Our friends in canada may recognize this, as it comes from Vancouver,
british columbia.  the introduction below tells more about this guide.
Try considering the Vancouver-specific information as examples as to what
is possible in your community.  While the examples are not disability
specific, consider the processes used, skills needed or developed, and how
projects happened, rather than the specific content of the project itself.

kelly



>From the web page http://www.vcn.bc.ca/citizens-handbook

                      THE CITIZEN'S HANDBOOK

     A GUIDE TO BUILDING COMMUNITY IN VANCOUVER

     Charles Dobson
     Vancouver Citizens Committee

     As far as we know this is the most complete grassroots
     organizing guide available on the Internet. It is
     recommended by many pointer sites, including Yahoo.
     The introduction and sections 1, 2, and 3 will be
     useful to people living in other cities.

     Introduction


     1 Community Organizing

         Introduction to Organizing
         Beginning
         Research
         Planning and Acting
         Getting Noticed
         Evaluating
         Getting People
         Keeping People
         Leading
         Meeting and Deciding
         Facilitating
         Fundraising
         Group Structure


     2 Community Building Activities

         Child Minding Co-ops
         Community Gardens
         Community Kitchens
         Block Watch and Block Parents
         Community Crime Prevention
         Block Parties
         Block Cleanups
         Festivals and Parades
         Guerrilla Gardening
         Community Image Making
         Intergenerational Activities
         Environmental Activities
         Organizing around Hot Issues
         Block by Block Organizing
         Kitchen Table Discussion Groups
         Visioning Exercises
         Information Sharing
         Other Activities


     3 The Citizen's Library - Book Reviews

         Books on building local democracy
         Books on action organizing
         Books on publicity and media advocacy
         Books on working with others
         Books on cities and Vancouver reports
         Magazines

     HOT/ Models of Neighbourhood Participation in Local
     Government

     Vancouver Projects

     Vancouver Programs

     Vancouver Citizen-Focused Organizations

     Vancouver Community-Based Organizations

     Community Profiles of Vancouver's Local Areas

     Who to Call at City Hall

    Frisky Democracy - coming soon - a site for building
    strong democracy
    Need a hard copy of the Citizen's Handbook?
    The City of Vancouver makes copies available for the
    cost of printing. Contact: The Planning Department, East
    Wing, Vancouver City Hall, 453 West 12th Ave, Vancouver,
    British Columbia, Canada, V5Y 1V4. The Handbook is 150
    pages formatted 5.25 inches X 8.50 inches. The cost is
    $7.49 Canadian (includes taxes). To ship anywhere in the
    world, add $5.35 Canadian.

    Vancouver Citizens Committee
    522 East 10th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. Canada V5T 2A4
    Phone: (604) 877-0109 Fax: (604) 879-1550
    Email: Charles Dobson ([log in to unmask])

    Tell us what you think.
    We intend to keep expanding and improving the Citizens
    Handbook. To do this we need suggestions from people
    with grassroots experience. If you have suggestions send
    us an email.
    Contributors so far:
    Melodie Corrigall, Jim Miller, Megan Stuart-Stubbs,
    Barbara Berry, Vickie Jo Morris, Claire Gram, Ruth
    Farrell, Margaret Mitchell, Chris Warren, Mariken Van
    Nimwegen, and Jon Munn. Thanks also to the Neil K Guy,
    Colin Stark and Greg Sturk of the Vancouver CommunityNet
    without whom the present Handbook would have been
    virtually impossible.


    The Citizen's Handbook (c) 1995-96 Vancouver Citizens
    Committee. The Vancouver Citizens Committee seeks to
    promote community, citizen participation and local
    democracy.

----------
     Introduction

    Why we need more active citizens
    The Citizens Handbook is meant to encourage the
    emergence of more active citizens - people motivated by
    an interest in public issues, and a desire to make a
    difference beyond their own private lives. Active
    citizens are a great untapped resource, and citizenship
    is a quality to be nurtured. Here's why.
    A way of tackling large public issues
    In British Columbia, no less than eight recent task
    force reports have identified more active citizens as
    the key to responding more effectively to large scale
    public issues. The reports include When the Bough Breaks
    (on child protection); the Ready Or Not! Final Report
    (on aging); Making Changes (on family services); Closer
    to Home (on health care); Greenways/Publicways (on the
    urban landscape); Clouds of Change (on atmospheric
    change); Report of the Round-table on the Environment
    and the Economy; and the Safer City Task Force Report.
    A way of solving local problems
    When people become involved in their neighbourhoods they
    can become a potent force for dealing with local
    problems. Through co-ordinated planning, research and
    action, they can accomplish what individuals working
    alone could not.
    When people decide they are going to be part of the
    solution, local problems start getting solved. When they
    actually begin to work with other individuals, schools,
    associations, businesses, and government service
    providers, there is no limit to what they can
    accomplish.
    A way of improving liveability
    Citizens can make cities work better because they
    understand their own neighbourhoods better than anyone
    else. Giving them some responsibility for looking after
    their part of town is a way of effectively addressing
    local preferences and priorities. Understandably,
    boosting citizen participation improves liveability. It
    is no coincidence that Portland, Oregon - a city with a
    tradition of working in partnership with neighbourhoods
    - regularly receives the highest score for liveability
    of any U.S. city.
    Cities are sources of potential conflict, between
    government and citizens, between different citizens
    groups, and between citizens and special interests such
    as real estate developers. Recent studies have shown
    that greater citizen participation in civic affairs can
    reduce all of these sources of conflict. In particular
    it can prevent the firestorms associated with changes
    brought about by growth and renewal.
    A bridge to strong democracy
    When citizens get together at the neighbourhood level,
    they generate a number of remarkable side effects. One
    of these is strengthened democracy. In simple terms,
    democracy means that the people decide. Political
    scientists describe our system of voting every few years
    but otherwise leaving everything up to government as
    weak democracy. In weak democracy, citizens have no
    role, no real part in decision-making between elections.
    Experts assume responsibility for deciding how to deal
    with important public issues.
    The great movement of the last decades of the twentieth
    century has been a drive toward stronger democracy in
    corporations, institutions and governments. In many
    cities this has resulted in the formal recognition of
    neighbourhood groups as a link between people and
    municipal government, and a venue for citizen
    participation in decision-making between elections.
    A little recognized route to better health
    In the late 1980s, following Canada's lead, the World
    Health Organization broadened its definition of health
    to account for the fact that health is much more than
    the absence of disease. The new definition recognizes
    that only 25% of our health status comes from health
    care, the rest comes from the effects of an adequate
    education and income, a clean environment, secure
    housing and employment, the ability to control stress,
    and a social support network.
    Understandably, public health professionals have become
    some of the strongest advocates for more active
    citizens. Health Canada has provided many resources to
    nurture the grassroots including the recent Community
    Action Pack, a full crate of material on community
    organizing.
    A way of rekindling community
    Active citizens can help to create a sense of community
    connected to place. We all live somewhere. As such we
    share a unique collection of problems and prospects in
    common with our neighbours. Participation in
    neighbourhood affairs builds on a recognition of
    here-we-are-together, and a yearning to recapture
    something of the tight-knit communities of the past.
    Neighbourhood groups can act as vehicles for making
    connections between people, forums for resolving local
    differences, and a means of looking after one another.
    Most important, they can create a positive social
    environment that can become one of the best features of
    a place.

----------
      Introduction to Community Organizing

     Do-It-Yourself Organizing
     This section is a do-it-yourself guide to grassroots
     organizing. It focuses on bringing together people who
     share a common place such as an apartment building,
     city block, or neighbourhood. The focus on people
     acting together does not diminish the importance of
     citizens acting alone. Nor does the focus on
     organizing around a place diminish the importance of
     organizing around an issue.

     Learn-it-yourself organizing
     Before you can do-it-yourself you will have to
     learn-it-yourself. Most provinces in Canada do not
     offer full training programs in community organizing.
     In Canada, our faith in government has placed
     decisions about our communities in the hands of
     politicians and professionals.

     When you can't do it all yourself
     A paid, experienced organizer can help when the task
     is to pull citizens together quickly, or involve
     people who normally stay at home.
     Paid organizers often begin by gathering information
     on the neighbourhood, then proceed by introducing
     themselves to residents, bringing people together in
     discussion groups, building self-help skills, and
     finally, training new leaders to take over the
     organizing task. The presence of a professional
     organizer may lead some volunteers to wonder why they
     are working for free while someone else is being paid.
     A few groups have addressed this problem by turning
     funds for an organizer into honoraria for volunteers.
     For tips on hiring a paid organizer see Taking Action
     by Elizabeth Amer, reviewed in "The Citizen's Library".

     The Active Ingredients of Organizing
     Community organizing is often presented as a
     step-by-step process. The ingredients of a process
     often make sense, but the step-by-step sequence
     usually fails to fit actual circumstances.
     What we've done is look at community organizing from
     the point of view of its ingredients. Which of these
     you turn to at any given time will depend on your
     circumstances. Except for the first, ingredients are
     added and readded regularly as part of community
     organizing. All, as well, are interwoven. For example,
     planning requires research, which depends on getting
     and keeping people, which is affected by decision
     making, which requires evaluating, and so on.

----------
      Beginning
     Where do you begin if you want to become more involved
     in your neighbourhood? Here are some options.

     Begin with research
     Although professionals often start with research, you
     don't have to start here. On the other hand, you might
     be wise to begin with research if you intend to tackle
     an issue you do not fully understand.

     Begin with a community building activity
     The "Community Building Activities" section of the
     Handbook lists seventeen informal opportunities for
     neighbours to meet one another. The bulk of community
     building in Vancouver comes from these activities. The
     most common are Organizing Around an Issue, and Block
     Watch.

     Begin by joining an existing group
     Most neighbourhoods have many different kinds of
     active organizations. Linking up with one of these can
     be an easy way to get involved. Begin by checking out
     the groups listed in the "Inventory of Community
     Organizations".

     Begin by starting a new group
     If working with an existing group looks difficult, you
     might have to start a new group. New neighbourhood
     organizations usually form around a core of three to
     five committed people. Putting together a core of
     first-rate people is worth the effort. Once you have
     done so consider these questions:

       * What are we trying to do?
       * What size of area are we going to organize?
         (The smaller the area, the easier.)
       * Who will support our efforts?
       * What is a good idea for our first action? (It
         should be simple, focus on a local concern, and
         increase the group's visibility.)
       * How are we going to reach out to others?
         Should we organize a general meeting and invite
         the community?

     Make a special effort to remain friendly with other
     local groups that have similar goals. Friendliness can
     replace the common tendency toward competition with
     the potential of cooperation. Inter-group cooperation
     is the engine of real progress at the grassroots.

----------
      Researching

     Cities behave in tricky ways. What may seem an obvious
     problem, or an obvious solution often seems less so
     after a little research. Acting before researching can
     waste time and energy. It can also reinforce the
     stereotype of active citizens as highly vocal, but
     largely uninformed. The stereotype is the most
     often-cited excuse for dismissing calls for greater
     citizen participation in local decision-making.

         Here is a typical story of what can happen for
         lack of a little research. People living in a
         quiet neighbourhood receive notice of a
         proposal to use a nearby residence as a
         psychiatric half-way house. Fears of "crazy
         people" running amok prompt them to form an ad
         hoc citizens group, which moves swiftly into
         action to combat the proposal. Having skipped
         research, they don't discover that most
         special needs residential facilities (or
         snrfs) do not create problems, or reduce
         property values. They don't discover that most
         snrfs are not even known to local residents.
         Without these facts, the group goes to battle.
         Over nothing.

     Gather existing information on your neighbourhood
     Information on your part of town already exists. The
     municipal planning department has community profiles,
     traffic studies, zoning and other maps, aerial photos,
     and possibly an official community plan. Local health
     authorities or service agencies may have a needs
     assessment or more focused studies of your area. Back
     copies of community newsletters and local newspapers
     will contain the recent history of many local issues.
     Your branch of the public library will have copies of
     many local reports, studies and newsletters.

     Find out what people want
     In the absence of a single over-riding concern, your
     group will have to identify neighbourhood issues. In
     many cases you will try to answer the following
     questions:

    * What do residents like about the neighbourhood, and what
      do they want to change?
    * What are the opportunities for making the neighbourhood
      more interesting, identifiable, understandable, helpful,
      friendly.
    * What is the highest priority problem? Who is affected?
    * Where is it located? What has been done? What can be done?
      Who can help?

     Give this research some time. A question such as,
     "What do you like about the neighbourhood, and what do
     you want to change?", can take a group a couple of
     evenings to itemize, condense and prioritize.

     Consider a survey of residents
     Any survey requiring face-to-face interaction not only
     provides information but helps build community. For
     details on conducting a listening survey see "The
     Downtown Eastside Listening Project" in the chapter ,"
     Local Projects".

     Go to those in the know
     Interview those who know what is going on in the
     community, and those who know how to deal with an
     issue. Often they are people with first-hand
     experience. A small focus-group discussion with six
     teens can reveal more about teens in the community
     than a survey of 500 adults. Other sources of
     information are community activists, such as the
     contact persons named in "Community Building
     Activities" and "The Inventory of Community
     Organizations".

     Discover your human resources
     To really understand your neighbourhood, you need to
     research its capacity to act. Start by answering these
     questions:

    * Who can help?
    * What resources does our community have: public
      institutions, business groups, religious organizations,
      citizen associations, clubs, ethnic groups, sports and
      recreational groups, cultural associations, service
      groups, major property owners, businesses, individuals?
      For a practical guide to tapping local capacity see John
      Kretzmann's and John McKnight's book, " Building
      Communities from the Inside Out", reviewed in "The
      Citizen's Library".
    * How, why and where do people get together?
    * How do people find out what is going on?
    * Who most influences local decisions, local funding, and
      local investment? Who has a big stake in the neighbourhood?

     Research solutions from other places
     A problem in your neighbourhood probably exists in
     other neighbourhoods in Vancouver and other cities.
     Find out how citizens in other places are solving the
     problem. Connect with residents groups in other parts
     of the city using "The Inventory of Community
     Organizations". Check out the books and periodicals in
     "The Citizen's Library". Ask citizens in other cities
     for help; if you have a computer and Internet access,
     post requests on the freenets of other cities.

----------
      Planning

     Planning is necessary if you want to avoid wasted
     activity, and make your collective efforts count. It
     should move from the general to the specific, from the
     big picture to the small, from the long term to the
     short, from "what" to "how". Planning entails:

    * Setting a goal
    * Devising objectives (or strategies) to achieve the goal
    * Devising actions to achieve the objectives.

     Look beyond the obvious to find good objectives
     In trying to deal with a problem like growing juvenile
     crime your group might decide on the obvious objective
     of getting more police. If you looked beyond symptoms,
     at causes, you might decide to try to open local
     schools during evenings. Research can help you look
     beyond the obvious.

     How do your objectives score?
     Generate ideas for objectives that will lead to your
     goal, and then decide which to pursue. Test
     alternative objectives by asking:

    * Does it have strong group support?
    * Is it specific enough? ("Reduce crime" is too general.
      "Eliminate street prostitution on Angus Drive" is
      specific.)
    * Is it easily attainable?
    * Will it have an immediate visible impact?
    * How will we know when we've reached our objective? How do
      we measure progress?

     To be effective, your group should pursue no more than
     one or two objectives at any given time. New groups
     should begin with small projects having a high
     probability of success over the short term.

     Plan the action
     Generate ideas that will lead to your objective, then
     decide which to carry forward. Once your group agrees
     on an action, create an action plan. It should include
     a time-frame; an ordered list of tasks to complete;
     persons responsible for each task; a list of resources
     required including materials; facilities and funds.
     Keep action plans flexible so you can respond to the
     unexpected. One good way to identify a group's
     priorities is to ask people to write their views with
     thick markers on large post-it notes. Each person
     sticks their notes to a board or large sheet of paper
     where everyone can see them. A facilitator then helps
     the group arrange the notes into clusters with similar
     characteristics.

     Acting

     Once you've completed the necessary groundwork, you
     need to act. Surprisingly, many groups never get
     around to acting. John Gardiner says, "Many talk about
     action but are essentially organized for study,
     discussion or education. Still others keep members
     busy with organizational housekeeping, committee
     chores, internal politics and passing of resolutions."
     While many interest groups get together just for
     discussion, community groups tend to work best when
     acting accompanies talking. Otherwise, they tend to
     shrink to a few diehards for whom meeting attendance
     has become a way of life.

----------
      Getting Noticed

     If you want to expand the number of people who know
     what you are doing, you need to get noticed. This
     usually means working with the media. Besides
     informing a larger public, the media can empower
     residents, nudge politicians, and add momentum to a
     grassroots initiative. According to David Enwicht in
     Reclaiming Our Cities and Towns, empowerment comes
     from simple exposure. "Group members say, 'Did you see
     we were in the news again. Isn't it great? We are
     really starting to get places now'".
     When you understand the media, you can also raise
     public issues that are being ignored, and reframe
     issues from a citizen's perspective. Be careful,
     however, if you are not used to dealing with the
     media. Many journalists look for stories rooted in
     conflict, error and injustice. They may impose a
     confrontational agenda that can actually make it more
     difficult for you to resolve your issue.

     Assemble a list of sympathetic journalists
     If you have a positive news story, you may find no one
     is interested. One way around this is to cultivate a
     list of journalists who care about community building.
     Note their deadlines, so you can call after a deadline.

     Find the media professionals in your community
     Seek help from the people in your community who work
     for newspapers, radio and television stations. They
     can provide advice on what is newsworthy, how to get
     attention, and who to call. Most will not want to
     appear in the foreground, but in the background they
     will be invaluable.

     Define your objective, then your messages
     Don't rush off to the media without a clear idea of
     what you want to accomplish. Use this to create a set
     of clear messages you wish to project. If you intend
     to air a problem, one of your messages should suggest
     a reasonable solution.

     Make actions newsworthy
     To get media attention you need to tell a good story
     with a human focus that is happening now. The more
     creative, colourful, and humorous, the better coverage
     will be. Getting noticed is largely a matter of
     dramatizing issues.

     Link actions to other news events
     Your actions will stand a better chance of getting
     covered if they tie into other events in the news:
     government announcements, holidays, local conferences,
     world events, hot issues. The media like a good
     feeding frenzy.

     Issue news releases
     Send out a news release if you have fresh information
     you wish to publicize. Issue the release on your
     group's letterhead. At the top put "For immediate
     release" and the date. Next, create a strong newspaper
     style headline that will interest an editor who has to
     shuffle through hundreds of news releases every day.
     The first sentence of the copy should contain the most
     important fact in your story. The rest of the release
     should cover the essentials of who, what, where, when
     and why. At the bottom put "For more information" and
     contact name and phone number.
     Keep the whole thing short, one to two pages double
     spaced. For big events send out a news release seven
     days prior, then telephone a reminder one to two days
     before the event. Faxing a release without any
     personal contact is usually a waste of time.

     Aim at TV
     Some of the most effective citizens groups get TV
     coverage by staging events that provide action and
     good pictures. Greenpeace, for instance, gets
     attention by sending little rubber boats buzzing
     around huge aircraft carriers. Some groups also shoot
     their own broadcast quality video or create video news
     releases to help control what is broadcast.
     Try to schedule actions on dull news days, allowing
     enough time to process material for the 6 o'clock
     news. Choose a spokesperson who comes across well on
     TV. On television a great deal is communicated
     non-verbally through tone of voice, facial expression,
     and body gestures.

     Practice your blurb
     For regular TV and radio news you will have 15-30
     seconds to make a statement. Practice what you want to
     say before the event. Your statement or a minor
     variation can be used in response to any question
     asked. No one will know the difference.

     Reframe stories on live radio
     If you can get on a live radio show you can actually
     shape the news, because you won't be edited as you
     would on TV or in the newspaper. Just make sure you
     know what you want to say.

     Write a Letter to the Editor
     Writing a letter to the editor of a community
     newspaper is an easy way to get publicity. Small
     papers will publish any reasonable letter that does
     not require a lot of fact checking. Common Cause, the
     largest citizens group in the US, did a study which
     showed that a letter to the editor was one of the most
     effective ways of influencing politicians.

