Showing posts with label urban canopy - Victoria City. Show all posts
Showing posts with label urban canopy - Victoria City. Show all posts

Monday, February 6, 2023

What happened to the Emerald Necklace?

This is the linked chain of green-spaces snaking through a city's parks and private gardens. In Greater Victoria it was enabled by the Olmstead brothers, who created the green verdancy of the Uplands neighbourhood back in 1912, plus other neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Seattle and beyond. When the emerald necklace is paved and buildings are crowded onto the landscape, bird and wildlife habitat is lost, plus play space for kids and horticultural beauty for residents.

The emerald chain creates wildlife corridors on the ground and through tree canopy without which, when we look out our windows, we'll see no squirrels, deer or birds. Under the new Missing Middle / Muddle Regime we will see only  concrete and multiplex boxes. Will that create an enhancement of urban life? 

Think again Victoria. It's not built 'til it's built. In the 1930s, and post-WorldWar2, Victoria built houses with small footprints on surrounding garden space -- a section for each family. Yards for the kids, space for the veg bed. There's still time to make property "set-backs", Victoria, for both houses and controversial policies.