It's in an ideal location, on the delta of a river, at the end of a fjord, on the Pacific Ocean, half-way between Whistler and Vancouver. I've wondered whether I could live there, being so close to two of my favorite places, and surrounded by the mountains. With the development that has happened downtown, and with what is proposed, I feel I could. The community is starting to grow smart, sustainably. There is a new ski resort proposed for Brohm Ridge, on the north side of town. The town is surrounded by the outdoors, by nature.
That ideal location, though, also bugs me. I can't get past the fact that all of this development downtown and on the oceanfront is barely above sea level. I feel the same way about Richmond and Delta. Yes, there are dikes and pumps to keep the water out, and upgrades, improvements and expansion to both are planned, but I'm still uneasy about it all. Have we learned nothing from Galveston and New Orleans? We don't get hurricanes (yet), but we do get some good winter storms now and then, and a lot of rain all winter long. Look at London having to control the Thames, and the Netherlands having to protect almost the entire country with major flood control systems. Do we want to end up in that position? The District even admits in their preliminary document that sea level rise is a concern that will need to be addressed.
To their credit, the District of Squamish does have some design guidelines to help when there is a flood. In residential projects, the first floor (at street level) is parking and commercial. Due to the high water table, underground parking isn't an (affordable) option. But that still leaves plenty of opportunity for property damage.
So I wonder if it's possible to go even further. Let's face it, at some point there is going to be a storm bad enough to cause a flood, and if it's bad enough, the pumps are going to stop working, or the dikes won't be high enough, or both. We could:
1. Add lots of fill to raise the height of the land (very expensive)
2:Plan for a flood in a way that won't rely on emergency systems.
What if the water came in, and it wasn't really that big a deal. I'm not saying to become Venice, because it has it's own problems, after all. But what if, similar to Venice, the water stayed in canals where it belonged. What I'm picturing, in fact, is a street cross-section like Yaletown. Wide sidewalks on either side of the street that are raised about 6 feet above the road.
Cars drive and park on the road (and under the buildings at this same level), but pedestrians, businesses and residences are separated from and raised above it. Should the tide come over the dike or the rain come down in a deluge, the water runs into the streets (canals), which store it as needed for the pumps to keep up. Only the cars are at risk, and they can be driven to higher land should the situation call for it. The streets would function much like a stormwater retention pond, but would only be needed in the most significant storms.
At the end of each block, ramps for wheelchairs are available to access the sidewalks from the street. Spaced along the length of the block there are stairs to street level just like in Yaletown. Side streets could even be bridged at sidewalk level for pedestrians, and allowing just enough clearance for cars to get under, but keeping trucks on the main roads. Overall, the entire solution is very low-tech and much more sustainable than continuing to raise the dikes and build an infrastructure of pipes and pumps for something that should only happen a few times each century. Yaletown was born from an industrial area, and downtown Squamish and the oceanfront lands in particular are also rising out of an industrial past, so the design makes sense. Above all, it creates a great street environment, as is proven in Yaletown.
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