It’s time to blow the dust off the doilies in Ambleside, the area’s business advocacy group says.
The Ambleside Dundarave Business Improvement Association has launched a survey aimed at introducing a bit of excitement to the neighbourhood bound for redevelopment.
The Imagine Ambleside survey seeks respondents’ feedback on boutiques vs big brands. It gauges what new types of dining fares the community has appetites for. And it dangles the possibility of breweries, wine bars, distilleries or a jazz joint, to make the neighbourhood a destination after nightfall.
Closer to the water, respondents are asked for their thoughts on kayak, paddle board and canoe rentals, a boutique hotel, a passenger ferry downtown, and a small marina with slips for daytime visitors.
It also contemplates changes to the streetscape, including wider sidewalks, patio dining and making better use of the area’s laneways.
ADBIA executive director Maureen O’Brien said there’s no reason why Ambleside’s name can’t be uttered alongside that of Newport Beach, Carmel-by-the-Sea or La Jolla Cove. But West Vancouverites need to see the neighbourhood as something more than it is now.
“We just have to make this place viable for our businesses,” she said. “We can't have any more nail salons and Money Mart's open on Marine Drive. We need these little boutique places to attract people to come here and for our residents who live here to want to shop here.”
The intent is to have some ideas and some enthusiasm ready when the District of West Vancouver launches the local area plan process for Ambleside. The plan will govern whether/how the area may change and grow under the new official community plan. There is no set timeline for when the Ambleside local area plan process is to begin, but it is next in line after the Horseshoe Bay plan, which is nearing completion.
It’s also meant to signal to developers, who are nervous about attempting to do business in the District of West Vancouver, that the community is open to revitalization, O’Brien said.
As of Thursday afternoon, the survey has pulled in 150 responses.
“Ninety-per cent of the response is ‘Can we just have it all?’ O’Brien said. “So, the feedback has been, super, super, super positive. We only had two people who have emailed and said, ‘No, we want no change to anything.’”
O’Brien said that surprised her, given how much of the public discourse in West Vancouver is led by naysayers
The survey will be online here until the end of November. The BIA has also temporarily converted the former Dog’s Ear printing shop at 1493 Marine Dr. into in Imagine Ambleside pop-up for people to drop in and offer their own ideas.
