Railtown’s tech future has been put in jeopardy

City planners ignore reality, say Steven Fast and Tim Loo.

Technology is a key to the future of Canada’s prosperity. At least Ottawa thinks so, and it placed a huge bet on the sector in last Tuesday’s budget — including $950 million for the creation of “superclusters” to stimulate further growth and innovation. This is a testament to the immense contribution the sector is making to the Canadian economy.

Turning to B.C. and Vancouver, the $25-billion tech sector is our most vibrant industry, growing twice as fast as the province’s economy as a whole. It’s our future, a point Mayor Gregor Robertson has acknowledged many times. According to the B.C. Technology Association, as well as the Ministry of Technology, Innovation and Citizens’ Services, the tech sector employs more than 100,000 people in B.C. — the highest level ever recorded. That’s more than mining, forestry, or oil and gas. B.C.’s technology sector is strong and growing and will create another 15,000 jobs in the next five years.

So, what then, is going on in Railtown? In February, Railtown technology companies and landowners learned that the future of the area — one of Vancouver’s vital centres of technology — is now in jeopardy due to a series of land-use changes proposed by the City of Vancouver. These zoning amendments are an ill-considered attempt to recapture the neighbourhood’s industrial past, an era which is long gone and will never be resurrected.

Apparently unaware that more than 40 per cent of Railtown businesses are digital and technology based, the City of Vancouver decided to designate Railtown a “historic industrial” area, suitable for the re-establishment of such anachronistic activities as tobacco, ice and auto-parts manufacturing. Really?

It’s almost comical. But there is nothing funny about the fear and uncertainty that has spread among those who do business in Railtown and whose livelihoods are dependent upon the area.

It’s fine for city planners to gaze nostalgically at what may once have been. However, the truth of the matter is that such traditional industries are no longer feasible nor desirable in Railtown. Ironically, thanks to post-9/11 beefed-up security at the Port of Vancouver, there’s not even access to the rail yards from Railtown anymore.

One of us has a family history in Railtown, and the other has been doing business in the area since 1997. We’ve both watched how hightech and digital entertainment business gave Railtown new life — turning it from a forgotten industrial backwater into a thriving community of people who are committed to being there. And in some ways, it’s just getting started.

What concerns us most, as Railtown landowners and technology companies, is that the proposed zoning amendments were drafted by city planners before they had even seen and understood the evolution of Railtown.

At our request, on March 8 and March 21, the city planners came to see and to experience first-hand the extraordinary diversity of enterprises now threatened by the city’s regressive vision. The city’s proposed amendments fly in the face of virtual reality and digital entertainment enterprises such as Work At Play, Kickstart Animations, Goldtooth Productions or Pacific Content. Businesses like these are the future of Railtown — not t smokestack industries which the city’s proposed zoning amendments are attempting to recreate and protect.

With only days to go before council is scheduled to vote on the amendments, we cautiously began to believe that the city just might comprehend the real nature of Railtown, and acknowledge our concerns.

While we are encouraged by the planners’ willingness to listen and learn, we feel that we are by no means out of the woods yet. Any attempt to recapture Railtown’s past at the expense of its future would be foolhardy and irresponsible. As council meets tomorrow to consider staff recommendations on the future of Railtown, we urge them to reject this misguided approach, and instead encourage the best and the brightest to continue to work and thrive in Railtown.

There is nothing funny about the fear and uncertainty that has spread...