     Don't rely on the media to educate
     The mass media prefer to entertain. If you want to get
     out detailed information, you will probably have to do
     it yourself through newsletters, bulletins and other
     methods listed in the Handbook.

     Consider other kinds of announcements
     Community bulletin boards run by radio and some cable
     stations can announce your event. So can ethnic
     newspapers, TV and radio stations. Public service
     announcements on radio and TV offer another
     opportunity. For radio, send in public service
     announcements of 30 seconds or about 75 words. Include
     a start and stop date, plus information on your
     organization.

     Consider alternative media
     Consider printed t-shirts; buttons; window signs;
     posters; bumper stickers; notices in apartment
     building laundries, church orders of service, and the
     newsletters of other groups. For more methods see
     "Getting People" and "Information Sharing".

     Try the direct approach
     Consider phoning or writing those who have the power
     to put things right. If you have a city-related
     problem that you cannot solve, even with the help of
     city staff, call or email a city councillor.

----------
      Evaluating

     Your group will need to evaluate both projects and
     processes if you wish to improve your effectiveness
     and stay on track. Unfortunately, many grassroots
     groups rarely evaluate either.

     Don't evaluate when trying to create
     Avoid evaluating and criticizing when trying to
     generate ideas. If you are facilitating a meeting,
     prohibit criticism when the group is brainstorming.

     Make honest evaluation part of your group's culture
     Make a habit of asking what worked and what could be
     better for both actions, and projects. Consider a
     round to evaluate group process at the end of
     meetings.
     If you don't ask for honest feedback, you won't get
     it. Unhappy people will simply drop out. To get the
     most honest feedback, make responses anonymous, and
     obtain responses from people outside your immediate
     group.

     Check on benefits to members
     At the end of actions ask participants about benefits.
     Did you learn anything? Did you have too little or too
     much to do? Did you have any fun? Did you feel part of
     the group?

     Compare results with objectives
     Is there a gap between what is happening and what you
     want to happen? If there is a persistent gap, you
     might consider getting help from a professional
     organizer. Another way of dealing with a persistent
     gap is to revise your objectives.

----------
      Getting People

     One of the main on-going activities of any grassroots
     organization is getting more people involved. This is
     not easy; most people don't like the idea of being
     "roped into" doing community work in their spare time.
     The heavy emphasis on the individual by modern
     commercial culture has driven participation rates
     below 5% for most community activities. If that sounds
     low, remember a few people committed to a single
     course of action can achieve amazing results.

     Ask members to invite others
     Eighty per cent of volunteers doing community work
     said they began because they were asked by a friend, a
     family member, or a neighbour.

     Go to where people are
     Instead of trying to get people to come to you, try
     going to them. Go to the meetings of other groups, and
     to places and events where people gather. This is
     particularly important for involving ethnic groups,
     youth groups, seniors, and others who may not come to
     you.

     Never miss a chance to collect names, addresses, phone
     numbers
     Have sign-in sheets at your meetings and events. At
     events organized by others, ask people to add their
     name, address, and phone number to petitions and
     requests-for-information. In return, hand out a sheet
     explaining the nature of your group.

     Try to include those who are under-represented
     Minority language groups, low-income residents, the
     disabled, the elderly and youth all tend to be
     under-represented in neighbourhood groups. In some
     cases not participating is a matter of choice - most
     transient youth choose not to take part. In other
     cases, English language competence poses a formidable
     barrier to participation. In still other cases, people
     get overlooked. This can happen to the disabled and
     the elderly, even though they have proven invaluable
     as active citizens. Here are some ways to include the
     under-represented:

    * Go to people in the group you are trying to reach and ask
      how they would like to be approached.
    * Address their issues.
    * Think about who you know who knows someone in the group
      you are trying to reach. Use your connections.
    * Identify a group as people you want to work with, not as a
      target group you want to bring "on side". Treat people as
      people first.
    * Organize projects that focus on kids. Parents of different
      ethnic backgrounds, and income levels will meet one
      another while accompanying their children.

     Do surveys
     Surveys are a good way to stay in touch, increase
     participation, and bring in new members. They show
     your group is willing to respond to a broad base of
     others, not just those who tend to participate in
     community activities.

     Door-knock
     Door-knocking is the oldest and best outreach method.
     For a how-to description see "Information Sharing ".

     Create detailed membership lists
     Create membership lists with places for entering name,
     address, day and evening phone and fax numbers,
     priorities for local improvement, occupation, personal
     interests, special skills, times available, what the
     person would be willing to do, and what the person
     would not be willing to do. Consider using a computer
     to update lists and sort people by address, priority,
     and interests. With such a computer database you can
     easily bring together people who belong together.
     Membership lists can also form the basis of a
     telephone tree, a system for getting messages out to
     large numbers of people. For suggestions on setting up
     a telephone tree see " Information Sharing ".

     Generate newsletters and leaflets
     Newsletters keep group members in touch. Because most
     neighbourhood groups deliver to all residents whether
     members or not, a newsletter helps attract new people.
     For tips on newsletters see "Information Sharing " in
     Community Building Activities, and "How to do
     Leaflets, Newsletters & Newspapers" by Nancy Brigham.

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      Keeping People

     People join community groups to meet people, to have
     fun, to learn new skills, to pursue an interest, and
     to link their lives to some higher purpose. They leave
     if they don't find what they are looking for. Citizens
     groups need to ask themselves more often: What
     benefits do we provide? At what cost to members? How
     can we increase the benefits and decrease the costs?
     Here are a some ideas on where to begin.

     Stay in touch with one another.
     Regular contact is vital. Face to face is best. If you
     have to meet, getting together in someone's house is
     better than meeting in a hall.

     Welcome newcomers.
     Introduce them to members of your group. Consider
     appointing greeters for large meetings and events.
     Call new contacts to invite them to events, or to pass
     on information.
     Help people find a place in the organization. The most
     appealing approach is to say, "Tell us the things you
     like to do and do well and we will find a way to use
     those talents." The next most appealing is to say:
     "Here are the jobs we have, but how you get them done
     is up to you."
     Invite newcomers to assume leadership roles. If the
     same people run everything, newcomers feel excluded.

     Pay attention to group process
     Most volunteer groups do not give adequate attention
     to how they work together. Decision-making methods are
     not determined explicitly nor are roles, or healthy
     behaviours. Some groups make process a topic of
     discussion by appointing a process watcher.

     Discuss the group contract
     Set aside occasions when members describe what they
     expect of the group and what the group can expect of
     them in terms of time and responsibilities. This
     information should become part of your membership
     lists.

     Act more, meet less
     The great majority of people detest meetings; too many
     are the Black Death of community groups. By
     comparison, activities like tree-planting draw large
     numbers of people of all ages.

     Keep time demands modest
     Most people lead busy lives. Don't ask them to come to
     meetings if they don't need to be there. Keep
     expanding the number of active members to ensure
     everyone does a little, and no one does too much. Work
     out realistic time commitments for projects.

     Do it in twos
     Following a practice from Holland, we suggest working
     in pairs. It improves the quality of communication,
     makes work less lonely, and ensures tasks get done.
     Ethnically mixed pairs (such as English and Chinese)
     can maintain links to different cultures. Gender mixed
     pairs can take advantage of differences in ways of
     relating to men and women.

     Provide social time and activities
     Endless work drives people away. Schedule social time
     at the beginning and end of meetings. Turn routine
     tasks into social events; for example, stuff envelopes
     while sharing pizza. Some groups form a social
     committee to plan parties, dinners, and trips.

     Provide skills training
     Provide skill-building workshops and on-the-job
     training. Simply pairing experienced and inexperienced
     people will improve the skills of new members.
     Training in leadership, group facilitating and
     conflict resolution are important enough to warrant
     special weekend workshops.

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      Leading

     Good leaders are the key to community organizing. They
     do not tell other people what to do, but help others
     to take charge. They do not grab the limelight, but
     nudge others into the limelight. They are not
     interested in being The Leader, but are interested in
     creating more leaders. They recognize that only by
     creating more leaders can an organizing effort expand.

     Model the effective leader:

     Set realistic expectations
     Nothing buoys a group more than tangible success. The
     smart leader will steer the group toward things it can
     easily accomplish.

     Divide-up & delegate work
     Divide-up tasks into bite-sized chunks, then discuss
     who will do each chunk. Make sure everyone has the
     ability to carry out their task, then let them carry
     it out in their own way. Have someone check on
     progress. People do not feel good about doing a job,
     if nobody cares whether it gets done.

     Show appreciation for work well done
     Recognize people's efforts in conversations, at
     meetings, in newsletters. Give thank you notes and
     other tokens of appreciation. Give certificates and
     awards for special efforts. Respect all contributions
     no matter how small.

     Welcome criticism
     Accepting criticism may be difficult for some leaders,
     but members need to feel they can be critical without
     being attacked.

     Help people to believe in themselves
     A leader builds people's confidence that they can
     accomplish what they have never accomplished before.
     The unflagging optimism of a good leader energizes
     everyone.

     Inspire trust
     People will not follow those they do not trust. Always
     maintain the highest standards of honesty. Good
     leaders air doubts about their own potential conflicts
     of interest, and about their own personal limitations.

     Herald a higher purpose
     People often volunteer to serve some higher purpose. A
     leader should be able to articulate this purpose, to
     hold it up as a glowing beacon whenever the occasion
     demands. A good leader will celebrate every grassroots
     victory as an example of what can happen when people
     work together for a common good.

     Convince others they can lead
     Make the practice of leading transparent. Invite
     others to lead. Don't try to run the whole show, or do
     most of the work. Others will become less involved.
     And you will burn out.

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      Meeting

     Meetings are necessary for planning, and decision
     making. How well they work influences whether people
     remain in a group. All meetings should be as lively
     and as much fun as possible.

     The basics of meeting
     Fix a convenient time, date and place to meet. You can
     find free meeting places in libraries, community
     centres, some churches, neighbourhood houses, and
     schools. Some groups meet in a favourite restaurant or
     cafe. To keep a group together, decide on a regular
     monthly meeting time, or think of another way of
     staying in touch. Agree on an agenda beforehand. A
     good agenda states meeting place; starting time, time
     for each item, ending time; objectives of the meeting;
     and items to be discussed.
     Start the meeting by choosing a facilitator, a
     recorder, and a timekeeper. Begin with a round of
     introductions if necessary. Next, review the
     agreements of the previous meeting. Ask for amendments
     or additions to the agenda, then begin working through
     the agenda. If you have trouble reaching agreement,
     refer to "Decision Making" below. Record actions
     required, who will carry them out, and how much will
     be accomplished before the next meeting. Finally, set
     a time, place and an agenda for the next meeting.

     Display everyone's contribution
     Consider using a flip chart, overhead projector or a
     blackboard.

     Follow a set of discussion guidelines
     Regular meetings work better if everyone agrees on a
     set of discussion guidelines. Some groups post their
     guidelines as a large sign:

    * Listen to others
    * Do not interrupt
    * Ask clarifying questions
    * Welcome new ideas
    * Do not allow personal attacks
    * Treat every contribution as valuable

     Develop a friendly culture
     Encourage humour. Provide food and drink, or meet in a
     restaurant. Allow for social time.

     Decision Making
     Your group should discuss, agree on, then post
     guidelines for reaching decisions.

     Straw polling
     Straw polling entails asking for a show of hands to
     see how the group feels about a particular issue. It
     is a quick check that can save a great deal of time.
     To make straw polling continuous, agree on a set of
     hand signals everyone will use throughout the meeting.
     These silent signals enable people to gauge how others
     are reacting moment by moment. They can also provide
     invaluable feedback for a speaker who is trying to
     work with a large group.

     Voting
     Voting is a decision making method that seems best
     suited to large groups. To avoid alienating large
     minorities, you might decide a motion will only
     succeed with a two-thirds majority. Alternatively, you
     might decide to combine voting with consensus. Small
     groups usually follow informal consensus procedures.
     Large groups, on the other hand, often try to follow
     Robert's Rules of Order without anyone really
     understanding how to Amend a Motion, or the number of
     people needed to Move the Question. If rules are used,
     they should be simple and understood by everyone.
     Some community groups limit the privilege of voting to
     people who have come to three or more consecutive
     meetings to prevent stacked meetings, and to encourage
     familiarity with the issues being decided. Voting
     usually means deciding between X or Y. But not always.
     Some issues will admit a proportional solution, part X
     and part Y. In such a cases the ratio of X to Y in the
     solution usually reflects the ratio of people voting
     for each alternative.

     Consensus
     A consensus process aims at bringing the group to
     mutual agreement by addressing all concerns. It does
     not require unanimity. Consensus can take longer than
     other processes, but fosters creativity, cooperation
     and commitment to final decisions. Here is a sample
     outline:

       * A presenter states the proposal. Ideally, a
         written draft has been distributed prior to the
         meeting.
       * The group discusses and clarifies the proposal. No
         one presents concerns until clarification is
         complete.
       * The facilitator asks for legitimate concerns. If
         there are none the facilitator asks the group if
         it has reached consensus. If there are concerns:
       * The recorder lists concerns where everyone can see
         them. The group then tries to resolve the
         concerns. The presenter has first option to:
         ~ Clarify the proposal.
         ~ Change the proposal.
         ~ Explain why it is not in conflict with the
         group's values.
         ~ Ask those with concerns to stand aside.
         By "standing aside" a person indicates a
         willingness to live with a proposal. By "crossing
         off a concern" a person indicates satisfaction
         with clarifications or changes.
       * If concerns remain unresolved and concerned
         members are unwilling to stand aside, the
         facilitator asks everyone to examine these
         concerns in relation to the group's purpose and
         values. The group may need to go through a special
         session to examine its purpose or resolve value
         conflicts.
       * The facilitator checks again to see if those with
         concerns are willing to stand aside or cross off
         their concerns. If not, the facilitator keeps
         asking for suggestions to resolve the concerns,
         until everyone finds the proposal acceptable or
         stands aside. Often the solution is a "third way",
         something between either/or, black and white.
       * If time runs out and concerns persist the
         facilitator may:
         ~ Conduct a straw poll.
         ~ Ask those with concerns if they will stand aside.
         ~ Ask the presenter to withdraw the proposal.
         ~ Contract with the group for more time.
         ~ Send the proposal to a sub-group.
         ~ Conduct a vote, requiring a 75% to 90% majority.

     At the end, the facilitator states the outcome
     clearly. For consensus to work properly everyone must
     understand the meaning of "legitimate concerns". They
     are possible consequences of the proposal that might
     adversely affect the organization or the common good,
     or that are in conflict with the purpose or values of
     the group. Consensus will not work properly if
     concerns come from ego or vested interests, or derive
     from unstated tensions around authority, rights,
     personality conflicts, competition or lack of trust.
     Trust is a prerequisite for consensus.
     If your group adopts consensus as a decision making
     method you do not have to use consensus of the whole
     group to decide everything. You can (and should)
     empower individuals, committees, or task forces to
     make certain decisions.

     Live with disagreements
     Get agreement on the big picture, then turn to action.
     Don't exhaust yourself trying to achieve consensus on
     details. On a contentious issue, embracing a variety
     of positions will make you more difficult to attack.

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      Facilitating

     The facilitator's role is to help a group make
     progress. Good facilitating keeps a meeting on track
     and moving forward. The more people who learn to
     facilitate the better. If you accept the role of
     facilitator you must be neutral. You should also try
     to:

     Watch group vibes
     If people seem bored or inattentive, you may have to
     speed up the pace of the meeting. If people seem tense
     because of unvoiced disagreements, you may have to
     bring concerns out into the open.

     Ask open ended questions
     For instance, "We seem to be having trouble resolving
     the matter. What do you think we should do?"

     Summarize what others say
     For instance, you might begin, "It seems we agree that
     . . . "

     Make sure everyone gets a chance to speak
     One way of ensuring quiet people get a chance to speak
     is to initiate a round. In a round you move around the
     table with everyone getting a few minutes to present
     their views.

     Inject humour
     There a few better ways of overcoming cranky, niggling
     or petty behaviour.

     Learn to deal with difficult behaviour

       * Flare-ups
         When two members get into a heated discussion
         summarize the points made by each, then turn the
         discussion back to the group.
       * Grand standing
         Interrupt the one-man show with a statement that
         gives him credit for his contribution, but ask him
         to reserve his other points for later.
         Alternatively, interrupt with, "You have brought
         up a great many points. Would anyone like to take
         up one of these points?"
       * Broken recording
         When someone keeps repeating the same point,
         assure them their point has been heard. If
         necessary ask the group if they want to allow the
         person to finish making their point.
       * Interrupting
         Step in immediately with, "Hold on, let X finish
         what they have to say." If necessary, ask the
         person who tends to interrupt to act as the
         recorder for the meeting.
       * Continual criticizing
         Legitimize negative feelings on difficult issues.
         You might say, "Yes, it will be tough to reduce
         traffic congestion on Marguerite, but there are
         successful models we can look at." If necessary,
         ask the critical person to take on an achievable
         task.

     Suggest options when time runs out
     Identify areas of partial consensus, suggest tabling
     the question, or create a small subcommittee to deal
     with the matter at a time of their choosing.

     Consider a round at the end of the meeting
     Going quickly around the whole group gives people a
     chance to bring up matters not on the agenda. You can
     also use a round to evaluate the meeting.

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      Fundraising

     You do not need to fundraise to begin organizing your
     neighbourhood. However, you will need money to
     organize large numbers of people, or launch a large
     action program. If you decide to fundraise, be
     careful. You can lose money, and divert time and
     resources away from your objectives. If you must raise
     money, here are some suggestions.

     Individual contributions
     Asking for contributions from local people turns
     fundraising into community building. People become
     more attached to groups, projects, and places they
     feel they own. Money can come from memberships,
     voluntary subscriptions to newsletters, collections at
     meetings, door-to-door canvassing, planned giving,
     memorial giving and direct mail. Lots of books cover
     these approaches. Some groups make donations tax
     deductible by registering as a charity with the
     federal government. In Canada call 1-800-267-2384.

     In-kind donations
     Seek in-kind or non-monetary contributions. This
     includes donations of printing, equipment, furniture,
     space, services, food, and time. Local businesses
     respond well to requests for in-kind donations.

     Auctions
     Consider a dream auction. Elizabeth Amer writes in
     Taking Action, "Neighbours can donate overnight
     babysitting for two children, a local landmark
     embroidered on your jacket, cheese cake for eight,
     four hours of house repairs. At a big community party
     your auctioneer sells every treasure to the highest
     bidder."

     Grants from governments & foundations
     With so many potential sources of assistance, half the
     battle is figuring out who supports what. After
     identifying a possibility, find out about application
     procedures. Getting a grant usually requires writing
     up a good proposal. Look for matching grants. In many
     cases governments will contribute a dollar for every
     dollar raised by citizens.

     Casinos
     A provincially registered non-profit society can make
     several thousand dollars a night by running a casino.
     Typically a group will provide people to help staff
     the casino over several nights. There is a long
     waiting list of applications for this fundraiser. In
     British Columbia call the BC Gaming Commission at
     387-5311.

     Charging fees
     Consider the possibility of charging fees for
     services, or products.

     Time tithing
     Ivan Sheier, an expert on volunteerism, dislikes the
     time and energy spent on grant writing and big
     fundraising events. Instead, he recommends time
     tithing as a way of producing a steady flow of cash.
     It is a system that relies on supporters contributing
     high quality services. A group might advertise such
     services as conducting a workshop, painting signs, or
     providing professional assistance. When a supporter
     performs a service, they do not keep the money they
     are paid; but have the amount, minus expenses, sent
     directly to their group.

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      Grassroots Structure

     Citizens groups should have as little structure as
     possible. The right amount is just enough to address
     their goals. In an attempt to become legitimate, many
     small groups decide they need more structure.
     Unfortunately, this can lead to spending more time on
     the needs of the organization than on the reason for
     getting together.

     Networks, Cooperatives, Collectives
     Grassroots organizations seem to work better with a
     flat structure as free as possible of boards,
     directors, and chairs. Flatness, or the absence of an
     organizational hierarchy, does not mean the
     elimination of individual roles or responsibilities.
     It does mean the end of people with over-riding
     authority over other people's work. Citizen's groups
     must avoid the common mistake of involving small
     numbers of people heavily. They should strive to
     involve large numbers of people lightly. Flat
     organizations, which emphasize horizontal connections,
     seem to be the best bet for involving large numbers of
     people lightly.

