West End Residents Association

The West End Residents Association, the Mole Hill Community Housing Society and the West End Coal Harbour Community Policing Centre have written the following letter in response to an article in the West Ender that claims that West End groups oppose the new Directions youth drop-in centre.

Editor, West Ender

Re: “Seeking a new direction for street youth”

Your article about the Directions drop-in centre for youth gives the
impression that West End residents opposed this initiative. In fact,
several West End groups, including the West End Residents
Association, the Mole Hill Community Housing Society and the West
End Coal Harbour Community Policing Centre, wrote letters of support
for the centre and spoke out in favour at the public meetings held to
discuss the centre. We are proud this centre is located in our
neighbourhood and we wholeheartedly endorse it and its goals. We
disagree with the contention that the centre will make the
neighbourhood unsafe. On the contrary, the centre will provide a safe
haven for disadvantaged street youth and help integrate them with
the community.

The Georgia Straight published the following letter by WERA director Terry Lavender in its September 29, 2005 edition.

Best of Vancouver item irks West Ender
Publish Date: 29-Sep-2005

Regarding the suggestion in your annual Best of Vancouver issue [Sept. 22-29] to “carnivalize” Denman Street and build a high-rise parking garage: surely you can’t be serious. These two suggestions are grossly inappropriate for several reasons.

Denman bisects a heavily populated residential neighbourhood. Allowing late-night bars and nightclubs on the street would seriously affect the quality of life of thousands of West End residents. Denman is already in danger of Robsonization as small local stores are forced to close or move because of high rents (Galloway’s, for one) and are replaced by designer dog stores and high-end fashion outlets not in keeping with the neighbourhood character.

Encouraging more bars and nightclubs would just hasten the loss of Denman’s local flavour.

And to suggest the city build a parking garage! Not only would this clash with the West End’s predominantly pedestrian ethic, it would end up attracting even more cars, increasing the congestion on the street and inevitably leading to demands for even more parking garages. Besides, where in the West End is there available land to put a parking garage? If space were available (which it isn’t), it would be better used for housing or local retail. Yes, there’s a problem in the summer with beachgoers driving around searching for parking, but the solution isn’t to make parking easier, it’s to encourage the use of alternate modes of transportation. If you want to come to the West End to shop, eat an ice-cream cone, or just hang out before heading to the beach, you’re welcome to do so. But please take the bus or ride your bike. Don’t expect us to build a parking garage for your benefit.

> Terry Lavender / Director, West End Residents Association

WERA has sent the following letter to Vancouver City Council:

25 July 2005

Mayor and Council

Congratulations and thank you for your decision on Burrard Bridge on behalf of the West End Residence Association (WERA). Your decision to fully embrace the Downtown Transportation Plan by giving priority to pedestrians, cyclist and public transits uses will be seen as an historic moment for the livability of Vancouver. continue reading…

The following letter was sent to the Province and Vancouver Sun newspapers (the Province published it on July 31):

Your paper has recently come out expressing reservations regarding the decision by city council to re-allocate two lanes on Burrard Bridge from general purpose automobile to cycling lanes. Our association, in conjunction with 33 other groups, has been working on this issue since 1994 and fully support the decision made by council. We see this issue from a much different perspective, as we are the residents that live along this street and have for years witnessed the design problems associated with both the Burrard, Granville and Cambie bridges. These bridges were originally constructed with the intent to build 3 multilane freeways into the downtown core, something that has thankfully never happened. Transportation issues are extremely complex and many stakeholders need to be considered when deciding on transportation infrastructure improvements. The facts are pretty clear, the bridges crossing False Creek are all under capacity and the Burrard bridge has actually seen a 6% drop in automobile traffic since 1996, pedestrian and cycling traffic has gone up by about 30% during this same period. The introduction of the RAV line will likely see this pattern continue into the future. We applaud city council for making a decision they knew may cause some negative press but ultimately is in the best interest of Vancouver residents.

Sincerely yours

Rob Wynen
president West End Residents Association

WERA sent the following letter to the West Ender on June 29:

The West End Residents Association believes that all British Columbia residents are entitled to fair and adequate democratic representation. Unfortunately, because of errors on the part of Elections BC officials, 71 voters in Vancouver Burrard did not have their votes counted in the recent provincial election. Whether a new election should be held in our electoral district or not is now up to the courts, but regardless of the outcome, WERA believes that Vancouver Burrard residents are not adequately represented in Victoria. With a population of over 65,000, Vancouver Burrard is the most populous constituency in the province, with twice as many people as some northern constituencies. Why should a vote in Peace River North be worth twice as much as a vote in Vancouver Burrard?

Both Gordon Campbell and Carol James have pledged that they will pursue electoral reform – we must hold them to that promise and ensure that that reform includes proper representation for the voters of Vancouver Burrard.

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