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Entries from July 2015

City’s delays created all the problems for Olympic village, says developer Macdonald

October 18th, 2010 · 10 Comments

A knowledgeable analysis of the Olympic village problems by developer Rob Macdonald in the Sun on the weekend. Although Rob doesn’t make it totally clear in the story, the original delay he’s talking about in the story was during the Larry Campbell administration. If you can cast your mind back that far, you’ll recall that […]

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Hornby building shows what the community gets when extra density is granted

October 18th, 2010 · 24 Comments

Scrolling through the usual wad of city reports, I came across a rezoning proposal up for public hearing Tuesday night that provides an interesting contrast to towers currently proposed in the West End. One of the main complaints of those objecting to various towers — several of them that have been granted extra density in […]

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Rennie says squall over social housing could cost taxpayers money

October 15th, 2010 · 48 Comments

Allen Garr at the Courier caught condo marketer Bob Rennie in a talkative mood this week, where, from London, he slammed development consultant Michael Geller for his public comments about social housing at the Olympic village. In it, he calls Geller a “sniper” who is “taking out children” while aiming at social housing. And he […]

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Vancouver looks at shrinking size, height of uber-popular laneway houses

October 14th, 2010 · 9 Comments

The laneway houses are proving to be a craze. The city has had 173 applications for laneway houses approved so far and another 50 or so are going through the process. They now account for one out of every eight houses built in the city. But the city report that just popped up today notes […]

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More bike lane anguish, this time on Drake

October 14th, 2010 · 61 Comments

Some realized it early and others didn’t, but the Hornby bike lane also extends along Drake for a block to carry riders over to Burrard and then along Burrard to get them onto the bridge. As well, there are some streets that are not Hornby that will be impacted to get cyclists to the seawall. […]

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TransLink and province: Back to square one re funding?

October 13th, 2010 · 51 Comments

Okay, I officially give up trying to understand what is going on between TransLink and the province or among TransLink’s mayors. They signed a memorandum of understanding just weeks ago that seemed to pave the way for an agreement between Victoria and TL on how to fund future transit projects. And now they’re back this […]

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Bing Thom brings new life to Washington

October 12th, 2010 · 5 Comments

Architect Bing Thom’s buildings bring poetry to unexpected places all over Vancouver — the Sunset community centre, Surrey Central’s SFU campus and office tower, the Aberdeen Centre mall  and more. But others like his work too. The New York Times profiled his re-design of a Washington theatre complex this weekend, which he approached in his […]

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Another Lower Mainland city plays developer and gets slammed by private sector

October 12th, 2010 · 4 Comments

This interesting story was in the Sun today, detailing the way Surrey’s efforts to develop an entrepreneurial arm is generating backlash from industrial people there, saying it forces them to compete against the city and gives city developments an advantage. The city says not, that it’s just trying to do a little extra to turn […]

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West End Neighbours — many applicants rejected, but wishing mayor’s committee the best

October 9th, 2010 · 15 Comments

The West End Neighbours, a resident group that sprang up to oppose the new rental towers being proposed under Vision Vancouver’s new program to encourage rental housing, essentially forced the VV council to slow down and do more consultation. As half the world knows (or at least people who read this blog), they kicked off […]

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Mayor chooses West End advisory committee

October 8th, 2010 · 6 Comments

Someone not chosen to participate in Mayor Gregor Robertson’s West End advisory committee — the consultation process he has come up with to try to deal with the fracas in the West End over several new towers proposed under Vision Vancouver’s initiative to promote rental housing — has sent on this list of who has […]

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