The Vancouver Sun has the scoop. First, the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, just released a draft "eco-density" plan that sounds, at least to my ears, like exactly the right way to deal with the city’s expected population increase: curbing sprawl by concentrating new housing in compact, transit-friendly neighborhoods:
Vancouver should put high-density housing next to its major parks and along every one of its major streets, suggests the first draft of Vancouver’s ecodensity charter, released today.
Secure · Tax deductible · Takes 45 SecondsSecure · Tax deductible · Takes 45 SecondsThe city should also close down some roads to cars and require developers to include solar power, rainwater collection, and laundry drying facilities in any new project …
The over-arching idea [is that]Vancouver needs to redefine what it means to be livable city.
Progressive stuff — and likely to solidify the city’s first-place status as the most energy-efficient, transit-oriented metropolis in the Northwest.
And then, on forests:
Victoria intends to remake the coastal forest industry with a new set of policies aimed at shifting harvesting away from old-growth forests to second-growth, Forests Minister Rich Coleman said Wednesday.
Forest management — particularly the industry’s long-time policy of encouraging old-growth clearcuts — has been a bête noire of BC’s environmental policy. The new plan may have its flaws — but still, it seems to herald a shift away from logging pristine coastal forests. And that has to count as good news.
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