Every development opposition person I meet always starts off by saying, “I’m not opposed to development but …” In some cases, I believe that’s true. In others, it’s more dubious. The more you try to get an answer on what IS acceptable (Not towers. Not low-rise apartment complexes. Not six-storey projects. Not stacked townhouses. Not […]
What would happen if Vancouver residents blocked all new density?
October 24th, 2013 · 101 Comments
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New development in older neighbourhoods sparks new-style protest groups, questions about how to assess community opinion
October 16th, 2013 · 146 Comments
My feature piece last weekend is the beginning of a longer look at the anti-development groups, tactics, and messes around the Lower Mainland. People think Vancouver is the only place where residents are increasingly tense about new development. It’s not, as my story makes clear. (And, after I published, a group in Port Moody also […]
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Vancouver, Surrey still struggling to get homeless numbers down — keeping them from going up is the measure of success so far
October 10th, 2013 · 109 Comments
Vancouver council heard all about the latest numbers on homelessness and new housing this week. (Breaking news: The city just bought the Ramada on East Hastings for some dollar amount that we media scum were told we’d get but it hasn’t been provided yet.) The positive: 480 people who went to winter shelters the last […]
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The food-truck revolution enters Phase 2: Grim reality, hard road to success, and a search for ways to make money off the street
October 2nd, 2013 · 135 Comments
Food trucks and bike shares, the trendiest urban movements of the 21st century. They’re perfect, right? Well, they are great. I’m a huge fan of both. But that doesn’t mean all is bluebirds of happiness in paradise. (Now there’s one weird mixed metaphor.) For my latest Vancouver magazine column, I went out and took a […]
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Ask not for whom the bridge tolls. It tolls for thee.
September 25th, 2013 · 138 Comments
Okay, that is a really terrible headline: a mutilation of a lovely piece of poetry and also something that is guaranteed to fail all SEO tests. But whatever, we can have some fun every so often. So, just to do that horrible thing that middle-class people now do, this topic of tolling is very relevant […]
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Chocolate-making delivers a way out for women in the Downtown Eastside
September 19th, 2013 · 4 Comments
It’s too easy to get sentimental about every do-good program in the Downtown Eastside. Some, quite frankly, don’t really do much for the people they’re supposedly helping. The people who created this chocolate-making business at East Van Roasters aren’t sentimental. As Mark Townsend, from PHS, pointed out to me: People like to kid themselves that […]
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As businesses move to take over responsibility for recycling, cities raise a host of questions
September 18th, 2013 · 11 Comments
Who knew recycling was such a hot topic? It has been the last week, as cities have publicly raised concerns about the new system that’s about to descend on the province. That new system, which came about because of the province’s efforts to get producers to pay for the cost of recycling their packaging and […]
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Office-tower developers continue to love transit and Vancouver downtown
September 16th, 2013 · 165 Comments
Two new office-tower projects, to add to the I’ve-lost-count number already. I still can’t get over how much the commercial broker/office developer cluster is bullish on downtown and transit, after having been so hot on business parks for so many years. These two are interesting, as well, because they’re taking advantage of space that’s not […]
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Vision Van turns to Vision Critical for online engagement, and Vision Critical’s latest new hire is … former communications guy for Vision Van
September 12th, 2013 · 89 Comments
I would be remiss if I didn’t bring together these two news releases that landed in my inbox eight days apart. From Sept. 3/Vision Critical: Vision Critical appoints Ryan Merkley Managing Director and Senior Vice President, Public Affairs Former Mozilla Foundation Chief Strategy Officer to lead VC’s Public Affairs practice worldwid TORONTO – September […]
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Park board and six community centres head to court tomorrow, as the divorce continues to get nastier
September 2nd, 2013 · 237 Comments
I can tell that the park board/community-centre association fight is hitting home when I go for my early-morning swim at New Brighton and women in the line-up are talking about the whole mess. Sunday morning, one was telling the other that all the contract staff currently hired by the centres are going to be fired […]
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