Ep. 352: Can Granville Street be re-imagined?

Guest: 352: Chris Fair, Resonance Consultancy

Granville Street – at least the part of it that is within the downtown area – was redesigned in 1974 and it was “supposed to reflect Vancouver’s unique identity, character and sense of place,” according to Heritage Vancouver.

The street, unfortunately, is a mishmash of planning over the decades that don’t always work as well as hoped for. And let’s face it, the street is supposed to be a pedestrian mall where people want to be. They want to eat, shop, and be entertained in a lively and friendly space.

One element of a pedestrian mall is to be pedestrian. Granville Street is kinda pedestrian and kinda not. It’s really a transportation corridor that begrudgingly accommodates foot traffic and cyclists along with hundreds of buses and taxis and police cars. In other words, it is not even close to a true pedestrian mall.

The Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association says, “It’s sorta working but with adjustments, it can be fantastic. We did it in 2010 for the Olympics and it was great. Let’s do it again.” To that end, DVBIA hired Resonance Consultancy to re-imagine Granville Street. The company is a Vancouver success story – the team has worked with huge international players who sought to and accomplished stunning upgrades and turnarounds around the world.

Stuart McNish invited Chris Fair, the CEO and the 2013 Place Brand Thought Leader, to join him for a Conversation That Matters about Re-Imagining Granville Street.