Adding to the list of local politics-watchers is this new blog that Frank Murphy, who comments here occasionally, is starting up. That’s in addition to blogs in Langley, Surrey, New Westminster, Kamloops and North Vancouver that I know of. (If there are more, get in touch — happy to link.) Here’s Frank’s message about his […]

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Sam Sullivan used to love to go to Chicago and admired Mayor Richard Daley, perhaps in part because of his imperial powers, but also because of the way he had single-handedly turned Chicago from a rust belt disaster to a thriving urban innovator. But Gregor Robertson’s favourite city, at least this week, is New York. […]

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My friend Peg Fong has a nice scoop in the Toronto Star today, with sources talking to her about the possibility of former mayor Sam Sullivan being considered for Governor-General. The Star’s big story last week, also based on sources, was that Rick Hansen had been approached about the post and had turned it down. […]

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Okay, nothing at all to do with urban issues, except that Kash used to police parts of Vancouver, but this is so startling I had to put up a link

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As a follow-up to the stats released by the city from its homelessness count, here’s my story in the Globe with Councillor Kerry Jang staking out the city’s position unequivocally: It’s the province’s job to pay for enough shelter space to get everyone off the streets. The city will give land, buildings, fix-up costs, but […]

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The results of the city’s homeless count are in and, as the Vision Vancouver team hoped, it shows that the numbers of people sleeping outside was reduced by almost exactly the number of beds created in the mayor’s seven emergency shelters. The memo from city manager Penny Ballem spells out the dire consequences for the […]

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Yes, I’ve been gadding about a lot and this time to Montreal — mainly to cook meals and provide a taste of home to a cluster of young adults, some of them family, some of them friends. There is a veritable ghetto of Vancouver kids in Montreal these days, so there were plenty around to […]

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SFU’s always-great City Program has another interesting lecture coming up, this one by Thomas Osdoba, the former sustainability manager in Vancouver. Those who think the recent firing of the city’s chief electrician was odd should refresh their memories about what happened with Osdoba, who was fired by then-city manager Judy Rogers after a lot of […]

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Charles Campbell over at the Tyee has an interesting take on the proposed new casino at BC Place, one that I haven’t heard before. To wit: the real problem with the current casino being planned is that it’s just another low-rent operation, not the kind that’s destined to attract the big spenders, but just another […]

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The city posted its report on who got tickets to the Olympics and my brain is working overtime to try to figure out what the pattern was behind some of these allocations: the oddest mix I’ve seen in a while. Nice to see Dave Rudberg, the city engineer who steered the city’s Olympics efforts for […]

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