Vancouver

Name: Happy Cities

About: Happy Cities is an urban planning, design, and engagement consulting firm with a mission to create happier, healthier, more inclusive communities. As part of its housing practice, Happy Cities advises municipalities, developers, and housing providers on strategies to support resident wellbeing throughout development and after move-in.

The organization’s Happy Homes research shows how intentional design can reduce social isolation, support age-friendly homes, and boost community resilience in multi-unit buildings, culminating in a toolkit to help housing providers turn wellbeing evidence into action. Happy Cities has applied these design strategies to developments like Our Urban Village Cohousing, an innovative missing middle project that offers a promising solution to Vancouver’s housing and social isolation crises. Along with showcasing the many benefits of gentle density, the project identifies solutions to reducing some of the financial and policy barriers that can impede community-oriented housing models.

For more information, head to their website.

As Vancouver grows and evolves, we need to ensure that there are housing options that meet the needs of the diverse households that live and work here, including more “missing middle” housing options. With the help of Quickviz, the City of Vancouver developed this useful video that illustrates the changes proposed to allow more of this type housing in low density neighbourhoods across the city as part of the implementation of the Vancouver Plan. The animation depicts a standard block with a variety of housing options, including multiplexes (buildings with up to 6 units on a single lot).


As Vancouver grows and evolves, we need to ensure that there are housing options that meet the needs of the diverse households that live and work here, including more “missing middle” housing. With the help of Uytae Lee from About Here, the City of Vancouver explains what the “missing middle” is, and why they are exploring changes to allow more of this type of housing, including multiplexes (buildings with up to 6 units on a single lot), in low density neighbourhoods across the city as part of the implementation of the Vancouver Plan.

Overview of municipal resources pertaining to gentle density and broader planning materials.

This study investigates how to right-size the amount of on-site and off-street parking allocated to new apartment building developments.

Key insights:

This technical report brought forward a number of new insights about street parking supply and utilization, for example:

  • Apartment parking supply remains excessive relative to observed utilization. Apartment buildings close to frequent transit, whether or bus or SkyTrain, have lower parking supply and utilization
  • The lower rates of parking utilization are associated with higher transit use as measured by the number of bus boardings near the buildings, and this relationship is stronger for rental apartment sites
  • Street parking is inherently complex in mixed-use neighbourhoods. Some of the factors contributing to street parking use include visitors to non-residential land uses, such as restaurants, shops, and parks; apartment visitors on weekends, holidays, and special occasions; and some apartment residents parking on the street. Even with these factors, only a handful of surveyed street networks experienced persistently high street parking utilization.
  • Finally, the 2018 Regional Parking Study highlights a challenge that remains unchanged from the 2012 Study. The design and capacity of current bicycle parking facilities in apartment buildings are discouraging their use by many residents.

The findings indicate that the parking supply in Metro Vancouver outpaces observed utilization, and apartments close to frequent bus and train transit networks display lower parking utilization rates. Parking in mixed-use neighbourhoods was observed to have unique trends that varied by time of day and weekday versus weekend and holiday travel.

This technical report was prepared by TransLink and Metro Vancouver.