{"id":2504,"date":"2013-07-29T13:40:03","date_gmt":"2013-07-29T17:40:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/?p=2504"},"modified":"2013-07-29T14:21:34","modified_gmt":"2013-07-29T18:21:34","slug":"converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/07\/29\/converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes\/","title":{"rendered":"Converting Alleyways to Livable Laneways and Country Lanes"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a kid growing up in Vancouver, I spent a lot of time playing with neighbourhood kids in the alleyway outside our family home off Cambie Street. Most residential homes in Vancouver are backed by alleyways with garages located at the back of the house – this means no hideous, monstrous garages facing the street like in many suburban homes.<\/p>\n

These alleyways are nothing special to look at, and are mainly used as service roads for garbage trucks and entry\/exit ways to residential garages (although space is limited in Vancouver and most people park on the street – opting to use their garages as an extra room\/art studio\/man cave, etc.).<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t see as many kids playing in Vancouver\u2019s alleyways like my generation did – perhaps this is a result of helicopter parenting. But, a former experiment by the City of Vancouver could help neighbours find more common space to get to know each other.<\/p>\n

Ten years ago, the City launched a pilot project to transform\u00a0several back alleys into grassy, picturesque country lanes.\u00a0According to a recent article in the\u00a0National Post<\/a>,<\/p>\n

Asphalt paving was removed and replaced with \u201cstructural grass,\u201d rigid plastic honeycomb cells sprinkled with ordinary lawn seed and nurtured into green swaths. Concrete strips were embedded on two sides, creating a durable driving surface. Permeable brick pavers were installed in driveways and at the lane way entrances; these allow rain water to infiltrate between their joints and into the ground, reducing\u00a0 run-off, the bane of municipal storm sewer systems.<\/p>\n

The effect is both practical and pleasing to the eye. No more cracked and potholed pavements. Traffic on the countrified lanes continues, but motorists must slow down to navigate the concrete driving strips. The grassed lane ways are cooler than asphalt in summer and they don\u2019t emit the dreaded \u201coff-gassing.\u201d They have also passed the test of time; they still look fine, almost bucolic.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"image\"<\/p>\n

Photo c\/o\u00a0Ben Nelms for National Post<\/em><\/p>\n

According to resident Mike Klassen, whose home backs one of these country lanes, it has brought together his east side community. Neighbours are expected to maintain the space.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a place where people feel they can dump their old couches and garbage,\u201d he says in the National Post. \u201cIt became a gathering place for many us over the summers. We\u2019ve held barbecues there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Imagine if today\u2019s alleyways all looked like this, backed by increasingly popular laneway homes and garages converted to artist\u2019s studios or wo\/man caves ;), with children meeting from around the neighbourhood to play.<\/p>\n

In one of the world\u2019s most expensive cities where space is at a premium,\u00a0alleys serving as country lanes would be a much more effective use of space than the current single-purpose, service lane for garbage trucks and cars.<\/p>\n

Around the world, more cities are finding creative ways to convert laneways as street markets, performance spaces, art exhibitions and more. Vancouver even has a non-profit organization,\u00a0Livable Laneways<\/a>, that is\u00a0dedicated to transforming the overlooked laneways and alleys of Vancouver into pedestrian-friendly civic spaces.\u00a0With all this focus on reimagining laneways, it seems a fitting time for Vancouver to revisit its Country Lanes program.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/p>\n

