A Layman's Guide to the new (Draft) Victoria Core Area Plan

This may seem like a boring subject to some, but it is vital to the future of Victoria.

If you want a non-layman's discussion, then feel free to bring up issues in the comment section!

You can download the full draft plan here for your own reading.
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The City of Victoria recently released a Downtown Core Area Plan (DCAP for my purposes)

This post will present:

a. A One-sentence Summary

b. The Good

c. The Interesting

d. The Strange

e. Concluding Thoughts

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I got back from Mexico, last weekend, and read nearly all of the 183-page plan in one-sitting -- not as daunting as you think: Most of the DCAP is either a) repetitive material that can be summed up in brief or b) a pre-occupation with views and site lines.

a. One-sentence Summary
The City of Victoria will strive to make the downtown core better by a) increasing residential and service density, b) prioritizing pedestrian- and cycle-oriented built form, and c) improving transit, while d) maintaining the character of the area and e) considering some policies that actually might accomplish this.

b. The Good


1. The intentions: enhancing the livability, vibrancy, and strength of the downtown core by prioritizing people rather than cars and by increasing density.

Check this out. Wow!

2. The plan emcompasses a greater geographic area than past plans, potentially bettering more of Victoria.

3. Specific plans include....

... extending the Government Street 'Mall' (translation: the good part) further north, through Chinatown to Rock Bay.

... turning Rock Bay into a 'sustainability area', including increased densities and a waterfront public park.

... returning Fort Street to two-way traffic. 

(Before reading the plan, I was coincidentally thinking about the possibility of doing this to Johnson or Pandora in order to increase transit/cycling mobility in relation to Shelbourne Street.)

... prohibit the development of new surface or above-grade parking structures. Nice.

c. The Interesting

1. Consider specific and 'other' TDM Strategies. Progressive!

Transportation Demand Management, "a general term for strategies that result in more efficient use of transportation resources."

Examples: Reducing parking requirements/supply, cycling infrastructure, car share, bike share, cycling policies, carpooling, employer-purchased transit passes, improved transit, educational materials, etc... See the above link.

This is only a consideration and so why I deem it as only 'interesting'.




2. Consider reducing the number of required vehicle parking stalls.  And, consider setting maximum parking standards for CBD and Historic CD.

Brilliant, progressive, but ditto to #1.





3. Considering using parking revenue to fund TDM initiatives, such as bike infrastructure.

Ditto.

4. Turn Douglas Street into a Transit Corridor.

Sounds good, but the details are non-existent. This essentially means denser development, more transit stops, and presumably an attempt at efficient links to the Western Communities. Rail?






5. (The well publicized, thus far) Density bonus system

Essentially, this allows developers to pay the city (goes into the Public Realm Improvement Fund) or pay the building owner to increase densities around historic buildings under the condition that the refurbish the accompanying heritage building.

More thoughts on this to come, but I feel as though this could be done in a better.



d. The Strange

1. Preoccupation bordering on obsession with maintaining site lines and ‘views’




There is no less than 43 pages of appendices dedicated to maintaining specific views. Perhaps, this is a little too much of a concern in relation to what will really make downtown vibrant, attractive, and better. Or is that just me?

e. Concluding Thoughts

In its intentions, the new DCAP is brilliant and encouraging.

Yet, before we get too excited, reading the DCAP brings me back to my previous posts about piecemeal change. Urban change needs to be (and only can be) evolutionary, not revolutionary.

Therefore, this plan needs to act as a guide -- a mission, a series of goals -- to achieve via many smaller initiatives. In turn, the DCAP needs to lead to policy change and initiatives that will not only allow but also encourage such change to happen.


I fear that much of this will be implemented in a half-assed way as to not offend the powerful voting population in the suburbs (i.e., Bureaucracy vs. Balls). I also hope that Victoria does not spend millions on assessments and studies. As Nike says, Just Do It.


All of that being said, the main theme of pedestrian- and cycle-oriented and transit-supportive built form is fantastic. Additionally, I believe that Victoria has only scratched the surface as a cycling city, and I hope this goes a long way towards furthering that.


So far so good. Maybe lay off the views/site lines a little?