GC 2020
178 results found
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Attractive Sidewalks *
Beautify pedestrian ways to attract more walking, with:
- rainbow / sparkly sidewalks in high traffic areas
- sidewalk canopies: tree overhangs, resident-owned PV
- incentives for merchants to beautify their sidewalk area
- neighbourhood identity expressed by residents' design for sidewalks
- textured pavement to define pedestrian areas, or neighbourhoods
- "pedestrianscape" that allows the pedestrian to explore a delightful journey as the travel past varied points of interest along their walk
- sidewalk cafes, laneways pubs / cafes / restaurants
- separate lanes for pedestrian, wheeled traffic: rollerblading & skateboarding, bikes, cars
- buffers between separate lanes of…23 votesThe quality and attractiveness of the pedestrian experience is a primary consideration in public realm planning and design. However, there is an opportunity to be more creative in the design of specific elements, such as sidewalk materials, and incentives/requirements for pedestrian-oriented building design and facade improvements.
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Neighbourhood "de-car-missioning"
Neighbourhood collaboration to completely reclaim streets from cars to maximize existing space in support of community initiatives and collective resources; composting, gardens, water storage, outdoor ovens, etc. Encourages depaving and city beautification. Supports and encourages active modes of transportation.
28 votesThis idea has been included in the draft Greenest City Action Plan; we encourage neighbours to get together and develop project ideas.
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High Speed Rail to Seattle
From waterfront station tunnel underground to YVR then the line would follow parallel to highway 99 and then follow the I-5. Traveling an average speed of 250 km/hr you could reach YVR in 3 min at 4.10$, the border in 14 min, Bellingham in 23 min at 29.00$, Everett in 46 min at 58.00$ and finally Seattle in 57 min at 71.63$..... Imagine the possibilities of being able to travel to from downtown Vancouver to Downtown Seattle in just under an hour. Not only would this create green jobs, improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it would also…
626 votesThis idea is not included in the Draft Greenest City Action Plan, but it is supported in principle. Convened a high speed rail summit in July 2010 to discuss this proposal
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Create a Senior Citizen's Sustainability Advisory Panel to mobile seniors knowledge on sustainabilty
Not sure that more degrees/planners is gonna make much difference...need solutions now...I say learn from the Cuban urban food production experience - they turned to the knowledge of all the seniors in Havana who knew how to grow food as most grew up in rural areas prior to revolution and then migrated to cities. WIthin 6 months, local seniors were teaching ourses at universities while the food geneticists and experts were in teh classroom learning how to do things without oil/fertilizer. There are many seniors in Vancouver who know how to grow food, fix machinery and make the most of…
16 votesThe draft action plans have been informed by over 100 different organizations in the community, and this is a great idea to build on that engagement work by outreaching to a specific demographic in our community.
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Ban grass lawns
Green lawns look nice but they consume a vast amount of water, we could reduce the amount of water used if we a) had maximum sized lawns allowable in private residence. b) Banned the planting of grass for lawn areas, there are a number of plants that you could use to create a green walkable space that consume little water to sustain, why then do we waist so much water on grass lawns, alternate style of ground cover could be looked at.
7 votesThe City does not limit the amount of lawn, but does limit the amount of impermeable surface allowed. We encourage alternatives to lawns through the water wise landscape guidelines. Strengthening education programs in supprt of alternatives to lawns is part of the plan.
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Slow Down Vancouver: Working Less Equals Lower Footprint - Think about it
Slow it all down folks. Shorter work days, less stress, less racing about in cars, more time to walk to work, more time to think about your impact, more time to cook food, if you have time to cook you'll have time to eat whole foods - look for local products. Rushing about in our current culture is a recipe for unsustainability. Slow down Vancouver and Live Again. The facts are here...
"Shortening working time by 1% reduces the environmental impact by 0.8%, according to research carried out by Jörgen Larsson at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden - this…40 votesGreat idea that comes down to personal choices, and discussion with those that set work schedules (labour unions, other employers).
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Solar Water Heaters on roofs
Change the building code to allow solar water heaters on residential roofs,
23 votesVancouver’s Solar Homes Pilot is offering $4300 towards the cost of solar hot water systems in Vancouver – this is roughly 50 per cent of the cost of a system. The funding is available to 30 homes on a first come, first served basis. In order to qualify for the rebate, your system must be installed by December 31, 2010.
Details here: http://vancouver.ca/sustainability/SolarHomes.htm
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Metered bike lockers
Metered bike lockers that can be rented by the hour.
9 votesThe draft Greenest City Action Plan will include directions for more secure bicycle parking at transit hubs and other key locations. Metered bike lockers are one possible implementation approach.
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Enable home and building owners to retrofit existing buildings for energy efficiency
Instead of building it all from scratch, let's fix what we already have... Low hanging fruit here. Maybe we need to tie retrofits to property tax bills to create the right incentives.
18 votesFinancing tools (currently under development) may encourage building owners to improve the performance of their buildings rather than rebuild
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Green school/Demonstration Centre
The two biggest barriers I see for people choosing to ignore green principles and continue in a throw away mentality is 1) Education 2) Ease of change. People need to understand and it has to be cheep and easy to do---guess what, It is!!!!!! Lectures, pamphlets, workshops--these are all good things--but seriously lets stop yapping and just start doing and showing. There is no better way of understanding what and how things can be done then by actually doing it. By sight, by touch and by participating.
