Streetcars and the Organic City: Vancouver Development History Part I 1886 - 1928

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This video helps understand Vancouver BC Canada explaining how some decisions were made that gave us the metropolitan region we have today.
Whether you are bored and looking for something to do in Vancouver or are a tourist wanting to better understand what you are experiencing or are a student of urban development history you will find this video interesting.
This documentary reveals the history of municipalities like Burnaby, New Westminster, Richmond, Surrey, Langley, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, North Vancouver and Coquitlam as well as places like Buntzen Lake and the Vedder Canal,
The first 40 years of Vancouver development had surprisingly little government involvement. The Canadian Pacific Railway laid out and named its streets before the city government even existed.
Robert Horne-Payne, a young financier in London, bought three bankrupt BC streetcar companies and created the BC Electric Railway Company. His ability to raise capital and his careful management led him to become one of the most important influences on the Metro Vancouver we know today.
After a local manager jeopardized the company by overextending commitments, Horne-Payne personally took responsibility for all major decisions up to 1928 when he sold the company and died shortly after. During the great period of growth Horne-Payne used a three wheeled wheelchair and never visited Vancouver.
BC Electric provided transit for Metro Vancouver and Victoria without public subsidies until it was nationalized by BC Transit in 1961. Transit has been subsidized by taxes ever since.
BC Electric decided which streets would be major arterials based on the needs of the streetcars and market forces. Vancouver's much loved shopping streets are former streetcar lines that were built before zoning. Homeowners along the lines converted their houses into stores. Most transit lines built after zoning was introduced to Vancouver do not have intensive retail. Horne-Payne shunned real estate speculation or development, focussing instead on his core business.
Horne-Payne developed BC's hydroelectric sector by building the innovative Buntzen Lake power project(Buntzen was the local manager).
Although the streetcar tracks were removed in the 1950s their influence remains. It is not possible to understand the city and the region of today without a good knowledge of how the streetcar influenced development.
Vancouver and New Westminster were the original streetcar cities. In 1890 they were linked with an interurban line that prompted South Vancouver and Burnaby to incorporate. Other cities like Chilliwack also incorporated in anticipation of the interurban line. Richmond, Surrey, Langley, Abbotsford, North Vancouver and Coquitlam were greatly influenced by Horne-Payne's decisions.
Kumtuks is a video blog that shares knowledge and explores new narratives. Some quotes and descriptors have been adjusted for clarity and brevity. Please subscribe if you would like to be notified of new videos. If you would like to receive additional commentary and notices and support more videos / kumtuks .
Sam Sullivan is a Member of the Order of Canada, a former Mayor of Vancouver and Cabinet Minister responsible for Cities and Transit and a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.
Special thanks to Henry Ewert for his advice on this video.
We also thank Sheila Ross for supporting the production of this video. She rode the streetcars when she was a young girl and wanted to share this with younger generations.
Stay up-to-date by visiting the Kumtuks website: www.kumtuks.ca
You might want to check out some excellent videos related to Vancouver and Streetcars:
History of Vancouver: streetcars, Granville Bridge, South Granville neighbourhood
Canada 1907 (Vancouver) 4K 60Fps Colorized
A Century of Planning Vancouver: From Bartholomew to City Plan with Michael Kluckner
CITY REFLECTIONS: VANCOUVER 1907 | 2007
Vancouver's Streetcar Drama | CBC Short Film by Uytae Lee
Why are we Getting Rid of a Highway in Vancouver?

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23 янв 2020

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Комментарии : 28

@andrewjensen8189 3 года назад

My great grandfather opened up a hardware store in the 70s-80s on Robson street, I never really put two and two together but my family owes all its wealth to CPR and the Robson street car. That hardware store allowed my great grandparents to build a small residential building, buy their own house, and a house for my grandfather. Property values allowed these assets to compound, leaving my Dad and aunt with ~$5mil each. Thanks CPR!

@Kumtuks 3 года назад

We all owe thanks to the CPR for the prosperity of Vancouver

@perrythorvig6446 2 года назад

These graphics are outstanding!

