Tale of Two Cities: Why Vancouver and Seattle Downtowns Look So Different

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

When most people see downtown Vancouver, BC, they think it is a city because of the number of high-rise buildings. Actually, its metro population is less than Portland’s, and most of those buildings are condo towers. In contrast, most of Seattle’ high-rises are offices.

You could argue that Vancouver and Seattle have different approaches to planning, but what’s really at work is the different business interests in each city, and how those drive public investment. Seattle could have beautiful walkable waterfront neighborhoods on the north and south doorsteps to downtown, but century-old industrial interests are keeping underused land from conversion to residential. It will probably take job loss to the suburbs to open those possibilities.

Vancouver, Where Homebuilding is a Major Industry

Leave it to the Canadians, who rely on exports to Pacific Rim countries to drive much of their economy, to make homebuilding on their own shores a major industry with high-wage jobs in high-rise construction. That began happening in the mid 1980s when Hong Kong residents fearful of the 1997 turnover began flocking here. That turnover is now 28 years behind us, but today the mainland Chinese come as well, drawn by the possibility of getting their kids into good schools.

Vancouver had high-rise development before the 1980s near Stanley Park, but it was the reuse of the Canadian Pacific rail yards as the Expo 86 site and then as a new waterfront neighborhood that took that high-rise residential development to scale. And it was a Hong Kong developer, Li Kai-shing, one of the biggest businessmen in that city, who bought the Expo 86 site and brought master-planning and large-scale development to Vancouver. Yes, some of the seawall walks were left over from Expo 86, but as part of the approvals process, Li Kai-Shing also added large waterfront parks, a marina, and a new community center in an old round house, all publicly accessible. Those amenities made downtown a more interesting place to live, and they also sold condos.

https://www.postalley.org/2024/02/05/tale-of-two-cities-why-vancouver-and-seattle-downtowns-look-so-different/

[Fiendish Thingy]

1. Detached homes in Vancouver cost $2-4 million+

Condos go for $750k-$2million.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of condos are vacant, purchased by speculating land bankers/money launderers who have no intention of ever occupying them. Hundreds more condo units are used for Air B&B units.

The government insures high risk mortgages, so lenders will approve anyone who meets the modest qualification stress test (a little tougher recently with increased interest rates).

I’m not sure Seattle should aspire to Vancouver type city planning.