by Josie Bannerman

It’s hard not to feel smug about James Bay. Waterfront, green space, heritage, amenities, mixed land use – we have it all within walking or scooter distance – and it all adds up to a high quality of life.

“Most of Victoria and certainly James Bay follows the layout of a traditional city,” said Mark Hornell, a present-day planner for the City of Victoria, “and a large part of it developed before zoning codes.” Ours is the city structure that new urbanists – architects, designers, developers and planners – now must use zoning to try to achieve.

“The new urbanist movement is an American response to the automobile,” said Dr. Joan McHardy, chair of Birdcages Housing Society, and SHAPE (Supportive Housing Action Project for the Elderly). Cars made it possible for people to live in suburbia, often a major drive away from work or shops or services or recreation. New urbanists want amenities close to home. “In James Bay, we are fortunate that no major highways have altered the ‘new urbanism’ that started with the first white settlers in the area,” McHardy said.

The agencies McHardy chairs have worked for over eleven years to build affordable housing for seniors in James Bay. Their new joint project at 408 Parry Street will create 21 units of supportive housing for seniors in the heart of our community. “Our neighbourhood is a wonderful diversity of ages and incomes and building types,” said McHardy. “In many ways we exemplify what new urbanism is trying to achieve.”

McHardy is adamant that Parry Place is not a response to new urbanism. “It is a response to the needs of some seniors for affordable, assisted housing in our neighbourhood, and to the high cost of housing in James Bay,” she said. “The fact that the site is close to the heart of James Bay and near to bus stops and a grocery store and a seniors’ centre and parks and a health clinic is a response to the recognized needs of seniors for these urban amenities.”

Proximity to amenities is what new urbanists dream about for all of us. They are willing to increase density in neighbourhoods so that more of us can enjoy a high quality of life. This could be a concern for future development in James Bay, but city planner Mark Hornell doesn’t think so. “James Bay is already a high density neighbourhood,” he said.

Nevertheless, the blueprint for future development in James Bay – our Neighbourhood Plan – was last revised in 1993, and is overdue for an update. Hornell said planners will submit a discussion paper to City Hall in September with a timetable to update old neighbourhood plans.

Now is the time to start thinking about what you value in James Bay, and how you would like our neighbourhood to develop in the future. You can get involved in discussing community issues by attending meetings of the James Bay Neighbourhood Association on the second Wednesday of every month at 7pm at New Horizons.

The 1993 James Bay Community Plan is available for download or viewing at: http://www.victoria.ca/

More information about new urbanism is available at: http://www.newurbanism.org/