     Traditional structure
     Traditional organizational structure seems to dry out
     the grassroots. Nevertheless it continues to be
     recommended by many citizens umbrella groups in North
     America. The most successful traditional organizations
     have:

       * An elected leadership
         Some groups elect a set of officers - a president,
         one or two vice presidents, a secretary and a
         treasurer. In order to include people doing
         important work, some expand the leadership group
         into a steering committee that includes the
         chairperson of each committee. Leaders should be
         elected on a regular basis at well-publicized
         membership meetings. One or two people should not
         try to run the organization. When that happens
         others become less involved.
       * Regular meetings
       * A newsletter
       * A means of delegating tasks and responsibilities
       * Training for new members
       * Social time together
       * A planning process
       * Working relationships with power players and
         resource organizations. Power players are people
         with the ability to make things happen:
         politicians, owners of key businesses, media
         people, heads of key government departments, heads
         of agencies, major landlords.

     Provincial non-profit societies
     Traditional organizations frequently wind up as
     provincially registered non-profit societies. The
     advantages of non-profit status are few, beyond less
     circuitous access to certain sources of funds. On the
     other hand, non-profit status means having to follow
     the rules and organizational structure required by the
     Societies Act. If you wish to become a non-profit
     regardless, get a copy of Flora MacLeod's Forming and
     Managing a Non-profit Organization in Canada,
     published by Self-Council Press.

     Committees & Task Forces
     Committees and task forces are the main way jobs are
     shared. They make it possible to get a lot done
     without anyone getting worn out. Standing committees
     look after a continuing group function; task forces
     carry out a specific task, then disband. Both provide
     members with a way of getting involved in projects
     that interest them. A large, action-oriented group
     might have the following standing committees:
     coordinating, publicity, membership, outreach,
     newsletter, fundraising, and research. Many people
     prefer the short-term projects of task forces, to the
     work of committees. Ideally, members of committees and
     task forces are made up of people selected by the
     whole group rather than by people who are
     self-selected. If the whole group is confident in a
     task force or committee it should empower the subgroup
     to make most decisions on its own. To keep everyone
     working together, committees and task forces should
     regularly report back to the whole group. For more on
     the effective distribution of work see Ivan Sheier's
     book When Everyone's a Volunteer, reviewed in the
     "Citizen's Library", and available from the Vancouver
     Public Library.

     Coalitions
     If you intend to tackle a large issue you will need
     allies. Approach other organizations by asking to
     speak on a matter of community importance at their
     next executive or general meeting. After you have
     presented, distribute material outlining your
     objectives, program and budget. A good way of getting
     agreement is to ask someone from the group you are
     approaching to help prepare your presentation. A
     coalition requires that all participants have a clear
     set of expectations and get together regularly to
     develop a friendly working relationship. A coalition
     works best when established for a specific project,
     and then allowed to lapse when the project ends.

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      Child Minding Co-ops

     If you have small children, you know how difficult it
     can be to find, and pay for a baby-sitter. Many
     families have found a solution to their baby-sitting
     woes in child-minding co-ops.

     In these co-ops, families care for each other's
     children both in their own homes and in the homes of
     the children, during the day, evening, or overnight.
     Most co-ops keep track of baby-sitting hours on a list
     of debits and credits; one local group keeps track by
     exchanging poker chips. Hours are not only determined
     by the clock, but by tardiness, the number of
     children, lateness of returning, and other
     considerations.

     Most co-ops serve a small area, one that allows for
     participants to walk between each others homes. A
     co-op works best with fifteen to twenty families -
     enough to spread the baby-sitting around. Participants
     are usually found by talking to friends. This is
     preferable to posting "vacancies" since most people
     feel happier leaving their children with "friends of
     friends".

     A selection committee usually visits a candidate's
     home to look at general safety, neatness, the level of
     child-proofing, and to see whether people smoke
     inside, and who might be coming and going. On being
     accepted, candidates pay a small start-up fee, and
     register their name with the co-op's secretary (a
     position rotated on a monthly or quarterly basis). The
     secretary is the person who takes "orders" for
     baby-sitting, usually with a minimum 24 hours notice.
     Baby-sitters are sought on the basis of their
     availability, and the balance on their baby-sitting
     account.

     The Marpole Oakridge Co-op meets every two months for
     a potluck, an occasion to socialize as well as deal
     with any concerns. Little Mountain Co-op uses a
     similar opportunity to introduce new candidates to
     their group. It holds a social event three times a
     year for both kids and parents. These events bring a
     sense of community to a sometimes isolated group of
     parents.

     Some co-ops have been in operation for as long as 20
     years. The longevity of the co-op depends largely on
     its ease of administration, and the ability to find
     new families as others outgrow its services. For more
     information contact your local neighbourhood house, or
     family place.

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      Community Gardens

     Community gardens are parcels of land divided into
     small plots for local residents to grow their own
     flowers, fruit and vegetables. Community gardens owe
     their existence to the energy of residents. You may
     remember the debate in the late 1980's over a section
     of community garden on Prior Street in Strathcona.
     When City Council finally decided to build housing on
     the section, gardeners and their friends moved an acre
     of topsoil to the remaining portion of the garden.
     Today the Strathcona Community Garden's three acres of
     reclaimed land is a thriving collection of individual
     flower and vegetable plots.

     Community gardens have also sprouted in other parts of
     the city. Mount Pleasant has established a garden at
     8th and Fraser; and another at 8th and Manitoba.
     Kitsilano is home to the Maple Community Garden, near
     6th and Maple. The three acre Cottonwood Garden
     provides for many residents of Grandview-Woodlands.
     Kerrisdale has a small garden next to the railway
     track made up of plots that began as Victory Gardens
     during World War II.

     Finding a site for the garden can be a long search,
     but once the garden is in place, there is always a
     waiting list of people who want to join. The plots at
     8th and Fraser are 100 to 120 square feet. A whole
     plot rents for $10.00 a year, a half plot for $5.00.
     Gardeners share common space, fertilizer, tools, a
     tool shed, and sometimes the cost of buying plants.
     Grants usually help to cover other expenses such as
     the cost of metered water and public liability
     insurance. Gardeners meet several times over the
     growing season, once for a formal start-up, then a few
     times over the summer for informal pot luck dinners
     and an annual open house.

     For more information call:
     City Farmer Society, 685-5832
     Urban Farmer, 736-2250
     Siobahn Ryan, the Vancouver Permaculture Network,
     873-4335
     Muggs Sigurgeirson, Strathcona Community Garden,
     253-4718
     Gavin Ross, Mt. Pleasant Community Garden, 879-3676
     SPEC, Maple Community Garden, 736-7732
     Sherri Reid, Engineering Department, City of
     Vancouver, 873-7323

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      Community Kitchens

     Community kitchens give people the opportunity to get
     together to share the cost, planning and preparation
     of healthy meals. At present there are about 15
     community kitchens in Vancouver. Members usually meet
     twice a month, once to plan four or five entrees and
     to organize the purchase of food, and once to prepare
     the meals. Since a licensed kitchen is not required,
     groups meet in homes as well as church basements,
     Neighbourhood Houses and community centres.

     Some specialty kitchens exist in the city. One
     "cultural kitchen" provides an opportunity for
     Vietnamese women to learn about Canadian food
     products, and how they are prepared. Kiwassa
     Neighbourhood House has a "Canning Kitchen" where
     participants put up canned goods such as fruit,
     tomatoes and jam. Other kitchens specialize in
     vegetarian, ethnic, and special needs cooking. The
     interests of the group decide the focus of the kitchen.

     Community kitchens are popular for a variety of
     reasons. Food costs less because it can be bought in
     bulk. It also takes less time to prepare because it is
     cooked in quantity - and sometimes frozen for later
     use. People most appreciate the way community kitchens
     provide an opportunity for people to get together.
     Many people have become close friends through
     community cooking. Some have discovered common
     interests that have led to the formation of new groups
     focusing on a variety of social issues.

     The Vancouver Health Department has a video on
     Community Kitchens you can watch in their central
     library. Call 736-2033 to make sure it's available.
     Alternatively, you can invite a nutritionist from any
     of the Vancouver Health Units to bring the video and
     other information about Community Kitchens to your
     group.

     For more information call:
     Vicki Boere at 253-3575 or call any Vancouver Health
     Unit.

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      Block Watch/Block Parents

     One of the most formal community building activities
     in the city is the Block Watch program sponsored by
     the Vancouver City Police Department. This highly
     successful crime prevention program encourages people
     to keep an eye on the street and their neighbour's
     property, and to report any suspicious activity to 911.
     A block is usually organized across the rear lane
     since most forced entries into buildings occur from
     the rear. Each Block Watch has a captain and often a
     co-captain, who undergo a police security check and
     then receive an identification badge. Block captains
     usually set up an initial organizing meeting to
     introduce neighbours to one another. Someone
     volunteers to draw up a map of the block with names
     and phone numbers, and to supply copies to the police
     and other members of the Watch. Police Officers will
     attend the meeting if requested, to talk about local
     policing issues and ways of securing your home against
     theft. They will also provide guides to home security.
     Police usually advise neighbours to jointly buy an
     etching pen ($15.00) so that members can mark their
     valuables with their driver's license number. Members
     are then given Block Watch stickers for entry points
     to their homes.

     At present there are 243 Block Watch blocks in the
     city, including some in co-ops and apartment
     buildings. In many cases, where Block Watch blocks
     have formed, other activities have followed, from
     block cleanups and pet minding to plant swapping. When
     neighbours get together they find they have more in
     common than an interest in security.

     The Block Parent program is another initiative
     sponsored by the Police Department. As with Block
     Watch captains, police run security checks on
     potential candidates. Block Parents provide a safe
     haven for children and, occasionally, seniors. When
     Block Parents are available to answer the door, they
     post a sign in their window. In an emergency, children
     who find themselves in trouble can turn to a Block
     Parent house for assistance.

     Potential Block Parents are often concerned that
     signing-up will mean constant interruption for
     non-emergencies, such as drinks of water and trips to
     the bathroom. According to a Block Parent co-ordinator
     in Cedar Cottage, this does not happen. For the most
     part, children understand they should turn to these
     houses only in emergencies.

     For more information call:
     Block Watch -- Trevor Black at 665-5064.
     Block Parents -- Perm Chattu at 257-8739.

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      Community Crime Prevention

     Taking part in community crime prevention is a great
     way to meet your neighbours, and help make your
     community a safer place to live. Organized citizen
     participation in crime prevention usually begins with
     the opening of a Community Crime Prevention Office
     where people can meet with one another and the police
     to address local concerns. Staffed almost entirely by
     volunteers, the activities of an office include
     promoting crime prevention programs, collecting local
     crime statistics, referring people with every kind of
     problem to every kind of agency, sharing community
     information, conducting workshops, co-ordinating
     community clean-up days, and organizing other local
     projects.

     Crime prevention offices are a part of Vancouver's new
     strategy of
     community-based policing. The premise behind the
     strategy is that police need to do more than respond
     to incidents. They can be more effective if they spend
     more time on public awareness, partnerships with
     citizens, and local problem solving.
     In Vancouver, community crime prevention offices
     operate in Collingwood at 5157 Joyce Street, in Mount
     Pleasant at 672 East Broadway, in Grandview at 1661
     Napier Street, in Gastown at 12 Water Street, and in
     Riley Park at 3998 Main Street. Regular crime
     prevention offices are located in Strathcona at 601
     Keefer, in the West End at 200 Burrard, in the
     Downtown Eastside at 312 Main Street, and in Chinatown
     at 18 East Pender. Other neighbourhoods are in the
     process of opening their own offices.

     For more information call:
     Chris Talu, Joyce-Vanness Community Crime Prevention
     Office at 665-3406.
     For a broad view of crime prevention call Patti
     Pearcey, BC Coalition for Safer Communities at
     669-2986, or fax 688-2566.

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      Block Parties

     Block parties give neighbours a chance to meet one
     another in a relaxed setting. To hold a successful
     block party you need to do some advance planning. A
     couple of months ahead you should start thinking about
     dates, activities, and supplies. And you should start
     enlisting the help of neighbours. Find out how they
     can help, and what they can supply. Try to involve as
     many people as possible, and make sure everyone stays
     in touch with one another. Block parties can be held
     in backyards, neighbourhood parks or on the street. If
     you close the street, you must take out liability
     insurance ($75.00), and obtain the approval of
     affected neighbours. You may also be required to
     obtain traffic barricades ($250.00) from the city's
     Special Events Co-ordinator. If you hold your party at
     a local park, you should inform the Park Board by
     calling the number listed below.

     You can make your block party just about any shape or
     size. A block in Grandview-Woodlands held a very
     successful block party several years ago, and invited
     the whole neighbourhood. They had live music, helium
     balloons, face painting and lots of food. Some people
     came in response to local ads, others in response to
     the sounds, smells and colour of the event itself.
     Block parties can come at the end of a block cleanup,
     a block garage sale, or a day of tree-planting. They
     can also have a theme such as a harvest festival or
     Canada Day celebration. Whatever the nature of your
     first party, the next will be much easier to organize.
     On some blocks it becomes an important annual event.

     The Park Board is currently looking at simplifying the
     process of
     organizing block parties. They hope to provide
     information kits, and barriers at no cost through
     community centres.

     For more information call:
     Special Events at 873-7337
     Susan Gordon at the Park Board at 257-8495.

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      Block Cleanups

     Fed up with the mattresses rotting in the alley? Tired
     of litter on your street? Why not organize a block
     cleanup? A cleanup can get rid of the mess and prevent
     it from reoccurring by making residents more conscious
     of the appearance of their block. Just as important, a
     cleanup can provide an opportunity for everyone on a
     block to get to know one another. In many small towns,
     one-day neighbourhood cleanups involving adults, kids,
     and a variety of civic officials have become a
     recognized way of building community and instilling
     pride in place. Cleanups can range from a simple
     litter pick-up, to an operation requiring more
     planning.

     One recent block cleanup in east Mount Pleasant began
     with a few residents calling two quick meetings to
     decide on a date and plan of attack. After
     distributing fliers to the neighbours, they contacted
     the city. Because group members were willing to do the
     work themselves, the city provided a truck and two men
     for loading. On cleanup day, residents not only
     collected the debris that filled their alley, but went
     door-to-door collecting large items such as old
     mattresses, water heaters and other junk. They also
     helped load the city truck.

     Cleaning up your block can extend to graffiti removal,
     weeding, fence-painting, and hedge-trimming. It can
     also extend to helping those on your block who lack
     the strength or resources to maintain their own
     property.

     For more information call :
     David Murphy, Mount Pleasant Area Network, at
     874-0823;
     John McLewin, Sanitation Superintendent, City of
     Vancouver, at 327-5823.
     For information on disposing of refrigerators, toxics,
     paints and solvents call: Engineering Department at
     327-8121.
     For recycling information call 327-7573.

----------
      Parades and Festivals

     The lower mainland is home to a myriad of parades and
     festivals. Some focus on culture, like the Powell
     Street Festival (Japanese), others focus on religion,
     like the Vaisakhi (celebrating the birth of Khalsa),
     or sport, like the Dragon Boat Festival. Many
     celebrate some aspect of the performing arts, such as
     the Fringe Festival, the Folk Festival, the Women in
     View Festival, the Fool's Parade or the Children's
     Festival. It is hard to find a weekend in the spring
     or summer without a celebration.

     One well-attended community celebration is
     Illuminaries, held on a summer evening at Trout Lake.
     It features stilt walkers, floating pyrotechnics and a
     moving procession of light created by hundreds of
     candle-lit lanterns. During the months of preparation,
     the Public Dreams Society organizes events and lantern
     building workshops for artists, children, and local
     residents. This makes the Illuminaries an event at
     which the community is not only the audience, but also
     the players, designers, and stage hands.

     Many neighbourhoods have local festivals. Kits Days,
     with its famous Soap Box Car Derby, Cedar Cottage
     Community Carnival, and the Clinton Park Festival all
     provide excellent opportunities for neighbours to get
     together to celebrate their neighbourhood. Grandview,
     where festivals seem to be second nature, has spawned
     a community orchestra that injects life into all kinds
     of public events.

     For more information call :
     FEST at 873-7337;
     For community-based performance art, call Public
     Dreams at 879-8611;
     For community orchestras, call Carol Buchanan at
     253-1667.

----------
      Guerrilla Gardening

     Residents of neighbourhoods across the city have been
     quietly adding flowers and other plants to lanes,
     boulevards and traffic circles. Along the boulevards
     of 100 block West 10th they have added planters,
     bicycle baskets, wheelbarrows and flower beds.
     Residents near McLean and Grant, 8th and Sasamat, 16th
     and Trimble and 20th and Fleming have also planted
     their boulevards with flowers. One east-side resident
     plants her boulevard with beans and other vegetables
     for public picking.

     The city usually plants low junipers in the traffic
     circles that act as traffic calmers in some
     neighbourhoods. Citizens have taken it upon themselves
     to brighten these up by adding self-seeding annuals
     and long-blooming perennials. Some people have planted
     sunflowers, for a folksy but dramatic effect. Not all
     plants are happy in traffic circles; some have
     difficulty because of the shallow soil layer over the
     asphalt; others dry out during the summer months; some
     are disturbed by city crews "excavating" buried
     manholes.

     Back lanes are a great place for guerrilla gardening.
     Unpaved lanes seem to work best. Some people have been
     re-introducing native plants, others have been
     planting food and flowers. One Kerrisdale woman takes
     the seed heads from her large pink poppies and
     sprinkles them up and down the alley, to great effect
     the following year. Some of the easiest flowers to
     grow are (in decreasing size) buddleia, various bush
     roses, cosmos, flox, wallflowers, yarrow, perennial
     asters, daisies, tiger lilies, irises, purple sage,
     california poppies, red valerian, campanula, perennial
     sweet peas, forget-me-nots, pinks. Prickly berry
     bushes planted on the sides of alleys provide food,
     and make better, less expensive barriers than fences.

     Although gardening is not really allowed on public
     property, there are signs the authorities may be in
     tune with guerilla gardeners. The city recently gave
     Mount Pleasant residents permission to begin
     "adopting" traffic circles, boulevards and other
     pieces of public property, in a project overseen by
     the Mount Pleasant Community Association. The city's
     Engineering Department also gave Cedar Cottage
     residents permission to plant an ornamental garden and
     a community herb garden on a vacant city-owned lot at
     19th Avenue and Fleming. Members of the local
     neighbourhood association, along with other residents
     of the area, communally designed, planted and tend the
     garden. They hope to organize work parties for the
     spring and fall cleanups. Those unable to join in will
     help prepare meals so everyone can eat together at the
     end of the day.

     For more information:
     See the Neighbourhood Matching Fund in " Local
     Programs " in this Handbook.

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      Community Image Making

     Distinct architectural and decorative characteristics
     help to define neighbourhoods. Gastown is known for
     its large brick heritage buildings; Chinatown for its
     bedragoned lamp posts, open air markets, ornate
     buildings and distinctive signage. Across the city,
     communities have tried to highlight their special
     personalities with banners, signs, flags, clocks, and
     gates. Local business improvement groups initiate some
     projects, residents initiate others. Residents of the
     block-long Rose Street in Grandview have hand-painted
     "cat" signs that identify the street and ask motorists
     to slow down. Residents in Seattle name their
     neighbourhoods, and then help design colourful street
     signs to mark the boundaries. The Community Fence
     project engaged two hundred children, adults and
     groups in creating four hundred highly individual
     pickets to enclose the community garden at 8th and
     Fraser Street.

     In the late 1980's, artist Richard Tetrault, along
     with members of his Strathcona community, were fed up
     with the speed of traffic along Prior Street. They
     decided to take action by designing and painting
     cutout figures to "post" along the roadside, with
     messages in four languages. Their protest art drew the
     attention of the media and the city which undertook
     new traffic control measures. In another Strathcona
     project, residents seeking a linear park on Jackson
     Street, painted a mural showing their ideas on the
     street surface. The mural changed the street from a
     conduit for cars into a forum for public discussion.

