With all the new neighbourhoods and communities seemingly arising from each Canada Line station and the ever densifying suburbs (better than the alternative), will Greater Vancouver turn into a region with multiple centres of activity?

Downtown Vancouver is out of space - so everyone says. Will we see an age where Surrey and Richmond and Burnaby have their own equivalents? I think if that were to happen, it would dilute the denisty of our downtown and make several mediocre downtowns as opposed to one really awesome one.

What opinions to the people here have on this issue?

Downtown Vancouver will always remain as the region's metropolitan area and central business district. Our region doesn't exactly have "multiple downtowns", call them urban centres. These urban centres will cater to downtown Vancouver if built correctly. The Canada Line for example will provide Richmond City Centre a direct link to Downtown Vancouver as the Expo Line has provided Metrotown and Whalley a direct link to downtown for the past few decades.

We have no choice but to maintain and expand these urban centres as we are a region of 21 municipalities and each with their own civic government, their own financial needs, their own economical needs, to some extend their own autonomy, and their own goals.

Downtown isn't running out of space.....yes, currently the peninsuala is running out of space but we're already starting to see a trend of more and more developments shifting north towards Central Broadway (which is classified as part of the region's metropolitan area by the city and GVRD) but especially towards the east to the downtown eastside. The DTES will see redevelopment sooner or later, and we have the Olympics to thank for speeding up the process.

But say we start seeing a secondary club/entertainment avenue in Surrey (hah!) or even in Richmond. Or even if new major fashion stores snub Vancouver for the new urban centres.

I mean, not to sound like a paranoid because I don't think it will happen soon...

well surrey and richmond and burnaby, etc are another city,
theyre only part of the Vancouver Lower Mainland,
but not technically in vancouver, so they have their own "downtown" too

I don't think there will necessarily be multiple downtowns persé, rather multiple centres of activity, be they in the suburbs or even in Vancouver itself. They're obviously popping up because there exists an obvious need to serve a population around it, so I think it should be a good thing.

Having people living in the "suburbs" travel shorter distances to services in their own urban centres rather than all the way into Vancouver CBD is a good thing. It reduces strain on infrastructure and cuts down on emissions.

Vancouver already has far less traffic to downtown than most urban centres it's size.

Like the above poster said - vibrant urban areas outside of DT Vancouver are important for regional growth and shorter commuting distances

to me, the one thing missing in the regional town centres of the gvrd is their lack of a vibrant pedestrian atmosphere that keeps them from being a real downtown because our centres are pretty much just shopping malls with all the activity concentrated in the inside with little spillover to the street-level

but overall, i think having multiple downtowns is a good thing becasue they can bring a lot of positive impacts like the ones already mentioned but just to play devil's advocate here.. one bad thing is that multiple downtowns can also encourage more suburb-to-suburb travel which makes it even harder to provide the transit service needed to move people in the suburbs and thereby making it harder to curb the problems of the overuse of cars for travel

to me, the one thing missing in the regional town centres of the gvrd is their lack of a vibrant pedestrian atmosphere that keeps them from being a real downtown because our centres are pretty much just shopping malls with all the activity concentrated in the inside with little spillover to the street-level



That's not necessarily true for all of the centres. Ever been to Uptown New West on a sunny day, or W Broadway. Even Edmonds is starting to bustle. Metrotown, Lougheed , Surrey Central all need work. Metrotown needs to fill in those parking lots facing kingsway with retail facing the street and even apartments above. Loughheed is not pedestrian friendly at all and has too many expansive parking lots and strip malls. Its hard to know where to begin with Surrey Central.

..... Metrotown needs to fill in those parking lots facing kingsway with retail facing the street and even apartments above.
Those areas are slated for future office dveelopment - far in the future....

Will we ever merge into a supercity or is that concept falling flat in Ottawa and Toronto nowadays?

One thing I've loved about living in Washington, DC is the many "town centers" (as they are called here) that exist. Throughout the area - in DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland, there are a number of mini-downtowns (Reston, Va; Old Town Alexandria, Va; Bethesda, Md; Silver Springs, Md; Tysons Corner, Va - etc). Some are more like convenient centers of shopping and restaurants. But over time - Reston, Va; Bethesda Md being two good examples - some have established true downtowns of their own include a central core of business towers, pedestrian shopping areas and residential "urban" condos, surrounded by tens of thousands of single family home residents.

While the downtown of DC remains preeimminent - even gaining stature over the past decade as development downtown has boomed - the mini downtowns continue to grow and expand as well. I think the result has increased the appeal of the area - not diminished it. There is an ever-growing variety of cultural venues and activities, and a healthy competition between the communities forces local governments to stay on top of community needs.

I think it is cool to be able to enjoy all the benefits of living in downtown DC while being able to take the metro system out to these surrounding cities in their own rights to try out new restaurants, see shows, or take in a festival. While I have never personally favored it, I have a number of friends - particularly after they begin families, who see these "suburban cities" as a perfect way to maintain an urban lifestyle yet find relatively more affordable housing for their families - though I hesitate that these are NOT bedroom communities; they have a distinct urban appeal and the populations of smal cilties.

I think the concept of multipled downtowns is a concept Vancouver should embrace - not fear. It seems to me you already have the ingredients for it.

Thanks for the reply all the way from DC. I love DC and am so thankful for the free admission to many of the museums there.

As long as the development of our mutliple cores result in suburban cities rather than sleepy booneys then I can sleep in peace, haha. I can see how culturally it will be interesting to see how different each community will be given the drastically different demographics of each city.