The Heights District Plan is a plan to upgrade an underutilized space, which is commendable. We can see benefits for Vancouver with some new businesses, housing, and amenities, but we are concerned about parking and lowering density and building heights.
We have heard the pie-in-the-sky expectations of some city council members concerning the need for higher densities and mass transit. While this may be true, we feel the council members and city planners are taking it too far. We do not believe that most people will give up their cars in the future. Cars are a symbol of freedom. The city is planning to provide 1.25 car spaces for a multifamily housing unit. Multifamily housing units usually have two or more people living in them trying to earn a wage to pay for housing.
Will there be enough local jobs within a reasonable commute to support all the people in the city’s planned housing units? Mass transit incentives are not helpful if your job cannot be reached by mass transit. The 1.25 parking ratio is not adequate for families. We are not trying to kill the Heights District plan, but only temper it with some common sense.
