Communities in Transition Information Resource: Real estate

Showing posts with label Real estate. Show all posts

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Welcome to the JUNE 2010 postings from the Communities in Transition Information Resource

Summer's here...

Long days and warm nights. Good for growing food and enjoying the beauty of BC's rural landscapes.

Before you settle into the garden (or the garden chair), we hope you'll be inspired by some of the conversations about land use, conservation, and sustainability we've gathered in this posting of CITinfoResource.

The June 2010 Issue

Since our last editorial dispatch in mid-May we've posted a number of items that reflect some of what the Real Estate Foundation of BC does in non-metro BC communities. In her overview of the Organic Farming Institute of BC administrator Sarah Clark outlines how Foundation investments are translating into smarter, more sustainable agricultural practices in BC's Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys – and beyond. As this is being written, Tim Pringle is attending the Interface 2010 conference in Smithers. In our interview, Tim talks about what the conference is about and why it's important to non-metro communities.

Tim is also the co-author of George Penfold's latest post on creating more effective rural economic development in BC's regions. George also responds to Maureen LeBourdais' post on the BC Rural Summit, and comments on his joint post with Tim in this audio post.

A lot of what happens on the community side of the Foundation's investments have to do with sustainability. BC has a number of experts on sustainability – and a number of people who are still puzzling over what that means "on the ground." We recently interviewed Mark Holland and received a great – critical – response from Vancouver Island resident Charnal Macfie. In his most recent appearance at CITinfoResource Mark continues the dialogue. Gene Miller is another of the experts on sustainability we've had the pleasure to work with here at CITinfoResource. Gene's particular expertise is related to organizing one of the premiere sustainability conversations in Canada: the Gaining Ground Summit series, which the Real Estate Foundation of BC has helped to sponsor on a number of occasions. Our video interview with Gene looks at the 2009 Resilient Cities event, and forward to the upcoming October 2010 event in Vancouver. Finally, I weigh in with some thoughts on what Tim Pringle has described as the "rural/urban divide."

Coming soon...

CITinfoResource will host a number of posts over the summer, following up on themes we've presented during the year. We've got an interview with Kathy Bishop of Leadership BC's Central Vancouver Island chapter, talking about the June "Dialogue in Nanaimo" about water sustainability. We'll be posting about the environmental planning initiative coordinated by the South Okanagan-Similkameen Conservation Program. We're also going to be talking to Tim Pringle about the outcomes of the Smithers Interface 2010 conference. As you recline lakeside or gardenside during these summer months, take a moment to see what else is being posted about activities related to investments by the Real Estate Foundation of BC in non-metro BC communities!

Investment in community sustainability

The Real Estate Foundation of BC funds a wide range of land use related projects in non-metro BC communities. In 22+ years the Foundation has been involved in over 1500 projects across BC, with more than half of these outside the Lower Mainland and Victoria. CITinfoResource is one way that the Foundation is extending the reach of these projects, recirculating it through CITinfoResource via our blog, Facebook, and Twitter posts. You can also connect with the Foundation at its website and its new Facebook page.

Our goal at CITinfoResource is to "stimulate and support the conversation about land use, conversation, and sustainability amongst land-use practitioners in non-metro BC communities." Check us out. Use and circulate our resources and posts. Let us know if we're having an impact in your region or organization.

hanspetermeyer

Editor,

CITinfoResource

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©Real Estate Foundation of BC / 2010. We encourage the reproduction of articles on this website for non-profit educational purposes. Please notify the Foundation and the author of all reproductions, including in-house uses.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Tim Pringle talks about the Interface 2010 conference in Smithers, BC

Tim Pringle is Director of Special Programs at the Real Estate Foundation of BC. He talks to CITinfoResource editor hanspetermeyer about the upcoming June 16-18, 2010 Planning for the Crown-Settlement Interface Lands conference in Smithers, BC.

Tim's focus in this conversation is on hedonic pricing of lands and real estate in rural communities. He emphasizes the importance of communities understanding their values and values-based planning as part of the strategy to deal with Crown-Settlement interface issues.

