Often nicknamed the “City of Glass” for its towering downtown
condominiums, it is hard to imagine that Vancouver, British
Columbia used to be a dense cedar and hemlock forest hosting one
of the most active above-ground water drainage areas in the
Northwest. More than 100 years after the first European settlers
arrived on Canada’s West Coast, all but two of the city’s
streams have disappeared. Engineers, city planners, and
landscape architects are now working to salvage Still Creek in
east Vancouver and to return natural flora and fauna to the
area. Beginning in 2002, the City of Vancouver mobilized experts
and community groups with the goal of increasing green space and
recreational opportunities in the area, all while improving the
quality of water in the hopes of returning natural life to the
stream. Barriers to the project have been numerous, particularly
due to 70% of the original Still Creek having been placed into
underground storm sewer pipes during the rapid expansion of the
city in the mid-twentieth