of important" tidal juvenile salmon ribbon marsh habitat"! Drainages from roads etc. located near road ends travel in open drainage ditches and is discharged directly into the North Arm of the Fraser River untreated . Creating Salmon Friendly Mini Parks at all the road ends in South Vancouver, Marpole etc. not only adds much needed greenspace, but these parks can be designed in…
22 votes -
Remove more Grass in Public Parks and Plant More Shrubs and Trees
Our community parks are covered with grass fields. Some are used as playing fields for playing soccer, baseball, cricket etc. Others just exist for picnics, impromptu ball games and for their own sake.
These grassy fields take too much work! Large machines mow the grass every few weeks, spread earth, sand, seed and lime and aerate the soil. Around the fields there is another large machine that gathers up and mashes leaves in the fall. Then there are countless smaller machines working the perimeter of the fields and on the boulevard. They are manned by Parks Board employees who are…
15 votes -
Cleanup and Steward the Local Beaches and Riverfront
Before 1850 the shores of Vancouver were pristine filled with plant and animal life. Streams ran easily into the ocean and the estuaries and deltas were a rich in a mix of fresh and seawater which encouraged even more rich ecosystems.
Today the shoreline of Vancouver is a shadow of its former self. While we cannot bring back the richness of what was 150 years ago, we can cleanup more of the shoreline to make it more habitable for fish and sealife. Guaranteed if this happened the life would return in greater numbers.
Neighbourhoods could “adopt a shoreline” and keep…
11 votes -
Protect our coast & inlets. Being green requires being blue when you live on the coast.
We can't be the greenest city in the world without taking care of our coast and ocean area. We need: urban marine protected areas; strict regulations for oil tankers; habitat enhancement; the best sewage treatment in the world; pesticide bans; beach clean-ups; and a beach culture that revers the ocean and what it provides us!
72 votes -
create landscaped outdoor furniture
Improve outdoor spaces to encourage pedestrian activity and animation of public spaces by creating a series of fun, large-scale landscaped furniture, like grass sofas & loveseats... See the example in England:
http://inhabitat.com/2010/07/26/gigantic-lawn-lounges-sprout-throughout-england/new-6-28/
2 votes -
Develop more useable and green school grounds
School grounds could be more attractive, green, home to habitat. Encourage more greening and beautification of school grounds with plantings, more trees and arboretums. Encourage community gardens on school grounds for educational and aesthetic purposes.
73 votes -
Revitalize the False Creek Flats
False Creek used to end all the way out before Clark Drive as tidal flats 100 years ago, before the construction of a bulkhead near Quebec street to keep the tide back. These tidal flats formed an important estuary system for the salmon-spawning creeks which flowed into False Creek and is essential in bringing back any of these lost streams and the salmon they support.
Deconstruct the bulkhead and allow the tide to wash in and out through a series of tidal canals. The canals could lead to estuary parks where streams like Brewery Creek and China Creek could pour…
70 votes -
Grow Indigenous Trees on Empty Lots
In the denser areas of our city where there are lots of building more than 4 stories, we should plant some pocket forests of indigenous conifers such as cedar, douglas fir and hemlock. These trees grow quickly. They would add oxygen, wildlife and calm to congested areas.
This sounds like a far-out idea, but it is totally possible. It is especially possible in the Downtown Eastside. Our inner cities need more trees and fewer highrises to contribute to the health of the residents and the earth.
9 votes -
Encourage a Moratorium on Surf Smelt fishing on Vancouver’s Beaches
Forage fish such as surf smelts, oolichans and herring are essential parts of the food chain. They are “forage” for the larger fish such as salmon. Our salmon runs are collapsing in part because the same negative influences on the bigger fish such as pollution, climate change and overfishing are also affecting the smaller forage fish.
Since the numbers of forage fish are now so low, we need to create a moratorium on their capture locally. The beaches and the waters that surround them are the federal jurisdiction of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. At present there is a…
8 votes -
Daylighting
I've frequently suggested that fibre optics would be useful to daylight culverts in instances where it's impractical to open them up immediately. People are using this method to bring natural light into their living rooms, why not into culverts. Is there something that prevents this method, I've been suggesting it for years. For instance, there are thousands of yards of creekbed that are inaccessible to salmon in Pacific Spirit Park because of the length of the culverts crossing Marine Dr. and yet this method has never been employed.
5 votes -
Convert streets to mini parks, green linkages and/or open space
The conversion of streets/asphalt into mini parks with bike paths, green linkages and landscaping would optimize pedestrian and cycling access, and improves neighbourhood connections. Incorporate walkways, large trees, low shrub planting, furnishings and special features.
78 votes -
Make the Stanley Park the greenest urban city park in North America
During the summer, Stanley Park is very busy with visitors. Usually on Sunday, parking spaces within the park are quickly filled. As a result, many visitors drive around the park several times looking for parking spots wasting fuels, and making the experience less enjoyable. Tourist buses often have older engines that are not only inefficient, but they are polluting the air with their harmful exhaust fumes. The solution would be to create parking only at the park entrance. The city can promote the use of alternative energy method of transportation by allowing electric, solar and manual-powered vehicles inside the park.…
2 votes -
Ensure Park Board had adequate funding for programs and maintenance of facilities.
Building more parks is great, but they are far more valuable if there are community oriented programs available and the park infrastructure is maintained and attractive.
10 votes -
Put the Blue into Green: Encourage Abundant Groundwater flow:
to have a credible green policy, Vancouver must include water in the planning. Sound water policy would include Encouragement of Abundant Groundwater flow: We must use less concrete and asphalt in our infrastructure in favour of ground water permeable aggregates. The city should prohibit asphalt use for parking lots and drive ways. There are many excellent alternative materials that are water permeable. All traffic calming barriers (i.e. traffic bulges and traffic circles) should have open, soil and indigenous plant filled centers. At the moment, the type and abundance of boulevard plantings is limited because our boulevards are essentially deserts. Surrounded…
5 votes -
Tree Removal Permit Fee Tied to Age of Tree
The fee that the City charges for a permit to cut down a tree should be tied to the age of the tree. More mature trees should have a larger penalty for removal. i.e. $5/year in tree's age. The current removal fee ($59) is too small to be a deterrent. (Idea submitted by public via twitter)
24 votes