We’re (probably) getting a High Line of our own
In a city where the real estate market is positively bonkers, it seems equally insane that several acres of prime waterfront property could be left as fallow concrete elds for decades. Such has been the case for Northeast False Creek, where the wheels of development on land owned by Concord Pacic Developments have been turning at a painfully slow pace since at least the 1990s. In fact, neighbouring residents had all but given up on ever seeing the park long promised for the area. But lo! This year the project nally jolted out of stagnation with the release of a proposal for an 11-acre park to be designed by the same team that did New York City’s über-popular High Line. Under the proposal, the park would see vacant industrial lands become a glittering urban gem right on the waterfront, including a skate park and an “elevated park” situated on a decommissioned Dunsmuir viaduct. Not everyone is a fan of the proposal, since it relies on removing the viaducts in favour of an alternative trac route into downtown. But for fans of urban design and inner city renewal, or for those oh-so-patient residents of Crosstown who just want a damn park, the impending reinvention of Vancouver’s waterfront is something to celebrate.