CITinfoResource is an initiative of the Real Estate Foundation of BC with a purpose of supporting and stimulating the conversation about land use, development, and conservation in non-metro BC communities. For more information visit our blog at CITinfoResource.com.

©Real Estate Foundation of BC / 2010. We encourage the reproduction of articles on this website non-profit educational purposes. Please notify the Foundation and the author of all reproductions, including in-house uses.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Engaging the "sustainability conversation"

I've been involved in sustainability related topics since the mid-90s. Back then, local governments were wary of "sustainability" – the "3-legged stool" of economy, social, and environment was threatening to the "old business as usual" approach. Only a few organizations – one of them was the Real Estate Foundation of BC – seemed to understand that talking about sustainability was a way to get past ideological growth vs. no-growth polarizations.

We've come a long way

Sustainability isn't a dirty word anymore. Asking questions about growth, where and how it happens, whether or not it's sustainable – these are now part of what most politicians, civic staff, citizens, and even developers see as due diligence.

On the road to the "mainstreaming" of sustainability, however, we seem to have lost some of our passion for public meetings on the topic. Last year, for example, my once highly-charged, highly-participatory community by and large failed to get excited by a region-wide sustainability strategy process.

Apathy and its discontents

Do we fail to fill the halls because of process burnout? Or process suspicion – "they" never follow through on what we've wanted in the past, why should I participate now? Or is it because things like "sustainability" and "regional growth strategy" are just too vague, too far removed from the everyday issues most of us are dealing with?

I'm not sure. But, as one of my mentors used to say, "Local government is the 'hell's kitchen of sustainability." Engagement with local processes is how we do real work around sustainability. It's how we protect our investments in our families, homes, neighbourhoods, and communities. We can't afford to stay away from the kitchen, no matter how hot the fire, for a number of reasons:

because we the citizens are footing the bill for expensive planning processes;
because we the citizens as taxpayers deserve better results than we're getting;
because, if we don't get better results, we the citizens (as taxpayers) will be footing expensive bills for failing infrastructure, for inadequately preparing our communities for the impact of climate change preparation; and, finally,
because – as homeowners – if we don't engage meaningfully, we aren't protecting our investments in our homes and properties.

You can't spin authenticity

That said, I don't see any quick fixes on the road to civic participation. Open houses, public meetings – I'm not the only person they fail to engage. But I don't think we should stop using them. Face to face, real-space contact is important. But as recent case study work for the Real Estate Foundation of BC is showing, there are many ways to engage people when it comes to planning the future of our communities.

One of these ways is via new technologies and media. When these are applied to civic engagement they tend to be labelled as GOV2.0 or OPENGOV. Across the globe there are exciting examples of governments are using new technologies to share information and, generally, make real-time conversations between government and citizens possible. But they aren't a silver bullet. As far as I can see, there is no short cut to animating people and getting good information and ideas into the flow of governance and decision-making. Whatever we do, it'll take time – and "authentic" investment in trust-building.

This means that local governments can't expect miracles from either a consultant or a sexy new technology. No consultant can use social media to deliver engagement if local government isn't committed to being honest, open, and "authentic" online. You can't – as one of my communications mentors puts it – "spin" authenticity.

When it's real... it's about leadership, not technology

I work with local government on an ad hoc, as-needed basis to provide various communications related services. I'm watching examples of GOV2.0 grow and change in a host of places across the globe. What am I learning? That GOV2.0 isn't just about using social media. And it certainly isn't about having a consultant drop in and set up online presence for 3-12 months.

GOV2.0 – where it's real and working – is about civic leadership. It's about chutzpah and starting real conversations in a variety of places. It could be through a regular column in the local newspaper. Or a regular blog online. Or a regular online video on YouTube. Or a regular podcast.

Regular. Consistent. Every week, or every month. In a space that encourages (ie. makes it super easy) for we the citizens to comment and respond. And (this is critical), responsiveness. To respond to every (every!) comment. Promptly. As in, Now.

