Demolition Lane

The City has paved some lanes this summer; here is one that is one day old. It is a deceiving bucolic scene.
The lane replaced a plethora of pot holes and is now great for biking and kids' street hockey. It is also good for demolition equipment. The first demolition with the new lane took place on September 1. Here is a photo of the 1940 house in January 2011:

This last photo shows a vignette of 3 demolitions. To the left is the new house, from the demolition described in my first blog, of January 3. Between the two houses is new construction replacing a house torn down on July 18.

It is possible that the lane has or will see 10 demolitions within a relatively short period of time.

1. Torn down prior to September 2010, now a recently occupied new house.
2. Torn down October 2010, new house nearly finished, my first blog, January 3.
3. Torn down July 18, 2011, my blog of July 20.
4. Partially torn down July 2011; the family is doing an extreme renovation (this is good!)
5. Torn down September 1, 2011, this blog.
6. Due to be torn down soon, quite derelict.
7. Sold May 2011, and neighbourhood talk is that it is to be torn down because of the survey markers and red marks on the sidewalk, but people just moved in.
8. Sold August 2011 as "fabulous opportunity to build or hold".
9. Sold in 2010 and rented out, house could use some work.
10. Sold January 2011 and rented out; a very nice renovated house.

Renting is a concern because the owner/developer obviously lives elsewhere and may be "holding" to teardown later. A couple of these properties appeared to be sold twice.

These are 33 foot lots, except for no. 9 which is wider.

To be continued...

Three Large Houses, Now Gone

This was a luxurious home in 1929, built on a 60 by 140 foot lot, with no lane in the rear. It has been replaced by a larger house, but will more people live there?
A wet scene from January:
Houses on corners are vulnerable to demolition, and that happened to this house, which appeared to be in good condition. The lot is 50 feet wide, but the new house has a larger footprint than the previous one.
The demolition had an asbestos issue:

Although this third house was on a corner bordering 41st Avenue, it was effectively shielded from the busy street by a screen of trees, now removed. The wide lot was recently subdivided, so there could be two houses constructed here. Zoning does not allow for a more energy-efficient duplex or triplex (which could still allow decent green space due to the size of the lot), but the location would be a candidate for more density since it is near commercial buildings and an express bus stop.

The Vancouver Courier columnist, Sandra Thomas wrote about her house being for sale and likely being torn down. In response, Peter Ladner wrote a letter to the Vancouver Courier, stating that the City should "require any teardown to be replaced with a duplex or triplex". The latest Vancouver Courier has a followup letter, pointing out that demolishing houses produces a lot of garbage and does not get us closer to providing affordable housing.

Usually, getting more density requires a trade-off with green space. But in the Dunbar area, with our current zoning regulations, there are numerous lots where we are losing double--we are losing both green space and density.

A May Demolition on King Edward

I'm sorry that I didn't get a photo of this cute house before it began to be torn down. It is of the same era as the one at 3820 West King Edward (torn down in June--see blog of June 27), but it has the addition of an enclosed front entry. On April 3, the house looked like this.

There was a lovely gate, but it is gone. There is still evidence of a beautiful and well cared for garden.


On May 4, more of the house is gone.
It was torn down prior to May 15.