There are days when I wish I could trade my life for another. Hard days, when I think that literally any other set of circumstances would be easier to deal with than my own reality.
I recently discovered a remedy for this grass-is-always-greener syndrome of mine. I sit down and imagine I am a planner at the City of Vancouver and I’ve been tasked with leading the False Creek Flats planning process.
It doesn’t take long before I am grateful for my mild mid-life crisis, for my herniated disc, my quickly approaching 40th year as a single woman, my notoriety as the would-be politician who spoke too frankly and happily about masturbation for my party’s liking.
It’s all a quaint mole hill when I begin to imagine the dread that planner must feel upon waking each morning on these, the final days before Wednesday’s launch event which kicks off the public planning process for this last parcel of possibility in Vancouver’s core.
When you wake up this Wednesday morning, send a positive vibe to that planner, who will rise with purpose and dread. As you dress and comb your hair, think of the employees at the city who will likely apply their clinical strength antiperspirant and consider the practical wisdom of packing a second dry shirt in their bike paniers.
Even if you consider yourself a Vancouverite with a stake in the fate of this parcel of land that runs from Main east to Clark, and from Great Northern Way north to Prior, you, too, should be glad this is not your job.
On Wednesday afternoon, city staff hope to greet neighbours and local businesses at the intimate Circle Studio on the False Creek Flats. Snacks from a resident food truck will be provided. Flats-brewed beer will be available for purchase as attendees browse information about the history, diverse economy, and unique industrial character of the Flats.
Armed with hashtags, smiling gamefaces and more optimism than history would indicate is reasonable or sane, they will be on hand to hear your thoughts and record your feedback.
The False Creek Flats process will have to encompass a mind-boggling list of considerations: its legacy as a significant shipping corridor for rail and fresh produce, the recent announcement of the coming “campus of care” that will be the new St. Paul’s Hospital, and the anxious and vocal residents of Strathcona and City Gate wary of the viaduct removal.
At Vancouver’s inception, the False Creek Flats weren’t flats at all, but waterfront and marshland where several fresh water creeks drained. Before European settlement, the lands were fertile fishing grounds and harvesting sites for the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil’waututh peoples.
After only a few decades of settlement, industrial abuse had polluted the waters and land so badly that filling in the flats became a viable option in local discourse. In 1913, the flats were filled in as a result of a plebiscite, and the majority of False Creek was transformed into land for industry.
Once part of a broader network of industrial lands in Vancouver, the Flats are now one of the only industrial areas left. Tucked away from residential neighbourhoods, these lands are a unique piece of Vancouver where businesses can run non-stop and make noise, cast light and odours without annoying sleepy neighbours.
The fate of the flats must weigh heavy on the city. The Flats represent one final significant opportunity for the city to plan well. If we’re lucky and persistent, we could see some great things happen. The city could prove that it can prioritize something above condo development. We could see the city champion the integration of the St. Paul’s engagement process to ensure that a community benefit agreement cushions concerns around gentrification in the surrounding neighbourhoods, including the Downtown Eastside.
If we’re not careful, the False Creek Flats could be the setting for one final epic brawl between the non-violent communicators at city hall and the frustrated residents of Vancouver who never seem to feel heard, with both sides lugging the baggage of every other planning process gone wrong into this conversation.
Wednesday’s launch event is our first chance to show up, to air our opinions, and test our capacity for purpose and grace, with beer.
We can choose to rise to the occasion, or let best intentions fall flat.
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@trishkellyc
