Monday News Roundup

BC Waste-collecting cyclists put a new spin on recycling (The Globe and Mail)
A street peddler of a different kind, Darren Douglas rides a $4,000, custom-built tricycle through the city’s downtown, picking up odour-emitting organic waste from businesses that is later converted into compost.

Celebrity sighting: Riding the bus with 'Mad Men' actor Vincent Karthesier (NYTimes)
A man is measured by his automobile in this city. But Vincent Kartheiser, the actor who plays the slick ad salesman Pete Campbell on “Mad Men,” is among the 10 percent of Angelenos who rely on public transportation. So on a Thursday night he and a reporter got around using his preferred, and for now, only, method of transportation: mass transit.

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The Rise of the Bus Riding Celebrity (GOOD)
Why don't more eco-minded celebrities in Los Angeles take public transit?

Skytrain service expanded to accommodate cyclists (Vancouver Sun)
TransLink will keep three extra trains running at the end of rush hour to serve cyclists.

Why cheaper streets are smarter streets (The Tyee)
Rule 7 for sustainable communities: invest in lighter, greener, cheaper, smarter infrastructure.

Vancouver plans for more bike lanes (Vancouver Sun)
With the Hornby, Dunsmuir and Burrard Bridge separated bike lanes under its belt, Vancouver is now developing a master plan for how to increase the share of bicycles on city streets over the next decade.

Bikes not welcome in Seattle (The Stranger)
Neighborhoods across Seattle have balked at having their streets changed to accommodate bike and pedestrian traffic, claiming that businesses will suffer and traffic congestion will spike. Now, Seattle's Manufacturing Industrial Council (MIC) has joined the fray with a new angle on this argument: Some roads just can't coexist with bike lanes and wider sidewalks, period.

World’s largest transit system is in … (Grist)
Well.. we're not going to give it away here. Go read it!

VIAVOX: Partnerships and Affordable Housing Part 2 of 2

By Naomi Buell, Marketing Assistant

-Continued from Wednesday-

HYADians at a picnic

HYAD was formed by a group of parents who had come to the realization that they would not be around forever and that there needed to be something in place for their children’s futures. The realization of their immortality created the motivation necessary to take on such a large undertaking. This passion was further fueled by knowing that their children would need stability and routines as change can be a huge disruption and even detrimental to their wellbeing. The idea of being switched from home to home was not something these parents were willing to stomach for their children so they thought they would try to find another solution. They needed something that would give their children the freedom of having their own place, the reassurance of being surrounded by their friends, the connection to their existing North Vancouver community and the safety and care needed for these young adults with disabilities. The parents had met each other through social events and gatherings for their children, and through these events their children had formed bonds with each other. After a few informal talks they formed a group and went to the City of North Vancouver to find out what their next steps should be.

They were told that the best way would be to form a non-profit group and then approach the city again with a goal and concept which is exactly what they did. The next step was to find a building that could accommodate their children. They had originally envisioned finding a developer and seeing if they could have the lower level of a larger building but could not find anything with a floor that would be large enough to accommodate everyone. They then learned of a property that was previously a school site in North Vancouver on 21st and Chesterfield. After considerable effort with rezoning and discussions with the School Board, it was clear that this would be the perfect site. An initial developer was interested in the site for market residential on one portion and the School Board was to redevelop a portion of the site for their Artist’s for Kids gallery and an administration building with a small portion was offered to HYAD as the community benefit. Things seemed to be on track but with the fall in the real estate market the developer had to back out of the proposal. Fortunately a year later another developer, Polygon, stepped in and after some creative redesign the site finally was rezoned and received an Official Community Plan (OCP) amendment.

VIA Architecture's design for the HYAD building

Currently things are ready to go but there have been delays with the funding from BC Housing. HYAD is currently “shovel ready” with the plans and design but they have not been able to access the money that was promised to them. The design includes 14 units for the HYADians, 2 manager suites and a communal kitchen and lounge. There will also be support for these young adults in the way of caretakers. Each young adult is allotted a certain amount of time per week so HYAD has asked that the group be evaluated as just that, a group. This will enable them to receive more hours as a whole and have someone on site more frequently.