@tommystunestoons 2 года назад

Sam Sullivan was the one who first came up with the approach to the Little Mountain redevelopment that he described as a "model" for the rest of BC. 15 years later and it's still not rebuilt, hundreds of families displaced, and a community forever destroyed.

@robertcartwright4374 2 года назад

I know. There's a housing shortage, so what did they do? They knocked down a bunch of perfectly good social housing units so they can have an empty lot instead! What a bunch of geniuses.

@marcguidobolen693 2 года назад

This guy really loves market forces.

@CharlotteIssyvoo 2 года назад

Oh yes. We all know that. Interesting video though.

@neilvokey 2 года назад

"and there was no government to bail them out" lol - His business died a dignified capitalist death. Like it's a good thing to lose valuable public transit.

@barnhall4395 3 года назад

Hopefully, "Rails to the Valley" will bring back passenger service. BC hydro, the child of the BCER, owns the passenger rights for that line.

@trainstramstrolleystravel7692 6 месяцев назад

This is an interesting and accurate presentation, as far as it goes. What is conveniently omitted is discussion of the antagonistic nature of the relationship between BCER and the City of Vancouver, and the effect of that relationship on the growth of the city. This sour relationship dates back to 1890. BCER was seen as a money-grubbing monopoly, making lots of money off its electric, town gas and transportation businesses. The burdens imposed on the street railway company by the City were not unique to Vancouver, but did include payment of a substantial franchise fee (to the City) for the privilege of operating on City streets (something that did not end until the 1960's) as well as street maintenance requirements on the arterials where streetcars ran (which had a role in hastening the demise of the streetcar system). The antagonistic pressures mounted after World War II when council successfully influenced BCER to close streetcar lines and tear up its tracks, to the point where all lines were gone by 1955, despite BCER's initial plan to retain the Hastings East and Grandview lines using modern equipment. The "subsidy" you mention didn't come into being until much later than 1961: at first, the new BC Hydro & Power Authority cross-subsidized a money-losing transit service from its utility profits, something that persisted until the late 1970's. Even then, much of the civic portion of the "subsidy" came from new taxation sources granted by the Province of BC, including the regressive hydro account surcharge which continues to this day as the Regional Transit Levy. (This has nothing to do with the provision of hydro services to BC Hydro's customers; it is simply a final kick at the old utility company.) Unlike most of the rest of Canada, where municipalities stepped up to provide transit services as a municipal function, some as early as pre-World War I (Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal all had municipal or regional systems early), Vancouver had an undeserved free ride from the electric utility long after it should have ended. The institutional format we see today (Translink and its subsidiaries such as Coast Mountain Bus Company) are a direct result of Vancouver, and other municipalities, shirking their responsibility for the transit function for several decades after it became the norm for this to be a municipal function. Had the cities acquired this function at the right time, and been forced to fund improvements and operations from true municipal taxation sources, one wonders whether decisions would have been made differently, inlcuing the nearly-billion dollar decision to bury the Canada Line's run through South Vancouver. If all the players had brought real money to the table, I suspect this money would have been spent on something else, rather than saving a few "heritage" trees which I witnessed being planted as saplings as a youth. Trees are nice, but, really, a billion dollars? Other decisions which hinder the efficient and effective provision of transit services would likely be different if the system were a municipal department (e.g. the closure of Robson St beween Howe and Hornby which seriously disrupts bus service on Robson). We are lucky that the system was supported by BCER and BC Hydro as long as it was, (and that the public continued to use it) as enough of a viable system existed in the 1970's/1980's to be able to make a truly great transit system with among the highest overall ridership in North America.

@Kumtuks 6 месяцев назад

Thank you for this very excellent analysis and history. It is easy to criticize the company, but the citizens never supported the city taking it over. By having a private company run the transportation system decisions were a lot more prudent. When it was politicized, there was a dramatic expansion into areas did not have the density to support it. But the decisions were political, not financial.

