GC 2020
657 results found
-
14 votes
The City supports the idea of road / congestion pricing, and bridge tolls are one possible implementation. A regional (as opposed to a city) approach might work best, given travel behaviour, patterns of movement, and jurisdictional issues. This lies outside City jurisdiction, so our role is limited to advocacy; changes to Provincial legislation are required.
-
Prohibit the use of outdoor space heaters on both residential and restaurant/cafe patios
I try to avoid businesses which use outdoor space heaters. Outdoor space heaters waste energy by producing heat which is quickly lost in the outdoors, and burn fossil fuels and directly contribute greenhouse gases.
23 votes -
Keep the streets clean and swept
A trash littered and gum encrusted downtown core does not enhance Vancouver’s bohemian edginess. They make the city look filthy and encourage more littering. Cleanliness is a virtue; City, please do your job and sweep / scrape the streets much more often than you do presently. Compared to other densely populated places like Chicago, Atlanta and New York, we’re filthy. It's embarrassing and pathetic.
3 votes -
Collect property tax on vehicles registered in BC
The state of Georgia charges an annual ad valorem tax on motorized vehicles. Car values decrease as cars age, so less wealthy people presumably pay less tax. I don’t think Georgia gives concessions for fuel efficient cars but that could be built in here. The new tax's unpopularity could be mitigated if the funds raised went to something really great and the accounting was extremely transparent.
10 votes -
Put the Blue into Green: daylight our Lost Creeks
The few Vancouver creeks that have been daylighted is a tragedy. In just a century, we’ve covered over dozens of fresh water creeks that used to traverse Vancouver. In doing so, we’ve also annihilated the plant, marine, bird and ground animal wild life that thrived in these natural, unique ecosystems. A City green vision that fails to bring back the sound of bubbling fresh water creeks, ponds, and natural adjacent linear park ways that these creeks can offer would be a travesty. Visit the tiny portion of Hastings Park (PNE grounds) that is supporting the daylighting of Hastings Creek and…
226 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 -
Covered bicycle parking
Cycling in the rain's not so bad, but getting on a wet bicycle is not so great. We need to get more bicycle parking in sheltered areas where the bike is dry when you need it.
8 votes -
Get rid of the needles and stop allowing people to shoot up in the open
Crack down on the public use of crack...and meth...and heroine...
2 votes -
Create Green lane ways.
Create like chicago Green Lane ways which a)reduces rain water run off b) helps cools the city c)creates a nicer lane way compared to just ash fault d) they last a lot longer then ash fault ones and look a lot nicer!
13 votesWe have looked at the ""green lanes" pilots and reported to Council in 2008 (summary — they’re 3-4 times more expensive than our now-standard strip pavement, there is a definite "price point’ of how much residents would be willing to pay for the treatment, and they will likely have higher maintenance costs and a shorter service life). We’re currently finalizing our test site for the lower-cost lane treatment option — a permeable lane pavement design.
Here is the full Council report, including the resident survey.
http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20081030/documents/pe4.pdf
Definitely an option for Council to increase the funding (reduce the property owner’s share) for these projects to promote more green lanes. More broadly speaking, the Greenest City team is supportive of the idea to make make laneways and alleys more pedestrian friendly environments, while maintaining essential functions (e.g. access for loading, parking and waste collection).
-
Property tax exemption/deduction for not owning a car.
People should get a tax reduction or exemption in the city if they don't own a car because if they don't own one they are a) saying the don't need one in the city b) are not adding to congestion in the city c)likely taking public transit, cycling and or walking thus helping in reducing our overall foot print d) setting a good example for there children neighbours and the community and should be reward for doing so even if the credit is a small amount.
8 votes -
Demolish all above ground parking structures and rezone for...
Demolition of all the above ground parking structures would a) reduce heat island affect B) reduce the number of parking space for cars in the city c)free up land for new housing, office space, commercial space, and create space more scaled and open for people d) reduce carbon foot print from all the cars that use to use the space
3 votes -
rezone as much as possible single residential to mix use multi residential
Take single residential property and rezone them for the purpose of mix use residential/commercial/office space such as the rise.
11 votes -
Inspire us to bicycle!
Get the VPD sting operations to lay off bicyclists. Hiding behind trees and handing out $167 dollar tickets to the people TRYING to make a difference does NOTHING to encourage a green city. Get on a plane and go see some other european cities where they GIVE free bikes for the citizens to use, and honour their rights of personal freedom...not make citizens live in fear. Go do something about the real OFFENDERS in Vancouver.
