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Burrard Bridge traffic stats posted

July 31st, 2009 · 91 Comments

Let the deconstructionist analysis begin. The city has posted the first round of stats on car, bike and pedestrian traffic on the bridge, noting that bike traffic is up 30 per cent, pedestrian is steady and car flows are fluctuating after a 10 per cent drop in the first days.
And, so as not to miss [...]

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Musing about NPA mayoral candidate begins

July 30th, 2009 · 9 Comments

The folks over at the Georgia Straight had this interesting item about park board commissioner Ian Robertson thinking aloud about running as the mayoral candidate for the Non-Partisan Association next time around.
It’s actually not too early to start planning for that — a bare year and a half away, really, or only 18 Critical Mass [...]

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Mixed-use project on industrial land gets support from several quarters

July 24th, 2009 · 24 Comments

Vancouver city staff have unequivocally indicated that they don’t support the project that PCI’s Andrew Grant is proposing for next door to the new Marine Drive SkyTrain station, a mixed-used development with two towers — one market condos, one rental — office space, a cineplex and a plaza.
Head city planner Brent Toderian emphasized that allowing [...]

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Mayors tussle with province to get new money

July 22nd, 2009 · 7 Comments

The vehicle levy, now known as the transportation improvement levy, is back on the table, for those who didn’t know.
Metro mayors, who have to decide by October whether to approve a substantially improved new transit system — on that Premier Gordon Campbell said they were going to build — are struggling to figure out ways [...]

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Bike-only bridge debate breaks out

July 4th, 2009 · 63 Comments

Some of you think that I’m too busy stuffing my face with pasta to pay any attention to what is going on in Vancouver, but that’s simply not true. There is actually a small amount of time between pasta feedings to keep on top of Terminal City news and so I am indeed aware that [...]

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Mayor Robertson’s statement on the shelters controversy

June 25th, 2009 · 5 Comments

The residents around the two homeless shelters under the Granville Bridge started complaining a month ago about the activities in the shelters and their uncertain future. At first, they didn’t get a lot of attention, but the story exploded in the last couple of weeks and has turned into one of city hall’s major unchecked [...]

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Vancouver’s car-free days admired from afar

June 25th, 2009 · 4 Comments

This story from the Toronto Star, praising Vancouver’s car-free days and Toronto’s lack of same, popped up on my screen today. It’s ironic given the debate that keeps raging in this city about changing the current proportions of the car-bike-walker sharing system.
It reminds me forcibly of the way it’s so easy to praise from afar, [...]

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Mayor wants Northeast False Creek to “push the green agenda”

June 3rd, 2009 · 12 Comments

It’s a difficult story to follow but the Saga of Northeast False Creek is a fascinating one and will continue to develop because there are so many interests at play in that area, the big stretch of land that faces the Olympic village across False Creek.
There’s a tussle over whether the Vancouver Art Gallery will [...]

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Tags: Developer World

The follow-up story to ex-board member resignation from Vision

June 2nd, 2009 · 18 Comments

Sorry for posting this so late … a very busy day today for many reasons, which also caused me to miss council so I’m hoping people will post on what they think came out of the various council meetings. But anyway, here is my story with a round-up of people’s thoughts on what is happening [...]

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The man at the side of Vancouver’s new mayor: Joel Solomon

May 26th, 2009 · 3 Comments

My latest column in Vancouver magazine features Joel Solomon, the man who is having a huge influence on the green-business culture of this city. He’s also one of the mayor’s closest allies and a fascinating blend of entrepreneur, philanthropist and philosopher. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t people in town who are uneasy about him [...]

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