Waterfront Gateway

I prefer vision 1 because it has more emphasis on pedestrians and cyclists. I agree more parking is needed downtown including for Saturday Market. I suggest a large parking structure at Main and Mill Plain with Street-level grocery store and a free hop on hop off tram from Uptown to the waterfront and along Columbia Way. Note there needs to be more than one entrance and exit- the City Center lot is impossible to leave after a big event such as Xmas tree lighting. Include a central food court or food truck hub. Reduce railroad noise along Arnold Way with a wall and trees. A bike way along Esther does need to be tied to the west side bike path which also needs to connect to Uptown and a good crossing of Mill Plain/16th couplet. It is important to keep rents low so shops are affordable. The waterfront feels expensive and exclusive. How about adding some mixed cost housing units?

I like Vision 1 because of the activity node, Vision 2 for thinking about extra parking, and Vision 3 because of the additional connections to the waterfront. Perhaps something that includes all three would be in order? Thanks!

I support keeping the vehicular connection on Esther Street that is shown on #2 and #3. I also appreciate the parking options shown in #2. We need easy to find parking availability to these amenities, otherwise those that don't live downtown (our east side residents) will decide it is not worth the trouble of traveling here.

I support the option of a placeholder for a grocery store on one of the blocks, along with a more permanent street space for the Farmers Market as shown at #3. There seem to be elements of the town of Ashland being shown here, which I appreciate. I am against the bicycle overpass option, given the expense of such an addition to any plan, and how unnecessary it would be. There are so many other features that would benefit all of our citizens (public art, interactive art, street furniture, landscaping, and higher end road finishes) that would be cut from the budget if a pedestrian/bicycle overpass was part of the package.

Additional pedestrian and bicycle overpass connect to the waterfront is essential to quality of life. Retain a nature-art based feel with the vacated of Vacate Phil Arnold Way and installing a fully-accessible bicycle and pedestrian street. Add the Plaza to accommodate more visitors. Become a unique destination with the gateway into an arts and makerspace development on the corner of Esther Street and Phil Arnold Way. Add the retail anchor at the southwest corner of 6th and Esther streets with an emphasis of restaurants and boutiques. Add a Visitor Information Center and Historic arm of the museum to share Vancouver's unique history. That may include the adaptive reuse of the existing Webber Building on Columbia Street

I like option three best. I like the bike and pedestrian street.

Webber Machine building on Columbia should be saved. It is a wonderful example of our city's history and should be repurposed if at all possible!

Most of this property is now parking and it’s heavily used. Yet #1 shows no parking, #2 is pretty vague with parking areas sketched in the middle of other uses, and only #3 shows clearly parking in the SE corner. Adequate parking need to be incorporated into any design. None of these concepts seem to address the Farmers Market or Esther Short Park. This project could greatly enhance those areas (and vice versa) or detract from them. I am especially concerned about the traffic flow, and parking (again). An indoor full time Farmers Market would be great, although that was tried before and failed. (I’m not sure all the issues with that. ) Plus, the Port was talking about that for Terminal 1. I support keeping the Webber. Building; Vancouver has lost too many old buildings. I like the idea of creating nice space along Phil Arnold Way, But have any of these designers ever spent any time there? The railway is very noisy sometimes and that might make this space unpleasant. What exactly do you mean by “maker space?” Is that just a fancy name for an artists studio? Or are we talking about places with tools and machines the public can use. Can you define that and not assume everybody knows what you mean? A pedestrian bridge over the railroad sound silly. The tracks are already on an elevated berm so the walkway will be 35 to 40 feet up. Not many people will want to climb up there when they can just go through the Esther St. portal.

Love the idea of making phil arnold way a fully-accessible bicycle and pedestrian street, and adding pedestrian overpasses.

HATE THE IDEA OF A BREWERY. A lot of full grown adults don't drink!! We have an overabundance of wineries, bars, breweries, etc. in the area. Let's add something NEW like a VEGAN restaurant!! We don't have a single VEGAN restaurant downtown. Let's not keep adding multiples of things we already have.

The art/makers space seems cool too.

Idea 2 is worthless, as it added a reckless and unnecessary amount of parking downtown.
Idea 3 should help reduce traffic downtown by flushing it through the Waterfront. The full bike/ped path on Philip Arnold Way is a preferable solution.

The Webber Machine building near the Hilton should be preserved in part of this project. Historical buildings provide irreplaceable character and add to the economic viability of our downtown.

I disagree that Esther Street should be the primary connection to the Waterfront. The city is currently looking at creating a north-south bike route on the west side of town. NONE of the proposed routes include Esther Street because it doesn't connect all the way through the neighborhoods to the north. A funnel with out a clearly defined hose leading to it is just a mess. Please consider connectivity with other major travel routes. Columbia Street makes more sense. Esther Street is too small to serve this purpose and it's also home to the Farmers Market on weekends (which I DON'T want to see moved anywhere else!). Or perhaps you can make Esther Street a pedestrian-only route and provide a separate, protected bikeway on Columbia Street instead.

Vision 1 & 2 don't appear to have any significant parking included. A parking structure, either under or above ground, with plenty of public-access metered spaces (not permit only spaces for workers) MUST be included.

I like the idea of adaptive reuse of the Webber Building. It's a nifty older building and I'm sick and tired of cities tearing down all their history. Let's keep it!