High-rises increase walking

Following the construction of dense, high-rise housing in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, something surprising happened.

In a five-year period, the number of vehicles circulating in the downtown core dropped 13 percent, giving way to a pedestrian explosion – a 55 percent increase in people walking.

After hosting the 1986 World’s Fair, Vancouver had sold 210 acres of downtown real estate to a developer, who built housing towers overlooking the waterfront. However, the city also required him to create public amenities such as walking trails, parks, school sites, community centers and pedestrian pathways.

With work, entertainment, and services like grocery stores close by, people began walking simply because it made sense, a Vancouver urban planner told a Spokane audience Wednesday.

Gordon Price, who writes, teaches and consults on urban planning, also served six terms as a Vancouver city councilman. His keynote address kicked off a series of community forums designed to promote smart residential and commercial development in Spokane’s growing University District. The goals, said Mayor Dennis Hession, include transportation and housing options, mixed-use developments, and economic growth that is pedestrian-friendly.

In Vancouver, Price said: “Public amenities added private value.” The downtown developer discovered that what he was really selling was “lifestyle.”

Similar themes have been voiced in Spokane, especially in reference to the planned 80-acre Kendall Yards development. The residential and commercial project plans public plazas, an extension of the Centennial Trail overlooking the Spokane River and shops, restaurants and entertainment venues.

“I’m not here to tell you that Vancouver has done something you should or could do,” Price said, but he added that the cities share similarities. Both hosted World’s Fairs, which transformed their downtowns. And both have bodies of water that run through their downtowns around which development activity should focus, Price said. He chastised Spokane for designing the Riverpoint campus around the car, instead of the pedestrian, and for not focusing on public access to the river.

“What’s a parking lot doing along the river?” he asked after looking for the river and being directed to an area beyond a surface parking lot.

He said much of Vancouver’s densest development grew up near two miles of a waterway that runs through its downtown. Displaying a Spokane map, he said similar development potential should exist along the Spokane River between Hamilton and Maple streets.

Smart growth, Price said, also brings a mix of people close together in the downtown core. Showing a map of downtown Vancouver, he explained that affordable housing shared city blocks with high-priced condominiums, which were adjacent to shops, parks and community centers. Grocery stores anchored buildings with housing up above and parking below ground.

Also crucial to a vibrant downtown where people want to live is creating transportation “loops” that people can drive, walk or bike. Whether they’re on foot or in cars, people like transportation options that don’t dead-end, he said.

Still, Price said, Spokane should be excited about this time.

“Good luck,” he said. “You’ve got a great opportunity. Your future is probably going to be prosperous and fast-growing too.”