Vancouver unveils plan to accommodate population growth through 2050

Vancouver's skyline is seen in an image from CTV News Vancouver's Pete Cline captured in May 2019 from Chopper 9

Nearly three years in the making, the draft Vancouver Plan was released by the city Tuesday.

The draft lays out a land-use plan for growth and development until 2050 as the city’s population is set to increase by 260,000.

“Land use directs the location, type, and intensity of different uses. These uses include homes, businesses and services, industry, agriculture, public facilities, parks and open space,” the plan says.

“Uneven patterns of development and investment over time have created an uneven distribution of housing, jobs, shops and services, transit, amenities, tree canopy, and exposure to hazards across Vancouver."

Planning began in the fall of 2019, and the final plan will be presented to city council this June. It outlines some of the significant challenges facing Vancouver and strategies for confronting them.

The number one challenge identified is affordability, as Vancouver continues to see the highest home prices and rental rates in the country. The plan will allow for purpose-built rental and social housing in almost every area of the city, as well as the building of townhouses and multiplexes in an attempt to create “missing middle” options for home ownership.

“Thirty-five per cent of renter households pay more than 30 per cent of their income on rent and home ownership is not within reach for most residents who do not already own property. Two thousand people experience homelessness in the city, and approximately 7,000 more are on the precarious edge of homelessness,” the report reads.

“Forty per cent of the city’s jobs are held by workers who commute in from the suburbs, partly because it is difficult for them to find affordable housing options close to where they work.”

Half of the city’s jobs are concentrated on just 10 per cent of the city’s land, which the report says is also driving up commercial rents.

The plan also stresses the need to create what it describes as “complete neighbourhoods,” in which residents have access to the services, businesses, and amenities they need close to where they live.

“Today, only 15 per cent of the housing in Vancouver consumes more than half of the land and 31 per cent of residential areas do not have enough people living in them to support local businesses,” the report says.

“Over half of Vancouver residents live in neighbourhoods without walkable access to daily needs such as food and services … We need to add more housing options in existing neighbourhoods that are well-served by amenities, and add more amenities in underserved areas.”

The plan splits the city into seven neighbourhood types, outlining priorities for land use within them, including what types of housing will be permitted and prioritized.

METRO CORE

This area encompasses a swath of the city spanning from the waterfront to 12th Avenue, between Clark Drive in the east and Macdonald Street in the west. Most of the area consists of places for which neighbourhood-specific plans have already been developed.

This emphasizes preserving this core area as the centre for business, employment, entertainment, and tourism. The focus is on maintaining and expanding opportunities for people to live and work in the core, with an emphasis on reducing displacement for renters, non-profits, and small businesses. Other details include “enhancing” the waterfront and improving the tree canopy, particularly on the Downtown Eastside.

MUNICIPAL TOWN CENTRE

This outlines plans for the Oakridge area, envisioned as a “dense mix” of housing, jobs and amenities.” Building up to and exceeding 25 storeys will be allowed both on and off arterials. Developing purpose-built market rental and social housing off of main streets will be prioritized.

RAPID TRANSIT AREAS

These areas are located within a 10-minute walk of a current or future rapid transit line. This includes Broadway, 41st Avenue, 49th Avenue and along the Canada Line. The plan for housing in these areas focuses on purpose-built rentals, both at and below market rate. Building “missing middle” options for purchase, like multiplexes and townhouses, built further from the rapid transit routes.

It allows for a mix of building types and heights, with mid-to-high rise buildings ranging from 12 to 18 storeys close to transit stations, and off of main streets.

NEIGHBOURHOODS

Scattered throughout almost every part of the city. These are located along main shopping streets, with access to transit routes. They include areas like Dunbar, Kensington-Cedar Cottage, Marpole, Killarney, and parts of Kitsilano and Mount Pleasant.

Creating new housing for low-to-moderate-income earners is emphasized, as are development options for missing middle homeownership. Along the shopping streets, building will be limited to six storeys wherever possible, but smaller towers of less than 12 storeys will be allowed within a block or two of these streets in order to allow the density necessary to build rental and social housing.

VILLAGES

These areas are described as primarily residential, lower-density parts of the city. Adding shops and services is one of the goals for these parts of Vancouver. One goal is “expanding existing retail clusters to achieve a critical mass of shops and services.”

Low-rises of up to six storeys will be allowed, as will multiplexes and townhouses. As in other parts of the plan, the focus is on creating more housing options for low, moderate, and middle-income earners in neighbourhoods that meet the daily needs of residents.

MULTIPLEX AREAS

This describes the parts of the city that don’t fall into any of the other neighbourhood types, and the goal is to expand options for homeownership.

“Multiplexes offer a new type of ground-oriented housing as a similar but more affordable and sustainable option to single-detached homes,” the plan says.

“Introducing smaller scale Missing Middle housing options to round out housing choice in neighborhoods … More housing diversity will move us to a more equitable and resilient city.”