Pretty ironic to have a photo of an 18 storey building immediately behind the proposed goliath of 22 storeys. I could care less if Westbank build here or not. But lets be serious. The crappy walk up multifamily strata condos in the immediate area are not typical of the westend. The West end is made of for the most part of 5 -11 storey apartment buildings. Everytime I here these bleeding hearts I cringe as I know their only motive is have their cake and to eat it too.

Is there stress on the current schooling system in the west end. Yes. Is adding a bunch more houses going to ease this, No. However the majority of us in the westend walk everywhere. We are surrounded by parks and beaches. We have well defined retail areas. There is traffic calming measures everywhere. It is an amazing place to live and it could absorb a little more density. A 22 storey strata condo building would not be the end of the world.

@Peter F

Building density without building the support services around them is the worst king of urban planning. While you might be happy with just the stores and the beaches, many of the people who live in the West End are trying to cope with already overcrowded schools, libraries and community centres. Even if only 20% on the new tenants of a 22 storey building drove, it would mean over 100 more cars being permanently added to the already congested West End.

Mayor McSmoothie should try listening to the people more often. He might then get a grip on the real issues citizens care about.

Huuarh for the hard work of WEN!

keep up the fight, Randy. The FSR of that proposed building is an insult!

Sorry Peter F, the argument that because the West End already has high rises that any developer is free to demolish anything they feel like and build whatever their heart desires just doesn't cut it. You can scream bleeding hearts, NIMBY's and make all the predictable noises you want. The people of the West End insist on having a say on what happens their neighbourhood - get used to it. This is a concept called democracy. The "visionaries" who run our city are learning about this concept the hard way.

Real issues citizens care about in say much like in Toronto with a city of 6 million who have had the pleasure of 80,000 new residents each year moving into their fine overcrowded city and residents are fed up.
Maybe mayor could send newcomers to Vancouver to Surrey, as new residents have been packed into the city without any planning except keeping the price of real estate up while heavy cuts are put into place for services in those very communities tells me something is really out of place.

Some people from the West End not all. I am a person from the westend who does not want to see more farm land lost to single family homes and further reliance on the automobile. The area around 1401 Comox for the most part is vastly under utilized. There are tons of townhomes and low-rise strata condos. Aside from the Hendry house and a couple of older homes and brick apartment across the street from 1401, there is not a single historically or architecturally interesting buildings in this local area.

As for traffic "Realty Check". If you feel there is traffic congestion in the West End, I do not believe you live here. The once a week I take my car out of the u/g parking I never encounter traffic in the side streets of my west end neighbourhood. Sure as I approach the commuter routes, like burrard, west georgia, yes things get backed up. But on Haro, Broughton, or Comox? Never.

BTW, when I do drive through the side streets of the West End, I never go over 30 km/hr

Notice that this Mayor and Council are always resorting to adhoc committees and processes when it comes to developers and community consultation. The reason is that they can manipulate and control the already pre-determined outcome. Good for Vision and Developers, Bad for Vancouver.

@PeterF

Perhaps you're the one who doesn't live in the West End (my home for 20 years).

Try driving down Denman, Thurlow, Nelson, Davie or Robson during primetime.

Try finding a desk at the WECC library, or even a quiet place to sit and read.

Try getting your kid in one of the elementary schools.

Try getting into a community centre program without camping out the morning spots become available.

Density without services are killing the West End. To say that you want more towers because it will stop a house from going up in Surrey is laughable.

Now Vision has taken a pause from screwing up the economy of a "neighborhood", maybe they will get on with the real work of a City Council - that is... to consult the citizens of Vancouver and to respond to a call for a West End Comprehensive Community plan that 9,000 residents are have signed up for so far!!!