     For more information call:
     Susan Gordon, the Park Board at 257-8495; or
     Bryan Newson, Office of Cultural Affairs, Vancouver
     City Hall at 871-6000.
     For info on Arts in Action, call Richard Tetrault at
     251-1622.
     For info on art in public places (including bus
     benches) call the Vancouver Association for
     Noncommercial Culture at 872-5377.
     For the names and phone numbers of local business
     associations see the "Inventory of Community
     Organizations".

----------
      Intergenerational Activities

     Activities that bring young and old together revive a
     social arrangement that was taken for granted in the
     past, and still is in many traditional cultures. It is
     an arrangement that promotes mutual care, transmits
     cultural values, and enriches the lives of everyone
     involved.

     The Volunteer Grandparents Society of B has just
     celebrated their 20th year in operation. Children ages
     3-12 who have no grandparent living nearby are matched
     with volunteer grandparents. At present 500
     individuals making up 130 "extended families" see each
     other regularly, as well as participate in group
     events and outings. Though at present the society
     caters only to the Lower Mainland, organizers hope to
     expand across the province in the next year.

     Oral history projects are a wonderful way of bringing
     seniors and young people together. Recently,
     twenty-five Grade 12 students at Lord Byng Secondary
     participated in a life review project with seniors at
     Yaletown House. Together they created the book
     "Snapshots of a Generation". Several years ago,
     students at Lord Selkirk Elementary participated in a
     similar project, producing "Happy to Live in Cedar
     Cottage."

     The Generation Connection Society is a non-profit
     organization dedicated to the development of
     intergenerational communication. The Society has
     developed a "Computer Literacy Program" for seniors.
     As part of the project SeniorLink, an on-line network,
     was established to allow seniors to communicate
     electronically with people of all ages. The Generation
     Connection Society has also undertaken projects in
     which people of different ages come together to focus
     on specific community concerns. In one project high
     school students and seniors shared their experience of
     alcohol and substance abuse.

     Starting the third Sunday in May, the B Council for
     the Family sponsors an Intergenerational Week. To
     promote the week, it spotlights organizations which
     are active intergenerationally, but unrecognized.
     Because the Council serves as a clearing house for
     information on such projects, a call to them will get
     you a package on activities and resources, as well as
     posters, buttons and balloons.

     For more information call:
     Volunteer Grandparents Society of BC, at 736-8271
     The Generation Connection, at 731-5399.
     Rae Marie MacAuley, Volunteers for Seniors, Burrard
     Health Unit, at 736-9844.
     Seniors Centres: 411 Seniors Centre, at 684-8171
     Brock House, at 228-1461
     Maureen Ashfield, B Council for the Family, at
     660-0675.

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      Environmental Activities

     Painted yellow salmon now decorate some of the
     catch-basins across our city, to remind us that what
     we put into our storm sewers eventually ends up in our
     oceans. A program administered locally through the
     City's Environmental Protection Branch, it encourages
     people to paint the salmon by providing a kit
     containing a video, instruction manual, latex paint
     and template, and a reflective vest; as well as
     leaflets to distribute throughout the neighbourhood.
     The long term goal is to mark all 30,000 of
     Vancouver's catch-basins. Although geared to school
     age children, the project can be undertaken by any
     person or group.

     Many environmental groups, such as the Vancouver
     Salmon Streams Society, the False Creek South Access
     Committee, and the Environmental Youth Alliance, have
     been involved in projects to clean up and restore the
     eco-systems of our city's streams and shore lines. In
     1994, a group of Collingwood residents began a project
     to rehabilitate the Still Creek ravine between East
     24th and 29th Avenues. The "Creating Dynamic
     Communities" Committee hopes to bring the stream back
     to life with indigenous plant and wildlife, while
     building a sense of pride and control amongst
     residents.

     For more information call:
     Neil McCreedy, Environmental Protection Branch, at
     873-7528
     Mona Keffer, Institute for Urban Ecology, Douglas
     College, at 527-5522
     Vickie Jo Morris, Creating Dynamic Communities, at
     875-9910
     Siobahn Ryan, the Vancouver Permaculture Network, at
     873-4335
     Steve Litke, the Eco-City Network, at 874-3907.
     For community eco-educational workshops, contact SPEC,
     at 736-7732.

----------
      Organizing around Hot Issues

     People often organize around a single issue. They get
     together because they are annoyed or angry about
     street prostitution, extra taxes, or an ugly building
     scheme. Often the issue is a proposed change or
     addition to the neighbourhood that is seen as
     undesirable. Those in favour of changes or additions
     often describe this kind of activism as NIMBYism
     (Not-In-My-Back-Yard syndrome), a selfish attempt by
     residents to keep their part of town just as it is, in
     defiance of some larger public good. They rarely
     mention how the first towns arose out of the natural
     tendency for people to band together to oppose
     disruptive outside forces.

     A potential threat may be just what is needed to
     mobilize citizens. Neighbours in Hastings/Sunrise
     found strength and common purpose in the discussion
     surrounding the proposed redevelopment of Hastings
     Park. Oakridge had no neighbourhood organization until
     community planners began talking about redevelopment -
     when suddenly the need for a neighbourhood "voice"
     became clear. Kitsilano residents found the need to
     organize over proposed zoning changes that threatened
     older houses and low-cost rental accommodation. Glen
     Park Neighbours got together to deal with an
     unsatisfactory development proposal for an abandoned
     supermarket site.

     Sometimes an issue can serve to invigorate an existing
     organization. On one east-side block, neighbours
     decided to petition the city for paving and lighting
     in their lane. Their group grew as they contacted
     neighbours across the back lane to support their
     request. This in turn strengthened a Block Watch
     already in place.

     But organizing around a hot issue can be a waste of
     time if it leads to a hardening of positions. Too
     often, citizens have worn themselves out in fights
     that might have been resolved to everyone's
     satisfaction through collaborative problem solving
     that focused on interests rather than positions. Until
     recently, most of the books written about community
     organizing have taken a battlefield approach, because
     it used to be the only way to influence public
     decision-making. With the dawning of a new age of
     co-operation between government and citizens, let's
     hope that the roundtable will replace the battlefield.

     For more information see:
     "The Citizen's Library" and "Community Organizing"
     sections of the Handbook; and the Community Action
     Pack produced by Health Canada.

----------
      Block by Block Organizing

     In the spring of 1993 a number of Mount Pleasant
     residents decided to create a community organization
     that included everyone. They wanted a democratic
     organization with authority vested in a large number
     of people rather than a small group of self-appointed
     individuals with a high tolerance for evening
     meetings. After some discussion they sketched out a
     model micro-democracy based on block-by-block
     representation.

     This is a block level micro-democracy works. Resident
     organizers find block reps for every block in the
     area. A block can either be a block of houses, an
     apartment block, co-op, or condominium complex. Block
     reps get to know everyone on their block, then
     introduce them to one another. When neighbours first
     meet, they are often surprised and delighted to
     discover how many interesting people live on their own
     block. Once residents know one another, they can elect
     a block rep. Block reps then elect neighbourhood reps,
     who get together to form a co-ordinating committee for
     the area.

     This simple organization can easily link many people
     over a large area; it can also help to form a much
     better link between citizens and government. In
     addition to linking people, block reps can promote
     mutual aid. At the block level, mutual aid can range
     from dealing with a noisy neighbour, to finding
     someone to look after your cat while you are on
     vacation. The side effect of these small exchanges is
     a sense of community, a commodity in short supply in
     the modern city.

     Here are some tips when organizing block-by-block. ~
     First, make the task manageable by focusing on small
     neighbourhoods. What the City now calls neighbourhoods
     - Kerrisdale, Riley Park, Marpole, and so forth - are
     actually large areas that each contain many small
     neighbourhoods. ~ Secondly, encourage each block to
     act independently. Only when a problem is too large or
     difficult for a single block should people from other
     blocks become involved. ~ Thirdly, organize in twos,
     so each block has two block reps, and each
     neighbourhood has two neighbourhood reps. This
     provides friendly support, improves information
     exchange, and reduces workloads. ~ Finally, consider
     integrating with Block Watch. While the former works
     across a street, and the latter across the lane, they
     can support one another.

     For more information call:
     Charles Dobson, Mount Pleasant Area Network, at
     877-0109.

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      Kitchen Table Discussion Groups

     A Kitchen Table Discussion group is a small collection
     of people who get together in someone's home to talk,
     listen and share ideas on subjects of mutual interest.
     The host often begins by reminding everyone that there
     are no right or wrong ideas, and that everyone's
     contribution is valuable. The host also encourages
     people to listen, to ask clarifying questions, and to
     avoid arguing or interrupting. Kitchen table
     discussion groups are similar to the salons of the
     past, once the prime vehicle for social change.

     Many of the two hundred "City Circles" that
     contributed to CityPlan were kitchen table discussion
     groups. The city supplied facilitators for many of
     these groups to help move the process forward, and
     ensure equal opportunities for input. City planners
     also used kitchen table discussion groups in the
     Downtown Eastside to provide a forum for residents of
     residential hotels to articulate their concerns about
     development in their neighbourhood. The West Point
     Grey Residents Association used the same approach to
     develop their own community plan. The B Council for
     the Family uses the kitchen table discussion process
     when they want to consult communities about
     strengthening families and creating healthier
     communities. Volunteers, family service providers,
     parents, grandparents, community elders, teens and
     professionals gather together to share their concerns
     and knowledge in this informal setting. The approach,
     says Carol Matusicky of the B Council For the Family,
     "helped facilitate a sense of shared ownership and a
     sense that change is possible, as well as a sense that
     problems, if not completely solvable, can become
     manageable."

     If you are interested in a broad-based discussion of
     health in your community, the Ministry of Health will
     provide you with a kitchen table discussion kit, plus
     a facilitator or interpreter. Get in touch with your
     local Health Council Planning Group, or the
     Vancouver-Richmond Health Board Office to find out how
     people in your community are tackling the large issue
     of health.

     For more information call:
     Gloria Demming Hall, West Point Grey Residents
     Association, 228-9890
     Jon Munn, Community Design Consultant, 732-3999

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      Visioning Exercises

     Guided visioning exercises have become popular in many
     fields as a way of defining and achieving a desirable
     future. Recent studies have shown that we are more
     likely to reach an objective if we can see it, and can
     imagine the steps to reach it. Visioning has become a
     familiar technique in sports. High-jumpers, for
     instance, regularly take the time to imagine
     themselves going through the steps of jumping higher
     than they have ever jumped before. Citizens can use
     visioning to create images that can help to guide
     change in the city.

     In a typical visioning exercise a facilitator asks
     participants to close their eyes and imagine they are
     walking through their neighbourhood as it should be
     fifteen years into the future. What do they see? What
     do the buildings look like? Where do people gather?
     How do they make decisions? What are they eating?
     Where are they working? How are they travelling? What
     is happening on the street? Where is the centre of the
     neighbourhood? How does greenspace and water fit into
     the picture? What do you see when you walk around
     after dark? People record their visions in written or
     pictorial form; in diagrams, sketches, models,
     photographic montages, and in written briefs.
     Sometimes a professional illustrator helps turn mental
     images into drawings of the city that people can
     extend and modify.

     CityPlan used visioning techniques to arrive at a
     number of alternative futures for the city.
     Vancouverites were then asked to vote for their
     favourite.

     For more information call :
     Doug Soo, Britannia Community Centre, at 253-4391.

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      Information Sharing

     Knock and drop
     How do you tell everyone in your neighbourhood about
     an event they should attend? The Kitsilano Residents
     Association does a "Knock and Drop." Block reps knock
     on doors to invite neighbours to attend; if no one is
     home they drop off a leaflet. Other groups put up
     posters. Some photocopy machines can turn a leaflet
     into an 11 x 17 poster suitable for advertising in
     laundries, community centres and libraries. If you
     want people to attend your event, the best approach is
     ask everyone to invite friends, family and neighbours.

     Newsletters
     A newsletter is one of the most common ways of staying
     in touch. Community newsletters range in frequency
     from two to twelve times a year. Most are 8 1/2 x 11
     printed both sides or a folded 11 x 17 sheet printed
     both sides. Printing is either by high speed
     photocopying or "instant" offset printing. You may be
     able to defray printing costs by enlisting the support
     of local merchants, local government, or community
     organizations. The big job in putting out a newsletter
     is finding people who are willing and able to write
     articles that others are interested in reading. Take
     the time to search out people with the necessary
     skills to write and edit your newsletter. Other people
     should be available to deal with printing, funding and
     distribution.

     To make your newsletter appear worth reading you
     should also try to find someone with a computer,
     desktop publishing software and access to a laser
     printer. Engaging newsletters look like little
     newspapers with narrow columns, photographs and bold
     headlines. Try to deliver your newsletter by hand. If
     you have block reps, they can easily deliver to their
     own block.

     Local newspapers
     Local newspapers can also help with information
     sharing. Because newspapers thrive on conflict, you
     may find a neighbourhood solution gets much less
     attention than a problem. Fortunately, the small
     papers may be changing their idea of what should go
     into a newspaper. One of the best known said that it
     would publish, without charge, articles with a
     neighbourhood focus that were well written and worth
     reading.

     Telephone trees
     A telephone tree is a fast, person-to-person
     information sharing technique. It requires a
     co-ordinator, and a list of who-calls-whom. An
     outgoing message starts with the co-ordinator who
     calls a predetermined list of ten activators. The ten
     activators in turn each call another predetermined
     list of ten people, who in turn each call another ten.
     It is important to make sure those at the base of the
     tree are reliable. The co-ordinator should check by
     occasionally calling people at the outer tips.

     Computer networks
     A new electronic information-sharing network is now
     operating called the Vancouver Community Net. It
     provides free access to community information,
     community organizations, community discussions, expert
     advice and electronic mail through a 24 hour dial-up
     computer service. In the future, terminals in public
     libraries will also provide access. To reach the
     CommunityNet modem 257-8778, or (better) connect over
     the internet to www.vcn.bc.ca. A local computer
     bulletin board, known as Alternatives BBS (modem
     430-8080), also has a grassroots focus.

     Another way of staying in touch with citizens locally
     and in other cities is through an internet connection.
     You can use the internet to put questions to
     interested people, simultaneously all over world.
     Their replies will help you understand what works in
     other cities. Many schools and businesses have an
     internet connection. Those who do not have free access
     can use a dial-up service provider. Many internet
     service providers advertise in the Computer Paper,
     free in many corner stores and branch libraries.

     Fax networks
     A fax network operates by everyone faxing messages
     into a central node. They are then sorted and faxed
     out automatically to a list of subscribers. Until the
     fax machine (or its equivalent) becomes more common,
     subscribers will have to use traditional methods to
     relay information to those who do not have the
     necessary hardware.

     Autodialer networks
     A new idea for involving large numbers of people
     lightly is an autodialer which sends short messages to
     answering machines. Subscribers receive messages on
     topics they designate, when they are not at home. The
     system uses a computer and database directory to
     digitize voice messages then send them out
     automatically. Operating on one line, during week
     days, it can deliver a 1 minute message to 5000 people
     per week. Evenings and weekends, people can dial back
     to get further information automatically through a
     touch tone system. Besides being an effective local
     broadcasting system that guarantees message delivery,
     an autodialer network can also be used for
     neighbourhood polling and elections. One supplier of
     the inexpensive PhoneTree autodialer is Noseworthy
     Telecommunications located near Seattle, phone
     204-745-6222.

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      All Sorts of Other Activities

     The preceding list of community building activities
     only hints at the possibilities for community building
     at the local level. Other possibilities are limited
     only by your imagination. They might include joining
     or creating:

       * a garden club that exchanges cuttings and advice;
       * a local traffic committee to promote traffic
         calming;
       * a parks committee;
       * a car co-operative that allows people who do not
         own cars to access one inexpensively;
       * a community cafe, or local hangout;
       * a local barter or currency system;
       * a neighbourhood brewing circle to batch brew beer;
       * a local baseball, volleyball, road hockey, boccie
         ball team;
       * a seniors' club that arranges excursions;
       * a local historical society that unearths local
         history and tries to preserve local buildings;
       * a supper club that eats its way around a circuit
         of local restaurants;
       * a kids' sports group;
       * a local jogging, exercise, or tai-chi club;
       * a local food co-op that provides inexpensive food
         in exchange for a small contribution of time;
       * a volunteer group providing after-hour services to
         those in need;
       * a local theatre group;
       * a local singing group;
       * a neighbourhood design panel that comments on new
         development;
       * a local earthquake preparedness group;
       * a local welcoming committee for new residents.

     The City of Vancouver also provides many opportunities
     for public involvement in creating a more liveable
     city.

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     The Citizen's Library
    Books on Building Local Democracy

    The Rebirth of Urban Democracy
    Jeff Berry, Kent Portney, Ken Thomson; Brookings
    Institution, Washington, DC, 1993.
    Critics of participatory democracy will have a hard time
    dismissing this detailed study of five U.S. cities -
    Birmingham, Dayton, Portland, St. Paul, and San Antonio.
    The five were chosen because they actively involve
    citizens (as members of neighbourhood associations) in
    local policy and decision-making. The authors see the
    ability of citizens to affect local affairs as a way of
    strengthening the weak democracies of both Canada and
    the U.S., where the voice of citizens is limited to
    voting. In strong democracies citizens take part in
    civic affairs between elections.
    The Rebirth of Urban Democracy is partly textbook,
    partly academic study, with numerous tables that look
    like Greek to those who have forgotten the meaning of
    chi square. Still, the authors' conclusions are clear.
    Formalizing regular citizen involvement in the city
    works for everybody. It builds community as well as
    democracy, improves liveability, reduces conflict
    between competing interest groups in the neighbourhood,
    and improves citizens' opinions of city hall. Fears that
    local opposition would block developments beneficial to
    the whole city did not materialize in any of the cities
    studied. The authors include a section on the reasons
    for the failures of citizen involvement programs of the
    seventies. They also identify what it takes to nudge a
    city government into partnerships with neighbourhood
    associations. To avoid lengthy delays order The Rebirth
    of Urban Democracy directly from Brookings Books,
    202-797-6258.

    The Quickening of America
    Frances Moore Lappe and Paul Martin DuBois, Jossey-Bass,
    San Francisco, 1994.
    This up-beat book for anyone interested in empowering
    citizens is flawed only by a tendency to refer to people
    as Americans. The authors, who run the Centre for a
    Living Democracy, believe that democracy is developing
    from something we have, into something we do, with
    excitement and satisfaction. Section headings include:
    Claiming Our Self Interest (It's not Selfishness),
    Discovering Power (Its not a Dirty Word), Making the
    Media Our Voice, Governing "By the People", and
    Mastering the Arts of Democracy: One-on-One and Group
    Skills.

    Reinventing Government
    David Osborne & Ted Gaebler, Penguin Paperbacks, 1993.
    Reinventing Government changed the way politicians and
    bureaucrats look at government. The authors provide many
    inspiring examples that contrast with the expensive and
    clumsy efforts we've come to expect of public
    institutions. They recommend government shift toward:

       * Empowering rather than serving citizens
       * Steering (deciding on policy) rather than rowing
         (providing services)
       * Injecting competition into service delivery
       * Funding outputs rather than inputs
       * Becoming mission-oriented rather than rule-driven
       * Turning hierarchies into cross-disciplinary team

    Osborne and Gaebler make it clear that citizen
    empowerment is an attractive alternative for both the
    right and the left of the political spectrum. A
    super-short, city-oriented version of the book can be
    had in the article, "Ten Ways to Turn DC Around", by
    David Osborne, reprinted in the book Internal Markets by
    William Halal. DC refers to the City of Washington, DC.

    Busting Bureaucracy: How to Conquer Your Organization's
    Worst Enemy
    Kenneth Johnston, Business One Irwin, 1993.
    Johnston puts the experience of twenty years of fixing
    organizations into this book. He shows how most
    organizations suffer from the immobilizing symptoms of
    bureaucratic form devised to promote control,
    consistency and accountability during the early part of
    this century. Today it has become the chief cause of
    demoralized employees and poor corporate performance.
    Bureaucracy is despaired by everyone, including senior
    management. It remains, nevertheless, entrenched in many
    organizations, the residue of old assumptions about
    human nature and ways of doing work. Everyone will
    recognize the common traits of bureaucratic form: a
    hierarchial structure; management by rules or policies;
    and an emphasis on consistency. Others include an
    "in-focus" (concentrating on the needs of the
    organization) or an "up-focus" (concentrating on a
    board) rather than a focus on the needs of customers; a
    tendency to grow in staff "above the line" regardless of
    the amount of work to be done; and the
    compartmentalization of work according to special
    knowledge. Johnston shows how to bust bureaucracy by
    creating front line teams, systems that ensure
    continuous feedback, and a shadow organization to guide
    the change to a mission-driven organization capable of
    continuous improvement.

