Influential city shaper Bob Rennie, who masquerades as a condo marketer, will be giving his annual address to the Urban Development Institute today where he analyzes the market and sales based on statistical research that he gets done for this talk every year.
The speech will have lots of facts and figures, along with Bob’s characteristic [...]

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That’s the subject of my Globe story in today’s paper.
I should note that, while the construction industry is grappling with what to do while the housing market/office market/economy seems to be, some people are breathing a sigh of relief that things have slowed down. Gives everyone a chance to collect their wits and attempt to [...]

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Sorry to disappoint those of you who thought I’d gone dark because I was in the midst of a deep investigation. Instead, all I’ve done is escape to Seattle for a couple of days — always a great way to get a new take on cities, people, art and the economy.
It’s been great to eavesdrop on [...]

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My last post elicited a few comments, including this interesting one from Michael Geller about the condo projects that haven’t properly cleared their sidewalks et al. (See below my intro comments.) Since the snow is now coming down even more heavily (I can’t believe it, actually), I thought I’d just continue with the snow postings.
Michael’s [...]

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Someone sent me a link to this New York Times article extolling the virtues of Vancouver as a second-home base for non-Canadians.
Hmm, I guess the world economy isn’t dead yet. And how nice to see this early indication of the Olympics sell.

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I have this story in today’s Globe and Mail about Tony Pappajohn, a local guy, who has been caught in the economic downdraft and credit squeeze. That’s put in jeopardy the beautifully designed new tower he was building on Hastings Street, a sad chapter for a family that’s part of the history of Vancouver.

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City planners and fans often like to brag about the way Vancouver is a poster city for compact living downtown. The West End, our first downtown neighbourhood, is frequently (and mistakenly) referred to as a neighbourhood with a density equivalent to Manhattan’s, but more attractive with its leafy and quiet streets. False Creek North is [...]

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While the focus so far this week has been on Millennium Developments and its current problems with cost overruns and financing, there’s another story in this city about what’s happening with development generally.
As many people told me over the last two days, it’s been disastrous the last few weeks since the financial crisis started. Open [...]

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For those who don’t think to click on the comments sections here, I had a couple of interesting responses to those who read my recent post that linked to a story about condos taking over New York commercial and industrial land.
Here they are.

It’s interesting and not surprising to see this happening. San Francisco, Baltimore, Toronto, [...]

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For the last couple of years, there’s been much agonizing over whether condos are encroaching too much on the downtown, the invasive species of the development world choking out commercial and industrial uses wherever they go.
People often talk as though this is something unique to Vancouver, the product of its policy of promoting housing downtown. [...]

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