What if local government isn't taking the great leap forward?

If your local leaders aren't stepping into the risky business of authentic engagement there is still a lot that citizens can do to generate the needed conversations about sustainability in community. The regional sustainability strategy (rss) in my area is an example. It may not work in all communities; in our region it generated an informing parallel conversation to the rss. More than that, it's continuing to stimulate conversations about sustainability months after the official process finished. We now have a number of lively conversations about buildings, land use, conservation, transportation, and the future taking place across a variety of (mostly Facebook) sites.

Meet people where they are. Speak with your own voice.

Are more people going to turn up for public meetings related to sustainability in the Comox Valley because of this? I don't know. Conversations take place in different venues, through different media. Some take place in open houses. Many take place via letters to the editor in the local paper. Growing numbers are online. The beauty of online venues is the opportunity for authentic, direct conversations that aren't heavily structured or mediated, and that can't be "managed."

Civic engagement is the blood that flows through the veins of our governance structures. If we're serious about meeting sustainability challenges, we need healthy flow. Local governments can help by using a range of media to talk about changes in the community, about possible responses, and about policy directions. If people are not coming to meetings, don't expect them to come to meetings. If they're talking about sustainability online, join the conversation online.

Yes, this is risky. But the return on investment of honest, open engagement is proving to be high in jurisdictions that are taking the risk. Which is why local government needs to be doing it's own social engagement. Sure, hire someone to help walk you through the process, maybe even to kick things off. But in the end, high visabilityz folk need to be active (sometimes it's the Mayor, or a Councillor, or a CAO or Director or Planning). Then, when the sustainability roadshow comes to town, the channels are already open and conversation bubbling. There's no trick to it.

...and in the end... stop fretting!

Let's stop fretting about empty chairs at public meetings. Instead, let's get active in other ways of engagement, from local newspaper columns to cable TV columns to the wide and expanding options online. If local government isn't picking up the GOV2.0 ball, lets create our own channels and invite them in. I like what people like Councillor Michele Rule in Kelowna, Arjun Singh in Kamloops, Naomi Devine in Whistler (to name a few) are doing online and in real-space. Take a look at their various channels.

Be inspired, not disappointed. We have new tools. People are making them work in lots of places. And they're fun to use!

hanspetermeyer

Editor, CITinfoResource

Monday, May 3, 2010

Governor Jack Hall talks about changes at the Real Estate Foundation of BC

Jack Hall is Chair of the Board of Governors at the Real Estate Foundation of BC. He's been on the Board of Governors since 2005. In that time he's been actively involved in many aspects of the Foundation, including two separate terms as Chair, and participation in Convening for Action on Vancouver Island (part of the Foundation's Green Values Vancouver Island initiative).

The period since 2005 has also seen many changes take shape at the Foundation. These include:

the semi-retirement of long-time Executive Director Tim Pringle (he's now Director of Special Programs with the Foundation – listen to Tim talking about one of his current research projects here);
the selection of new Executive Director Karin Kirkpatrick (she took over in November of 2008 – you can lister to Karin's perspectives on changes at the Foundation here);
a significant change in revenues (and, subsequently, grants) due to changes in the financial and real estate markets;
and a strategic planning process that is giving the organization focus during this time of change.

Jack has been a significant part of these changes. He talks to CITinfoResource editor hanspetermeyer about his experience with the Foundation, and what these changes mean for this dynamic organization.

©Real Estate Foundation of BC / 2010. We encourage the reproduction of articles on this website non-profit educational purposes. Please notify the Foundation and the author of all reproductions, including in-house uses. Thank you!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Tim Pringle talks about "performance" and "prescriptive" approaches to land use and development

Tim Pringle is Director of Special Programs at the Real Estate Foundation of BC. Since 1988 he's been working with land use practitioners (local government, non-governmental organizations, land owners, developers) on a range of issues related to sustainable land use, conservation, and development.