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     The Citizen's Library
    Books on Grassroots Action Organizing
    Helping Seniors Mobilize
    Beth Mairs, Lawrence Heights Community Health Centre
    Press, Toronto, 1993.
    Helping Seniors Mobilize is a short manual on general
    organizing woven together with the story of how a paid
    community development worker (Mairs) pulled together an
    isolated and alienated group of seniors in Lawrence
    Heights, a Metro Toronto neighbourhood consisting solely
    of subsidized public housing units. Recommended.
    Every Voice Counts
    Penny Kome, Canadian Council on the Status of Women,
    Ottawa, 1989.
    Kome's condensed guide on organizing and small "p"
    political action takes the novice from researching an
    issue to lobbying and legal action. Most examples focus
    on women. Better than many similar books three times the
    length. Available free of charge from the Canadian
    Council on the Status of Women, Box 1541, Station B,
    Ottawa, K1A 5R3; by quoting No 89-L-156.
    Roots to Power: A Manual for Grassroots Organizing
    Lee Staples, Praeger, New York, 1984.
    Roots to Power is a good text on nuts and bolts
    organizing. It is especially good on recruiting,
    strategies and action plans, and dealing with
    counter-tactics. Top practitioners have contributed
    special sections on meetings, memberships, coalitions,
    public relations, negotiating, action ideas, and
    carrying-out action plans.
    Taking Action: Working Together for Positive Change in
    Your Community
    Elizabeth Amer, Self Counsel Press, 1992.
    Taking Action is the most useful book on grassroots
    organizing in Canada. It is written by a woman with all
    the necessary credentials; Amer worked for Pollution
    Probe; organized the battle to save her Toronto Island
    neighbourhood from the bulldozer, and went on to become
    a member of Toronto City council. Taking Action is easy
    to read, full of examples, and sprinkled with how-to
    advice not to be found in other books. Like most Self
    Counsel books, it is usually in stock in most Vancouver
    book stores.
    Organizing: a Guide for Grassroots Leaders
    Si Kahn, McGraw Hill, New York, 1981, Revised 1991.
    Kahn's book is easy to read. Chapters are broken into
    many subsections each of which addresses a particular
    question such as What makes a good issue? or How do you
    get people to come to a meeting? You don't need to plow
    through the whole book to find material relevant to your
    situation. Organizing is available from the Vancouver
    Public Library, as are most of the books on our list.

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     The Citizen's Library
    Books on Publicity & Media Advocacy
    Guerrilla P.R.: How You Can Wage an Effective Publicity
    Campaign without Going Broke
    Michael Levine, Harper Business, NY, 1993.
    This is not P.R. for guerrillas, but P.R. for people
    with no money. Citizen and public interest groups can
    benefit from this chatty but thorough book. Levine shows
    how to get publicity by coming up with ideas that engage
    the press. The first of his Ten Commandments for Dealing
    With Media is, "Never be boring. Never!"

    Promoting Issues and Ideas: A Guide to Public Relations
    for Non-profit Organizations
    Public Interest Public Relations, A Division of M. Booth
    and Associates, The Foundation Center, New York, 1987.
    Too many worthwhile efforts go unnoticed because
    citizens fear the media, or fail to grasp what makes
    news. Promoting Issues & Ideas can help overcome this
    problem. You would be wise to compliment this book with
    a do-it-yourself manual published in Canada, such as
    Michael Ura's Making the News, A Guide to Using the
    Media, published by the West Coast Environmental Law
    Foundation. You can purchase Promoting Issues and Ideas
    from Volunteer Vancouver, Heritage Hall, 2102 Main
    Street, 875-9144. Volunteer Vancouver carries other
    books helpful to non-profits; it also operates a 4000
    item resource library.

    Media Advocacy and Public Health
    Lawrence Wallack et al, Sage Publications, New York,
    1993.
    Easily the most sophisticated book on tapping the media.
    Wallach and his co-authors show how citizens' groups can
    take action through the media that will nudge
    governments into "doing the right thing". If you're
    serious about achieving public policy objectives, get
    this book. Five Stars.

    Let the World Know: Make Your Cause News
    Jason Salzman, Rocky Mountain Media Watch, Box 18858,
    Denver, CO, 80218, Phone 303-832-7558. Cost US $10 +
    $3.50 postage, handling and tax.
    A pithy, easy-to-use handbook on working the media.
    Salzman based the book on interviews with media-savvy
    activists and 25 professional journalists.

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     The Citizen's Library
    Books on Working with Others

    When Everyone's a Volunteer - The Effective Functioning
    of All-Volunteer Groups
    Ivan Sheier, Energize Inc, Philadelphia, PA, 1992.
    Here is a booklet for those who have become queasy
    riding the roller-coaster of an all-volunteer group. It
    is written by an expert on building organizations with
    volunteer support. Sheier covers goal setting,
    distributing work, getting members, working with no
    money, and co-operating with others. He also details a
    collection of group exercises, and networking schemes.
    Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In
    Roger Fisher & William Ury, Penguin, 1983.
    Fisher and Ury's best-seller on conflict resolution has
    been translated into eighteen languages. The authors
    show how conflict can be quite healthy if you can
    separate the people from the problem, and focus on
    interests rather than on positions. When unexpressed
    interests are identified, the parties involved can
    usually create options that will benefit everyone. If
    you prefer a workshop to a book, the Justice Institute
    runs a highly-rated 3 day course based on Getting to
    Yes. They offer the course, "Dealing with Interpersonal
    Conflict", several times per month. For more information
    call the Justice Institute at 222-7111.

    Working Collectively
    Women's Self Help Network, 1990.
    Six British Columbia womens' collectives contributed
    material to this condensed spiral-bound booklet on
    performing daily work in an atmosphere of democracy and
    co-operation. In simple language, it covers
    decision-making and overcoming common problems, and
    provides seventeen tools for ensuring a happy productive
    group. It is available from the Comox Valley Women's
    Resource Centre, PO Box 3292, Courtenay, BC, V9N 5N4,
    1-338 1133, and occasionally from the Vancouver-Richmond
    Health Board Office, 1285 West Broadway, Vancouver,
    Phone 775-1866.
    The Different Drum
    M.Scott Peck, Simon & Schuster, NY, 1987.
    Peck provides an explanation of the nature of real
    community and how it is created. He draws on his own
    youthful encounters with community, and subsequent
    experience running workshops for the non-profit
    Institute for Community Encouragement. The workshops aim
    at creating a deep level of connectedness between
    participants without any prior connection.

    Peck argues any group can form itself into a community
    if it goes through three stages. In two day workshops,
    Institute trainers take groups through these stages. In
    the first stage, Pseudocommunity, everyone tries to be
    extremely pleasant and avoid disagreement. In the second
    stage, Chaos, people argue and struggle in various ways
    to heal or convert one another. In the third stage,
    Emptiness, people stop acting like they had it all
    together and begin to share their own defeats, failures,
    sins and inadequacies. According to Peck, if a group can
    move through Emptiness, it can achieve community.
    Community is characterized by realism, humility,
    self-awareness, and the inclusiveness of people who are
    different. Once a group achieves community the most
    frequent comment is, "I feel safe here". Peck notes that
    the usual way out of Chaos is organization. He argues
    that excessive organization and strong leaders are a
    threat to community. In a real community, everyone is a
    leader.

    The second half of the book applies community building
    to enhancing the international peace movement. Peck, a
    psychiatrist, overlays The Different Drum with a New Age
    therapy-is-healthy outlook that may put off some
    readers. Anyone so inclined should at least consider
    chapter five, "Stages of Community-Making" and chapter
    six, "Further Dynamics of Community".
    Building Communities from the Inside Out
    John Kretzmann & John McKnight, Centre for Urban Affairs
    and Policy Research, Neighbourhoods Innovation Network,
    Northwestern University, Evaston, Illinois, 1993.
    The authors argue we can bring communities back to life
    if we focus on local assets rather than on local needs.
    By beginning every community development process with a
    needs assessment, we unwittingly make people needy and
    dependent. Kretzmann and McKnight say we have to stop
    seeing the glass as half empty and begin to see it as
    half full. We need to identify, then build on, strengths
    latent in the community.

    Originally written for U.S. cities suffering from
    economic decline, most of the book easily applies to
    less troubled Canadian communities. The first part
    covers explicit techniques for identifying a community's
    resources: local individuals, institutions, and
    associations. This process usually turns up far more
    active groups and individuals in an area than anyone
    ever imagined. In one 24 block neighbourhood in Chicago
    housing 85,000 people, researchers found 230
    associations of various kinds - artistic, business,
    charitable, church, collectors, elderly, ethnic, health,
    interest, mens, self-help, neighbourhood, outdoors,
    political, school, service, social cause, sports, study,
    veterans, women, and youth. Most of the book consists of
    hundreds of one-sentence examples of what happens when
    these and other fragments of community begin working in
    partnership with one another. Each story has a contact
    name and phone number, to help the reader move from
    reading to acting. The stories show how local seniors,
    disabled persons, welfare recipients, and local artists
    can work with institutions, the private sector and
    associations. They also show how institutions such as
    schools, parks, libraries, community colleges, police,
    and hospitals can work in partnership with one another.

    McKnight's work is probably the most sophisticated
    community development material around. Thankfully it is
    amongst the most down-to-earth. For a copy of Building
    Communities form the Inside Out call the Center for
    Urban Affairs at 708-491-3518.

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     The Citizen's Library
    Other Books, Local Task Force Reports

    Books on cities? Books on Vancouver?
    We don't have the space to review books on cities in
    general or Vancouver in particular. But in case you're
    wondering where to start, here are a few suggestions. On
    cities: City: Rediscovering the Center by William Whyte;
    The New Urbanism, Toward an Architecture of Community by
    Peter Katz; Collaborative Communities by Dorit Fromm (on
    co-housing), Reclaiming Our Cities & Towns, Better
    Living With Less Traffic by David Engwicht; The Death
    and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs; City
    Form and Natural Process by Michael Hough. On this city:
    Vancouver, a Visual History by Bruce Macdonald,
    Vancouver's Many Faces by Kevin Griffin (on Vancouver's
    ethnic communities), Heritage Walks Around Vancouver by
    Michael Kluckner and John Atkin. If you are interested
    in a complete summary of all the government agencies and
    non-profits operating in the city and what they do,
    check out the Red Book published by Information Services
    and available in the reference section of your local
    public library. If you are interested in how developers
    view the city look at Back to the Future: Redesigning
    Our Landscapes with Form, Place and Density published by
    the Urban Development Institute, Pacific Region.

    Models of Neighbourhood Participation In Local
    Government
    Vickie Jo Morris, Social Planning Department, City of
    Vancouver, 1993.
    Morris has created a little gem for citizens active in
    any city. Her twenty-two page paper summarizes how the
    cities of Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Jacksonville,
    Dayton, Jerusalem, Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle, and
    Roanoke, Virginia work in partnership with
    neighbourhoods. For those seeking more information, it
    contains the names and phone numbers of key
    neighbourhood liaison people in each city. Models of
    Neighbourhood Participation shows how many cities view
    citizens not as a nuisance but as a resource. This
    publication was so popular, all printed copies soon
    disappeared. Now you can get a copy from our new
    internet site: Frisky Democracy
    SPARC Publications
    The Social Planning and Research Council of British
    Columbia has published many works on citizen
    participation at the local level such as A Citizen's
    Guide to Community Social Planning; Planning Ourselves
    In: Women and the Community Planning Process; Community
    Economic Development in B; and Creating Housing For
    Healthy Communities. In addition, SPARC publishes a
    newsletter on community affairs in B, which is free with
    a membership.
    SPARC has also created a Community Development
    Institute; its publications and workshops compliment the
    material in this Handbook. For more information, contact
    SPARC at 106-2182 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver, phone
    736-8118, fax 736-8697.

    .
    CityPlan, Directions for the Future
    Planning Department, City of Vancouver, 1995.
    CityPlan, Directions for the Future came from an
    initiative to develop a long range, comprehensive plan
    for the City of Vancouver by consulting with people who
    live and work in the City. Launched in 1992, CityPlan
    proceeded through three initial steps in which people
    created ideas, discussed ideas, and then considered
    issues and choices. Based on the results, staff created
    a draft plan for public discussion in the fall of 1994.
    The favoured future, a "City of Neighbourhood Centres",
    would emphasize distinctive focal points in the city
    with a variety of shops, jobs, services, public places,
    and some new higher density housing. It would also
    discourage car use in favour of walking and transit. And
    it would see more occasions for residents and city staff
    to work together at the neighbourhood level to deal with
    local problems. For more detail, obtain a copy of The
    Draft City Plan and copies of the Ideas Books (ideas
    submitted to CityPlan by the general public) and the
    results of various surveys and questionnaires from the
    Planning Department, Third Floor, East Wing, City Hall.
    For more information on CityPlan call 873-7526 or review
    the latest CityPlan material on the city's internet site.

    Safer City Task Force Report
    City Clerk's Office, City of Vancouver, 1993.
    This hefty 360 page report examines safety and urban
    design, domestic violence and violence in schools. It
    stresses the importance of involving citizens in efforts
    to improve safety and reduce crime. It also suggests
    ways of designing safer environments through simple
    measures that ensure informal surveillance.

    Community Profiles
    Planning Department, City of Vancouver.
    Community Profiles provide an up to date overview of
    each of Vancouver's twenty-three local areas based on
    the most recent (1991) census data. They contain
    information on history and heritage; social and economic
    characteristics; transportation features; parks,
    recreation and leisure opportunities; planning and
    development activity; community facilities and services.
    You can find copies of the profiles in public libraries,
    community centres, schools, and various community and
    government organizations. You can also see the profiles
    on the city's internet site, or purchase copies for a
    small fee from the Reception Desk, Planning Department,
    3rd Floor, East Wing, City Hall.

    When the Bough Breaks
    United Way, 4543 Canada Way, Burnaby, 1993.
    A consultant group prepared When the Bough Breaks as a
    local report on how to plan and
    co-ordinate services to children and their families. The
    main focus of the report is on the need to develop
    neighbourhood government with the power to plan and
    manage an integrated service delivery system.

    Greenways/Publicways Final Report
    Urban Landscape Task Force, City of Vancouver, 1992.
    The Report is a clear and easy to read document that
    spells out how to improve the quality of spaces used by
    pedestrians and bicyclists to move through the city. It
    includes fifteen essential actions such as "Reclaim
    Local Streets for Bicycles", "Promote the Urban Forest",
    and "Reinforce a City of Urban Villages". It also
    includes a nifty section called Gifts and Tools
    comprised of twenty-seven items with titles like "City
    Nights", "Chalk Talk", "Civic and Sacred Places", "The
    Litigation Landscape", and "Linking Vancouver to the Sea
    and Sky".

    Clouds of Change
    Task Force on Atmospheric Change, Vancouver Health
    Department, 1990.
    The task force suggested actions the City could take to
    address the local, regional and global problems of air
    pollution and climate change. City Council adopted 34 of
    the report's recommendations.

    State of the Environment Report
    Special Office for the Environment, City of Vancouver,
    1993.
    This is a report card on how well we are taking care of
    our natural environment in and around the city. It looks
    at air quality, contaminated sites, environmental
    assessment, water quality, environmental protection and
    solid waste.

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     The Citizen's Library
    Magazines

    National Civic Review
    National Civic Review, 300,1445 Market St; Denver,
    Colorado, 80202, phone 303-571-4343.
    The National Civic Review is the monthly publication of
    the National Civic League, founded in 1894 by a bunch of
    rabble rousing civic reformers. They had two purposes:
    end local corruption, and promote active citizen
    involvement in the governance of their community. The
    Review provides articles and case studies of citizen
    involvement in local planning, education, health care,
    and environmental protection. The National Civic League
    also publishes material from organizations with similar
    goals such as the Program for Community Problem-Solving
    in Washington, DC and the Institute for the Arts of
    Democracy in Larkspur, California. Canada has no
    organization comparable to the National Civic League.

    Utne Reader
    Utne Reader; 1624 Harmon Place, Minneapolis, Minnesota,
    55403.
    The Utne Reader backs up its own articles with reprints
    from the alternative press. The editorial group that
    assembles the magazine has a wide range of interests,
    including social action, and community building. In
    September 1994, the cover story was "Saving Our Cities
    from the Experts"; in March 1995, "Cyberhood vs
    Neighbourhood, Are Computer Networks Real Communities?".
    In March 1991, it was "Salons, How to Revive the
    Endangered Art of Conversation and Start a Revolution in
    Your Living Room". That story blossomed into a national
    "Neighbourhood Salons" program, with an unofficial motto
    from Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small group of
    thoughtful committed citizens can change the world.
    Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Utne Reader
    is available on many newsstands.

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      Models of Neighbourhood
     Participation in Local Government

     by Vickie Jo Morris

     Prepared for The City of Vancouver, Social Planning
     Department
     READY OR NOT! Project, May 1993

     Survey Introduction and Method

     Edmonton, Alberta

     Calgary, Alberta

     Montreal, Quebec

     Portland, Oregon

     Roanoke, Virginia

     Seattle, Washington

     Minneapolis, Minnesota

     Dayton, Ohio

     Jacksonville, Florida

     Jerusalem

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     Vancouver Projects
    This section samples a selection of community building
    projects from around Vancouver. The first five projects
    received assistance from the Vancouver Community
    Building Fund. Social Planning Department staff
    initiated the Fund to provide small amounts of money to
    jump start resident's ideas for increasing neighbourhood
    identity and participation.

    Renfrew-Collingwood's Ravine Project
    A few years ago, a small group of people calling
    themselves the Dynamic Community Committee started
    meeting to talk about rebuilding their Collingwood
    neighbourhood.
    Recognizing the need to focus on action, they decided to
    clean-up the portion of the Renfrew Ravine that runs
    south of East 22nd Avenue toward the Skytrain and
    Norquay school. To accomplish the task they sought and
    received assurances of help from many other groups.
    Douglas College's Institute for Urban Ecology provided
    an ecological co-ordinator. The local Scouts went door
    to door with educational material. Local churches
    distributed pamphlets. Translators put information into
    both Chinese and Punjabi. The City's Engineering
    Department provided dumpsters for the garbage. St.
    John's Ambulance reps provided first aid.

    The result: many dumpsters full of junk were taken out
    of the ravine one rainy day in May. People who didn't
    know each other all worked together. They shared coffee,
    hot dogs and umbrellas. A lot of kids got a sense of
    what community action is like as well as an appreciation
    of the importance of the environment.

    In June, they held a thank-you party. They were very
    happy with their efforts, and very clear that this was
    not going to be the end of their project. The group is
    now talking about ideas for the future of their ravine
    and will be meeting to consider such matters as a
    playground, wildlife habitat, and a scenic walkway. For
    more information on the project call Jean Budden McMurdo
    at 431-0634.

    Hasting-Sunrise Birdhouses
    Shirley McGrew was concerned that the wild bird habitat
    in the Hastings area was almost non-existent. An avid
    environmentalist, she launched "Project Feathered
    Friends", a scheme to build birdhouses for local
    backyards and parks.

    With much hard work, people in the area including
    Franklin Community School, the Hastings Community
    Centre, the Environmental Youth Alliance, and local
    residents wound up building about 300 birdhouses.
    Shirley and a small group of others made birdhouse kits,
    many of which were then put together by students,
    parents and teachers in Franklin School.

    The project resulted in more birds, greater community
    awareness of the local environment, and new friendships
    in the neighbourhood. More recently Douglas College's
    Institute for Urban Ecology has offered to sponsor an
    ambitious sequel -installing new plants in local parks
    to attract even more birds to Hastings Sunrise. For more
    information on Project Feathered Friends, call Shirley
    McGrew at 255-2546.

