GC 2020
657 results found
-
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.
-
City university
Degree granting inter-institutional relationship between the regions post secondary education institutions and municipal governments to study, research and solve our pressing city and regional challenges.
732 votesThere is a Campus City Collaborative project in the early stages of planning, where all of the post-secondary institutions are working with the City and the VEDC to talk about movement toward the greenest city, with a focus on creation of green jobs.
-
One city block: integrated waste pickup, resource sharing, back-alley commons, community building.
Turn the back alley into a place for community building and sharing.
-Consolidated garbage collection at each alley's intersection with main street, in order to reinhabit the space for different uses and minimize footprint of garbage pickup.
-Share a lawnmower, garden implements, internet, cup of sugar, spare bikes, dishes, pots, BBQs, spare cot or car with your neighbours!
-Provide a space for free exchange of goods.
-Comunity garden, common building (arts, cooking, celebrations, gatherings, etc.), energy resources (ie. geothermal or solar power), strom water collection, grey water filtration (ie. "ecocells" on the property)90 votesThis idea has been included in the Draft Greenest Ctiy Action Plan; we encourage neighbours to get together and develop project ideas.
-
Community sharing
Provide infrastructure for equipment sharing amongst neighbours, such as tools, lawnmowers, and other device where we don't need one more per block.
55 votesThis idea has been included in the Draft Greenest City Action Plan. We encourage neighbours to get together and develop project ideas.
-
Micro-Hydro Power
Implement water collection systems on all new buildings and retrofit old buildings to generate power from rain water. "Inline stream engines" can also be connected to the city reservoir. Can support all grey water uses and generate compressed air and electricity to work towards creating closed-loop energy systems throughout the city.
10 votesGood ideas! The City is currently doing a feasibility assessment of connecting a micro-turbine to the City’s water system. If the feasibility is positive, it will be considered in the City’s capital budget for implementation.
-
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.
-
Considerate Contractor Scheme for Vancouver
If Vancouver really means to give priority to walker and cyclists, then it's time we instigated a Considerate Contractor scheme like the ones that have been in place in the UK for decades, for example: http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Business/Business_support_and_advice/considerate_contractor_scheme.htm
I'm tired of having to retrace my steps to cross the road because contractors have closed the sidewalk mid-block randomly. I'm also tired of contrators treating bike lanes as their own personal business parking space for cars, trucks, dumpsters and other equipment. When I complain, I'm told that the City allows them to use bike lanes during contstruction, and that they are free to…5 votes -
3 votes
-
178 votes
City of Vancouver is considering the possibility of a ban for all new residential construction. This idea is considered in the draft Greenest City Action Plan.
-
Restore nature in Stanley Park by banning cars
Ban private vehicles altogether - a public streetcar circling the park is all that's necessary. Work towards removal of Stanley Park Causeway altogether, providing an alternate crossing of the inlet. Every major remaining urban forest in BC has a highway running through it (e.g. Goldstream, Cathedral Grove). What message does that send out, I wonder?
13 votes -
natural heritage
Encourage a reverence-for-nature mindset by designating specific trees / forests / creeks / natural zones (if any remain or are restored) with heritage designation signs and legal (possibly physical) protection as is done for old houses and buildings. Restore Gassy Jack's Bigleaf maple tree. Create a signed natural heritage walk in downtown Vancouver, highlighting important natural habitats or restoration projects and new protections.
4 votes -
Improve sewage treatment
Currently, the treatment plants of Iona and Lions Gate are only primary and yet to be upgraded. Secondary treatment is the Canadian standard for cities, and when Vancouver reaches that we'll just be average. A Greenest City would have tertiary treatment of its sewage, and should be a primary goal. Innovative technologies should be explored and developed in Vancouver on a larger scale to set an example, and to market to other cities globally. One example is a Solar Aquatics system (http://www.ecological-engineering.com/solaraquatics.html), as demonstrated in Bear River, Nova Scotia.
20 votes -
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.
-
wooden sidewalks
Concrete production is one of the greatest greenhouse gas emitters The great expanses of solid surfaces in roads, parking lots, and sidewalks greatly increase rates of water run-off, impacting groundwater, streams, and near-shore ecosystems. Paving over nature also removed it, of course. A greener city includes more green, less grey concrete or black pavement. In BC, we already have several places where wooden walkways are in use in artistically pleasing and practical ways, placed with the intention of creating a lighter footprint. Is it absolutely essential that every sidewalk in Vancouver be made of concrete? As a start, I advocate…
5 votes -
Buying of Local Foods
Encourage the buying of local foods so products can be bought and sold without harmful chemicals, and are sold and grown with natural products
36 votesThe draft Greenest City Action Plan includes an action to create a local food procurement strategy for City facilities.
-
Solar/Electric Powered Buses
Get more solar or electric powered buses to lower vehicle exhaust and decrease Greenhouse gases
12 votes -
School Compost and Recycling Programs
Install more Recycling and Compost areas inside Schools to decrease litter and keep school gardens healthy
18 votes -
Work with school districts to make commuter cycling/bike confidence skills part of Phys-Ed
Like most cities, there are different sorts of routes for biking - from trails, to physically separate lanes, to painted lanes, or signed shared bike routes. In order to take full advantage of these the City should work with School Districts to help support cycling as a Phys-Ed requirement - working up to kids going on field trips on bikes. There could also be hardscape bike-training space with miniature lanes in neighbourhood parks for families to take their kids to practice riding.
37 votesGreat idea. The draft Greenest City Action Plan will include directions to work with the school board and provincial government to support compulsory commuter cycling education in school curriculums.
-
Instead of having trucks pick up leaves in the fall the city to lend electric mulchers to neighbours
It saves greenhouse gases by the trucks cleaning the streets, provides compost, and gets citizens talking
4 votes -
Thermal Depolymerization
I'm aware of the attempts to collect methane from landfills. But there is a better technology that will reduce waste entering landfills in the first place... Thermal depolymerisation. It is still a relatively fledgling - but proven - technology (14-ish years old) but worth looking into. http://www.changingworldtech.com/
This invention is recycling par excellence. It would mean a reduction of new fossil carbon into the atmosphere, with a superlatively effective reuse of existing biomass. It could also solve all the CH4 emission problems of landfills; in fact, farm waste, old tyres, landfills and sewage systems would become a resource.
I realise…
18 votes