In this conversation with CITinfoResource editor hanspetermeyer, Tim talks about policy, regulation, community, and performance and prescriptive approaches to managing what he calls "settlement change."

This is the second in a series of conversations on this topic at CITinfoResource. The first took place in January 2010 and featured Kim Fowler, Sustainability Planner with the City of Victoria in BC. You can listen to hanspetermeyer's conversation with Kim here.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Welcome to the March postings of the CIT Information Resource

What's happening in land use and conservation in BC's non-metro communities?  

That's one of the questions that we're addressing with Communities in Transition Information Resource. We're also trying to connect a number of projects and people working on ways to enhance sustainability and quality of life in BC's non-metro communities.

Communities in Transition is a signature program at the Real Estate Foundation of BC. It was initiated in 2004 by the Governors of the Foundation as a way to focus some funding on the land-related challenges faced by rural and small town communities. Over its 22 years the Foundation has awarded 1500 grants for initiatives and projects in communities in BC. Of the 533 grants made since 2004, 10% have been for CIT projects that engage CIT partners and offer replicable services and deliverables in non-metro areas across the province, from Fort St. John to Campbell River.

These projects represent a wealth of knowledge and expertise, not only for the communities affected, but for any and all other communities that can tap into what is happing through CIT. The Foundation is able to extend the reach of this knowledge and expertise by recirculating it through CITinfoResource via our blog, Facebook, and Twitter posts.

The March 2010 posts  
Not all of what happens in our posts is about non-metro BC, however. For example, this month we've got the Foundation's Executive Director, Karin Kirkpatrick, talking about her decision to park her car and use public transit. Karin also talks about how her choices in metro Vancouver are different than those in a rural community, and about the Foundation's keen interest in innovative approaches to land use and transportation issues in these more challenging contexts.

As part of our commitment to extending the "life" and "reach" of real-time events we're posting Mark Holland's Resilient Cities Manifesto, his summary address to the October 2009 Gaining Ground Resilient Cities summit, as well as a followup audio interview with Mark about the Resilient Cities Manifesto and why it is significant. The Real Estate Foundation of BC makes significant investments in conferences like the Gaining Ground summits and the 2009 BC Land Summit. They're important resources for land use practitioners throughout BC. Through interviews and reports (before and after the event), key themes and ideas are re-presented from a variety of perspectives on land use, development, and conservation. CITinfoResource helps these ideas and perspectives reach a broader audience than the 100s who can actually attend the events. Ever wonder what a planner from Cumberland took in at the BC Land Summit? Or what a city councillor from Kelowna or a land trust activist from the Comox Valley brought home from Resilient Cities? These are a handful of examples of how CITinfoResource.com is linking non-metro resources across BC.

Among these resources are the Regional Innovation Chairs (RICs) located in a number of BC's post-secondary institutions. One of these is Dr. John Church, BC's RIC in Cattle Industry Sustainability (Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops). We have an audio post with John talking about his current work and the challenges facing meat producers and BC's grasslands. The Real Estate Foundation of BC has contributed to several RIC endowments, including the Chair at TRU. The work being done by John, by Dr. Nicole Vaugeois (in sustainability tourism at Vancouver Island University – read about it here), and George Penfold (in community economic development at Selkirk College in Castlegar – read his post on BC's rural policy here) is viewed by the Governors of the Foundation as a long-term investment in a range of sustainable land uses in BC.

The Governors have also identified key areas of the province as worthy of special programs. One of these is a high-growth and development part of Vancouver Island. Kim Stephens is Program Coordinator for the Water Sustainability Action Plan for BC. He's also very active in the Convening for Action Vancouver Island initiative that has received Foundation support. In this posting of CITinfoResource Kim writes about the February 2010 Bowker Creek Forum and why it's an important part of water and land use sustainability on Vancouver Island.

Staff CIT project reviews are a regular part of the CITinfoResource postings. This month we feature two innovative First Nations' Comprehensive Community Planning projects, one at Musqueam in the greater Vancouver region, the other at Sliammon north of Powell River. Addressing a range of complex land use, social, and economic issues and involving innovative engagement processes, these projects are, as one participant put it, helping these communities prepare for the "day after treaty."

