Look up - look way up! From wherever you are in New West, what do you see? Is it trees, neighbouring houses, low-rise shopping, walkup apartments, heritage homes? Can you see the sky, clouds, the sun setting? Is it pleasing and interesting?
Or do you see high concrete walls, train guideways, the deck slab of the place above you?
Most of us in this city live either on (or near) the ground, or some distance above it, and our points of view are influenced accordingly.
Recently, the city has fielded a few proposals from developers of the taller form of housing. These have all been in the 30-plus-storey height category.
To its continuing credit, city staff have recommended a reflective calm while details are considered by all parties.
Which gives all of us an opportunity to take a walk along the downtown waterfront, that newly vibrant public space that is becoming so popular with so many year-round.
No matter where you live, come downtown and give this route a try. Start by making your way to Westminster Pier Park, enjoying the view in all directions as you go. Remember to look up and around often.
Stop on the walkway at the west end of Pier Park before it changes to the asphalt pay lot. Look west towards the ocean, and take in the view in that direction as far as you can see. This is particularly striking later in the afternoon as the sun starts down. Remember that view. Now walk westerly towards the River Market, along the Quay.
As you go, notice the rise and fall of rooftops along Columbia and the gradual increase in building heights as they progress down the hills from the uptown area towards the river. Most of the highrises, particularly the older ones and some of the new, seem to be in scale with each other. Nothing overpowers, and the sky is always visible. The river walk has an openness about it - everyone can enjoy the view in any direction.
Massing is a fancy term for "clumping" buildings in a cityscape. When done well, the result is visually and esthetically pleasing to experience. Most of your walk will have been relatively pleasing thus far.
As you near the market, taller buildings at a distance, intrude into your consciousness. These concrete cuboids exert a visual pressure that you may not consciously notice, but they block the sky and steal the sun. Anyone who has walked close by them has their own opinion.
Recent research has shown that people tend to move more quickly past or even avoid facades that are abrupt, continuous and undistinguished, and
may also experience feelings of discomfort and distress. Buildings can have that effect.
Continue walking along towards Quayside and notice that as you pass the Inn at the Quay, your view extends almost as far as the eye can see beyond the existing buildings. These are called "glimpse" views, and they are a key design feature of Vancouver and other cities worldwide that recognize the significance of visual beauty in city design. New Westminster has these views from hundreds of vantage points already; it's one of the charms of the city.
Before you go too much farther, imagine two new 33-storey buildings rising out of the parking lot between the McGinnis overpass and the river. Now add a third building at least the same height, just west of the McGinnis at the end of Carnarvon Street. Initial proposals suggest somewhere around 1,000 or more units somewhere between 500 and 100 square feet between these three.
All three buildings are proposing above-ground parking, too. Yet more endless new facade to scoot past. Keep in mind, too, that Larco is also waiting in the wings with its contribution to the waterfront.
Now imagine these three new buildings inserted into the visual picture you took back at Pier Park.
Kind of puts a different twist on the concept of massing, doesn't it?
They pretty much fill the airspace where you used to be able to see to the ocean.
Consider the multitude of other perspectives in the area that will be affected if this goes badly. The mass of grey concrete visible from everywhere, lost light, isolation of existing longtime medium density residents, parking confusion in an already ridiculously congested area, lack of loading zones, traffic congestion to add to the trucking mess already there, the hubbub of TransLink and rail lines on top of it, years of construction, pedestrians mixed in everywhere - you get the picture.
New Westminster could end up with a riverfront and west entrance like a huge concrete cliff. Maybe it's time to define "iconic" more empirically so that quality of life stays in the equation.
It just doesn't conjure up a picture of a vibrant, transit-oriented community with long-term appeal to the broadest range of people. But I'm sure the developer's people can take care of that.
Question is, at the end of it all, is our sense of community enhanced, is the west entrance to the city truly iconic, is livability improved? What will it look like in 20 years? Are families, seniors, young happy there? Or is the city lumbered with a worse mess than what was there when it all began?
New Westminster has stumbled in the past, the results of which may remain with us well into the future, but when it comes to distributing density and mass downtown, we have to get clumps of the right kind, in the right place because they are there for good, and everyone should still be able to enjoy the view.
