A fascinating story here in Street Roots by a former student of mine at Kwantlen, Steve Smysnuik, who has done a solid job of reporting on the sex-trade problem that no one has paid much attention to for a few decades in this city. (I don’t claim to have taught Steve any of his reporting […]

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This just out from city hall, where apparently some poor wretch is still employed to put out news releases while everyone else is on holiday. Howe Street shelter closes two days early The Howe Street shelter has closed two days ahead of schedule thanks to the availability and acceptance of alternate housing by shelter residents, […]

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As anyone who reads this blog even passingly knows, I love markets and street stuff in cities. So I’ve been watching with interest to see how the city’s car-free Sundays, aka Summer Spaces program, is going. I went down to Commercial Drive yesterday, where they had their first non-car-free day of the summer (Main also […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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Well, all I can say is Yikes. One more city manager bails, Kevin Ramsay, the recently hired head of HR. He’d replaced Mike Zora, who had become the object of union unhappiness, and from what I had heard, was doing a good job and managing to calm things down a little. But not any more. […]

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It was a busy day at council, but I was working on another project and then, later in the afternoon, ended up SkyTraining it out to Metrotown for yet more news breaking there: the province’s announcement that it is reviewing the governance, finances and jurisdiction of our two transportation agencies. Then, after getting the info […]

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Vancouver council is expected to approve laneway houses today, which will give 65,000 homeowners in the city’s RS1 and RS5 (single-family) zones the right to build a 750-square-foot house at the back of their lots. I have a story on this move, which others across the country are watching with some interest and some bemusement, […]

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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 […]

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In another ring of the Vancouver city hall circus these days, the city’s proposed bylaw changes to noise, graffiti and other bylaws is generating all kinds of heat and light. Here’s just one small sample of the exchanges going on. —–Original Message—– From: Michael Healey Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 10:39 AM To: Anton, Suzanne; […]

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