We’re a group of West End renters interested in building a web site and undertaking related activities to provide information to BC renters.

In order to make sure the site meets a wide range of needs, we need input from apartment renters in Vancouver. So we’re holding a series of focus groups to present the ideas and get feedback on the proposed web site, its content and other potential services and activities.

Would you be interested in participating in one of these focus groups?

CONTACT US!  bcrentersgroup@gmail.com

WERA president Christine Ackerman was quoted in the Courier newspaper discussing the Cactus Club exit/bike lane issue (see WERA story here).

An excerpt:

From opening day on March 2, black vinyl ropes were often set up outside the restaurant directing patrons departing on foot straight into a busy two-way bike lane. But as of the past weekend, the ropes were relocated to contain customers to the pavement immediately in front of the restaurant and along the sidewalk parallel to the route used by cyclists. “We’re really happy to hear that. It looks like our letter has had some positive impact,” said Christine Ackermann with the West End Residents Association.

WERA president Christine Ackerman was quoted on News 1130 radio discussing the Cactus Club exit/bike lane issue (see WERA story here).

According to News 1130, “As the weather heats up, things could get ugly, according to Christine Ackerman with the West End Residents Association. She thinks Cactus Club patrons spilling out in front is dangerous to cyclists and rollerbladers.”.

Congestion and conflict has significantly increased on the Seaside Bike Route since the Cactus Club English Bay Bistro opened. This is disappointing as pedestrians, cyclists and skaters have just endured 16 months of disruption during the construction of the Bistro.

The Bistro entrance furniture directs customers directly onto the Bike Route

The congestion and conflict are a result of a number of factors including:

• The Cactus Club is directing their customers to line up and exit directly right onto the bike route instead of adjacent to the bike route. Customers are disoriented and often do not recognize they are crossing or walking on the bike route.
• The loading zone for the Cactus Club is a pull-out from Beach Avenue that is being misused as a valet and passenger drop-off zone. This creates safety issues for both motorists and passengers that are dropped off.
• Signage is poor and installed from the perspective of motorists. Signage needs to be installed from the perspective of pedestrians, cyclists and the Cactus Club customers that would include pavement treatment and signage.

The Cactus Club English Bay Bistro had clear direction from both the City and Park Board to mitigate any impacts to all users of the Seaside Bike Route. This direction included that the loading bay was not to be used for other purposes, in particular for a valet service.

Valet Parking in the loading zone and with sandwich board obstructing pedestrian area

The Development Permit Approval included a requirement for the Cactus Club to provide a Loading Management Plan that “should commit to use the approved loading so as to not impact traffic, pedestrians and cyclists and solely for it intended loading purpose” and that “the permit holder is to be responsible for all costs related to the installation of the lay-by and all costs related to any sidewalk and bikeway changes necessary for the lay-by installation.”

Why was a passenger zone sign installed when this was prohibited in the Development Permit Approval?

WERA suggests that the City direct the Cactus Club to honour the requirements associated with their Development Permit including:

• Realign the Bistro Beach Avenue entrance furniture to channel customers along the side of the building instead of directly into the Bike Path
• Cease using the loading bay for a valet service and to put out traffic cones during non-loading hours to prevent unauthorized passenger drop-offs.

The Park Board and City also needs to further review the signage to ensure it is directed at pedestrians and cyclists. In particular consideration should be given to pavement markings and signage that alert all users that this is a conflict zone. Current signage that designates the loading zone as a passenger zone should be removed to reflect the intention of the approved Development Permit.

The Seaside Bike route in the 1700 – 2000 blocks of Beach Ave will continue to be a source of conflict between pedestrians and cyclists with its current configuration. Perhaps an alternative solution might be to move the route onto the road as a separated two-way facility, but that is a different debate. The Cactus Club knew about the requirement to mitigate impacts to the Seaside Bike Route with the current configuration, including the intended use of the loading bay and they accepted these obligations. As such the Cactus Club should honour their obligations.

