The West End Car Free Day this year is June 20, 2010, 12 noon to 6 pm.
Next organizing meeting is Tuesday April 6, 2010 at 7 pm to 8:30 pm at Gordon House.
We still need lots more ideas for this years festival. We are starting to have a wonderful crew of organizers for this years event. Come and be part of the fun of putting this event on
WERA’s 2007 letter to PM advocating for a funded national housing plan
The Games are almost over, but the Red Tent campaign is just getting started. Come out and join our Olympic Wrap-up party as we launch our campaign onto the national stage with a clear message for the Harper Government- Canada needs to end homelessness now!
Come down to the Canada Pavillion this Saturday and help us spread the message that housing is a right. We’ve got 150 red banners that call for a funded national housing strategy and we’re ready to wrap up the entire Pavillion.
Where: Meeting Keefer Place next to the T &T Market and then on to the Canada Pavillion at Dunsmuir and Beatty
When: Noon on Saturday, February 27th
What: A paint brush, instruments
Who: People like YOU!
Let’s show the Government, the media, and those working for change all across the country that support for a funded national housing strategy is growing.
See you on Saturday
John Richardson, and the rest of the Red Tent team
The Vancouver Plant and Seed Exchange Network (VPSEN) aims to connect local gardeners with an enthusiasm for plant diversity. While one might ask what gardener, be it someone who has a yard, a community garden plot, a small balcony, or a sidewalk strip wouldn’t appreciate having a variety of plants in his or her garden, a number of barriers may exist: cost, access to suppliers, and lack of plant and gardening knowledge, to name a few. This project seeks to help alleviate these challenges by providing a space in which easy access to information will hopefully translate to tangible results (of the green kind). In addition to sharing their plants and seeds, we hope that members of this network will contribute to an open and respectful dialogue on the state of food in our city, biodiversity, urban land use, and to a collective knowledge which is only too vital for sustaining a healthy community. The VPSEN is an initiative of the Environmental Youth Alliance.
VPSEN
redtent.org
Hundreds gathered at on the north side of the Vancouver Art Gallery today to rally the call for a national housing program in Canada. The rally was organized by the Impact on Communities Coalition (IOCC).
The Raging Grannies opened it up with a few songs. Speakers included: David Dennis, President-Elect United Native Nations; Rev. Ric Matthews of First United Church; Wendy Pedersen, Carnegie Action Centre; John Richardson, Pivot Legal Society; and Libby Davies, MP Vancouver East.
Video of Libby Davies speech here.
Photos of the rally here.
After months of planning by the City of Vancouver Engineering with Translink to formulate an Olympic transportation plan VPD and VANOC and without notice and consultation shut down Robson to the #5 according to a local bus driver who updated a bus of riders this afternoon.
All though there are other reports that it was the City the closed the street to the #5 bus on recommendation from VANOC and VPD, none of this is confirmed yet.
Community Update: MLA Spencer Herbert Constituency Office
West End #5 Bus southbound / #6 westbound buses are no longer running as of 11:40 am on Tuesday February 16.
A decision was made today by Coast Mountain Bus Company and Translink to stop service on this portion of the route until the end of the Olympic period. Apparently their decision was made due to the fact that the City of Vancouver has extended the pedestrian corridor on Robson, from Thurlow to Bute. Buses that were previously turning off Thurlow onto Robson (southbound) are now unable to do so.
North/eastbound service for the #5/#6 is still in effect on the same route (Davie to Denman-to West Georgia-toPender-to Homer-to Richards-to Davie). Representatives from Translink have stated that the reason for closing the south/westbound route is due to the road closure and that it is unable to reroute the bus southbound down Georgia because the infrastructure for the trolley wires turning south off West Georgia south onto Denman does not exist. They have also stated that they are not able to place a diesel bus (non-trolley) on that route as they have no buses whatsoever to spare.
Our office has raised the question as to why this decision was made on February 16 and not in the months leading up to the Games so that residents could plan their routes and lives accordingly. West Enders were assured that their bus service would not be disrupted and that they would continue to receive service in both directions along Davie, Denman and West Georgia (parallel to Robson).
Our office met with representatives from VANOC and the City of Vancouver months prior to the Games who made these same assurances. We have also been informed by Brent Granby of WERA that their members met with Engineers from the City of Vancouver who made the same assurances. In fact one member of WERA raised the concern that the trolley infrastructure at the corner of Denman and Georgia was not in place, but no commitments were made to addressing that problem or closing the route at the beginning of the Games.
We have spoken with residents of the West End who are very upset about this change, in particular because they were promised full service and because today residents, many of them senior and some disabled persons are currently standing at bus stops without any southbound service or any indication that service has been halted.
A representative from Translink have stated that signage indicating this route closure would be up tomorrow. We raised the concern that the signage should have been put in place prior to the closure.
To view the road plan for Robson as of February 2010 consult P. 2 of the City of Vancouver’s pedestrian corridor map which shows that Robson street remains open eastbound from Thurlow to Bute.
