Waterfront Station is the centre of transportation for the entire Lower Mainland: three skytrain lines, Seabus, West Coast Express, freight rail, helicopters, float planes, regional and local buses, cruise ships, taxis, bikes, pedestrians. No other North American city enjoys such connectivity.

Sadly, existing facilities are inadequate, and connections are often cumbersome. There are few attractive public spaces.

This September 12-18 is Placemaking Week in Vancouver, with a number of conferences and events happening involving placemaking designers and specialists from all over the world.

SFU City Conversations joins them with a tour and conversation to envision a new downtown waterfront.

You can attend both events, or either one.

Join us for a waterfront tour beginning at Jack Poole Plaza (the Olympic torch) at 10:00 a.m. You'll see what has been done right, and learn how it could have gone wrong. We'll finish the tour at 11:30 a.m at Waterfront Station, learning its history and opportunities.

Our tour leaders will be Tom Phipps and Michael Alexander, Members of the Downtown Waterfront Working Group, Steve Brown, Transportation Engineer, City of Vancouver and Graham McGarva, Architect.

Then at 12:30 p.m. join us for our SFU City Conversation at SFU Vancouver (directly across from Waterfront Station).

To start the conversation, we have Rico Quirindongo, Seattle architect and planner; Darren Davis, Senior Transportation Planner for Auckland, New Zealand; and Urban Planner and author Lance Berelowitz.

Then it's your turn to share your thoughts and ideas on how to imagine the most connected, most exciting, and most dramatic waterfront in North America.