13 votes -
Discourage single-occupancy vehicles by restructuring roads and parking.
Driving single-occupancy vehicles contributes the largest to CO2 emission, fossil fuel dependency, fatal accidents, and overall air pollution. The first way to discourage it is to designate more dedicated bus lanes, HOV lanes, and bike lanes. Secondly, narrowing our roads would make people realise that they need to get out of congestion and start walking/cycling/taking transit. Thirdly, increase parking fees and reducing parking spaces would also greatly decrease people's willingness to drive.
16 votes -
Use safety to attract transit riders.
Focus on the safety of public transportation. If the public sees that transit is becoming safer there is more likelihood that people will use it. This can be complemented by educating the public that driving private vehicles is statistically more dangerous than taking transit.
3 votes -
Increase residential density to achieve efficient land use and high walking/cycling/transit mobility
Our high dependence on gasoline for transportation is largely due to our lifestyle of single-family dwellings. When density is increased, we would be reducing long-distance commutes and automatically encouraging people to walk and bike. Public transportation would also see more riders and be used more effectively. Higher residential density also means more efficient land use. The greenest city would need to protect its forests and restrict the area of urban development. This density is best accomplished by zoning schemes that discourage single-family dwellings and encourage mixed-use high-density developments. Ideally, there would be one day when some of our low density…
32 votesAs the City reviews land use policy and development bylaws through Community, Central Area, and City-Wide planning programs, opportunities for increased residential density (particularly in walkable neighbourhoods with good transit connections) are actively pursued (in balance with concerns for neighbourhood character and community involvement in city building decisions at the neighbourhood level).
-
Create more affordable family housing within easy walking/biking/transit radius of downtown.
We need more family housing (i.e. 3-bedroom units that real people with under-$100K incomes can afford) within easy walking/biking/transit radius of downtown. Studies have shown that 20 minutes is the maximum work commute that people can withstand before they start to accrue major daily stress. And coincidentally, letting people live ... See Moreclose to their jobs leads to massive reduction in auto emissions.
How to create affordable housing?
- Force developers to offer a mandatory number of units beyond the tiny 1-bedroom and 1+den units that currently dominate the market.
- Take over apartment buildings and convert them to co-ops.
- Create a…
404 votesA critical challenge for Vancouver. Laneway housing, STIR, the 20% Inclusionary Zoning Policy, and other programs and policies are intended to help increase housing affordability— see http://vancouver.ca/housing. The draft Greenest City plan recognizes the importance of affordability and will review additional strategies, e.g. unbundled parking.
-
Work with large employers to encourage sustainable commuting choices
Trip reduction programs have been effective in various North American jurisdictions by giving employers the tools to encourage sustainable commuting. Through either voluntary or regulatory measures, large employers are supported to survey their staff on commute habits and develop a plan to reduce single occupancy vehicle trips. This may include cutting back on free parking, providing transit subsidies, installing lockers and showers for cyclists, or joining a carpool matching program. In Portland, the Employee Commute Options program has reduced over three million vehicle trips in the region.
http://www.deq.state.or.us/nwr/eco/eco.htm15 votes -
Don't re-invent the wheel
Get advice and ideas from cities that are already the greenest (European cities) and from local experts (Suzuki Foundation).
21 votes -
Pedestrianised Streets
Make the following streets pedestrianised:
Granville St--in the zone dedicated for transit use. Transit can remain on its current routing along Seymour and Howe. (Issue a refund to Translink for their contribution to the redesign)
South of Smithe, re-allocate two lanes for cycling (four motor vehicle lanes is overtly excessive).
South of Nelson, remove the car parking on the sidewalk! That has to be the ***** design imaginable. That space should be for pedestrians, not for perching motor vehicles. This is effectively creating a 6-lane arterial on Granville.Gastown, and;
Robson--from Granville St., west to Jervis St.
47 votesThe Rediscover Granville program was a big success in 2009, and the City will be looking to continue and build upon this work in future years. More broadly, the draft Greenest City plan will include directions to explore pedestrian-only and pedestrian-priority streets in the downtown core. Potential locations will be identified at a later date (e.g. as part of the transportation plan update).
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/currentplanning/granvilleredesign/rediscover/
