I recently wrote an article in “Post Alley”, a Seattle publication, about this. Here are the summary points:
1. Relative to its metro population, Vancouver has three times as much housing in and around downtown as Seattle.
2. Partly because homebuilding is a major industry in central Vancouver, the city has been more willing to convert old industrial areas, and has, collectively made major investments in parks, seawall walks, and community centers.
3. In contrast, downtown Seattle is about “work”, and the major public investment there has gone into moving commuters and freight.
4. Seattle has close-in opportunities to create walkable waterfront neighborhoods with about 20,000 units, but doing so would require taking on the Port and the railroads.
Here’s a link to the article: