A Case for New Urbanism in Mount Pleasant

Mount Pleasant development | BCBusiness
What are we clinging to in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood?

The arguments are all wrong regarding a development proposal in one of Vancouver’s funkiest neighbourhoods. Nostalgia is not a reason to preserve an area of cheap, temporary and often ugly buildings.

The fight shaping up over a development proposal in a funky Mt. Pleasant location says just about all you ever want to know about where the city of Vancouver is these days.

The proposed 19-storey highrise at the major intersection of Kingsway and Broadway has “divided” the neighbourhood, according to the Vancouver Sun. Given that there hasn’t been a development proposal in 20 years that hasn’t “divided” a neighborhood in Vancouver and most of its suburbs, that’s hardly a surprise.

But that’s exactly why it’s so interesting. Once again, we’re seeing the it’s-familiar-so leave-it-as-it-is crowd vs the-city-is-growing-and-needs-living-space proponents.

Arguments follow both lines of thinking:
The nostalgic crowd fears a rampant forest of high-rises à la Yaletown, or even a few buildings that opponents fear will change the “vibrant street culture” of the neighbourhood.

Build-it proponents (which include the city’s community plan) say increased density is needed to make the city more efficient, sustainable and affordable.

And there it is in a nutshell: Nostalgic, “cool” and preservationist vs denser, more efficient and modern.

Let me say here as an aside: I love this neighborhood. It was where I first lived when I moved to Vancouver because it reminded me of Windsor, my home town, which was also old, mostly brick and clapboard and kind of down at the heels. Basically, it was pretty ugly, but, in a way, homey. It was my ugly.

But that’s (my own) nostalgia, and shouldn’t enter into the discussion. Unfortunately, it does. In any urban centre – emphasis on the urban – we’re all nostalgic for the “way it used to be.”

Maybe that can be preserved in areas like Toronto, where there is a large stock of interesting old buildings that can be converted to housing and other uses. But in Vancouver, we don’t have that luxury. The city is barely 100 years old and, for most of its life, its main building style has been cheap and temporary. A few brick buildings are still around and create a sense of gentler bygone days. But, frankly, most are thrown-up, cheap, commercial buildings that are hardly worth preserving. And they certainly aren’t able to handle the increasing demands of a booming city population.

So, much as we may like the past and are nostalgic for it, maybe we’d better realize that right now will soon be the past, and forty years from now, it will be looked at with similar fondness.

And then there will be other situations that may necessitate the revamping of the area.

That’s the way cities evolve.