Why do Canadian cities have almost no parks or greenspaces?

[Thinktank]

You know what's good about Penticton? At least someone was smart enough to make
sure there is some green grass by Skaha beach, and we have a little park downtown ( Gyro Park ) with
big trees, and people have said Penticton is one of the nicer cities in Canada.

But being one of the richest countries on earth for resources, why are most
cities in Canada so cheap when it comes to parks and greenspaces? Places like
Abbotsford look miserable, because it's all cars and traffic - no parks. And Kelowna
is another of those cities that never planned things properly - they don't have any
parks.

Why are Canadian cities so cheap? We're not poor.

[Fancy]

And Kelowna is another of those cities that never planned things properly - they don't have any
parks.
Why are Canadian cities so cheap? We're not poor.

I've been to some beautiful parks in Kelowna as well as other cities in Canada. I'm not sure where you get the idea Kelowna has no parks when there's some listed on the City of Kelowna website.

[Fancy]

Places like Abbotsford look miserable, because it's all cars and traffic - no parks.

http://www.abbotsford.ca/parksrecreatio ... trails.htm

http://www.greatervancouverparks.com/MillLake01.html

Mill Lake looks beautiful and here's a map with all the parks listed.

http://www.abbotsford.ca/Assets/Abbotsf ... ap.pdf.pdf

[Glacier]

The city of Kamloops has 84 parks covering 2000 acres. Additionally, 37,000 acre Lac du Bois Grasslands Provincial Park the borders the city. Thinktank is absolutely correct: Canadian cities have almost no parks.

[GordonH]

You know what's good about Penticton? At least someone was smart enough to make
sure there is some green grass by Skaha beach, and we have a little park downtown ( Gyro Park ) with
big trees, and people have said Penticton is one of the nicer cities in Canada.

But being one of the richest countries on earth for resources, why are most
cities in Canada so cheap when it comes to parks and greenspaces? Places like
Abbotsford look miserable, because it's all cars and traffic - no parks. And Kelowna
is another of those cities that never planned things properly - they don't have any
parks.

Why are Canadian cities so cheap? We're not poor.

So which cities have no parks Thinktank, please post a list.

[Thinktank]

Places like Kelowna and Abbotsford and Nanaimo and Surrey don't have enough parks
for the number of cars on the road. If we calculated parks ( sq ft) per car, I wonder which
cities in Canada would be the best. Stanley Park is great - that's why Vancouver is known
as one of the best cities on earth - Stanley Park. All cities need bigger parks the size of Stanley Park.

[CorkSoaker]

Places like Kelowna and Abbotsford and Nanaimo and Surrey don't have enough parks
for the number of cars on the road. If we calculated parks ( sq ft) per car, I wonder which
cities in Canada would be the best. Stanley Park is great - that's why Vancouver is known
as one of the best cities on earth - Stanley Park. All cities need bigger parks the size of Stanley Park.

Surrey has more park space than Vancouver does (2600+ hectares vs 1300+ hectares).

Edmonton dwarfs both Vancouver and Surrey with 10,000+ hectares.

[GordonH]

Places like Kelowna and Abbotsford and Nanaimo and Surrey don't have enough parks
for the number of cars on the road. If we calculated parks ( sq ft) per car, I wonder which
cities in Canada would be the best. Stanley Park is great - that's why Vancouver is known
as one of the best cities on earth - Stanley Park. All cities need bigger parks the size of Stanley Park.

Here is the City of Kelowna parks map http://www.kelowna.ca/website/ipark_map ... viewer.cfm
Here is the City of Abbotsford parks http://www.abbotsford.ca/parksrecreationandculture.htm
Here is the City of Nanaimo parks map http://www.nanaimo.ca/PRC/Locations/Parks/AddressSearch
Here is the City of Surrey map http://cosmos.surrey.ca/external/

Added later: So Thinktank where would you place 405.1 Hectare (Stanley Park 1001 acres) park in Kelowna.

[Glacier]

Kamloops has the largest municipal park in the province (Kenna Cartwright Park). It's even bigger than Stanley Park.

[Iamsomeone]

why are most cities in Canada so cheap when it comes to parks and greenspaces?

It's not the cities that are cheap, it's the citizens of the community who tell their City council they don't want their tax dollars spent on parks.

And Kelowna is another of those cities that never planned things properly - they don't have any
parks.

Don't have any parks? Are you serious?

I have at least five neighbourhood parks within a 5 minute walk from my house. They include playgrounds, tennis courts, ball diamonds and green space. Some have washrooms and water fountains. Then there's our big parks like Mission Creek Park, Bertram Creek Park, City Park and Knox Mountain Park. We have Woodhaven Nature Conservatory and the marshes downtown. Did you know there is a disc golf course at the base of Knox in Sutherland Park?

I love this town because of the thought and tax dollars our citizens and City council put into making sure we have recreation space. I think you should look around more Thinktank.

[Thinktank]

I usually just stay on Hwy 97 when I go to Kelowna.

[matai]

The city I come from (40,000 pop) has a lake in the middle of it downtown (300m wide X approx 1-2km long) and 2/3 of the lake is a public park with a promenade and a bike path circling around it (bike path is 7km long). THe other half is built and privately owned.

There's kids parks all over the city...

There's a botanical garden in the middle of town too. And it's free!

THere's green places everywhere!

There's another lake in the middle of town with a public beach... free as well and trails around it.

Ok there's pollution everywhere too and you can't swim in most of the lakes and what you breathe might give you cancer, fish have skin disease and ulcers but that we don't tell people.

[GordonH]

I usually just stay on Hwy 97 when I go to Kelowna.

There is more to Kelowna than Hwy 97, I rarely if ever use it to get around.

[matai]

I rarely if ever use it to get around.

Around what? :-P

[GordonH]

I rarely if ever use it to get around.

Around what? :-P

Hmm.... maybe the city mentioned in first part of that sentence. lol