    Volunteer for Kids! in Cedar Cottage
    Volunteer For Kids introduces people of different ages
    and ethnic backgrounds into the schools of Cedar
    Cottage. The program began to take shape when a concern
    for children brought together individuals from the
    Vancouver Health Department, Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood
    House, Trout Lake Community Centre, Vice Principals from
    Queen Alexandra, Laura Secord and Lord Selkirk
    Elementary Schools, and community residents. With
    funding from "Ready Or Not!", they hired a co-ordinator
    and went to work. They presented their project as an
    opportunity to enrich the lives of children in three
    east side elementary schools.

    Community members responded by bringing forth their
    talents. Now, on a weekly basis, dance, chalk talk,
    recyclable art, knitting, hockey, drawing and
    story-telling activities all bring smiles to over 230
    children. Special programs such as cookie house
    construction and holiday choirs have involved over 1000
    children.

    Volunteers reflect the Cedar Cottage community: Ages
    range from 17 to 75, and include both men and women;
    cultures include Chinese, Vietnamese, British, Japanese,
    East Indian, and African. Those involved say that
    Volunteer For Kids! has been a wonderful experience. For
    more information on the project contact Joanne Van
    Snellenberg at 253-4391.

    Mount Pleasant's Community Fence
    Two Mount Pleasant artists, Pat Beaton and Lycia
    Trouton, initiated the Mount Pleasant Community Fence.
    They wanted a project that would pull together people
    who would otherwise never meet. They also wanted to
    bring art into everyday life.
    During the fall and spring of 1993-94, through the
    vision of local artists and the grunt gallery, four
    hundred Mt. Pleasant residents received training, and
    then drew and carved their personal statements on
    pickets which now surround the garden. People without
    any wood-working experience seniors, parents and
    children, people with disabilities, and members of many
    different ethnic groups became part-time sculptors. For
    more information on the project, call Pat Beaton at
    875-9516.

    Granville South's Newsletter
    Thousands of new residents will move into the area just
    north of the Granville Street Bridge over the next
    several years. This has led to concerns about the impact
    on the existing residents people who live in the hotels,
    a few old houses, and on the street. In response
    citizens created a new group called the Downtown
    Granville Tenant's Association.

    The Association decided to publish the Downtown
    Granville Newsletter to tell people what was happening,
    to inform them of their rights, and to get them involved
    in their community. The Association's co-ordinator says
    "We are now getting more people to our monthly meetings,
    and we're able to pass on information to the community
    directly. The newsletter is also a vehicle for residents
    to communicate with one another. Many of the issues that
    are raised by the residents are written by them". For
    more information on the project, call Sherrill
    Gullickson at 683-5048.

    Gastown's Vision for the Central Waterfront
    The Carnegie Community Action Project was created in
    response to the waterfront Casino Destination Resort
    proposal. Local residents not only wanted to oppose the
    huge project; they wanted to produce alternatives of
    their own for the waterfront site. Through a series of
    community-led workshops they came up with priorities and
    ideas. Artists then helped to translate these into a
    number of visions. Two part time staff continue to work
    with residents developing a community-based planning
    process that will lead to other constructive development
    alternatives. For more information call John Shayler at
    689-0397.

    The Downtown Eastside Listening Survey
    The Downtown Eastside Health Planning Group wanted to
    discover what aroused a lot of emotional energy, so they
    would know what issues people would be willing to work
    around. They decided to use an informal technique called
    a listening survey. A group of residents agreed to
    conduct the survey for a small honorarium. As
    preparation, they held several workshops on listening
    exercises. They talked about the common blocks to
    listening; how to eavesdrop in public places; how to get
    permission to insert yourself into a conversation; how
    to keep people talking without intruding; and how to
    deal with people who say something you dislike.

    After the exercises they wrote down all the places where
    different people gathered, plus the names of people that
    everyone talked to, such as hairdressers and bartenders.
    Then they formed pairs and went out to find people. To
    conduct the survey, one person encouraged people to
    talk, while the other acted as recorder. At the end of
    each week everyone got together to evaluate the material
    collected and determine where the strongest feelings
    lay.
    Both residents and service providers were surveyed in
    this way. The results of both surveys are available from
    the health plan office at 390 Main Street. For more
    information on how to conduct a listening survey call
    Marg Green, Neighbourhood Helpers Project,
    254-6207.

    West Point Grey Healthy Neighbourhood Plan
    Over the course of two and a half years, more than 600
    residents of West Point Grey developed the first
    neighbourhood plan in Vancouver to be created entirely
    by residents.
    Uncertainty about the future of the Jericho lands, and
    dissatisfaction with always being reactive convinced the
    West Point Grey Residents Association it was time to
    take charge of their future. They began with a consensus
    workshop on how to proceed attended by thirty five
    members of different community groups. This led to the
    formation of sixty kitchen table discussion groups which
    met separately to discuss concerns and hopes for Point
    Grey.

    With a small grant from the Healthy Communities
    Initiative Fund, residents then began the process of
    creating a tentative neighbourhood plan through
    discussion, draft writing, public presentation, and
    draft rewriting. Much of the work was done by six action
    groups that looked at six different issues:
    neighbourhood spirit and security; movement of people
    through the neighbourhood; business and neighbourhood;
    arranging our homes; neighbourhood design; greenspace
    and environment; and governance.
    In early 1993, the third draft was circulated throughout
    the neighbourhood using block houses at which copies
    were available. In May 1994, residents got together to
    celebrate a final document outlining goals and actions
    for a healthy Point Grey. Since then they have been
    working toward putting the new plan into place. For more
    information on the process or the plan call Gloria
    Demming-Hall at 228-9890.

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     Vancouver Programs
    This section covers a number of programs that contribute
    to liveability, community and democracy through
    partnerships between government and citizens.

    Neighbourhood Integrated Service Teams
    In response to the call for more efficient and effective
    service, the city has created Neighbourhood Integrated
    Service Teams. The goal is to bring city services closer
    to the community level so that city workers from many
    departments can deal with local issues in collaboration
    with local residents. NIST seeks to:
      * Provide more user-friendly city services.
      * Improve access to information.
      * Co-ordinate city responses at the neighbourhood
        level.
      * Improve public process and community participation.
      * Promote more creative and collaborative
        problem-solving.

    A multi-departmental service team were created for each
    of 15 different areas of the city. Each team includes
    staff from Fire, Police, Health, Planning, Library,
    Engineering, Permits and Licences, and Social Planning.
    Over three thousand city workers now work directly in
    the community out of facilities such as community
    centres, libraries, firehalls and health units. Teams
    will identify facilities in their area in which to hold
    meetings.
    Each team will be responsible for coordinating city
    services and information in their area. They will also
    be responsible for working with the community to
    identify and resolve local issues. As part of this task
    they will establish links with community associations,
    non-profit groups, schools, businesses, and provincial
    and federal agencies. Any combination of groups and
    individuals might become involved in addressing a
    particular issue. Where possible, integrated service
    teams will also implement acceptable solutions.
    For more information on call Judy Rogers, Assistant City
    Manager, at 873-7626.

    Public Art Community Initiatives Program
    Public Art Community Initiatives Program supports
    artists and communities wanting to undertake joint
    community-building projects. Public art consists of
    almost any art work which addresses a public site, or a
    public issue. It may be a statue, a fountain, a paving
    pattern, a special garden, an interpretive program, or
    even a sound pattern. The intent of such art is to
    humanize public spaces, making them places where people
    want to be. Projects in the Community Initiatives
    Program usually focus on a neighbourhood issue or
    concern. For example, Mt. Pleasant's Community Fence
    Project, initiated by artists, drew broadly on community
    and artistic resources to create community pride and
    identity.
    The program co-ordinator will work with communities to
    identify opportunities and help prepare one or two
    projects for funding each year. For more information,
    call Skai Fowler, Community Initiatives Co-ordinator,
    Office of Cultural Affairs, City of Vancouver at
    871-6000.

    Community Cultural Development
    Community Cultural Development is a collaborative
    process in which artists and community members work
    together to develop projects that use the arts to define
    and address local issues.
    In conjunction with a community centre and its
    association, the Park Board chooses a community cultural
    development project to fund each year by the following
    process: First the community identifies issues or
    opportunities. Then a facilitator, familiar with the
    arts and community development, is contracted to work
    with the community. Finally artist/s are hired to work
    collaboratively with community. Sample projects:
      * Artists address community identity by painting
        murals, sewing banners, or constructing ceramic
        walkways.
      * A theatre group works with community members to
        address race relations.
      * A photographer works with youth or seniors to
        address alienation from community life.

    For more information call Wendy Au at 871-6039, or Susan
    Gordon, the Park Board, at 257-8495.

    Greenways/Publicways
    The Greenways/Publicways program aims at improving the
    quality of spaces used by pedestrians and bicyclists to
    move through the city. In 1994, Vancouver city council
    approved two pilot projects -The John Street Connector
    and the Burrard Slopes Area pilot projects. Each
    explores different issues such as shared street uses,
    funding, and community participation. Future projects
    will be financed through $1.5 million allocated in the
    1994-1996 Capital Plan.
    If you wish to help turn a project in your community
    into reality, become a Greenways/Publicways partner or
    volunteer. For more information check out the Greenways
    info on the City's internet site or contact Emil Barth
    at 873-7295.

    Community Schools
    Unlike regular schools, community schools provide space
    for a myriad of community activities by staying open on
    weekends and in the evenings. Besides making better use
    of some of Vancouver's 1.25 billion dollars worth of
    school facilities, community schools offer youth,
    day-camp, preschool, and hot lunch programs, provide
    volunteer teacher assistants, arrange transportation for
    field trips, and provide care for children between the
    time school ends and when parents get home from work.
    They also co-ordinate numerous outreach programs; one of
    these, Silver Threads, arranges regular visits between
    school children and seniors.
    Community schools concern themselves with everything
    that affects the well-being of every citizen in the
    community. They collaborate with a whole range of
    community services, non-profit agencies and government
    departments to assist in the delivery of educational,
    cultural, health and social services. Thanks to over 400
    volunteers they manage to turn every $1 they receive in
    funding into $5 worth of programming.
    Vancouver has six community schools located throughout
    the city: Bayview in Kitsilano; Britannia in
    Grandview/Woodlands; Carnarvon in Point Grey/Dunbar;
    Champlain in the Champlain Heights; Franklin in the
    Vancouver Heights; and Sexsmith in South Vancouver.
    For more information on community schools, contact any
    of the schools listed above; or Liz Dill, Britannia
    Community School at 255-9371; or Irene Wotten, Bayview
    Community School at 738-7018.

    Co-ordinated Community Support Team
    The Co-ordinated Community Support Team (CCST) works
    with neighbourhoods to address difficult problems before
    they become intolerable for residents.
    Since its inception, the CCST has resolved numerous
    problems including: a deteriorated premises that posed a
    health hazard; the use of a private residence for
    prostitution and drug dealing; and the use of a private
    residence as an after-hours drinking establishment.
    The Co-ordinated Community Support Team meets on an ad
    hoc basis, as problems arise. It can become involved
    when:
      * a problem requires attention from more than one City
        department
      * a problem keeps recurring
      * traditional methods have failed to produce results
      * early intervention would prevent or lessen concern

    If citizens become aware of a problem that meets the
    above criteria, contact the City Clerk, Maria Kinsella,
    at 873-7266.

    Neighbourhood Matching Fund
    The Neighbourhood Matching Fund is a Vancouver Board of
    Parks and Recreation program that provides matching
    funds to neighbourhood groups who want to improve and
    develop parks and facilities on public land. The
    projects must involve a broad base of people in a way
    that promotes community development and builds
    neighbourhood connections. Project examples include:
    greening a street-end, building a community fence,
    producing banners, building benches with a ceramic
    artist, painting murals, creating community gardens and
    community orchards, developing nature and history
    programs, building an information kiosk.
    To obtain funds a neighbourhood group must submit a
    project proposal and an application to the Park Board.
    An advisory committee composed of community members from
    across the city selects the most eligible projects. The
    Park Board will reimburse the neighbourhood group for
    project expenses up to $5,000.00 once the project has
    been completed.
    For more information, contact Susan Gordon at 257-8495.

    Vancouver CommunityNet
    The Vancouver CommunityNet provides free information and
    discussion forums to
    non-profit organizations, community groups and
    individuals. The CommunityNet resembles a computer
    bulletin board linked to a growing information network
    that will soon include freenets from every major city in
    Canada and around the world.
    The Vancouver Regional ComunityNet Association, founded
    in 1993, has over 100 active volunteers on seven
    different committees. The VRCA works extensively with
    community organizations to assist them in using the
    CommunityNet computer and telecommunications systems to
    further public participation, and provide up-to-date
    information. Community organizations can contact the
    VRCA through its voice mail telephone system at
    257-3811. Individuals can access the CommunityNet by
    modeming 257-8778 or (better) through the internet at
    www.vcn.bc.ca.

    From Barriers to Bridges
    From Barriers to Bridges aims at improving race
    relations at the community level. The program tries to
    develop a dialogue between people of different race who
    normally don't meet. It also helps to develop plans for
    connecting people of different age, ethnicity, gender,
    religion, economic status, and sexual orientation in
    ways that lead to harmonious relations. Project workers
    set-up community forums to bring together a wide
    cross-section of the community. Through a visioning and
    planning process, participants identify barriers to more
    harmonious relations, and then develop action plans to
    remove these barriers.
    Projects underway include an Encounters and Arrivals
    Festival, community safety initiatives, and strategies
    to encourage block parties and inclusive board
    development. For more information, contact Wendy Au,
    Social Planning, 871-6039.

    Health Care Reform
    The Ministry of Health is in the process of
    restructuring health care in British Columbia. These are
    some of the objectives of the reform process:
      * Bring health care and health care decision-making
        "closer to home" by placing responsibility for
        managing health care under regional and community
        (citizen) control.
      * Recognize that good health comes from more than
        health care. Only 25% of our health status comes
        from health care, the rest is dependent on an
        adequate income, a clean environment, secure
        housing, employment opportunities, and a social
        support system.
      * Emphasize health promotion, and the prevention of
        illness and injury.

    The Vancouver /Richmond Health Board receives a portion
    of the provincial health budget, and act as the planning
    and decision-making body for Vancouver and Richmond. The
    Board is made up of volunteer community members,
    government appointees, elected representatives from
    groups such as school boards, city council, and
    Community Health Committees. In Vancouver, six Community
    Health Committees, each representing a different
    geographic area of the city, will advise the Regional
    Health Board. The CHCs will identify community health
    needs and priorities. They will also plan, co-ordinate
    and, if necessary, operate local health services.
    Community Health Planning Groups have been meeting
    across Vancouver since the spring of 1993. Their task
    has been to inform their community about health care
    reform, and to involve as many people as possible in
    discussions around health planning at the local level.
    For more information on the state of health care in
    Canada read Strong Medicine: How to Save Canada's Health
    Care System by Michael Rachlis and Carol Kushner. For
    published information on health care reform in
    Vancouver, drop into the Vancouver/Richmond Health Board
    Office at 1285 West Broadway. For information on how you
    can take part in devising a health plan for your
    community, call Faye White at 775-1866.

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     Vancouver Citizen-Focused Organizations

    This section lists a number of local grassroots
    organizations interested in building community, and/or
    citizenship and strong democracy. It does not include
    special interest citizens groups; to locate these groups
    use the Vancouver Public Library's on line list of
    Community Organizations. For neighbourhood groups see
    the same list, or the city's Index of Community
    Organizations.

    Neighbour to Neighbour Community to Community
    In 1994, Neighbour to Neighbour formally established
    itself as a coalition of Vancouver residents
    associations with two goals: to foster liveable
    neighbourhoods, and to promote neighbourhood inclusion
    in civic decision-making. Members of the coalition
    believe there should be a civic role for citizens
    between elections. They also believe that residents are
    the best judges of what is good for their own
    neighbourhoods.
    The focus of Neighbour to Neighbour is both local and
    municipal; the group recognizes that many urban problems
    recur in different parts of the city or extend across
    neighbourhood boundaries. The coalition provides a means
    of dealing with city-wide issues, and a forum for
    sharing problem solving experiences between
    neighbourhoods.
    The forty associations that make up the coalition are
    committed to working toward inclusiveness in their own
    neighbourhoods, and to working co-operatively with
    ethnic, social action and issue-oriented groups.
    Neighbour to Neighbour meets once a month. For an
    agenda, and more information on the coalition call or
    fax Mel Lehan at 731-4133. You can also get in touch by
    writing N2N/C2C, 3214 West 10th Ave, Vancouver, V6K 2L2.

    Forum for Planning Action
    Established in 1984, the FPA is a non-profit association
    committed to promoting participatory approaches to
    planning. The association places particular importance
    on addressing issues of sustainability and resource
    management as a means of achieving economic and social
    well-being for British Columbia's communities.
    The FPA sponsors workshops and forums to inform citizens
    about important issues. It also publishes a quarterly
    newsletter and discussion papers on planning issues.
    The FPA has about 250 members. For information on the
    cost of membership, and a free copy of the current
    newsletter call Leah Holman at 689-7146.

    BC Coalition for Safer Communities
    The Coalition works with communities who wish to
    establish a safer community agenda. Members also
    contribute to workshops, lectures and conferences to
    promote a safer city agenda. For more information
    contact Patti Pearcey, Coalition Co-ordinator, by
    calling 669-2986, or by faxing 688-2566.

    Community Steps for Regional Governance
    Community Steps is a coalition of groups and individuals
    who wish to see meaningful citizen participation in
    decision making at the Greater Vancouver Regional
    District. The GVRD is presently run by people appointed
    from the councils of the eighteen different
    municipalities. The GVRD's job is to deliver to over
    half the province's population, services that are
    regional rather than local. These include water, sewage
    treatment, air quality management, recycling, regional
    housing, and regional parks. Community Steps monitors
    GVRD meetings, lobbies politicians, and holds public
    meetings on the issue of governance at the GVRD.
    Recently it surveyed fifty lower mainland community
    groups about their attempts to influence decision making
    at the GVRD. For more information on Community Steps
    call Bob Everton at 253-0304.

    Family Places
    Family Places provide support to parents and caregivers
    to help relieve the stress and isolation that comes from
    caring for children. At most Family Places, children
    from infancy to school age play in a supervised room
    with toys, puzzles, climbing apparatus, and paints and
    crafts. This allows parents to spend time together. Most
    Family places also provide support groups, workshops,
    clothing exchanges, informal counselling and parent
    education. Vancouver has six Family Places:

        West Side Family Place at 2819 West 11th, phone
        738-2819
        Marpole-Oakridge Family Place at 1305 West 70th,
        phone 263-1405
        Eastside Family Place at 1661 Napier, phone
        255-9841
        Mount Pleasant Family Place at 2910 St. George,
        phone 872-6757
        South Vancouver Family Place at 2295 East 61st,
        phone 325-5213 Hastings FamilyEnrichment Centre
        at 3096 East Hastings, phone 255-2606

    Neighbourhood Houses
    Neighbourhood Houses are non-profit centres that offer a
    range of community services, programs and activities.
    They support community action by offering neighbourhood
    groups meeting spaces, community kitchens, staff and
    administrative support.
    Residents can participate in the activities of their
    Neighbourhood House by becoming a member of a volunteer
    board, by taking part in programs, and by attending
    community meetings and forums. Vancouver has nine
    Neighbourhood Houses:

        Cedar Cottage at 4065 Victoria Drive, phone
        874-4231
        Frog Hollow at 2131 Renfrew, phone 251-1225
        Kitsilano at 2325 West 7th, phone 736-3588
        Little Mountain at 3981 Main Street, phone
        879-7104
        South Vancouver at 6470 Victoria Drive, phone
        324-6212
        Collingwood at 3185 Kingsway, phone 435-0323
        Gordon at 1019 Broughton Street, phone 683-2554
        Kiwassa at 2425 Oxford Street, phone 254-5401
        Mount Pleasant at 800 East Broadway, phone
        879-8208.

