{"id":12319,"date":"2012-07-16T08:09:00","date_gmt":"2012-07-16T15:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingvancouver.ca\/?p=12319"},"modified":"2013-04-26T15:23:26","modified_gmt":"2013-04-26T22:23:26","slug":"price-points-nicest-corner-in-the-west-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/07\/16\/price-points-nicest-corner-in-the-west-end\/","title":{"rendered":"Price Points: Nicest Corner in the West End"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sure, ‘niceness’ is subjective.\u00a0\u00a0 But there are\u00a0some objective reasons.<\/p>\n

The Haro and Cardero\u00a0corner (map here<\/a>)\u00a0is\u00a0just a block from the intensity\u00a0of Robson – and yet people feel comfortable walking down the centre of the street.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That’s the effect\u00a0of traffic calming*: those breaks in the grid where diverters, miniparks and roundabouts have not only discouraged through traffic but also offered small opportunities for planting.\u00a0 And the result is an extraordinary lushness.<\/p>\n

Here’s the Streetview of the same place\u00a0in spring:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

Then there’s\u00a0the scale – a consequence of the West End being surveyed and laid out on the chain<\/a>. The\u00a0distance from property line to property line\u00a0is 66 feet, and within that width are fitted a street of two travel lanes for slow-moving cars plus\u00a0a row of parking, edged by boulevards sufficient for large trees and abundant landscaping, with more room for two sidewalks and setbacks filled with grass and shrubs before the walls,\u00a0fences and gardens of\u00a0the adjacent properties.<\/p>\n

The sidewalks themselves\u00a0are like extended rooms: cement floors, two green walls with wooden pillars, flowery wainscotting\u00a0and arched roofs:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

Eclectic architecture:\"\"<\/a> on the northwest corner, a brick apartment building from the 1920s – double-hung windows and cluttered balconies big enough for barbeques and close enough for conversation.\u00a0 On the northeast, four surviving houses, comfortably maintained without being overly precious.<\/p>\n

On the southwest\u00a0and -east corners, non-descript boxes from the ’50s and ’60s making the mistakes of their times: bland design,\"\"<\/a>\u00a0minimal landscaping, paved-over parking off the lanes.\u00a0 And yet\u00a0the dog on the balcony probably\u00a0thinks it’s just fine, thank you very much.<\/p>\n

Just goes to show that good\u00a0urban design can trump bad architecture, especially when the street is part of a much greater whole – a bike route, a pedestrian corridor to shops and transit, a bucolic urban space,\u00a0crafted out of nature, asphalt and concrete.<\/p>\n

Nice.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* Around 1973, the blocks West of Denman were\u00a0the location for the first permanent traffic calming on the west coast (Berkeley, CA was also trying out something similar as a trial).\u00a0 In 1981, the system, after much controversy, was extended East of Denman (not as a scheme to discourage street prostitution but as part of a Local Improvement Project, voted on and partly paid for by property taxpayers – a cost that has paid for itself countless times over.)<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Gordon Price<\/strong> 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<\/a> as well as www.pricetags.wordpress.com<\/a> He has written several extensive essays on Vancouver and transportation issues – The Deceptive City, Local Politician’s Guide to Urban Transportation \u2013 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.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sure, ‘niceness’ is subjective.\u00a0\u00a0 But there are\u00a0some objective reasons. The Haro and Cardero\u00a0corner (map here)\u00a0is\u00a0just a block from the intensity\u00a0of Robson – and yet people feel comfortable walking down the centre of the street.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That’s the effect\u00a0of traffic calming*: those breaks in the grid where diverters, miniparks and roundabouts have not only discouraged through traffic butContinue reading “Price Points: Nicest Corner in the West End”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6020,"featured_media":20526,"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":[11232],"tags":[299],"class_list":["post-12319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-price-points"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPrice Points: Nicest Corner in the West End - Spacing Vancouver<\/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\/vancouver\/2012\/07\/16\/price-points-nicest-corner-in-the-west-end\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Price Points: Nicest Corner in the West End - Spacing Vancouver\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sure, ‘niceness’ is subjective.\u00a0\u00a0 But there are\u00a0some objective reasons. The Haro and Cardero\u00a0corner (map here)\u00a0is\u00a0just a block from the intensity\u00a0of Robson – and yet people feel comfortable walking down the centre of the street.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That’s the effect\u00a0of traffic calming*: those breaks in the grid where diverters, miniparks and roundabouts have not only discouraged through traffic butContinue reading "Price Points: Nicest Corner in the West End"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/07\/16\/price-points-nicest-corner-in-the-west-end\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Spacing Vancouver\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-07-16T15:09:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-04-26T22:23:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/07\/CH-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gordon Price\" \/>\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=\"Gordon Price\" \/>\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\/vancouver\/2012\/07\/16\/price-points-nicest-corner-in-the-west-end\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2012\/07\/16\/price-points-nicest-corner-in-the-west-end\/\",\"name\":\"Price Points: Nicest Corner in the West End - 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