GC 2020
657 results found
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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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Encourage people to work closer to home through tax benefits or other measures
More people out of cars (or shorter trips), being more connected to your community, and less time on the road = less money spent and more time doing what you enjoy and a greener and happier population. Tax benefits to those who are able to work closer to home and free support to help people find comparable jobs closer to their community. With some organizations (government civil servants, teachers, etc.) this may be possible through matching / trading positions.
9 votesOutside City jurisdiction.
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Switch all municipal buildings off fossil fuels
Half of all greenhouse gases dumped in the city of Vancouver come from burning natural gas in buildings. The amount is unchanged in 20 years. City government should lead the way by fuel switching all buildings it controls to use much cleaner BC electricity. Almost 60% of energy used in buildings is climate damaging fossil fuels. We need leadership from the top to highlight the need to change this.
9 votes -
Solidify Laneway Housing Through Ownership Incentives
Developing a process that will facilitate homes with lanes to be able to subdivide back to front would solidify and incentivize the production of laneway houses, effectively doubling the density in parts of the city without breaking the small scale character of neighbourhoods. The current program allows for lane way houses to be produced with an incentive from rental income, but with current development costs and real estate market the process is not readily viable at a city-wide scale and many home owners do not see enough benefit to warrant financing such a project. However, with the incentive of being…
9 votesNew options to facilitate the development of laneway homes are being considered for phase two of the laneway homes program.
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8 votes
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Make it more difficult to get around the city in a car (ex. tolls, road blocks, etc.)
Sometimes people need to be pushed in the right direction, and by making cars less convenient people will be forced to find other transportation methods! If cars became increasingly annoying to use, because of cycling road blocks, tolls for driving downtown, less road space, etc. then who would want to use cars? People will have to look elsewhere for easy, fast transportation.
8 votes -
Provide recycled paper bins, not bags, to encourage paper recycling
Currently the bags get blown away in the wind, fall over. It's quite hard to keep them around. Bins for paper, similar to blue bins, would be much better
8 votes -
8 votes
The draft Greenest City Action Plan addresses occupant engagement in conservation efforts. This idea will be considered as a way to make it easy for occupants to conserve energy related to plug loads
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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 -
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 -
Biodiversity and Permeability Standards through the Zoning By-law
Create a biodiversity and permeability performance standards for new development through the Zoning By-Law. A variation on this could be create market incentives for more biodiversity.
8 votesPermeability is already included in the Zoning Bylaw. Biodiversity is not covered by the Zoning Bylaw.
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8 votes
This is too detailed, but there is
a recommendation in the Draft Greenest City Action Plan for enhancing source control. -
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 -
Lower temperature asphalt and more asphalt recycling
Many techs. exist that allow paving to occur at lower mixing plant temperatures, saving energy and reducing GHG and air polluting emissions. Vancouver (and Metro Vancouver) should mandate their use.
A mandatory % of recycled pavement should also be instituted.
Other "higher" tech asphalts also allow roads to be able to open to traffic sooner, reducing congestion and related emissions (as well as reducing traveller frustration)
8 votes -
8 votes
Outside City jurisdiction. Improved transit options for the Sea-to-Sky route would be most welcome, but from a city and regional perspective, other routes have a higher priority (e.g. Broadway Corridor rapid transit).
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Allow building awnings to extend to edge of sidewalks
The bus waiting area in front of the Bay on W Georgia has a great overhang that extends to the edge of the sidewalk, allowing people to stay dry. New buildings should be permitted to extend awnings up to the edge of the sidewalk to better protect transit users and pedestrians from rain and wind. Most of the awnings in the city are half the size they should be and are not connected with each other.
8 votes -
Paint bicycle lanes red
While concrete planters are very pretty and effective in protecting cyclists from motor traffic, they are also quite expensive and take up space to use everywhere. To increase the visibility of on-road and off-road bike paths, paving the bike routes will remind drivers there are cyclists coming by and raise the general prominence of this type of transportation while also allowing for a softer/ less resistance pavement to be used for smaller footprint/ lighter bicycles.
8 votesCity crews have marked potential conflict areas on the Dunsmuir separated bikeway—i.e. intersections, driveway paths, and bike boxes—in bright green. It’s intended to remind all users—cyclists, drivers, and pedestrians alike—to be a little more mindful in these areas.
This approach could be rolled out elsewhere if it is shown to be effective.
We have chosen the colour—a bright, reflective green that is visible even on dark, rainy winter days—as it is an emerging North American standard for cycling facilities. We’re moving away from the colour we used to use, red, since it has recently become the standard for transit. Blue designates special accessibility zones.
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Partner w/ social development orgs to ensure a more holistic 'greening' + to build broader support
While the mandate of this project is specifically to 'green' the city, even the 'Greenest City' will be a failure if the overall welfare of its people isn't considered.
The strongest Greenest City strategy will be a holistic one, including key elements of social, community and local economic development.
Our Greenest City approach should include dedicated outreach to individuals and communities that have traditionally had low participation in Vancouver's Green movement -- to build broad support and to recognize shared goals between organizations.
8 votesThough this is called the Greenest City program, there has been a very strong social justice and economic lens to the work. There is a green economy working group and external advisory committee with membership from diverse community-based organisations and businesses. Staff the City’s Social Policy department are very active in the process.
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Provide financial advantages to small businesses to become more sustainable
I've had the opportunity this week to interview several businesses in the Strathcona area who are already taking moderate to extreme action toward decreasing their own footprints. They buy and manufacture their products locally, they build green roofs, they go to Climate Smart to learn how to track and reduce their footprint, they participate in by-product synergy exchanges, they provide incentives to their employees to ride bikes to work, etc. These businesses are making these changes because it is the "right thing to do", and because they are preparing for what they anticipate the realities of business to be in…
8 votesThe draft Greenest City Action Plan includes recommendations for greening existing businesses include recommendations to support work of organizations currently working in this area (e.g. Climate Smart)
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All parks off the grid
Support alternative energy resources by installing solar and wind power for all parks in Vancouver. The hardest would be Stanley Park, of course, but most of the others should be easy to convert to alternative energy
8 votes