    BC Healthy Communities Network
    The BC Healthy Communities Network is part of an
    international initiative involving both the Canadian
    government and the World Health Organization. It
    recognizes that health is affected by the availability
    of affordable housing, adequate employment, educational
    opportunities, and our relationships with others. Many
    of these determinants of health are beyond the influence
    of traditional health care. However, many can be
    addressed at the local level through active community
    participation. The BC Healthy Communities Network
    promotes information sharing between citizens,
    politicians and professionals involved in many healthy
    communities projects all over the province.
      * The first step in a healthy communities project is
        for local citizens to identify a local issue.
      * The second is to identify the partners who should
        respond. Depending on the issue, they may include
        the school board, municipal council, local
        businesses, the police department, women's
        organizations, or any number of community
        associations and government agencies that have a
        stake in the solution.
      * The third (but not the final) step is to get all the
        different groups to start talking to one another
        about the needs of the community as a whole.

    To find out about the Healthy Communities Committee in
    your neighbourhood, phone the Network at 731-4970, fax
    731-5965. You can also write or visit the office at 101
    - 2182 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver, V6K 2N4.

----------
               Index of Community-Based Organizations


[Community Profiles]  |

     Inventory of
     Community Groups

     Produced by
     Social Planning Department
     City of Vancouver
     December 1997


     Community Group Index


     Arbutus Ridge
     Kerrisdale
     Shaughnessy

     Downtown
     Killarney
     South Cambie

     Downtown Eastside
     Kitsilano
     Strathcona

     Dunbar-Southlands
     Marpole
     Sunset

     Fairview
     Mount Pleasant
     Victoria-Fraserview

     Grandview-Woodland
     Oakridge
     West End

     Hastings-Sunrise
     Renfrew-Collingwood
     West Point Grey

     Kensington-
     Cedar Cottage
     Riley Park


     Included in this list:

       * Active neighbourhood-based groups - (co-ordinated
         around neighbourhood issues): e.g. Ratepayers
         Associations, Property Owners Groups, Residents &
         Tenants Associations, Neighbourhood Houses,
         Merchants Groups and Area Services Teams.
       * Block Watch - each group spans approximately one
         or two blocks, usually including front and back
         lanes.
       * School Consultative Committees - (school principal
         & parents) Meet monthly to discuss how to enhance
         the school; also volunteer around school
         activities.

     Not included in this list:

       * Service agencies, libraries, worship & informal
         gathering places.

     For copies of this list or to offer corrections or
     additions...

     Call City of Vancouver Social Planning Department
     (871-6034) or send email.

     *The next update of this list will be September 1996.
     Call for a revised copy at that time.

     Neighbourhood Integrated Service Teams

     At the time of printing this edition of The Inventory
     of Neighbourhood-Based Organizations, the City had 15
     Integrated Service Teams in different neighbourhoods
     (West End, Collingwood, Cedar Cottage,
     Marpole-Oakridge, Hastings Sunrise, Strathcona,
     Grandview-Woodland, Sunset, Mount Pleasant,
     Dunbar/West Point Grey, Kitsilano, Kerrisdale/Arbutus
     Ridge/Shaughnessy, Riley Park, Victoria Fraserview and
     Central Business District). For information about who
     to contact in your neighbourhood, please call Judy
     Rogers, Deputy City Manager at 873-7626.

[Groups Index] [Community Profiles]


Comments or questions? You can send us email.

Last modified: September 18, 1996
(c) 1996 City of Vancouver

----------
               City of Vancouver: Community Profiles


     Welcome to Vancouver's
     Neighbourhoods

     This page is an index to information about:

     City services and
     community resources

     in each of Vancouver's 23 neighbourhoods.

     Local histories and demographic information are
     included in comprehensive profiles for each
     neighbourhood.


     Vancouver's Neighbourhoods


     Arbutus Ridge

     Kerrisdale

     Shaughnessy

     Downtown

     Killarney

     South Cambie

     Downtown Eastside

     Kitsilano

     Strathcona

     Dunbar-Southlands

     Marpole

     Sunset

     Fairview

     Mount Pleasant

     Victoria-Fraserview

     Grandview-Woodland

     Oakridge

     West End

     Hastings-Sunrise

     Renfrew-Collingwood

     West Point Grey

     Kensington-
     Cedar Cottage

     Riley Park


     Neighbourhood Integrated Service Teams

     Teams of City staff collaborate across traditional
     departmental and agency boundaries to help communities
     solve problems such as excessive noise and illegal
     activities that undermine public safety and quality of
     life.

     Vancouver Public Library

     Branches are listed on the VPL homepage.

     Community Centres

     Check out our listing.

     Vancouver Parks

     A listing of city parks by community.

     Fire & Rescue Services

     Visit Fire & Rescue homepage for a listing of fire
     halls in the city.

     Crime prevention

     Check out the Vancouver Police Deparment homepage.

     Vancouver Police can be reached at 665-3321.
     For emergencies call 911.

     Garbage & Recycling

     Check out the collection schedule.

     Other Services and Facilities

     Vancouver Community groups

     This listing of associations, facilities and community
     services is compiled and maintained by the City of
     Vancouver Social Planning Department.

     Vancouver Schools

     Vancouver Area Educational Institutions

     Vancouver Day Care Centres

     A listing of day care services by neighbourhood.

     Vancouver Health Units

     Internet Public access terminals

     Volunteering in your community

     Help newcomers to Canada settle into their new
     communities


     [Historical and demographic information in the Profile
     section of each neighbourhood page is based on a
     series of Community Profiles developed by the City of
     Vancouver Planning Department. (The boundaries of
     Vancouver's 23 neighbourhoods are defined by the City
     for planning purposes, and may not accurately reflect
     smaller historical neighbourhoods.)

     Printed versions of these profiles, with tables,
     photographs and more information, are available
     through the Planning Department. Here are the major
     information sources for these profiles.]

[Vancouver's Neighbourhoods]


Comments or questions? You can send us email.

Last modified: September 11, 1998
(c) 1998 City of Vancouver

----------
               City of Vancouver - Contacts for FAQs


Information on Departments and Boards  |

     Contacts for Most Frequently
      Requested Information

     Last Updated: December 27, 1996

     This list is in alphabetical order. Use your browser's
     FIND command to help find what you are looking for.

     If you don't find what you are looking for, let us
     know and we'll try to add it.

     Compiled by the Office of the City Clerk 873-7276

SUBJECT                           CONTACT                           TELEPHONE

ANIMALS

Injured Wild Animals              Wildlife Rescue Association       526-7275
(raccoons, skunks,
birds, etc.)                      Wildlife Manager, Stanley Park    257-8528
Dog Licenses                      License Counter Clerks            873-7568
                                  Permits & Licenses Department
Dogs in Parks/                    Animal Control Supervisor         251-1325
Vicious Dogs                      Permits & Licenses Department

ABANDONED VEHICLES

Abandoned Vehicles on             Parking Enforcement               257-8709
Public Property                   Engineering Services

ARTS AND CULTURE                  Office of Cultural Affairs        871-6000
                                  Social Planning Department

BEACH MAINTENANCE                 Supervisor                        257-8582
                                  Ground Maintenance
                                  and Beaches
                                  Sunset Service Yard - Park Board

BICYCLES

                                  General Inquiries
Bicycle Racks/                    Transportation                    873-7156
Bicycle Route Planning            Engineering Services

Signs/Stop Signs/                 Supervisor                        873-7335
Bicycling Route Signs             Traffic Management
                                  Engineering Services

BILL, UTILITIES

Metered Water                     Supervisor                        873-7649
and Sanitation                    Metered Water & Sanitation
                                  Financial Services

                                  General Inquiries
                                  Billing Branch,
                                  Financial Services                873-7644

BOARD OF VARIANCE

Appeals re Development            Board Secretary                   873-7723
Permit Refusals                   Planning Department

BUDGETS                           Comptroller                       873-7223
                                  Budgets & Research
                                  Financial Services

BUILDING REGULATIONS

Buildings in Poor Repair          Supervisor                        873-7563
                                  Property Use Inspections
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Building Construction             Supervisor                        873-7560
& Renovation Related              Building Inspections Branch
Matters                           Permits & Licenses Department

Electrical Installations          Supervisor                        873-7561
& Related Matters                 Electrical Inspection Branch
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Heat Complaints                   Supervisor                        873-7563
                                  Property Use Inspections
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Plumbing Installations            Supervisor                        873-7558
& Related Matters                 Plumbing & Gas Inspection Branch
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

BUSES                             See Transportation

BUSINESS                          BIA Coordinator                   873-7919
IMPROVEMENT AREAS                 Community Services

CEMETERY

Mountain View Cemetery            General Inquiries/Superintendent  325-2646
                                  Mountain View Cemetery

CENTRAL AREA
DOWNTOWN PLANNING                 Planning Assistant                873-7237
                                  Planning Department

CHILDCARE

Grants/Planning                   Childcare Coordinator             871-6042
                                  Social Planning

Licensing                         General Inquiries                 736-2866
                                  Facilities Licensing
                                  Environmental Health
                                  Vancouver Health Board

CITY CHARTER                      Director of Legal Services        873-7506
                                  Law Department

CITY PLAN HOTLINE                 General Inquiries                 873-7120
                                  Planning Department

CIVIC THEATRES

Event Information                 Talking Yellow Pages              299-9000
  Orpheum                                                          ext. 8050
  Queen Elizabeth Theatre                                          ext. 8051
  Vancouver Playhouse                                              ext. 8052

Audience Services                 Front House Manager               665-3537

Booking/Events Information        Booking Manager                   665-3028

Building/Physical Plant           Supervisor, Building Maintenance  665-3538
                                  Building Management Division
                                  Corporate Services

Bars/Concessions/Special Events   Sales Manager                     665-3025

Complaints                        Marketing/PR Manager              665-3051
Marketing/
Public Relations

Technical Operation               Technical Director                665-3043

QET Restaurant                    Sales Manager                     665-2373

CLAIMS

Liability Claims Against the      General Inquiries
City                              Risk Management                   873-7700
                                  Corporate Services

COMMUNITY                         Director, Community Care          736-2866
CARE LICENSING                    Facilities Licensing
                                  Environmental Health
                                  Vancouver Health Board

COMMUNITY CENTRES

Rinks, Pools, Fitness Centres     General Inquiries                 257-8400
                                  Park Board Office

COMMUNITY CENTRE                  General Inquiries                 257-8689
AREA OFFICES                      Area Office
                                  Park Board

COMMUNITY PLANNING                Planning Assistant                873-7817
                                  Planning Department

COMPLAINTS

Damage, Messy Streets             General Inquiries                 873-7326
& Nuisance Complaints             Streets/Construction Division
Construction Adjacent to Street   Engineering Services

Dog Related Matters               Animal Control Supervisor         251-1325
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Graffiti Complaints               Graffiti Coordinator              873-7161
                                  Engineering Services

Heat Complaints                   Supervisor                        873-7563
                                  Property Use Inspections
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Resident Parking Complaints       Supervisor, Parking Branch        873-7441
                                  Engineering Services

Tenant Assistance                 Housing Relocation Officer        873-7488
                                  Tenant Assistance Program
                                  Housing Centre,
                                  Community Services

Untidy Premises                   Supervisor                        873-7563
                                  Property Use Inspections
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Upkeep of Vacant City Land        Property Management Officers      873-7435
                                  Building Management
                                  Corporate Services

Vandalism to Public Property      Coordinator                       873-7161
                                  Electrical & Information
                                  Services
                                  Engineering Services

COMPUTER HELPLINE                 Help Centre Inquiries             873-7127
                                  Information Services
                                  Corporate Services

COUNCIL ENQUIRIES

Council Procedures/Policies       City Clerk                        873-7266
                                  City Clerk's Department
Copies of Reports to Council      Reception Desk                    873-7276
                                  City Clerk's Department

Items Going to Council            Reception Desk                    873-7276
                                  City Clerk's Department

Correspondence to Council         Supervisor of Support Services    873-7011
                                  City Clerk's Department           Loc 2143

Follow Up Actions from Council    Reception Desk                    873-7276
                                  City Clerk's Department

Research Requests regarding:
Previous Council Meetings,        Committee/Research Clerk          873-7275
By-Law Requests                   City Clerk's Department           873-7470

Freedom Of Information            Freedom Of Information Officer    873-7999
Inquiries                         City Clerk's Department

COUNCIL COMMITTEE ENQUIRIES

Appearing as Delegation           Supervisor of Committee Clerks    873-7268
                                  City Clerk's Department
Copies of Reports                 Reception Desk                    873-7276
                                  City Clerk's Department

Items Going to Committees         Reception Desk                    873-7276
                                  City Clerk's Department

Research Requests re:             Committee/                        873-7275
Previous Committee Meetings       Research Clerk                    873-7470
                                  City Clerk's Department

DEVELOPMENT                       General Inquiries                 873-7613
PERMIT ENQUIRIES                  Development Application Centre
                                  Planning Department

DEVELOPMENT                       Secretary                         873-7469
PERMIT BOARD                      Development Permit Board
                                  Planning Department

DISCRIMINATION                    Director                          873-7786
IN EMPLOYMENT                     Equal Employment
(racial, sexual, age)             Opportunity Program

DRAINAGE

Drainage Problems on Street       General Inquiries                 323-7680
& Lane Allowances                 Street Operations Branch
                                  Manitoba Yards
                                  Engineering Services

Sewer Separation Program          Assistant Supervisor              873-7576
                                  Sewage Separation
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Sewer Unstop and Backups          General Inquiries                 323-7680
                                  Sewers Operations Branch
                                  Manitoba Yard
                                  Engineering Services
                                  (after hours)                     606-2676

Waterworks/Fire Hydrant Leaks     General Inquiries                 323-7800
                                  Waterworks Branch
                                  Manitoba Yard
                                  Engineering Services
                                  (24 hours)

EARTHQUAKE                        Director                          873-7724
PREPAREDNESS                      Office of Emergency Management

                                  Lieutenant, Disaster Preparation
                                  Fire/Rescue Services              665-6072

EMERGENCY                         Police/Fire/Ambulance             911

EMERGENCY                         Director                          873-7724
MANAGEMENT                        Office of Emergency Management

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS                 General Inquiries                 873-7667
                                  Compensation & Benefits Division

EMPLOYMENT                        General Inquiries
                873-7663/7664
WITH THE CITY                     Employment & Advisory
                                  Services Division
                                  Human Resource Services

                                  Automated Employment              873-7264
                                  Information Line

ENVIRONMENT

Environmental Issues              General Inquiries                 736-2866
                                  Office of the Environment
                                  Vancouver Health Board

Hazardous Industrial Waste        Environmental Protection Officer  873-7528
and Contaminated Soil             Permits & Licenses Department

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT                  Director, Equal                   873-7799
OPPORTUNITIES                     Employment Opportunity Program

FILMING

Filming on City Streets           Special Events Information        873-7337
                                  Engineering Services

Filming on City Park Land         General Inquiries                 257-8494
                                  Central Recreation Services
                                  Vancouver Park Board

Filming in Civic Buildings        Building Manager                  873-7428
                                  Building Management Division
                                  Corporate Services

FINANCES

Budget, Current City              Comptroller                       873-7223
Operating Budget                  Budgets & Research
Capital Budget                    Financial Services

City's Financial Report           Manager                           873-7224
for Previous Year                 Financial Services

Vendors Payments                  General Inquiries                 873-7767/
                                  Accounts Payable                  873-7224
                                  Financial Services

FINES

By-Law Infractions                Supervisor                        665-3544
                                  By-Law Fines Collection Branch
                                  Financial Services

Collection of                     Supervisor                        665-3544
Parking Tickets/Fines             By-law Fines Collection Branch
                                  Financial Services

FIRE

Burning in Progress               Emergency                         911

Fire Investigations               Captain, Fire Investigations      665-6075
                                  Vancouver Fire & Rescue Services

Pre-Fire Planning, Lock Boxes     Captain, Pre-Fire Planning        665-6085
                                  Vancouver Fire & Rescue Services

Public Education,                 Captain, Public Education         665-6070
Fire Safety House,                Vancouver Fire & Rescue Services
Fire Hall Tours, Media Calls

Plan Checking                     Fire Department Plan Checker      873-7038
                                  Vancouver Fire & Rescue Services

General Inquiries: By-law         Fire Prevention Division          873-7595
Regulations, Inspections          Vancouver Fire & Rescue Services
Fire Safety, Complaints

Fire Prevention                   Captain, Fire Inspections         873-7860

By-law Enforcement                Lieutenant Fire Inspections       665-6066
UEL/UBC

Arson Reporting                   Fire Investigations               665-6077
                                  Arson Detective (VPD)

Plans Review                      Fire Protection Engineer          873-7038

FIRE SPRINKLER REGULATIONS

One to Two Family Dwellings       Supervisor                        873-7558
                                  Plumbing Inspections Branch
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

FLOODING                          See Drainage

GARBAGE

Garbage Collection/Complaints     Superintendent                    323-7710
                                  Sanitation Branch                 Loc. 403
                                  Engineering Services

Residential Garbage Stickers/     General Inquiries                 873-7644
Garbage Pick-up User Fees         Meter Water/
                                  Sanitation Billing Branch
                                  Financial Services

Recycling Hotline                 General Inquiries                 323-7573
                                  Sanitation Branch
                                  Engineering Services

Refuse Disposal User Fees         General Inquiries                 323-7710
(Vancouver Transfer Station       Operation Branch
and Delta Disposal Site)          Engineering Services

Scavenging                        General Inquiries                 323-7710
                                  Sanitation/Recycling Branch
                                  Engineering Services

GRAFFITI

Graffiti Removal - City Property  Anti-Graffiti Co-ordinator        873-7161
                                  Electrical & Information
                                  Services
                                  Engineering Services

Graffiti Removal - Park Property  Anti-Graffiti Coordinator         257-8459
                                  Parks Board

GRANTS

Capital                           Comptroller                       873-7223
                                  Budgets and Research
                                  Financial Services

Childcare                         Childcare Coordinator             871-6042
                                  Social Planning Department

Community                         Social Planner                    871-6036
                                  Social Planning Department

Cultural                          Office of Cultural Affairs        871-6007
                                  Social Planning Department

Environmental                     Assistant City Engineer           873-7280
                                  Special Office for the Environment
                                  Engineering Services

Miscellaneous ("Other")           Comptroller                       873-7223
                                  Budgets & Research
                                  Financial Services

HARASSMENT (Sexual)               Director, Equal                   873-7786
                                  Employment Opportunity Program

HEALTH SERVICES

Community Care Facilities         General Enquiries                 736-2866
Licensing                         Facilities Licensing
                                  Environmental Health
                                  Vancouver Health Board

Environmental Matters             Director                          736-2866
                                  Environmental Health
                                  Vancouver Health Board

Home Care/Long Term Care          Director                          734-1661
                                  Continuing Care
                                  Vancouver Health Board

HEATING

Heating Complaints                Supervisor                        873-7563
(Apartments & Rental Houses)      Property Use Inspection
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

HERITAGE ENQUIRIES                Planning Analyst                  873-7056
                                  Planning Department

 HISTORY OF THE CITY

General Inquiries/                City Archives                     736-8561
Photographs

HOUSING

Accommodation in City's           Manager                           873-7437
Non-Market Housing                Non-Market Housing
                                  Community Services

Buildings In Poor Repair          Supervisor                        873-7563
                                  Property Use Inspection
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

City-Wide Referrals               Vancouver Housing Registry        873-1313
                                  (YWCA)

Emergency Accommodation,          Residence Manager                 665-3331
Old Continental Residence         Non-Market Housing
                                  Community Services

Housing Policies & Programs       Manager, Housing Centre           873-7488
Groups                            Community Services

Maintenance of Commercial         Property Management Officer       873-7435/6
City-owned Rental Portfolio       Building Management
                                  Corporate Services

Maintenance of Residential        Property Management Officer       873-7807
City-owned Rental Portfolio       Real Estate Services              Pager
650-8220
                                  Corporate Services

Property Transactions:            Manager                           873-7420
Questions about Leases,           Real Estate Services
Rental Rates                      Corporate Services

Secondary Suites                  General Inquiries                 873-7948
                                  Secondary Suite Program
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Tenant Assistance                 Housing Relocation Officer        873-7109
(Enquiries: Evictions,            Tenant Assistant Program
Housing Needs)                    Housing Centre
                                  Community Services

