TEAM members and volunteers had many opportunities to hear from residents and to raise consciousness about civic issues, most notably the impending intensification of density under the Broadway Plan, and the threat to the continued existence of our elected Park Board.
What did we hear? Overwhelmingly, people living in or near the Broadway Plan area are in despair over the loss of existing affordable rental housing and the destruction of their character neighbourhoods. Residents told us they had no idea what the Broadway Plan would mean until they started seeing development notification boards springing up seemingly everywhere.
What we did:
July 2nd: Grandview Woodland Area Council Community drop-in meeting. This meeting was co-hosted by Build Local Communities.
July 6th: TEAM's booth (below) at Khatsahlano Street Party was consistently busy.
July 9th: TEAM members supported beleaguered tenants at the public hearing on rezoning 5455 Balsam Street.
July 10th: TEAM members attempted to educate City Council on the importance of maintaining view cones, but Council voted to sell them off to developers - and Vancouverites get nothing in return. Read about why view cones matter.
July 11th: TEAM was present at the Our Homes Can’t Wait Coalition Town Hall at Carnegie Community Centre. This meeting was intended to draw attention to the City’s broken promises to provide 100% social housing at shelter rate at the newly developed 55 West Hastings site.
July 12th: TEAM Director Colleen Hardwick was featured on the On Site Report Podcast. With a focus on Vancouver’s precarious False Creek South neighbourhood, Colleen provided an insightful overview of how Vancouver’s current approach to urbanization is wreaking havoc on our city’s livability.
July 20th: TEAM Event Coordinator Theodore Abbott was featured on the front page of the Vancouver Sun, making the case for Commercial Drive as a great street, and that the proposed mega towers at Broadway and Commercial will challenge this neighbourhood’s integrity.
July 19th to 21st: TEAM's booth at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival attracted lots of public engagement. Seen here are Park Board Commissioners Tom Digby (Green Party) and Brennan Bastyovanzsky (Independent) with TEAM representatives Ward and Theodore.
July 22nd: TEAM members joined in 5455 Balsam Protest.
July 26th: We rebooted TEAM’s end-of-the-week debriefs.
Thank you, volunteers! See you in August!