This article ought to provoke some debate. I’ve often wondered whether less-dense parts of the city might not be just as sustainable as hyper-dense tower forms, as long as people could reduce car use. But I’m wondering what missing elements there might be from this research.
Entries from July 2015
UK research suggests dense, compact cities aren’t really more energy-efficient or sustainable than suburban developments
July 24th, 2012 · 19 Comments
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Oakridge looks to transform 1950s mall into a small city
July 23rd, 2012 · 19 Comments
The Canada Line continues to work its magic up and down the tracks, encouraging office builders to locate nearby, prompting condo developments here and there. The latest site to re-consider itself is the Oakridge shopping mall at Cambie and 41st. A report going to council tomorrow recommends letting Oakridge go through with another rezoning process […]
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The V-pole and the new city, built out of our thoughts streaming through the air
July 23rd, 2012 · 8 Comments
There’s nothing the world loves more than a futuristic gadget, a truism that was illustrated when the joint endorsement of a new kind of cell-phone transmission stand by Mayor Gregor Robertson and city-defining writer Doug Coupland happened in Paris this spring. The news of the yet-to-be-invented-as-reality concept, the V-pole, went off like a small nuclear […]
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Growing number of critics commenting on absence of planning director or planning vision in Vancouver
July 20th, 2012 · 48 Comments
This post, copied below, from independent planner Lance Berelowitz, adds to the commentary following speeches by the city’s three former planning directors last week, reported by Jeff Lee at the Sun. I suspect this kind of commentary is getting traction because of the way the Vision council approaches its job, which is to see it […]
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City Plumber: Are poor people getting a fair deal with leisure-access passes at Vancouver community centres?
July 19th, 2012 · 1 Comment
Answer on the City Plumber box. Comments should go there too.
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Would people be encouraged to vote in municipal elections if the names of voters were published?
July 18th, 2012 · 13 Comments
That’s the interesting topic of a blog post by Coquitlam Councillor Terry O’Neill, inspired by an American study that looked at the idea. Would it work? First question. Second? What is the downside?
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Aquilini decision to build rentals not condos will cost Vancouver $35 million
July 16th, 2012 · 28 Comments
Planners finally put a price tag to the community-amenity contribution dollars the city won’t get as a result of Aquilini deciding to build rentals, not condos, in its 400,000 square feet of residential space in three towers around Rogers Arena. Strangely, though, that wasn’t the topic of many questions at the public hearing last week. […]
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A Vancouverite in Minneapolis: bike share, bike trails, no bike helmets
July 16th, 2012 · 14 Comments
I fell in love with Minneapolis, thanks to its bike-share system and its amazing bike routes. Some of you have read bits and pieces about that on previous blog posts. Here’s my Globe story on same. The one negative I experienced, which I had to cut out of my story for space reasons, was that […]
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TransLink backs down on scrapping taxi discounts for disabled
July 12th, 2012 · 2 Comments
One more for the TransLink annus horribilus. At least this problem got fixed. Still awaiting word on the other multi-million dollar issues.
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The great renewable resource — human waste — eyed for energy source in Metro Van
July 10th, 2012 · 54 Comments
The Olympic Village’s neighbourhood energy utility was the first in North America to extract heat for the plant from sewage. The planners were a little antsy at the time, but felt they had to go with it because nearby residents had gone nuts over the idea of generating heat by burning biomass, i.e. woodchips. To […]
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