Vancouver Would Be Cooler If is a column that advocates for things that either exist in other cities and/or could otherwise serve to improve and celebrate life in our own.

Though situated on the edge of a vast wilderness criss-crossed with Forest Service Roads and dotted with Recreation Sites and Provincial Parks, it’s still a tricky thing for Vancouverites – particularly the many thousands that don’t own cars – to spend a night camping. This is why something akin to Belgium’s Vlot Kamp – essentially eight floating campsites accessed from the shore by canoe – appeals to me for the sheltered waters of False Creek between Yaletown and Olympic Village. Ideally, bookings would be set by a weekly in-person lottery instead of a typical reservation system. I’d also like to see each raft equipped with a propane fire pit and a better plumbing solution than “emergency toilets” — but let’s not get too greedy in this fantasy. (In reality, I suspect all the furnishings would quickly be destroyed or stolen, and before summer was through every raft would either be sunk, burned or both.)