We close this posting of CITinfoResource with an audio interview with long-time Invermere realtor and past-Chair of the Real Estate Foundation of BC, Barry Brown-John. Barry is familiar with the industry perspective on land; as a Governor with the Foundation he's become an advocate for sustainable approaches that will benefit the long-term health of the real estate industry. In this interview he talks about the real estate market, sustainability, the Kootenays, and his experiences with the Gaining Ground series of summits.

Changes at CITinfoResource.com

Within the coming months long-awaited changes in the Real Estate Foundation of BC website will begin to show up as changes to CITinfoResource.com. In the meantime, we're moving to more regular postings, rather than releasing 5-8 posts every 2 months. We'll still be providing a 6-times-a-year compendium of recents posts (like this one you're reading), but the workflow of producing (and reading or listening to) CITinfoResource posts will be spread out over several weeks.

Some posts to look forward to in coming weeks:

George Penfold (audio) on the March 2010 BC rural development conference in Port Hardy,
Tim Pringle (audio) responding to Kim Fowler's February 2010 exploration of "performance vs. regulatory" approaches to sustainability, and
the second in a series of video interviews with Gaining Ground wunderkind Gene Miller (the first one is posted here).

We think that posting more regularly will make our material more useful. Let us know what you think!

Please share these resources

Social media like our blog, Facebook, and Twitter accounts make it easy to achieve one of our goals: circulating interesting, information, sometimes challenging material to land use practitioners across BC. If you're on Facebook or Twitter, please add us to your lists – and please reTweet and share items that you find interesting and engaging.

We also hope to see your comments and "letters to the editor." Not only do these enrich the conversation; they let others know about your experience, knowledge, and interests, all of which can make the difference to someone working on a project in a community half-way across the province from you.

As I said in the opening, collaboration and sharing of resources are keys to the success of both the Real Estate Foundation of BC and of the many projects and organizations that have received Foundation support over 22+ years. The reproduction of CIT Information Resource articles and materials for non-profit educational purposes is an extension of this approach. In return, we ask that you please notify the Foundation and the author of all reproductions, including in-house uses.

hanspetermeyer

Editor,

CITinfoResource 

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Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Barry Brown-John talks about Gaining Ground, real estate, sustainability, and the Kootenays

Barry Brown-John is past-Chair of the Governors of the Real Estate Foundation of BC. He has been active in the real estate industry for over 30 years in the Kootenay region, during which time he has also become involved in various land use and conservation projects.

In this audio post, Barry talks with CITinfoResource editor hanspetermeyer about the real estate market, sustainability, and particularly the Gaining Ground Summit series and its importance to non-metro BC communities.

CITinfoResource is part of the Real Estate Foundation's Communities in Transition program.

©Real Estate Foundation of BC / 2010. We encourage the reproduction of articles on this website non-profit educational purposes. Please notify the Foundation and the author of all reproductions, including in-house uses.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Dr. John Church talks about Cattle Industry Sustainability in BC's Interior

Dr. John Church is the Regional Innovation Chair (RIC) in Cattle Industry Sustainability at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC. In 2005 the Real Estate Foundation of BC made an endowment grant towards the establishment of this RIC, one of a number that the Foundation has supported throughout the province.

In 2009 CITinfoResource editor hanspetermeyer interviewed TRU's Vice President of Research, Nancy Vanwagoner about the Cattle Industry Sustainability initiative. In this interview, Dr. John Church talks about the challenges facing the industry and the grasslands, and how TRU is helping to make a difference.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Tim Pringle talks about large development projects on Vancouver Island

Tim Pringle is Director of Special Programs at the Real Estate Foundation of BC. In this interview, CITinfoResource editor hanspetermeyer talks to Tim about the Foundation's current research on large scale developments on Vancouver Island, and why this is important to Island communities. This research is part of the Foundation's Green Values Vancouver Island initiative. A summary of the research findings will be posted in coming months.

