West Southlands sits on the unceded ancestral territory of the Musqueam people. 

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"The Story of Dunbar: Voices of a Vancouver Neighbourhood"

 was published in 2007 and provides a great history of the area.

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Dunbar-Southlands profile 

 

Dunbar Village businesses

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The 1988 Southlands Plan set a framework for West Southlands, including:

• Semi-rural character

• Musqueam Marsh Nature Park

• Streets with unpaved shoulders and ditches for drainage & flood resistance

• Minimizing streets with through traffic

• Low density housing 

• Flood proofing of new housing 

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The Plan prohibits new curbs in order to maintain as much natural absorption of rainwater as possible. The ditches, which are significant holding areas for rainwater, discharge at low tide into the Fraser River. New building is encouraged to consider alternatives to concrete and asphalt in order to control run-off and maximize the surface available to absorb water.

 

West Southlands is zoned R1-1 "Residential Inclusive" like most residential neighbourhoods in the City.  It enables a variety of small-scale housing while retaining a single lot character. Housing options include single-family dwellings, secondary suites, laneway houses, duplexes and multiplexes.

 

This zoning is relatively new, adopted in 2022 as a community development strategy for Vancouver as a whole. It is called the Vancouver Plan and has many elements relevant to our area (for example, see pages 92, 105, 112, 141). There's a fun short video outlining the plan and next steps. 

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