Photo c\/o Livable Laneways<\/em><\/p>\n

Jillian Glover is a communications advisor who specializes in urban issues and transportation. She is a former Vancouver City Planning Commissioner and holds a Master of Urban Studies degree from Simon Fraser University. She was born and raised in Vancouver and is very interested in how people in urban environments engage in their cities. In her spare time, she writes about urban issues at her blog, This City Life \u2013 which you can visit at\u00a0www.thiscitylife.tumblr.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a kid growing up in Vancouver, I spent a lot of time playing with neighbourhood kids in the alleyway outside our family home off Cambie Street. Most residential homes in Vancouver are backed by alleyways with garages located at the back of the house – this means no hideous, monstrous garages facing the streetContinue reading “Converting Alleyways to Livable Laneways and Country Lanes”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6051,"featured_media":2516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-architecture"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nConverting Alleyways to Livable Laneways and Country Lanes - Spacing National<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/07\/29\/converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Converting Alleyways to Livable Laneways and Country Lanes - Spacing National\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As a kid growing up in Vancouver, I spent a lot of time playing with neighbourhood kids in the alleyway outside our family home off Cambie Street. Most residential homes in Vancouver are backed by alleyways with garages located at the back of the house – this means no hideous, monstrous garages facing the streetContinue reading "Converting Alleyways to Livable Laneways and Country Lanes"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/07\/29\/converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Spacing National\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-07-29T17:40:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-07-29T18:21:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/tumblr_inline_mph45dgJUv1qz4rgp.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jillian Glover\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jillian Glover\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/07\/29\/converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/07\/29\/converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes\/\",\"name\":\"Converting Alleyways to Livable Laneways and Country Lanes - Spacing National\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/07\/29\/converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/07\/29\/converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/tumblr_inline_mph45dgJUv1qz4rgp.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-07-29T17:40:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-07-29T18:21:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/#\/schema\/person\/89e66ce29d5c5a783f3ac2190ebd7e56\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/07\/29\/converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/07\/29\/converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/07\/29\/converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/tumblr_inline_mph45dgJUv1qz4rgp.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/tumblr_inline_mph45dgJUv1qz4rgp.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":667,\"caption\":\"Garbage. Old mattresses and furniture. Concrete: the alleyway backing my house.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/07\/29\/converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Converting Alleyways to Livable Laneways and Country Lanes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/\",\"name\":\"Spacing National\",\"description\":\"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Architecture, Urban Deisgn, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/#\/schema\/person\/89e66ce29d5c5a783f3ac2190ebd7e56\",\"name\":\"Jillian Glover\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b56cc9c9388f3c0046ea1af7a952af3?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b56cc9c9388f3c0046ea1af7a952af3?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jillian Glover\"},\"description\":\"Jillian Glover is a communications advisor who specializes in urban issues and transportation. She is a former Vancouver City Planning Commissioner and holds a Master of Urban Studies degree from Simon Fraser University. She was born and raised in Vancouver and is very interested in how people in urban environments engage in their cities. In her spare time, she writes about urban issues at her blog, This City Life \u2013 which you can visit at www.thiscitylife.tumblr.com.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/thiscitylife.tumblr.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/author\/jillianglover\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Converting Alleyways to Livable Laneways and Country Lanes - Spacing National","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/07\/29\/converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Converting Alleyways to Livable Laneways and Country Lanes - Spacing National","og_description":"As a kid growing up in Vancouver, I spent a lot of time playing with neighbourhood kids in the alleyway outside our family home off Cambie Street. Most residential homes in Vancouver are backed by alleyways with garages located at the back of the house – this means no hideous, monstrous garages facing the streetContinue reading \"Converting Alleyways to Livable Laneways and Country Lanes\"","og_url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/07\/29\/converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes\/","og_site_name":"Spacing National","article_published_time":"2013-07-29T17:40:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-07-29T18:21:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/tumblr_inline_mph45dgJUv1qz4rgp.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jillian Glover","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Spacing","twitter_site":"@Spacing","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jillian Glover","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/07\/29\/converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes\/","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/07\/29\/converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes\/","name":"Converting Alleyways to Livable Laneways and Country Lanes - Spacing National","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/07\/29\/converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/07\/29\/converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/tumblr_inline_mph45dgJUv1qz4rgp.jpg","datePublished":"2013-07-29T17:40:03+00:00","dateModified":"2013-07-29T18:21:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/#\/schema\/person\/89e66ce29d5c5a783f3ac2190ebd7e56"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/07\/29\/converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/07\/29\/converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/07\/29\/converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/tumblr_inline_mph45dgJUv1qz4rgp.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/tumblr_inline_mph45dgJUv1qz4rgp.jpg","width":500,"height":667,"caption":"Garbage. Old mattresses and furniture. Concrete: the alleyway backing my house."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/07\/29\/converting-alleyways-to-livable-laneways-and-country-lanes\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Converting Alleyways to Livable Laneways and Country Lanes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/#website","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/","name":"Spacing National","description":"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Architecture, Urban Deisgn, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/#\/schema\/person\/89e66ce29d5c5a783f3ac2190ebd7e56","name":"Jillian Glover","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b56cc9c9388f3c0046ea1af7a952af3?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b56cc9c9388f3c0046ea1af7a952af3?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Jillian Glover"},"description":"Jillian Glover is a communications advisor who specializes in urban issues and transportation. She is a former Vancouver City Planning Commissioner and holds a Master of Urban Studies degree from Simon Fraser University. She was born and raised in Vancouver and is very interested in how people in urban environments engage in their cities. In her spare time, she writes about urban issues at her blog, This City Life \u2013 which you can visit at www.thiscitylife.tumblr.com.","sameAs":["http:\/\/thiscitylife.tumblr.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/author\/jillianglover\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6051"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2504"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2506,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2504\/revisions\/2506"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}