Density solving the garbage problem?
There’s an article in the Globe and Mail that posits the theory that Vancouver would be in much worse shape during the Strike if it weren’t for the density thing:
Apartments and condos, most of which still have their garbage taken away by private companies, make up at least 56 per cent of the city’s housing, according to Andrew Ramlo, director of Urban Futures Inc.RSS 2.0 comments feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
July 26th, 2007 at 11:24 am
People in high density housing often don’t have a vehicle for every adult, due to limits of parking, therefore they would be in much worse shape than people in SFHs during a transit strike.
July 26th, 2007 at 11:40 am
People in high density housing are typically closer to work so they may walk rather than drive. It is also far easier to find someone to call pool with if you live downtown.
Basically the important point of the Eco Density idea is that it is far more efficient to provide services to a compact population. This is just a side effect of that fact.
July 26th, 2007 at 11:41 am
Except the community centres are closed. I am getting restless!
July 26th, 2007 at 11:58 am
Except the community centres are closed.
True enough but that issue is the same for everyone.
That said many of the downtown buildings have amenities that provide some of the same services as a community center (Swimming Pool, Gym ect). Come to think of it a downtown condo really is much like a gated community with many of the services provided by the strata rather than the city.
July 26th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
July 26th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
The people I personally know who bought condos in the past couple of years don’t live near work. They buy in places they could (?)afford (not downtown) and work elsewhere (downtown, richmond, north van…)
“… Eco Density idea is that it is far more efficient to provide services to a compact population….”
Funny, I thought it was just something Sam Sullivan trademarked…
July 26th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
This might be true downtown where parking space is at a premium. The situation is different in neighbourhoods with lots of on street parking.
Several suites in our building are carless which means we can make money renting our parking stalls to other owners.
We could use some of these parking stalls for general storage and bike lockers. It seems we can’t do this because the city mandates we keep a certain number of parking stalls.
As the price of gas (and housing) goes up, more people are switching to alternate forms of transportation. If I were a developer, I’d be inclined to include “amenities” like larger storage areas and secure bike rooms rather than put in a pool or gym. At some point there’s going to be a demand for somewhere to recharge your electric car (or bicycle) and issues around how to charge for it.
As j mentioned density can be a plus during transit strikes because there are more potential car poolers in your area. The auto co-ops tend to have their pickup and drop off points nearby and you don’t have to drive to shop, run errands, eat out or be entertained. Even better is high density near a Skytrain station.
The worst place to be during a strike would seem to be a low density suburb.