Their model only costs about $220,000 a year which compared to $1.8 Million for group homes is a substantial savings for everyone, including the city. They came to realize that in order to make HYAD seem appealing there had to be a substantial cost savings, something they have clearly found a way to do.

In addition to all the work the parents have put in to organizing this, they have also invested a substantial amount of their own money. Because the group is still relatively small it can be hard for them to fundraise and as they cannot be a charity themselves they will have to form another society in the hopes of creating the funding needed. The only thing needed to move forward right now is funding from BC Housing so we are all rooting for them that this will happen soon.

HYAD car wash

Hearing more about HYAD was inspiring to say the least and I hope that everyone spreads the word about this great project. There was much gratitude to HYAD, the City of North Vancouver and the School Board for setting such a great example of how partnerships can be formed for the betterment of the community at large. It is partnerships like these that can help other groups achieve their dreams.

VIAVOX: Partnerships and Affordable Housing Part 1 of 2

By Naomi Buell, Marketing Assistant

Last Thursday we had our first VIAVOX which is a reoccurring event we created to bring people together and discuss topics they are passionate about. The name stems from the Latin word for voice so it seemed appropriate. Our first topic was partnerships and affordable housing and we had a great turnout which included people from Housing for Young Adults with Disabilities (HYAD), the Vancouver school board, Pacific Arbour, the City of North Vancouver, our own VIA staff and many other great people.The VIAVOX’s main presenter was HYAD so it was no surprise that Clay Knowlton, the president of HYAD and his wife Susan were the first to arrive. This allowed me the time to chat with them a little. Not only is what they’re doing inspiring but they are both extremely nice people and Clay has quite the sense of humor, just try to find out if he prefers to wear a nametag on his lapel or on the back of his jacket. Vera Frinton of HYAD arrived shortly thereafter followed by Cavan Stephens, HYAD’s vice president and I was able to show them the poster which we had created for the event.

The poster highlighted one of the fundraisers they had held, their website, a news article on their new location, the sketches of the new building and pictures of the various HYADians, as they are called. Because HYAD was created by the parents of young adults with disabilities, it was nice for Susan, Clay and Vera to see the poster which had pictures of their children, who as they pointed out are really young adults. In the pictures were Clay and Susan’s daughter standing in front of the future location of HYAD and Vera’s daughter as a torch bearer for the Special Olympics. People began to flow in shortly thereafter and some great networking ensued.

Armed wish sushi, assorted cheeses and tasty beverages, some great conversations took place. Some people were just catching up while others congratulated HYAD on their great work. Cavan and David Sachs, a VIA employee working on the HYAD project, discussed updates Cavan had about BC Housing. Cavan trained as a mechanical engineer but now works as a builder and does consulting work. David also shared with me Cavan’s background in construction which took him from the UK to Saudi Arabia and eventually to Vancouver where he and his wife have been raising their son, a future HYAD resident.

Lorenzo, also a VIA employee, had an interesting conversation with Ian Ambercrombie of the North Vancouver School board. They discussed, among other things, urban planning and our reliance on personal transportation, namely cars. This conversation evolved into a talk about the price of oil and what will happen when it becomes so scarce that it is unavailable. Will certain cities that have been built around streets and highways - cities that rely on vehicles, find it difficult to adjust to mass transit? Will they even think to adapt or will they look for alternate fuel sources?
After waiting for some of the last invited guests to arrive, a brief informal presentation was made by Charlene Kovacs, the director of Community Architecture at VIA and of course by HYAD. Charlene started by saying that VIA believes in connective communities, in ways to bring people together and that our VIAvox’s are one of the ways we can accomplish that. She discussed her involvement with HYAD for the last 5 years and HYAD’s hardwork over the last 25 years. She then passed it over to HYAD at which point Cavan discussed how HYAD started.

- More to be posted Friday -