Lets build a demonstration centre on a vacant lot which aims to discover…15 votesA key strategy to meet the 2020 targets is education. The Draft Greenest City Action Plan indicates the City’s intention to support and encourage educational and training opportunities.
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Celebrate Sufficiency
Over-consumption is at the heart of many of our environmental problems. One way to induce a reduction in consumption is to celebrate our sufficiency. Sufficiency, in this case, refers to a sense of completeness or wholeness. If we feel complete, there is less of an inclination to fill our faces with stuff we don't really need.
7 votesThis idea will be considered in the framing of the ongoing engagement work on the greenest city.
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Change traffic laws on bikeways
Now that we are investing in improving our (already mostly amazing) separated bikeways, it's time to change the laws on them to reflect the reality that riding a bike is different from driving a car, and the rules of the road were made for cars. I am tired of explaining to people who have never ridden a bike in the city why it's not feasible to stop at every stop sign, esp when they are quiet 4 way stops, at the bottom of a hill, etc. There seems to be a backlash among drivers that cyclists are out of control…
52 votesThe City recently began implementing 30-km/h speed limits on local street bikeways.
Other measures may require changes to provincial legislation. In these cases, the City’s role will be to advocate for appropriate changes to the legislative framework around cycling.
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mindfullness in schools
Whereas Climate change requires individual behaviour change and
Wherease individual behaviour change is significantly enhanced by cultivating the ability for critical thought and the abilility to step back and question and
Wherease these abilities are proven to be enhanced by practicing mindfulness (aka meditation, centering prayer, and many other labels), and
Whereas some success has already been achieved by introducing mindfulness programs in Vancouver schools,
Collaborate with the vancouver school board to introduce mindfuflness training in all grade levels across the city. This may include providing a financial incentive for the VSB to fully roll out the program.15 votesInteresting idea, have shared this with the Vancouver School Board.
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Provide a 5 year property break for buildings that go off grid.
The concept is that if a building goes off grid, they will be given a property tax holiday for 5 years to fund it. They must use BC based technology whenever possible. This will green our existing buildings, create jobs and reduce out carbon footprint. An investment in our future that reflect all three legs of sustainability.
8 votesThe plan addresses incentives for low- or no- emission buildings. Off-grid is not emphasized as one way of achieving our energy reduction and carbon neutral goals is through sharing excess renewable energy between buildings – which requires grid connection.
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Utilize responsive upzoning
De-regulate neighbourhood zoning to allow an intelligent mix of services, work and residential opportunities. Permit networking and sharing of services to balance heat with cooling, production with consumption and waste with resource.
16 votesZoning and other bylaws, codes, and guidelines that determine the scale and form of new development, are often re-examined through community, central area, and city-wide planning initiatives (e.g. Cambie Corridor, Neighbourhood Centres) and typically with the intent to ‘upzone’ and be more responsive to changing community needs and preferences.
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Reduce electrical permits for solar (saving...) Right now the cost of an electrical permit for a
Right now the cost of an electrical permit for a solar photovoltaic system is three times the cost of one for a diesel generator of the same capacity. By reducing this cost it would encourage green energy while not significantly affecting city revenues.
12 votesIn order to meet the target of carbon neutral buildings by 2020 the draft Greenest City Action Plan will address ways and means of making alternative energy systems more affordable.
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Bike & Pedestrian Bridge across False Creek
A bike and walking link that spans that spans over False Creek from Charleson Park on the south side of the creek to David Lam Park on the downtown side.
This site is one of 4 that the city recently identified as a potential location for a bike bridge crossing.
Take a look at the designs that Emily Carr students came up with:
http://blogs.eciad.ca/elverum/2010/03/05/design-for-bikes-bridging-false-creek/10 votesThe pending active transportation plan provides an opportunity to consider ideas such as this.
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Invent roofs with adjustable reflection coefficient
Expanding on the suggestion by Hashem Akbari's to combat climate change by painting all roofs and paved surfaces in the USA white, our idea is to develop roof materials that can change their reflection coefficient by changing their colour to cover a range from black to white. Regions like Vancouver, with warm summers and cold winters, should have white roofs in the summer and black roofs in the winter, to minimize air conditioning and heating energy needs throughout the year. Roofs with adjustable reflection coefficient could be "dimmed" from inside a house as simply as a light. Smart house technology…
6 votesCurrently exploring an approach to addressing cool roofs, green roofs & walls.
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Bring Life to our Rooftops
The roofs of Vancouver are an un-tapped resource from both a social and biodiversity perspective. The City could initiate a program to encourage the conversion of existing flat, inaccessible roofs to useable, productive greenspace. This could include omitting rooftop access points (stairs & elevators) from height restrictions, providing tax breaks to buildings that eliminate rainwater runoff to the sewer system, or establishing financing mechanisms and consultation to support stratas and individuals undertaking renovations.
The scale of conversion could range from installing standard green-roof systems to rooftop decks with planter boxes to full scale rooftop agriculture. This would help bring back…
148 votesCurrently exploring an approach to addressing cool roofs, green roofs & walls.
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Encourage vegan options for all!
A global shift towards a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, fuel poverty and the ***** impacts of climate change, says the report from United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) international panel of sustainable resource management.
1,073 votesLow footprint food choices are not the same as vegan food choices in all cases, the analysis is more complex than this. Generally a low footprint diet is local, seasonal food, and limits consumption of red meat, dairy, and some grains. Low footprint food choices are included in the draft Greenest City Action Plan and will be discussed through community engagement activities.
