Dear Editor:
Re: Day Trippers and Tech Startups Welcome in WV, March 2 front-page story.
“Mayor Smith says 75 per cent of those buildings in Ambleside are crap ... they should be knocked down.”
What a statement from a community leader!
I live in North Vancouver, but my husband and my son work in West Vancouver (pay taxes), I paint at the Music Box weekly, I shop regularly at Fresh Street, dine in West Van, shop at West Van stores, pay fees to the West Vancouver Community Council, frequent the library, see doctors on Marine Drive, and so have at least one foot and a half in West Van.
Frankly, I would get rid of Mayor Smith and the council if I could vote. Here is why:
For the wealthiest community in Canada, you have the dimmest street lights and worse streets I have known. I am terrified to drive on your bumpy dark streets to Kay Meek Centre at night even though the programs are appealing. And safe, rapid transit does not exist on the North Shore.
Your parking is ridiculous; even in the middle of the day, it is a challenge to park a vehicle and, yes, I would pay.
Your entire council voted to tear down homes and the Lawson Creek Studios to create the Spirit Trail. You lost many local artists. Now you have bike riders in Spider-Man suits who ride like mad men and take no notice of pedestrians, common rules of decency or traffic rules like stop signs. And the property that was Lawson Creek Studios sits like a green postage stamp unused by anyone. What was the council thinking with this Spirit Trail?
Your streets are filled with construction trucks, flag people and other obstructions as you have allowed developers and foreign investors to build monster houses which sit empty for months on end while your streets are difficult to manoeuvre. It is a nightmare to drive even in daytime in West Van.
And, while I am at it, your treatment of pets and people with pets is outrageous. I would never live in West Van because you are so anti-pets, it feels like a crime to walk a dog on West Van roadways.
Mayor Smith, your visions of restaurants, wine bars and a profitable business district are wrong-headed. You are not and never will create Bloor Street in West Van. What an atrocity. Rethink.
Your best bet is a small, people and pet-friendly, safe, community with atmosphere and proper lighting. Those buildings you say are crap are the key to it all. Think coast, think of the allure of New England or Devon and Cornwall villages. Appeal to those who want to wander on foot, not bikes. Create parking for visitors. Remember those who will pick up artists’ souvenirs, or take photos of the unique waterfront and then stop to eat. Give West Van back its soul. Get back to a humane and caring, fun-filled space that draws ordinary people.
I grew up in another wealthy area in Canada – Oakville and Burlington in Ontario – and, you could take notice of how they have built community as well as prosperity. West Van has potential but the small minded group of people on the city council are as myopic as they come.
Susan Thomas
North Vancouver
What are your thoughts? Send us a letter via email by clicking here or post a comment below.
