The Art of Community Living in Vancouver 4: Peaceful Protest
If you are opposed to something your government is doing or not doing, speak up, or in the case of Vancouverites – light up! During a recent visit to Vancouver, I noticed green lights in many of the balconies of tall residential buildings in the False Creek neighbourhood. I later learned that this was the residents’ way of telling the government to make a GO of a promise made so long ago.
I was in awe by this peaceful protest that I had to include it in this special series on The Art of Community Living in Vancouver. This is the way community should be – being able to speak up or light up, until government will pause, look up and count the stars.. I mean the green lights!
Residents in the North East False Creek neighbourhood in downtown Vancouver are hoping green lights in their windows will get the attention of the city and a developer over a long-promised urban park.
The False Creek Residents Association says the park was promised 24 years ago at Pacific Boulevard and Quebec Street, but the site is still a large paved parking lot. The lot is also used as the home of Concord Pacific’s presentation centre and is rented out for various events such as Cirque du Soleil. Concord Pacific is one of the largest condo developers in North America and is responsible for developing the Yaletown neighbourhood as Vancouverites know it today.
…Andrea MacKenzie of the residents association says that all strata councils in the area have given approval for the “green lights” to be sold in their lobbies for $5.
The lights are being placed in resident’s windows, overlooking the long-promised park. She says they are hoping to send a message to the City and Concord Pacific that the park needs to be constructed now, before any additional development starts.
“We can’t seem to get City Hall to push the developer to create the park. This sends a strong, silent message, day-in-and-day-out,” says MacKenzie.
She says they have already sold 100 bulbs and plan to work their way with additional buildings towards the International Village.MacKenzie says the park was promised back in 1990 in exchange for the approval of 7,800 units of condo housing. The association says that over 10,000 units have now been built and 1,318 more are on the way. 24 years later, there’s still no park.
She says the neighbourhood — between BC Place and Science World — is in desperate need of green space, as it’s surrounded by busy streets, Skytrain and acres of paved concrete.
“We have young families here that want to stay in the city, let’s give them a park, let’s give the elderly a park, instead of pushing them out to South Surrey or Langley. The strata councils in the area have been 100 per cent behind us, as well as the business owners on Main Street,” says MacKenzie.
Read or watch this news on global news.ca
Click here to watch news on this green light campaign
“Greening The Creek”
Making a quiet but bright statement
Image from False Creek Residents Association, Vancouver
False Creek residents displaying green lights in their windows
to make a statement to the city of Vancouver on a long-promised urban park.
Image by Landscape Photographer Nhi Le via noyocreative, March 2014
In anticipation of Green Month, the Telus World of Science lit its dome green
on April 21 in support of the green light campaign in its neighbourhood.
Image & Info from falsecreekresidents.org April 2014
What a great way to peacefully let your voices be heard by your city government. Way to go Vancouverites! Bravo Vancouver!
What is magnificent about humans is when they decide to turn and stand. If they respond with non-violence on principle and hold their ground, they are really magnificent.
-James Cromwell
from brainy quote
So do…speak up and unify for the common good.
DAILY DOSE OF ART 
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