Exploring the highlights – and lowlights – of Metro

When North America’s conference organizers look to Vancouver as a place to hold events, the city’s mountain views, natural beauty, mild weather, and abundant hotels and restaurants always rank high.

But when the 3,000 delegates of the Urban Land Institute arrive next month for their international conference, they’ll be more interested in probing what makes Metro Vancouver so livable. And if that means poking into some of the gritty corners, so much the better.

“A lot of American cities where our members live and work are facing challenges that appear to have been solved by Vancouver and the region,” said Patrick Phillips, CEO of the Washington- based urban land think- tank.

This is the first time the conference has been held outside the United States, and it will draw planners, architects, developers, real estate owners, mayors and civil engineers.

“Vancouver is a poster child for ULI,” said Alan Boniface, the chair of ULI’s B. C. chapter and a principal in the architectural and engineering firm Dialog.

Unlike most cities in North America, Vancouver and its neighbours experiment with a lot of different planning ideas, making the region a great place to see many ideas in action, he said.

Brent Toderian, Vancouver’s former director of planning, said the ULI has organized 11 tours for its delegates looking at topics such as the success of Granville Island’s mixed- use zones and Surrey’s plan to redevelop the city’s central area.

One tour, provocatively titled Gastown: A Fine Balance: Treading Between ‘ Hip’, ‘ History’ and ‘ Heroin’, looks at the area around the Downtown Eastside.

“It is a very deliberate strategy by those of us who are organizing the conference that we are not just trying to show our best. There is a constructive candour there,” said Toderian. “We don’t want to gloss over our challenges as a region and our learning moments that have come from failure.”