Have I caught the NIMBYs*?

All through the East Vancouver neighbourhoods along Broadway the signs have been going up.  Realtor “For Sale” signs set up in the front lawns of consecutive houses.  Four or five homes for sale, all by the same realtor, all at the same time.

It doesn’t take Jessica Fletcher to figure this out.  Densification has been taking place in these areas through laneway homes and secondary suites, but now developers are assembling larger building lots, buying up the single-family homes that sit there, and are planning on installing multi family buildings there.

As we watched the signs proliferate we worried about what form these new buildings would take.  A row of stylish townhomes would be fine.  A nice two-or-three-storey apartment is OK.  But what if they want to build something bigger?  Our laneway backs onto the alley that runs behind some of those homes for sale.  What kind of chimera would appear?

Then the “Sold” signs went up on a section between Lakewood and Nanaimo.  And in a matter of days a sign appeared stating that they want to build a SIX storey apartment building along there.

Six storeys.  That’s a lot of storeys. Something that high would block a lot of our sunlight.  I was prepared to lose our view, but to live in a behemoth’s shadow would be too awful to contemplate.

It also might be wishful thinking.  There’s been no application made so far, at least none that show up on the City of Vancouver’s Development Application Information Web Page.  But we will keep our eye on what is happening just 10 blocks down the road from us.

Now comes the twinge of conscience.  I am completely comfortable with the idea of densification.  I know that the supply of homes (whatever form they take) in no way comes close to the demand in this city.  I want more people to be able to live here.  But I don’t want the entire character of our neighbourhood to be destroyed.  I have lived in a neighbourhood that was a mixture of heritage homes and low-profile condo buildings and it was a pleasant sort of place.

What alternatives do we have?

* Not In My Back Yard