As part of the Re-Imagine Downtown Vancouver initiative, we interviewed a cross-section of people who share a passion for our city’s downtown to feature in our inspiration video.
Reviewing the interview transcripts, we realized that we had recorded a lot of great ideas and stories that didn’t make it into the final cut of the video. To ensure that these ideas and stories didn’t get lost, we will be sharing them with you in a series of posts.
Here is our interview with Ginger Gosnell-Myers, the Aboriginal City Planner with the City of Vancouver:
What does downtown Vancouver mean to you?
I see downtown Vancouver as this place of opportunity. For people to really engage with one another and get a sense of what BC urban living is truly like. To shop, to eat and to hang out with one another.
What excites you about the future of downtown Vancouver?
I’m really involved in trying to indigenousize the City of Vancouver, and I am excited about the potential to see culture reflected in our downtown. We have so many people from around the world who live here, work here and make the city their home. Downtown Vancouver is the pinnacle, the reflection of who we are. I sure hope to see more open space and public spaces where culture is reflected and is alive.
Downtown Vancouver is the pinnacle, the reflection of who we are.
I’d like to see downtown Vancouver become a reflection of who we are as Vancouverites, considering we come from all over the world and represent a diversity of cultures, so I’ll like to like to see more open spaces, I’ll like to see our cultures come alive.
How do you think the downtown Vancouver experience should look, taste and feel in the future?
I think downtown Vancouver has a unique opportunity in that we are such a new urban centre and we’re building new spaces. If our experience can reflect who we are today, and build that up so that future generations can benefit from it.
I’d like to see our culture reflected in the downtown landscape. We’re already blessed with the natural beauty. Let’s allow our society to be showcased as well.
We are already so lucky to have the mountains, the ocean, our old buildings and new buildings. What we really need to do is ensure we can see ourselves reflected, that our cultures are reflected in downtown Vancouver, so that when people are here, they know exactly where they are. There’s no mistaking where in the world they happen to be.
I’d like to see our culture reflected in the downtown landscape. We’re already blessed with the natural beauty and let’s allow our society to be showcased in this as well.