More cities are looking at whether and how to remove freeways, because they’re expensive to maintain and disruptive to urban life.

My city, Vancouver, made that decision 50 years ago, consciously choosing not to allow freeways in the first place. It is a decision that has shaped the city’s character and geography—and, in the eyes of a lot of people, made Vancouver one of the world’s most livable urban areas.

The lack of freeways is due to hard work and good timing. After the city council announced a plan in 1967 to build a freeway along the waterfront—and right through Chinatown, raising the prospect of widespread displacement—mass protests forced the city to scrap its plans. Thanks to evolving wisdom on urban planning and a wave of antifreeway protests in other cities through the 1970s, Vancouver never faced another serious effort at highway development.

As a result, the freeways that connect the city’s sprawling suburbs, as well as the Trans-Canada highway (Canada’s equivalent of the interstate), all stop at the city limits.

It’s a situation that might be anathema to some people—or some cities. But in Vancouver, the lack of freeways contributes to a lot of what people love about living here—along with some drawbacks, too.