This conversation took place on January 22, 2010.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Executive Director's Notes: Resilient Cities, the Foundation, and Learning from China

by Karin Kirkpatrick

The Real Estate Foundation is involved in a wide range of projects and activities, all of them related to land use. In these notes I will talk a little about why we are involved with the leadership work being done through the Gaining Ground summits, my reflections from my recent time in China, and the positive work being done through an initiative funded in part by the Foundation.

The Real Estate Foundation and Resilient Cities

Between 1981 and 2001, Greater Vancouver experienced population growth of nearly 60%. If similar rates of growth continue, we will see a doubling of population in the next 40 years. This presents all of us living here with significant challenges. Vancouver is known for its vibrancy and quality of life. How do we sustain these in the face of the kinds of changes that are projected? We think that the Resilient Cities conference, the 6th in the Gaining Ground Summit series, speaks to this challenge.

As a theme, "Resilient Cities" is timely and appropriate for this year's Gaining Ground summit, the first here in Vancouver. The key elements of the conference align with the goals and values of the Real Estate Foundation:

innovation in sustainability governance and best current practices for managing sustainable urban systems;
capturing opportunities in the green economy;
strategies for building widespread sustainability collaborations that engage the community level.

The Foundation has been a leader in supporting projects with a focus on better, more sustainable land uses and practices. Resilient Cities is, in many ways, an excellent example of where our experiences with project partners over more than 20 years has brought us as an innovative granting organization. It represents important, cutting edge ideas and practices that are being used to make communities more sustainable, more resilient.

Because of the word "real estate" in our name, and perhaps also because we do much good work in communities on housing issues, the Foundation is sometimes seen as being primarily concerned with housing. But that misses our primary focus: a concern over that place where the built environment meets the natural environment, and the delicate balance between settlement and nature that is required for our communities to thrive. We're involved in this year's Resilient Cities conference because it speaks to that focus.

UBC Design Centre for Sustainability
An example of how the Real Estate Foundation works with innovative organizations to meet society's growing need for better land use and development practices is the Design Centre for Sustainability at UBC. It is, to put it simply, a widely recognized academic leader in applying sustainability concepts to the development of land, cities, and community. An example of how this can be applied to our communities is the recent City of North Vancouver 100 Sustainability Vision, which I'll describe later.

We are fortunate at the Real Estate Foundation to be able to make different "investment" decisions than many public and private funders. Innovative projects often require long-term investment in order to reach the level of maturity at which they flourish and give the kind of ROI our communities need. In some cases, the Foundation Governors have chosen to make these kinds of investments. This is the case of with the multi-year, multi-project Sustainability by Design initiative at the Design Centre for Sustainability.

The project's operating principle is that sustainable solutions, applied at the scale of the neighbourhood, if widely replicated, may be the crucial ingredient for a sustainable region. This fits closely to the overall purpose of the Real Estate Foundation.

The Design Centre helps partner communities provide context to their planning and design process by framing sustainability collaboratively. They work with communities to identify or review: an overarching, long-term sustainability vision; guiding principles; general goals and more specific objectives in each issue or theme area (for example, transportation, energy, water, climate change, etc); associated indicators and targets; and, finally, implementable strategies and actions. These are then expressed in relevant policy and planning documents, such as the community's Official Community Plan.

Through a charrette process, the Design Centre engages a wide diversity of community members, municipal staff, professionals, and representatives from public, private, and not-for-profit organizations in the planning and design-process—from developing the community-specific sustainability framework to selecting appropriate indicators and targets and developing the concept plan.

The return on investment? As I mentioned, the City of North Vancouver's 100 Sustainability Vision is one of the ROI. The City is one of the first municipalities in BC to investigate the feasibility of meeting the province's GHG emission target established by the 2007 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act (80% GHG emission reduction from 2007 levels by 2050). The 100-Year Sustainability Vision illustrates how an 80% GHG reduction target may be met, and explores how the City will move towards net zero GHG emission by 2107, its 200th birthday. This project recently won the UBCM's Community Excellence Award. That's an ROI for us at the Foundation to be proud of!