Read WERA’s letter to the City: English Bay Bistro – Park Board – May 2012

Also see Price Tags posting on this topic: Cactus Club bike path: More conflict by design

The West End Community Plan launches with a storytelling event this week at Denman Cinema.

The Vancouver Courier cover story this week is about a project that WERA has been supporting.

Cover story, Vancouver Courier, April 27, 2012

A second-hand partially disassembled mountain bike hangs off a blue stand at the front of a workshop in King George secondary, a small West End high school.

Pedals, a reflector, a headset, cranks with three chain rings, and a few other parts lay scattered in a cardboard box beneath it. The bike and its parts belong to Grade 10 student Jelena Lazic.

Despite its state of disrepair, the garage sale find has served the Serbian-born teenager well-initially as transportation for her family, which doesn’t have a car, and now as a learning tool in a technical studies 10 course that includes sections on robotics and bicycle mechanics. Lazic, 15, is repairing the bike as a class project with 14-year-old classmate Maha Al-Fahim, who’s of Iranian origin.

“I took off the pedals because the bearings are rusted and I might have to replace them. I think I’m missing a couple. And I had to take off the brakes-it has a really old brake system,” says Lazic, whose ease with “bike talk” is partly due to King George teacher Jay Lo.

Lo developed and introduced the bike portion of the tech studies class she’s enrolled in-soon to be a stand-alone course called Human Power 1 next school year-to complement an extracurricular program known as Bikes.Community. Run by Robert Lee YMCA, Bikes.Community launched at King George in late September. It uses bikes as a vehicle to promote healthy lifestyles, to build students’ leadership skills, to strengthen ties with their community and to celebrate participants’ cultural diversity.

Lazic and Al-Fahim are involved in both cycling-focused initiatives, which capitalize on and actively promote Vancouver’s rapidly growing obsession with cycling.

For Lazic, the club and the class have proved invaluable-she’s picked up technical know-how, met new friends and even found a common interest with her father. “It feels amazing. I can show off at home and help out my dad [with bike repairs],” she says. “In Serbia, my uncle ran a bike shop. He and my dad would do all this work and I would always feel left out. I wanted to help out, but I didn’t know how to use any of the tools. I didn’t even know how to fix a flat tire. And now I have a kit for that.”

Traffic-heavy Denman Street borders King George secondary at 1755 Barclay St., a school which is otherwise surrounded by densely populated residential streets. Its location in a neighbourhood dominated by apartment buildings, with a significant car-free population, and its proximity to bike paths around English Bay and Stanley Park makes it an ideal site for pushing environmentally friendly cycling programs.

Nudging might be a better word in King George’s case. Like many Vancouver schools, it embraces “green” projects. Last year, stu-dents built planter boxes for a rooftop garden at St. Paul’s Hospital for a YMCA-run initiative, funded through a WelcomeBC grant that’s geared towards proposals involving newcomers to the city.

When the garden was completed, the Y, in conjunction with King George staff, dreamed up Bikes.Community as a second so-called demonstration project that qualified for WelcomeBC’s one-time $150,000 grant. The project’s partners include Gordon Neighbourhood House, the West End Residents Association and PEDAL-Pedal Energy Development Alternatives.

The overall idea was to gift participating students with donated second-hand bikes in need of repair and have them refurbish them, while they also met up for regular group activities. Twenty-seven students from 12 countries of origin were accepted into Bikes. Community-the majority of whom are King George high school students, although five attend its feeder elementary schools, Elsie Roy and Lord Roberts.

Read the rest of the story on the Courier website.

West End Community Plan

The West End Planning Team is about to begin a community-wide discussion about the future of the West End.

The West End community planning process will be an 18-21 month initiative to bring the community together to shape a new community plan for the West End.

