The Editor,
Re: "Densification destroys neighborhoods: Day," News, Sept. 28.
Undeveloped land is a finite resource. This is one of the reasons why Vancouver has roughly maintained its urban boundaries.
Creating dense neighborhoods with multi-use development was the only option. Increasing density in Richmond is the only path to development.
High density neighborhoods are sustainable. Low density neighborhoods of mostly single family residential stock will always be car dependent.
The price of transit will remain high, the transit system will remain ineffective. High density neighborhoods allow us to protect valuable farmland and green space.
High density neighborhoods are lively and liveable. The model of development that has come to be known as "Vancouverism" attempts to combine multiple styles of housing (luxury condos and low-income housing and everything in between), as well as commercial space, as well as public space.
Vast swathes of single family homes give us streets as quiet as tombs, the silence interrupted only by passing cars. A high density neighborhood is a neighborhood with safe, busy streets.
Civic election candidate Carol Day seems unaware that despite attempts to halt densification by blocking granny flats, the single family homes of Richmond are already being illegally carved into apartment blocks.
These homes-in-homes are popular with low income workers and students, who are shut out of sanctioned housing and are sometimes preyed upon by unscrupulous landlords.
High density and smart, planned growth are what will make Richmond sustainable. Densification saves neighborhoods.
Dylan King
Richmond