@trainstramstrolleystravel7692 6 месяцев назад

@@Kumtuks Not quite. There was huge latent demand for service in the municipalities that were beyond that traditional BCER service area that remained unserved by the metro system until the 1970's. Can you imagine the Tri-Cities (PoCo, PoMo and Coquitlam) or Surrey/Delta/White Rock with virtually no transit service? It was theorized that the implementation of a comprehensive network in these communities would see almost immediate acceptance, and this was the case in the areas mentioned. The FastBus concept was a deliberate precursor to rail transit which eventually manifested itself as Skytrain. I personally drew out the first sketch maps for the Tri-Cities services in my capacity as a planner at what was then the Bureau of Transit Services: amazing to think that the system went from sketch plans to full implementation in about half a year, something that could not be achieved today. Corporate prudence is all well and good, but it did not induce any service expansion when the math showed that even a full bus would run at a financial loss, but other social benefits would, (and have) flowed since those days in the mid-1970s when the first system expansion took place since the post-war modernizations which eliminated streetcars, but only expanded the service area by a relatively small area (principally the eastern area of the City of Vancouver, Burnaby and Richmond).

@420greatestqueen 2 года назад

I wish crown still had a running street car

@noelgenoway9360 2 года назад

Bring back the street car to Vanciuver!!

@jamesschultz3190 3 года назад

Good Video showing how the lines went up yr after yr ... too bad didn't also show them being taken out..

@lmiddleman 3 года назад

Map error! Granville Island did not exist in 1891! It is man-made and was built around the same time False Creek was filled east of Main.

@andrewjensen8189 3 года назад

Hey you mentioned that Quilchena park used to house some of the largest timber in the world, do you have any sources I can explore this topic further with? I live near Quilchena park and have visited there throughout my life.

@Kumtuks 3 года назад

The timbers in the Forbidden Palace of Beijing were taken from this area. Jeremiah Rogers cut most of the logs and brought them to Jerry's Cove named after him which we now call Jericho.

@420greatestqueen 2 года назад

The train’s path to kerrisdale is the arbutus greenway

@qshakir 4 месяца назад

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 🚋 Vancouver's development was heavily influenced by the streetcar system. 💡 Robert Horne-Payne played a significant role in shaping Vancouver's transportation infrastructure. 🏙️ Streetcars expanded the city's radius, leading to the development of streetcar suburbs. 🏠 Housing preferences in the past favored single detached houses, influenced by status symbols and accessibility. 🛒 Neighborhood shopping streets often originated from successful streetcar lines, fostering local retail. ⚡ BC Electric's focus on technology and expert management influenced Vancouver's culture and infrastructure. 🚌 The introduction of gas-powered automobiles marked the beginning of the decline of streetcars. 🌱 Vancouver's growth was largely organic, driven by market forces with minimal government intervention. Made with HARPA AI

@neilvokey 2 года назад

"He refused to get involved in land speculation"... uh no Sam. If he refused to approve line extensions unless there were "contributions by landowners" he was most definitely "involved" in land speculation. Bringing transit to far flung suburbs increased property values and he was just making sure he got his fair share in the racket.

@Kumtuks 2 года назад

He did not purchase land where he was going to build a streetcar line or interurban line. He would only build a line if there was already development happening even without transit. This gave him confidence that it was a market driven project. Then he would ask landowners if they would contribute. Many did as their property would be worth much more. But he did not join in the speculation and building. The one place this did not work was the Fraser Valley with the Interurban to Chilliwack. Although the farmers made a lot of money especially with the daily milk runs to Vancouver, those farmers refused to contribute so he was largely on his own with the cost of the rail infrastructure.

@CharlotteIssyvoo 2 года назад

You did so well in leaving your politics out of it... until the very last sentence. Still, a very interesting video.

@gardeyoyo 3 года назад

The pioneering days.

@JoseFernandez-kw8lh 2 года назад

There’s a huge mistake stating the first countries or cities in the world with streetlights. The map is wrong because it shows Nicaragua instead of Costa Rica among the first countries which have this service (1:30)

@Kumtuks 2 года назад

Yes you are right. Sorry for this error. San Jose Costa Rica was 1884. Way ahead of most cities in the world!