Attended another Metro Vancouver event on Thursday, part of
their Future of the Region dialogues.
The talk discussed the planning necessary for the Metro Vancouver region
in order to make it an economically robust, culturally rich and socially
equitable place to live, work and play.
The panel members included former Vancouver city councilor
Gordon Price, Bev Grieve (Director of Development Services, New Westminster),
Tim Savoie (General Manager, Development Services, Port Moody), and Gary Pooni
(President, Brook Pooni Associates).
I’ve attached a scan of the bios that was provided at the dialogue.
The bottom line message, repeatedly emphasized by Gordon
Price, was that the future of the region is going to be decided by the
Translink referendum. If the people do
not vote to support Translink, then more roads will be built to support a car
oriented society. Over a million more
people will be coming to the region over the next 25 years and developments
will have to increase density but without proper public transportation, it will
be very difficult to move the people as needed.
Price also emphasized that the transit system is at its limits already,
with the 99 B-Line unable to meet demand.
The Marine Gateway project and the proposed Oakridge redevelopment will
also place increased pressure on the Canada Line. However, without increased funding to meet
the transit needs of the increasing population, things will only get worse and
push people into cars. This is the wrong
direction for the region to take and hopefully people will recognize this and
vote appropriately when the referendum does come around.
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