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 […]

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Amid the deluge of reports coming to council this week and next is an interesting one that essentially poses the question to council on what to do about the site that PCI has bought next to the new Southeast Marine Drive SkyTrain station. It’s been an article of faith among people committed to building sustainable […]

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It is a busy week at council (and going to continue to be busy — council meetings have been scheduled for next week as well because of the heavy pre-August break load of business) and one of the busier meetings was the public hearing last night. Secondary suites inside apartments were approved, but the hearing […]

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Jody Andrews, a former favourite at city hall who resigned from his job as Southeast False Creek project manager only a couple of months after Vision Vancouver took over at 12th and Cambie, has landed a new job in Abu Dhabi. According to one of my sources, “he will basically be charge of implementation of […]

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My first full week back in Vancouver and I am of course overwhelmed with how beautiful and lively the city is, filled with festivals and outdoor movie screenings and people walking around and sunshine and it seems, today, like the perfect perfect city. This will pass, but it was an especially lovely weekend and the […]

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You have to look at this survey out in Maclean’s this morning, looking at the best and worst run cities in Canada. Burnaby, Surrey and Vancouver are in the top four — with Vancouver down from the usual number-one spot it enjoys in other lists because of inefficiency in “recreation and culture.” ???? I haven’t […]

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This memo from city manager Penny Ballem is making the rounds today at city hall. I’m curious about the hint when it comes to the new deputy city manager. Who could it be? There have been rumours of at least one strong internal candidate for this one. We await the news. OFFICE OF THE CITY […]

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It’s not formally announced yet, but one more body is about to be added to the crew at 12th and Cambie — former journalist and recent B.C. Liberal candidate Robin Adair. He’ll be handling “intergovernmental relations” and, for the time being, communications — something that Laurie Best was doing until recently, but she’s being moved […]

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Hmm, getting a little heated in some of the blog exchanges. Everyone should relax here, people — it’s a beautiful day. FYI, I’m hosting CBC’s noon-hour show, BC Almanac today and tomorrow, so you can listen in to hear me talking about everything from Facebook privacy (or lack of), gardening, and how to take a […]

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Whenever politicians take on something controversial, they spent their political capital. That’s what’s happening in Vancouver right now with the Burrard Bridge. But, as I found out yesterday, some unexpected people think Vision will actually gain political capital by putting on the bike-lane trial, not spend it. My story on this in the Globe is […]

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