Dunbar Residents Association News and Events

Many issues associated with the rumored transfer of the University Golf Course to the Musqueam First Nation remain unanswered. However the Pacific Spirit Park Society, which works with the GVRD (now Metro Vancouver) and acts as the public steward of the Park, has adopted (Sept 10/07) a resolution, which in part says:

Therefore be it resolved that the Society is opposed to having any park land within Pacific Spirit Park used in exchange for the University Golf course in order to facilitate land claims negotiations between the Musqueam Band and the Provincial Government”

The Pacific Spirit Park Society website (www.pacificspiritparksociety.org) is expected to be updated by the end of September with information on this issue.

NB. The DRA is not responsible for the content of the PacificParkSociety website)

Dunbar in Best of Vancouver By Marg Meikle (Georgia Straight)

“There’s a lot to be said for a quiet, safe, and maybe a tad dull place to live. If that’s what you crave, Dunbar was made to order. Fifteen minutes to downtown and 10 to UBC, flower-filled, with wonderful old trees creating arbours, it is an urban oasis. A seriously family-oriented neighbourhood that boasts record turnouts for soccer matches, a theatre (the Dunbar) where a staff member always introduces the movies, and a library branch with a great children’s librarian, this is a nice place to grow up.”

Marg Meikle’s article, published in the Georgia Straight on September 20, 2007, is a lengthy and enjoyable look at our neighbourhood, combining a little history, a lot of description and some interesting commentary.

The City recently rezoned the Kingsway and Knight area and is now proposing to rezone the nearby “Norquay” area (Gladstone to Killarney, and 24th to 41st). This will change the zoning of all 2400 houses in the area to allow for higher density with as many as three to six housing units on each existing lot.

Other neighbourhoods including the three shopping areas on Dunbar also face rezoning.

You can read more about the Norquay rezoning and implications for the neighbourhood at www.vcn.bc.ca/norquay/

Norquay neighbours organized a rally on September 18th at City Hall to protest the widespread rezoning of their neighbourhoods. They are concerned that there was no meaningful input from residents in advance of the decision-making. Residents of other neighbourhoods were invited to join them at this rally. A leaflet providing information about the rally is available on the Norquay website (in English and Chinese).

(aka the Dunbar History Project)

Visit The Story of Dunbar site for a full description of the book. The publisher is Dunbar’s Ronsdale Press and the book is available at the following Dunbar stores.* The Upscale Garage Store (between 18th & 19th, eastside)
* Dunbar Greetings (BJ’s postoffice)
* Ashlee’s
* Carson’s Second Hand Books
* Shoppers
* Stongs

Our advice is to buy NOW as only 5500 books were printed and they are really selling quickly.

The “Story of Dunbar” Team!
(photo courtesy Tom Grant)

This book was a labour of love for the above Dunbar residents photographed at the May 2007 book launch. These are the people responsible for all the research and writing that went into making The Story of Dunbar such a complete history of Dunbar through the decades.

The following paragraphs are quoted directly from Lisa Smedman’s article on The Story of Dunbar in the June 15th, 2007 issue of the Vancouver Courier.

Although The Story of Dunbar will have a nostalgic appeal to those who live in the neighbourhood, its reach is broader than a mere neighbourhood.

It’s a fascinating, in-depth glimpse into the growth of one corner of the city-a project that begs to be duplicated in other neighbourhoods.

Our Mandate

The job of the Dunbar Residents’ Association is to ensure that change in our neighbourhood continues to support the wants and needs of the people who live in Dunbar. For almost 20 years we have advanced this cause with all levels of government (primarily the City), with our neighbouring communities, and even with ourselves. In that time we have had some successes and gained friends and allies throughout the city in our efforts to make Dunbar – and all other neighbourhoods – a better place to live. There is still resistance at City Hall to the idea that neighbourhoods should have some control over their own affairs. We do not yet know if the new City Council shares this one-size-fits-all view of neighbourhood planning, but we intend to find out.

Population: 21,000. Located in the south-west side of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Dunbar runs south from 16th to 41st Avenues, east to Blenheim St./MacKenzie St./and Puget Dr., and west to the University Endowment Lands. Southlands is in the southwest corner of Vancouver, bordered by the University Endowment Lands, the Fraser River and SW Marine Drive.

Not familiar with Dunbar Heights? Take the excellent Dunbar Heights Slide Video Tour. This was produced and directed by a local Dunbar architect.

Tested with the following:

• IE6 and X/P (WinPlayer11)
• FireFox1.5.0.2 and X/P (WinPlayer11)
• Opera9 and X//P (WinPlayer11)
• IE6 and Win98 (WinPlayer9)
• Opera7.1 and Win98 (WinPlayer9)
  Note: Except for MSIE in X/P the aspect ratio is slightly increased in favour of the horizontal.

Alternate viewing method

Load your favourite media player > Go to the main menu click File > Open URL.
And then entry the URL http://dunbar-vancouver.org/Dunbar2006r1.wmv