His2000collectionofessaysabouthis
hometownofVancouver,
CityofGlass
,has
alsostuck. Itnailedboth thecity’sappear-
ance— thephotoofVancouver’sskyline
on thepreviousspreadshouldsuffice in
proving thatpoint—and itsuniqueability
toreflect thebestpartsofotherNorth
Americancitieswithin itself. “Vancouver
canneatlymorph into justaboutanyNorth
Americancity,”Couplandwrote, andafter
visiting it for thefirst time, Ibelievehim
whenhewrites it“canmirror the idealized
stateofyourhometown too.”
Well,maybenotanyhometown. I
cheatedwiththequoteabove.Therestof
thesentencegoes likethis: “… justaboutany
NorthAmericancitysave forthose inthe
AmericanSouthwest,andpossiblyMiami.”
Thatpartalsoseemstrue.ForVancou-
ver isacitythathas(largely)solvedoneof
thegreatproblemsofSunbeltcitiessuch
asDallas,myhometown.Bynotallowing
highways into itsurbancore, ithasneither
causedblightnorchokeddevelopmentthe
wayelevatedhighwaysof the1960sdid inso
manyAmericancities. (Which iswhycities
allacrossAmerica, fromSanFranciscoto
St.LouistoSyracuse,NewYork,havetaken
oraretakingouturban-core freewaysand
replacingthemwithpedestrian-friendly
boulevards.)BecauseVancouverbeganthis
processdecadesago.BecauseVancouver
isnowaplacethatourgreatestAmerican
citieswanttoemulate.
“Today,Vancouver isashiningexample
ofacity thatcan function,perhapsbetter,
without freewayscutting through its
heart,”according to theCongress for the
NewUrbanism (CNU), an internation-
alnonprofitworking tobuildvibrant,
smarter,morewalkableandmore livable
cities. “Over theyears, adevelopmentpat-
ternreferred toas ‘Vancouverism’or ‘The
VancouverModel’has takenshape, focus-
ingoncreatingurban towncenters, invest-
ing in transitandpedestrian facilities, and
proactiveplans for the innercity.”
Let’s ignore thatCNUuses thehorrible
word
proactive
and focus insteadonwhat
theysayaboutVancouver: that’s it’s the
startingpoint forpeoplewhowant toknow
how to improve theirowncity.Being from
Dallasandbeingpartofagroup trying to
takedownanelevatedhighway inourcity
(Coalition foraNewDallas), Idefinitely
wanted tosee theCityofGlass formyself.
Andmygirlfriend,Megan,wantedasweet
vacation.Win-win.
ouglasCoupland
hasaknack fornaming
things.TheCanadian
author’sfirstbook,
GenerationX:Tales foran
AcceleratedCulture
,bestowed
uponmygenerationanappellation
that Idisliked intensely
but thatperfectlycapturedour
rootlessspirit.
D
TOPANDBOTTOM
:
Prettypeopleareeverywhere,
includingon the street andhaving lunchon the steps
atRobsonSquarenear theVancouverArtGallery.
AMERICANWAY
OCTOBER2015
57