Learning from China

Over the past few years I've had the pleasure and privilege of travelling to China as part of my previous teaching work through UBC. I recently got home from spending 10 days there in Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai. These 10 days, in these rapidly changing cities, brought home to me the value of what I see the Foundation supporting: the need to take an integrated approach to community planning, to consider transportation, food security, energy consumption, water supply, livability, parks, and healthy lifestyles all as important elements in our quality of life. It helped me appreciate even more the purpose and importance of the Resilient Cities conference that many of you will be participating in over the next several days. It also helped me appreciate even more deeply the work of the many organizations and projects – like the work being done by the Design Centre for Sustainability, for example – that we support through the Foundation.

I visited the Shanghai Urban Planning Center. It was rather amazing, in light of what we are doing in Vancouver, to see their focus on designing interesting (and big!) buildings catering to a rapidly emerging car culture. My personal experience was a little unsettling: sidewalks that abruptly end in the middle of going somewhere; not being able to cross the simplest of streets without the fear of being run down. Roads are getting wider and more abundant – while walking routes are being blocked or not considered. All of it contrary to what we are seeing as elements in more sustainable cities, particularly as it is being exemplified by our local brand, sometimes referred to as "Vancouverism."

And the irony for me is the visual quality of a place like Shanghai. The architecture in this city is some of the most interesting I have seen in the world. However, much of the beauty of building design is concentrated at the very top, where it is invisible because of the ever-present smog in Chinese cities today. The use of coal for heating, the rapidly increasing use of cars (SUVs are popular), over-farming causing dust storms – the reasons for poor air quality and visibility are endless, and the need for an integrated approach and long term vision of sustainable growth is imperative. Looking around, I could see so many examples of how dramatically and how quickly our environment can be negatively effected by our human development and settlement choices.

Happy to be home!
Each time I travel, I learn. I see things done well; and I see things done not so well. Regardless of where I am, however, there's no place like home. I recognize how lucky I am to live where I do. As I step into my second year with the Real Estate Foundation of BC I am also grateful that I get to work with so many interesting and innovative people and organizations, all whom are striving in their different ways to find that balance between settlement and nature that brings quality of life to our neighbourhoods and communities.

about the author:
Karin Kirkpatrick is the Executive Director of the Real Estate Foundation of BC. Prior to her appointment to that position by the Foundation's Board of Governors in November 1, 2008 she was Director, Centre for CEO Leadership at the Sauder School of Business at the University of BC.

©Real Estate Foundation of BC / 2009
We strongly encourage the reproduction of articles on this website non-profit educational purposes. Please notify the Foundation and the author of all reproductions, including in-house uses.

CURRENT CIT PROJECT OVERVIEW: Smart Growth on the Ground in Prince George

by hans peter meyer with files from SmartGrowth BC

The CIT program at the Real Estate Foundation of BC is a response on the part of the Foundation's Governors to land use related issues that primarily effect non-metropolitan in nature. Established as a signature program of the Foundation, CIT works with a wide range of project and funding partners in communities across BC to help them plan for and make transitions.

A recently completed project in the City of Prince George relates to supporting sustainable land uses and planning for climate change. Sustainable land use planning and practices have been ongoing themes at the Real Estate Foundation through most of it's 20+ years.

Smart Growth on the Ground in Prince George

Project Proponents: Smart Growth on the Ground, the City of Prince George

Project Partners: BC Heritage Branch, BC Hydro Powersmart, Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Green Streets Canada, Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Canada, Northern Development Initiative Trust, Prince George Community Foundation, Ramada Prince George, Transport Canada,Vancity, and the Real Estate Foundation of BC.