The plan will provide clarity and direction on the growth and evolution of the community for the next 20 to 30 years. We want your input on some of the key issues in the West End including: ensuring diverse and affordable housing; preserving and celebrating the history and heritage; improving local shopping/entertainment areas; making the community more walkable for all ages and abilities; and supporting vibrant public spaces for residents, businesses and visitors.

What do you Picture?

What is your vision for the future West End? What are your ideas for making the West End an even better place to live, work, learn and play? Are there opportunities to make the West End more sustainable?

We want to hear from as many people as possible, so please encourage your friends, neighbours and colleagues to get involved!

There will be many opportunities for you to share your ideas about the community and provide input into the planning process. Mark your calendars for the following events in May to kick-off the process:

“There’s no place like home” – Storytelling Launch Event

Thursday, May 10, 7-10pm
Denman Cinema, 1779 Comox St
RSVP at www.vancouver.ca/westendplan

Community Open Houses

Saturday, May 12, 11am-3pm
Best Western Sands Hotel, 1755 Davie St

Tuesday, May 15, 4-8pm
Empire Landmark Hotel, 1400 Robson St

Thursday, May 17, 4-8pm
Central Presbyterian Church, 1155 Thurlow St

In the meantime, check our webpage for further information and updates: West End Plan and if you haven’t already, make sure to register for email updates on the project list serv: Email updates

You can also follow us on Twitter at: @WestEndPlan

Warm regards,

The West End Planning Team

SFU’s Philosophers’ Cafe is back for another season at Barclay Manor. The talks take place the third Thursday of each month and the focus this time is on technology and health care. The final talk takes place Thursday, April 19 at 7 p.m. at Barclay Manor, 1447 Barclay Street (between Nicola and Broughton). Admission is free.

This month’s talk is “Health technology: Is it worth the cost?”

The talk will be moderated by SFU doctoral candidate Terry Lavender, who is researching the use of technology for chronic pain and aging. Lavender is a long-time West End resident, a former director of the West End Residents Association and former chair of the Mole Hill Community Housing Society.

For more information about the Philosophers’ Cafes, click here.

To launch the West End Community Plan, the City of Vancouver will be hosting a neighbourhood storytelling event in mid-May.

This celebration of the West End will explore the richness of the neighbourhood and frame the conversations moving forward. It will be a neighbourhood event filled with local stories by local residents and featuring local entertainment.

The City is looking for residents of the West End who can share a personal story that depicts an experience they have had in their neighborhood.

These experiences should capture a memory that relates to the idea of “Home” including

1. A time when you felt particularly at home or connected to your community

2. A time when you met someone who changed your impression of the neighbourhood

3. An experience trying to find a home (house, apartment, purchase or rental)

4. A place or building in your community that holds a special memory for you

5. What home meant to you when you were young

6. How your neighbourhood has changed over the years

7. What elements factor into your view of the perfect home or neighbourhood

8. How you imagine your neighbourhood in the future

Stories will be posted online so that we can build a legacy of community story-telling for all.

If you or someone you know is interested in being a part of a special night of storytelling by sharing your story please be in touch with Megan Sheldon at megan@narrativecommunications.com, 604.781.7923.

The Terms of Reference documents for the three new Community Plans (in Marpole, the West End, and Grandview-Woodland) were approved at City Council’s Planning, Transportation & Environment Meeting on March 28.

The staff presentation can be found at http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20120328/documents/ptec2Presentation-NextCommunityPlans-TermsofReference.pdf.

The combined staff report (19 pages) and three Terms of Reference documents (27 pages each) can be found at http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20120328/documents/ptec2.pdf. The staff report also includes an amended Rezoning Policy for all three Local Areas.

Council Liaisons

In addition to approving the Terms of Reference, Council also appointed two Councillors to act as Council liaisons for each of the community plans. The council liaisons for the West End are Tim Stevenson and Adriane Carr.

For more information, see the City’s official West End Community Plan webpage at: http://vancouver.ca/westendplan.