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Canadian Urbanism Uncovered

Price Points: Urban Propinquity

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A summer day, a hiker, berries in the bush:

 

 Where is she?  Here, on Habitat Island, False Creek, in the heart of Vancouver  (map here).

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A kilometre away, as the crow flies: a child in the stream at Emery Barnes Park, in the heart of Downtown South (map here).

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Then, five blocks away: Robson Street, closed for Jazz Festival (map here).

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 And precisely 100 feet from the stage:

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pro·pin·qui·ty

 

1. nearness in place; proximity.

2. nearness of relation; kinship.

3. affinity of nature; similarity.

4. nearness in time.
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Gordon Price is the Director of The City Program at Simon Fraser University. He sat for six terms as City Councillor in Vancouver, BC and also served on the Boards of the Greater Vancouver Regional District (Metro) and TransLink. He publishes an electronic magazine and blog on urban issues, with a focus on Vancouver, called “Price Tags” – www.pricetags.ca as well as www.pricetags.wordpress.com He has written several extensive essays on Vancouver and transportation issues – The Deceptive City, Local Politician’s Guide to Urban Transportation – and in 2003, he received the Plan Canada Award for Article of the Year – “Land Use and Transportation: The View from ’56” – from the Canadian Institute of Planners.

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