Smart Growth on the Ground (SGOG)
SGOG is a unique partnership program formed by Smart Growth BC, the Real Estate Institute of British Columbia, and the Design Centre for Sustainability at UBC. It was designed to help BC communities create more sustainable neighbourhood plans using community-specific solutions. Prince George joins Maple Ridge, Squamish, and Greater Oliver as the fourth partner community to set a new standard for community planning and establish leadership among the municipalities of BC.

Project Overview
The recent Gaining Ground: Resilient Cities (GGRC09) event in Vancouver was a showcase of challenges facing communities and of innovative responses to these challenges. In the case of Cam Brewer's presentation on the outcomes of a recent Smart Growth on the Ground (SGOG) project in the City of Prince George, it was an opportunity to show how one CIT project is helping this northerly BC city take strong steps towards neighbourhood resilience and sustainability, in the process helping the City meet its targets for greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) reduction.

Cam Brewer is the Executive Director of SmartGrowth BC, the organization that, in partnership with the Real Estate Institute of BC (REIBC) and the Design Centre for Sustainability at UBC, delivers Smart Growth on the Ground (SGOG) projects around the province. In 2008 the Governors of the Real Estate Foundation approved two substantial grants to SGOG projects in Prince George: $65,000 to Smart Growth BC for research, education, and stakeholder consultation associated with SGOG in Prince George; $90,000 to REIBC for real estate economic analysis and stakeholder convening activities of SGOG in Prince George.

The news that Brewer delivered to the 600 participants of GGRC09 was that Prince George City Council had recently unanimously approved the SGOG Concept Plan. In his words, Council is advancing a "bold new vision for downtown Prince George."

Created by the community, the SGOG Concept Plan outlines a compelling image of what downtown Prince George will be in 2035. It is a downtown with housing options, a vibrant public realm, bike lanes, and a permanent Farmer’s Market. Smart Growth BC sees Council's adoption of this vision as placing the City in a leadership role with regard to renewable energy and is support for all members of the community.

Central to the Concept Plan is a prominent green space with water feature that connect downtown to the Fraser River. Councillor Dave Wilbur was struck by the “grand, insightful vision” that identifies the rivers as core to the concept. "If we had that slip away, let the rivers just run by and not be identified, I think we would've missed a big opportunity," he said. "But [SGOG] didn't. You made it core to your concept plan and I appreciate that."

In his presentation to Council, Dan Milburn, the Manager of Long-Range Planning remarked on the collaborative nature in which this plan was created. “Throughout this process the partners have worked diligently to raise the necessary funds for this project, organize an extensive community consultation program, coordinate numerous researchers, and facilitate the creation of what I like to think of as a community plan for the downtown. For it truly was a community effort producing a community vision.”

The Concept Plan is the result of a year-long public engagement process that involved participation of over 500 citizens. Through five public workshops participants set priorities, targts and discussed ideas for invigorating downtown. During a four-day, multi-stakeholder design event (a "charrette”) held May 12-15, 2009 over 40 people collaborated to create the vision. The charrette team included Mayor Dan Rogers, Councillors, City staff, community participants, researchers, and designers. Councillor Stolz, a member of the team, attested that “the people involved sweated blood and tears” to produce this vision.

The Concept Plan was approved along with a recommendation to amend the Official Community Plan to “align the downtown vision, objectives and policies with the key concepts articulated in the Downtown Prince George Smart Growth on the Ground Concept Plan.” This will entrench the vision in policy and will guide implementation projects.

Project Rationale
"Smart Growth BC receives applications for projects from many BC communities," says SmartGrowth's Shana Johnstone. "We chose Prince George for the SGOG project for a number of reasons. Of particular note for us was that we are interested in working on climate change at a neighbourhood planning and development level. The City of Prince George was very keen on this, and were early signatories of the Climate Change Charter.

"We also chose Prince George because it is part of our mission at SmartGrowth BC to develop a suite of tools and applications for a variety of communities and situations across BC. As a 'northern community,' and as a community with a particular set of challenges when it comes to things like climate change, a resource transition economy, and a hub for other northern destinations, the City's proposal was a good fit."

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