Victoria's Bizarre Neighbourhood Borders Are Getting An Update!
Well maybe…
If you have been reading Sidewalking Victoria for a few years you may have read my post on a lonely traffic sign or the odd borders of downtown and the Fairfield or Burnside-Gorge neighbourhoods. All of these strange incongruencies still exist today, but there is hope!
I was amazed to find out last week from a friend that the City is quietly attempting to review the borders of several (though not all) of the neighbourhood borders. Many of the proposed changes align pretty much exactly with what I have been suggesting since 2016. The City’s suggested changes can be seen here, but I am going to go through them one by one.
Before I do that though, I should reassert what I think should determine a neighbourhood boundary and how it should change. When it comes to neighbourhoods in Victoria, you often will know when you are in the middle of it, but as you move away from the middle it becomes fuzzy or incongruent. We also think we know what makes up the neighbourhoods’ characters, whether it is the granola flavours of Fernwood or the North Face jackets of Fairfield. Of course the Volvo Dealership on Cook Street has distinctly non-granola flavour and you are unlikely to find that same Cook Street vibe at Quadra and Fort Street. Part of this comes from the fact that our neighbourhood boundaries are arbitrary political boundaries or old marketing names rather than organically developed place names created by those who live there.
After all this time, we are pretty stuck with our broader neighbourhood names and as I have alluded to, we kind of know what each neighbourhood emotes. It is these feelings and the built form around them that should define the neighbourhoods rather than just lines on a map. As a the feeling of a neighbourhood dissipates and shifts into another form so should the official lines of the neighbourhood end. Over time that built form and emoting will shift and so should the lines of the neighbourhood. I would suggest that these lines should be reviewed at least every decade to see if they still make sense.
Areas of possible change - City of Victoria Map
So that brings me to the suggestions being put forward by the City.
North Jubilee panhandle - For whatever reason, a tiny sliver of land to the east of Shelbourne Street has been a part of the North Jubilee neighbourhood rather than the larger Oaklands to the west. In a perfect world the part of Saanich that is just to the east of here would also be part of the same neighbourhood. Anyways final verdict yes this should change and this was in my 2016 map.
Fernwood between Bay and Haultain - Despite Haultain Corners being the centre of the Oaklands neighbourhood life, half of it technically sits in the Fernwood neighbourhood. The block south of Haultain is so clearly part of the same neighbourhood as the rest Oaklands that it is bizarre that it would fall under Fernwood. So moving this area into Oaklands make sense and yes I also had this in my 2016 map.
Looking at Fairfield
800 Block between Fort and Academy Close - This is perhaps the most important one on the list. As I said in my first article about the borders, few would recognise that the Starbucks at the corner of Fort and Blanshard as being part of the Fairfield neighbourhood, but it currently is. The plan here would have the border move a block east to Quadra. The northern border would be Meares for the 900 block eastward where I had argued for Rockland but otherwise also pretty much what I proposed.
The NotCh - I have written a couple of articles on the area just to the north of downtown and south of Bay, an area that was the named the NotCh (North of Chatham) many years ago on Vibrant Victoria. This area is so very clearly an extension of downtown and not part of the Burnside-Gorge neighbourhood so I am pleased to see this on the list. This would effectively make Bay Street the boundary between the northern Victoria neighbourhoods and the central ones. I had this as a suggested change in my map as well. I also further divided Rock Bay into its own neighbourhood but that might be a bridge too far at this point.
The Jubilees - North and South Jubilee are likely the most unknown neighbourhoods in the city, perhaps even more so than North Park. I think that a big part of that is that they have been divided into two separate neighbourhoods for not any apparent reason. The City is proposing a reunification (or maybe just unification). I am unaware of any longstanding disputes or animosities between the two neighbourhoods and joining them together would give them a louder voice. It also may give some impetus to buildings a stronger neighbourhood centre along Fort Street. I definitely was already advocating this change in 2016.
Harris Green - Despite having the same community association with downtown Victoria in the Downtown Residents Association, Harris Green has remained its own neighbourhood on paper. Over the last couple of decades the blur between the the two has grown and Harris Green while as distinct in my opinion as Old Town and Chinatown, is fully part of Downtown Victoria. This one was on my map as well but I actually pushed the border up the hill to past Central Junior because due to the way Pandora and Fort act as boundaries in themselves to a neighbourhood, I think that this area is more Harris Green than Fernwood. Again maybe in the next iteration.
The Big Missing Piece - In my 2016 map, I already pointed out that I would split Burnside-Gorge into two neighbourhoods to align better with the different feels of the areas. I also suggested moving the block south of the Empress with the Museum and a few Government buildings into the Downtown neighbourhood. Those were lessor asks, but there is one glaringly huge oversight in this review and that is North Park. As many of you will know I have been a strong advocate for the little neighbourhood north of downtown (well Harris Green…) and one of my favourite parts of it is North Park Village, that said like Haultain Corners, half or it actually sits in Fernwood. Again the feeling of this eastern edge is pure North Park up to Chambers and should be included as a further change.
Despite all the positivity in these proposals, as you will see in the letter to staff, the City is asking for feedback from neighbourhood associations. I could be wrong, but I cannot imagine any neighbourhood that is asked whether they should lose part of their territory and with it potential funding, saying that they should. Indeed, I expect many of the associations to be vocally opposed to these changes and with colourful arguments as to why the status quo is better. Still, I will remain hopeful!
Are there any neighbourhood boundary changes that you would advocate for Victoria that are not on the list?
Burnside-Gorge!