Planning For Transit Oriented Development at Cambie and 57th Avenue
Creators: name: Cheng, Paul
Publisher: name: The University of British Columbia
Year: 2016

description: The City of Vancouver is currently undertaking the Cambie Corridor Planning Process which will guide the development of the Cambie Street area from 16th Avenue to the Fraser River. The Cambie and 57th Avenue area, which is part of the study area, is the site of a future proposed Canada Line station. The area currently contains a city-owned 18-hole golf course, a hospital, an elementary and secondary school, and various low and medium density housing. If a rapid transit station is to be located in the area, the area would be expected to increase in land use density and function to take advantage of this amenity. Those goals of increased density and land use are fundamental to the principles of the Cambie Corridor Planning Process. The planning process is currently in its second of three phases, with the third phase being an optional phase. The first phase of the process resulted in the formation of an interim planning policy and seven planning principles that will guide the process moving forward. The same seven principles will be used, in this project, as criteria for evaluating the land use alternatives. This project will develop two land use alternatives for the Cambie and 57th area for consideration. Both of these alternatives will be developed based on Transit Oriented Development (TOD) principles. Transit Oriented Development is the concept of having highly dense and mixed land uses near transit stations, with pedestrian and cyclist oriented urban design to encourage the use of sustainable transportation. Other aspects of TOD include housing variety, parking provisions, and transportation demand management initiatives. Based on TOD principles, a golf course does not typically fit into a TOD. However, the reality is that golf courses situated near transit stations exist. There are cases of golf courses located close to transit, and there are other cases where golf courses are being redeveloped because of the introduction of rapid transit service. Case studies show that different jurisdictions have different ways of dealing with public amenities, and in some instances differentiate between different types of public amenities. Because of this, there is considerable variation in what type of public amenities are actually suitable for TOD. The first of two Cambie and 57th Avenue area land use alternatives developed for this project is based on the draft emerging plan that was developed in preparation for phase two of the Cambie Corridor Planning Process. The emerging plan calls for the redevelopment of the sites currently occupied by Langara Gardens (residential) and the George Pearson Centre (hospital). The City would like to redevelop the area at a density higher than the current development, and is considering the implementation of district energy synergies for the site. This first alternative will be developed utilizing principles of the minimum land use density level for a district energy system. These levels represent the minimum level at which the City of Vancouver can develop based on the emerging plan. The second land use alternative is more aggressive in both density and land use mix values for the Cambie and 57th Avenue area. Whereas the first land use alternative was restricted to the west side of Cambie, the second land use alternative will utilize a portion of the golf course which will be redesigned and redeveloped to make room for more mixed use development. The second land use alternative will meet the density thresholds for rapid transit station area planning that have been developed in this report and which are based on other studies. When the two land use alternatives are evaluated based on criteria established in this paper, the second land use alternative scored better than the first based on the Cambie Corridor Planning Principles. To further encourage transit ridership, there are a number of ways the City can build on the second land use alternative; such as further redeveloping the golf course, increase the functionality of the Pearson Precinct, or increase the density and land use mix further along the corridor. Evidence suggests that the Cambie and 57th Avenue area as it currently exists can accommodate an increase in density and land use mix without the incentive of the implementation of a rapid transit station. However, if a rapid transit station is introduced to the area, the Cambie and 57th Avenue area should be redeveloped at a density and land use mix at least similar to that advocated by this project’s Alternative 2, or, it may be suggested, the City is not realizing the EcoDensity and Greenest City initiatives put forward by the City.