After four decades of being virtually frozen in time, West Vancouver’s Ambleside neighbourhood may be on the eve of change. With a handful of exceptions, the built form of West Van’s residential and commercial hub has remained almost identical since the 1970s, as if village planning reached its peak at the same time as the Village People.
But buildings age and so do people. Almost half of the residents of Ambleside are over the age of age of 65. The neighbourhood is more than deserving of some rejuvenation.
Three options for the long-awaited local area plan are now out for public vetting. The one selected and refined through public consultation will go to council for eventual inclusion in the municipality’s official community plan.
By contemporary standards, all three are highly modest in the change they foresee, but each is an acknowledgement by the municipality that there is a future to consider and that the status quo cannot prevail forever. Our perceived exceptionalism cannot withstand the realities of time, unsustainable demographics or climate change.
For West Vancouver’s change-averse residents, any evolution may feel like a shock to the system, but following through on a local area plan will bring many benefits that other municipalities reap while we are passed by: Commercial vibrancy, housing options that match our current and future needs, greater walkability, renewed infrastructure, public amenities, lower carbon emissions, a diversified tax base, a place for our workforce to bed down at night, and more beautiful public spaces. As the public and council consider the options for the local area plan, we urge them to remember the words of Roman thinker Publilius Syrus: “Who looks not before finds himself behind.”
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