ILLEGAL SUITES

Applications                      Senior Clerk                      873-7948
                                  Secondary Suite Program
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Illegal Suites                    Supervisor                        873-7398
(Reporting of)                    Property Use Inspections
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Existing/Temporary Suites         Housing Control Clerk             873-7534
Enquiries                         Permits & Licenses Department

LIBRARY

Automated Service                 Systems & Planning Director       331-4070
                                  Vancouver Public Library

Children's Books/Services         Youth Services and                331-4744
Library Programs/Display          Community Relations Director
                                  Vancouver Public Library

Employment                        Human Resources Director          331-4050
                                  Vancouver Public Library

Quick Information Services        Central Branch                    331-3600
                                  Vancouver Public Library          331-3603
Library Hours                     Central Branch                    331-3601

LIBRARY SQUARE

Leasing of Space                  Manager                           873-7420
                                  Real Estate Division
                                  Corporate Services

LICENSES

Business Licenses                 License Counter Clerks            873-7568

Carry on A Business               Supervisor                        873-7563
- No Licenses                     Property Use Inspection
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Dog Licenses                      License Counter Clerks            873-7568
                                  Permits & Licenses Department
                                  Pound                             251-1325

Municipal Plates                  License Counter Clerks            873-7568
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Operating a Business from Home    Supervisor                        873-7398
                                  Property Use Inspection
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Taxi Licenses                     Vehicles for Hire Inspector       873-7555
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

LIGHTING

Lights-Street and Traffic         Electrical Operations             871-6200
(24 hours)                        Branch, Cambie Yard
                                  Engineering Services

Local Improvements                Local Improvement Clerk           873-7757
(Street & Lane Lighting)          Property Tax Branch               873-7206
                                  Financial Services

LITTER

Litter in Public Places           General Inquiries
(including Bus Stops)             Sanitation Branch                 323-7710
                                  Manitoba Yard
                                  Engineering Services

LOCAL IMPROVEMENTS

Local Improvements                Streets Design Engineer           873-7319
(new pavement, curbs, lane        Engineering Services
paving, new or reconstructed
sidewalks, and street and
lane lighting)

Billing                           Local Improvements Clerk          873-7206
                                  Property Taxes
                                  Financial Services

MAJOR DEVELOPMENT                 Major Projects Secretary          873-7770
PROJECTS                          Planning Department

MAP SALES                         Reception                         873-7454
                                  Planning Department

MARRIAGES                         Provincial Government
            1-800-663-8328
                                  Department of Vital Statistics
                                  Unit 250 - 605 Robson Street
                                  Vancouver, B.C. V6B 5J3

NOISE COMPLAINTS

Barking Dogs                      By-law Prosecutor                 665-3528

Environmental Health              Noise Control Officer             736-2866
                                  Environmental Health

Excessive Noise From Citizens     Police Department                 911
                                  Non-Emergency Line Operators

PARKING

Abandoned Vehicle                 Administrative Support Clerk      257-8709
General Information               Receptionist                      257-8707
                                  Transportation Branch
                                  Engineering Services

Parking Enforcement               General Inquiries                 257-8727
                                  Parking Enforcement
                                  Engineering Services

Parking/Loading Requirements      General Inquiries                 873-7217
for Development Permits, etc.     Transportation Planning
                                  Engineering Services

Parking - Residential             Parking Administration            873-7338
Parking Permits                   Counter Clerks
                                  Engineering Services

Parking - Residential Complaints  Parking Administration            873-7338
                                  Counter Clerks
                                  Engineering Services

Parking Ticket Collections        Supervisor                        665-3544
                                  By-law Fines Collection Branch.
                                  Financial Services

Parking Violations/               General Inquiries                 257-8727
Ticket Enquiries                  Parking Enforcement
                                  Engineering Services

PARKING METERS

Parking Meters                    Foreman                           871-6219
- Defective                       Traffic Operations
                                  Engineering Services
                                  Cambie Yard

Parking Meter Maintenance         General Inquiries                 871-6219
                                  Traffic Operations Branch
                                  Engineering Services

PARKS MAINTENANCE                 Supervisor                        257-8582
                                  Park Maintenance
                                  Sunset Service Yard-Park Board

PAYROLL

Payroll - City Staff              Supervisor                        873-7835
                                  Payroll Branch
                                  Financial Services

PERMITS

Building Construction             Supervisor                        873-7560
and Renovation                    Building Inspection Branch
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Development Permits               Zoning Counter Clerks             873-7613
                                  Planning Department

Electrical Installations          Supervisor                        873-7561
                                  Electrical Inspection Branch
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Fire/Burning Permits              Fire Prevention Division          873-7860
Fireworks-Firecrackers/           Fire & Rescue Services
Display or Family
Burning Permit
Transportation of Explosives
Blasting Permit
Explosives - for Special
Effects
Tank Removals                     Plan Checking                     873-7038
Tank Installations                Fire & Rescue Services
Occupant Load Certificates
L.C.B. Approvals

Occupancy Permits                 Occupancy Clerk                   873-7539
- Commercial                      Correspondence Branch
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Occupancy Permits                 Occupancy Clerk                   871-6231
- Residential                     Correspondence Branch
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Operating Business from Home      Supervisor                        873-7563
                                  Property Use Branch
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Plumbing Installations            Supervisor                        873-7558
                                  Plumbing & Gas Inspections
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Public Park Permits - Parking     Park Board                        257-8409

Residential Parking Permits       Parking Administration            873-7338
                                  Counter Clerks
                                  Engineering Services

Sign Permits                      Plan Checkers                     873-7772
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

PEST & PESTICIDES                 Pest Control Officer              736-2866
COMPLAINTS                        Environmental Health
                                  Vancouver Health Board

PICNIC PERMITS                    Picnic Booking Clerk              257-8482
                                  Park Board

PLAYING FIELD/                    Field Booking Clerk               257-8489
BOOKINGS                          Park Board

POLICE

Emergency                                                           911

Non-Emergency/General Enquiries                                     665-3535

Community Police/Crime
Prevention Offices

  Broadway Station                2777 Commercial Drive             606-2702

  Downtown                        105-12 Water Street               257-3894
                                  200 Burrard Street                257-3705
                                  916 Granville Street              606-2685
                                  1223 Pacific Boulevard            899-6251

  Downtown-Eastside               18 East Pender Street             688-5030
                                  12 East Hastings Street           257-3742
                                  239 Main Street                   687-8411

  Dunbar-Southlands               6615 Salish Street                257-5886

  Kensington-Cedar Cottage        5175 Dumfries Street              327-9401

  Kerrisdale                      5851 West Boulevard               257-8799

  Kitsilano                       2690 Larch Street                 734-4974

  Mount Pleasant                  672 East Broadway                 257-8799

  Renfrew-Collingwood             5156 Joyce Street                 665-3406

  Riley Park-Little Mountain      4438 Main Street                  257-5829

  Strathcona                      601 Keefer Street                 257-3707
                                  1661 Napier Street                257-8749

  West End                        870 Denman Street                 257-3874

  West Point Grey                 4480 West 10th Street             665-3982

POLLUTION

Environmental Matters             Air Quality Control Officer       736-2866
                                  Environmental Health
                                  Vancouver Health Board

Hazardous/Industrial Waste        Supervisor                        873-7567
and Contaminated Soil             Environmental Protection          873-7528
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

POPULATION &                      Planning Assistant                873-7782
HOUSING STATISTICS                Planning Department

POUND
Dog Related Matters               Animal Control Supervisor         251-1325
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

PROJECTS

Civic Office Space Renovations    Manager                           873-7616
                                  Facilities Development

Transportation Planning           Transportation Engineer           873-7343
(overall general)                 Engineering Services

Development Projects              Receptionist                      873-7237
- South East False Creek,         Central Area Projects
- False Creek North,              Planning Department
- Greenways,
- International Village,
- Library/Precinct,
- Marathon/Coal Harbour/Bayshore,
- Nelson Park,
- Trade & Convention Facilities

PROPERTY

Assessments - Appeals, etc.       B.C. Assessment Authority         739-8588
of Property Assessments           200 - 1818 Cornwall Avenue
                                  Vancouver, BC V6J 1C7

Land (City-owned) or Office       Manager                           873-7420
Space for Business/               Real Estate Services
Associations                      Corporate Services

Land (City-owned) for             Manager                           873-7207
Social Housing Groups             Housing Centre
                                  Community Services

Land (City-owned)                 Manager                           873-7420
S.E. False Creek Project          Real Estate Services
                                  Corporate Services

Local Improvements                Streets Design Engineer           873-7319
(initial requests)                Engineering Services

Property Taxes                    General Inquiries                 873-7633
                                  Property Tax Branch
                                  Financial Services

Property City-owned               Manager                           873-7420
Transactions: Questions           Real Estate Services
about Leases, Rental Rates        Corporate Services

Upkeep of Vacant City             Property Management Officers      873-7435/6
Property                          Building Management Division
                                  Corporate Services

PURCHASING POLICIES               Manager of Purchasing             873-7254
                                  Financial Services

RESIDENTIAL                       Counter Clerks                    873-7338
PARKING PERMITS                   Parking Administration
                                  Engineering Services

RECYCLING HOTLINE                 General Inquiries                 327-7573
                                  Sanitation Branch
                                  Engineering Services
                                  8:30 am to 4 pm

REZONING/DEVELOPMENT              Development Information Officer   873-7613
APPLICATIONS                      Rezoning Counter,
                                  Planning Department

SECURITY                          Security Officer                  873-7157/8
                                  Building Management
                                  Corporate Services

SEWERS

Sewer Separation Program          Assistant Supervisor              873-7576
                                  Sewer Separation Branch
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Sewer Unstop and Backups          Sewer Operations Branch           323-7680
                                  (After Hours)                     606-2676

SIGNS

Illegal or Portable Signs         Supervisor                        873-7563
on Private Property               Property Use Inspections
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Sign Permits                      Plan Checkers                     873-7772
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

Sign/Stop Signs/Bicycling         Traffic Management Engineer       873-7393
                                  Engineering Services

SMOKING BY-LAW                    Air Quality Control Officer       736-2866
                                  Environmental Health
                                  Vancouver Health Board

SPECIAL EVENTS

City - Special Event Impacts      Co-ordinator                      873-7337
(parades, fun runs, etc.)         Film and Special Events
                                  Engineering Services

Parks                             Coordinator                       257-8494
                                  Park Board

STRATA TITLE                      Planning Assistant                873-7721/
                                  Land Use & Development Division   873-7102
                                  Planning Department

STREETS & LANES

Banner Maintenance                Electrical Operations Branch      871-6200
                                  Engineering Services
                                  7 am to 3 pm

Bench Maintenance                 Technician Enquiries              871-6131
                                  Streets Construction Branch
                                  Engineering Services

Bollard Maintenance               Bridge Locker                     323-7651
                                  Streets Operations Branch
                                  Engineering Services

Boulevard Encroachment            Streets Construction Engineer     873-7315
(shrubs, trees, fences)           Engineering Services

Boulevard Trees                   Supervisor of Arboriculture       257-8680
                                  Sunset Service Yard - Park Board

Bus Shelter and Ad                Engineering Technician            873-7735
Bench Maintenance                 Transit & Special Events Branch
                                  Engineering Services

Damage, messy streets and         Engineering Technician            873-7326
nuisance complaints               Street Construction Branch
adjacent to building              Engineering Services
construction

Damage problems on street         General Inquiries                 323-7651
and lane allowances               Streets Operation Branch
                                  Manitoba Yards,
                                  Engineering Services

Filming on City Streets           Special Events Co-ordinator       873-7337
                                  Engineering Services

Garbage Collection and            General Inquiries                 323-7710
Debris Removal                    Sanitation Operations Branch
                                  Engineering Services,
                                  8 am - 4 pm
                                  (After 4 pm)                      323-7800

Local Improvements                Streets Design Engineer           873-7319
(new pavement, curbs, lane        Engineering Services              873-7928
paving, new or
reconstructed sidewalks,
and street & lane lighting)

Local Improvement Billing         Local Improvement Clerk           873-7757
                                  Property Tax Branch
                                  Financial Services

Parking Meter Maintenance         Foreman                           871-6219/
                                  Traffic Operations Branch         876-1926
                                  Engineering Services

Postering on Public Property      Anti-Graffiti Co-ordinator        873-7162
                                  Streets, Lighting, Utilities
                                  Management Branch
                                  Engineering Services

Potholes                          General Inquiries                 323-7651
                                  Streets Operations Branch
                                  Manitoba Yards
                                  Engineering Services
                                  8 am to 4 pm
                                  (After 4 pm)                      606-2676

Railroad Crossing &               Structures Branch                 873-7309
Retaining Walls                   Engineering Services

Sewer Backups                     Sewers Operations Branch          323-7680
                                  Engineering Services
                                  8 am to 4 pm
                                  (After 4 pm)                      606-2676

Sidewalk Accidents                Risk Management                   873-7700
                                  Corporate Services

Sidewalk Maintenance              Information Clerk                 323-7651
(cracks, holes, etc.)             Streets Operations Branch
                                  Manitoba Yards
                                  Engineering Services

Sidewalk Occupancy by Business    Engineering Assistant             873-7339
(Cafes, Street Vending)           Parking & Street Activities
                                  Branch
                                  Engineering Services

Sign Maintenance (Street Name     Clerk General Office              871-6217
and Parking Regulation Signs)     Traffic Operations Branch         871-6220
                                  Engineering Services

Street Drainage Problems          General Inquiries                 323-7651
                                  Streets Operations Branch
                                  Engineering Services
                                  8 am to 4 pm
                                  (After 4 pm)                      606-2676

Street/Lane & Traffic Lights      Electrical Operations Branch      871-6200
                                  Cambie Yards
                                  Engineering Services
                                  7 am to 3 pm
                                  (After 3 pm)                      879-8250

Street and Lane Maintenance       General Inquiries                 606-2676
                                  Street Operations Branch          323-7651
                                  Engineering Services
                                  8 am to 4 pm
                                  (After 4 pm)                      323-7800

Street Trees                      Park Board                        257-8600
                                  - After Hours
                                  East of Main and Downtown         Pager
650-4936
                                  West of Main and Stanley Park     Pager
650-9690

Street Vending                    Projects Division                 873-7339
                                  Engineering Services

Traffic Signal Maintenance        Electrical Operations Branch      871-6200
                                  Engineering Services
                                  7 am to 3 pm
                                  (After 3 pm)                      879-8250

Water Main and Fire               General Inquiries                 323-7800
Hydrant Leaks                     Waterworks Operations Branch
                                  Engineering Services
                                  (24 hours)                        606-2676

Wheelchair Ramps - City           Engineering Assistant             873-7314
                                  Streets Construction Branch
                                  Engineering Services

Wheelchair Ramps - Parks          Special Needs Co-ordinator        257-8499
                                  Central Recreation Services
                                  Park Board

SUBDIVISION                       Planning Assistant                873-7721
                                  Land Use & Development Division
                                  Planning Department

TAXES AND ASSESSMENTS

Assessments - Appeals, etc.       B.C. Assessment Authority         739-8588
of Property Assessments

Garbage Pick-Up User Fees         Supervisor                        873-7649
                                  Metered Water & Sanitation
                                  Billing Branch, Financial
                                  Services

Local Improvements                Local Improvements Clerk          873-7757
                                  Property Tax Branch
                                  Financial Services

Property Taxes                    General Inquiries                 873-7633
                                  Property Tax Branch
                                  Financial Services

Refuse Disposal User Fees         Supervisor                        873-7649
(Vancouver Transfer Station       Metered Water & Sanitation
& Delta Disposal Site)            Billing Branch, Financial
Services

Water Rates                       Metered Water & Sanitation        873-7644
                                  Billing Branch
                                  Financial Services

TAXIS/TOW TRUCKS ETC.

Vehicle for Hire                  Inspector                         873-7555
Complaints/Licensing              Vehicles for Hire
                                  License & Property Use
                                  Permits & Licenses Department

TENANTS ASSISTANCE

Accommodation in City's           Manager                           873-7437
Non-Market Housing                Non-Market Housing
Community Services

Tenant Assistance Inquiries:      Housing Relocation Officer        873-7109
Evictions, Housing Needs          Tenant Assistance Program         873-7488
                                  Housing Centre
                                  Community Services

TENDERS

All Equipment & Services          General Inquiries                 873-7263
                                  Purchasing
                                  Financial Services

Engineering Works and Services

Electrical                        Assistant City Engineer           873-7360

Equipment                         Equipment Management Eng.         323-7791

Streets                           Asst. City Engineer               873-7313

Sewers                            Sewer Counter                     873-7357

Waterworks                        Waterworks Engineer               873-7368

Construction, Alterations         Manager, Facilities Development   873-7616
and Maintenance of City           Corporate Services
Buildings, Real Estate

Park Board                        Purchasing Manager                257-8417

THEATRES - CIVIC

Event Information                 Talking Yellow Pages              299-9000
   Orpheum                                                          ext. 8050
   Queen Elizabeth Theatre                                          ext. 8051
   Vancouver Playhouse                                              ext. 8052

Audience Services                 Front House Manager               665-3537

Booking/Events Information        Booking Manager                   665-3028

Building/Physical Plant           Supervisor, Building Maintenance  665-3538
                                  Building Management Division
                                  Corporate Services

Bars/Concessions/                 Sales Manager                     665-3025
Special Events

Complaints                        Marketing/PR Manager              665-3051
Marketing/Public Relations

Technical Operation               Technical Director                665-3043

QET Restaurant                    Sales Manager                     665-2373

TRANSPORTATION

Bicycle Racks                     Bicycle Co-ordinator              871-6081
                                  Transportation Design
                                  Engineering Services

Bicycle Route Planning            Bicycle Co-ordinator              871-6081
                                  Transportation Planning
                                  Engineering Services

Bus Stops - Location              Transit Engineer                  873-7745
                                  Transit & Special Event Branch
                                  Engineering Services

Bus Shelters - Location           Transit Engineer                  873-7745
                                  Transit & Special Event Branch
                                  Engineering Services

Bus Shelters-Maintenance          Transit Engineer                  873-7745
                                  Transit & Special Event Branch
                                  Engineering Services

- Advertising Type                Seaboard Advertising              291-1229

- Advertising Benches             Goodwill Advertising              278-1128
(Maintenance-at bus stops)

Special Event Impacts             Engineering Services              873-7337
(parades, fun runs, etc.)

Transit 'Problems'                Transit Engineer                  873-7346
                                  Transit & Special Event Branch
                                  Engineering Services
Transportation Planning           Transporation Engineer            873-7343
(overall general)                 Transportation Design Branch
                                  Engineering Services

Wheelchair Ramps - City           Engineering Assistant             871-6131
                                  Streets Construction Branch
                                  Engineering Services

Wheelchair Ramps - Parks          Special Needs Co-ordinator        257-8499
Park Board

TREES

Boulevard Encroachment            Streets Construction              873-7315
(shrubs, trees, fences)           Engineer
                                  Engineering Services

Boulevard Street Trees            Supervisor of Arboriculture       257-8600
                                  Evans Service Yard-Park Board

Trees on Private Property         Landscape Architects
             873-7167/7168
Regulations                       Planning Department

VOTER REGISTRATION                Supervisor                        873-7278
                                  Voters List
                                  City Clerk's Department

WATER SERVICE

Drainage Problems on Street       General Inquiries                 323-7651
and Lane Allowances               Streets Operations Branch
                                  Manitoba Yards
                                  Engineering Services

Water Rates                       General Inquiries                 873-7644
                                  Metered Water & Sanitation
                                  Billing Branch
                                  Financial Services

Waterworks Emergencies            General Inquiries                 323-7800
                                  Waterworks Operations Branch
                                  Engineering Services
                                  Manitoba Yards
                                  (24 hours)                        606-2676

WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT               Manager, Wild Life                257-8528
(PARKS)                           Park Board

ZONING & DEVELOPMENT
REGULATIONS
                                  General Inquiries                 873-7613
                                  Development Application
                                  Center
                                  Planning Department               873-7613


Comments or questions? Please contact [log in to unmask]

Last Updated: November 18, 1996
(c) 1996 City of Vancouver

----------
End of Document



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