Pedestrianized Gastown? Vancouver plans revitalization for historic area

Vancouver’s ruling ABC Party is promising a revitalization of one of the city’s most iconic neighbourhoods with an injection of millions of dollars and consideration of a pedestrianized area.

Gastown is already the focus of city crews, which are catching up on repairs to sidewalks and roadways, maintenance of the iconic globe lights and other cosmetic issues, but the mayor and council are eying much bigger changes they’ll initiate in a new motion they plan to table.

“The centrepiece of the vision includes pedestrianizing Water Street, looking at the options to make it either car-free or car-light on a seasonal or a year-round basis,” said Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung at a news conference Tuesday.

She said the next phase will include consultations to form a “bold and unique plan” for the neighbourhood, which is similar to ABC's investment in revitalizing Chinatown. 

The Gastown Business Improvement Society applauded the announcement, which includes a commitment to grow the city’s three-year capital spending plan on the area from $7 million to $10 million, but they’re cautious about too many changes. https://gastown.org/

“We need an economic impact assessment,” said GBIS president, Walley Wargolet. “We don't know if closing down Water Street is going to be an economic driver or an economic killer and I think that work has to be done.”

Kirby-Yung expects a pilot project this year or next to determine if and how the streets could be closed to vehicles and is open to the idea of retractable bollards, which could close the area to car traffic in the evenings, for example, which Wargolet has been pointing to for years.

PUBLIC SAFETY NOT PART OF ANNOUNCEMENT

All of the A Better City Vancouver councillors were on hand for the revitalization announcement, with the focus on cosmetic issues and potential pedestrianization of the area.

When CTV News suggested that most people who hesitated to go to Gastown were more concerned about public safety in the wake of random stranger attacks and property crime in the downtown core and asked what the plan was to address that, the mayor responded claimed the decampment of East Hastings Street and investments in Chinatown were having “spillover” benefits in Gastown. 

“You're starting to see some of the positive changes from those actions,” said Ken Sim. “Obviously more needs to be done, this was just the start but, you know, knock on wood we're pleasantly surprised with the progress we've made and we will continue to push on these efforts.” 

Wargolet said while the area has revived after a pandemic slump, with daily cleanup keeping the area tidy and a commercial vacancy rate at a “healthy” seven per cent, more residential projects will help ensure the long-term sustainability of the commercial area.

YEARS OF PROMISES

This is not the first time a city council has considered a revitalization of one of Vancouver’s oldest neighbourhoods, which is popular with tourists but largely sustained by locals who frequent its shops, eateries and bars. 

Kirby-Yung acknowledged that “this has been talked about for a number of years” but that there hasn’t been consensus between city hall and stakeholders as to what to do. This time, she is already looking at turning Cordova Street, one block south of Gastown’s main stroll, into a two-way route to offset potential traffic issues by closing cobbled Water Street.

Wargolet has heard promises before, but points out he’s never had a city council go to Gastown and make those promises on the record for everyone to see.

“Honestly, and I say this with a heavy sigh, I hope (this time) is different,” he said.