Hoo boy, the Holy War between Vancouver and CPR heated up again Friday when the city launched a lawsuit claiming CP has effectively given up its right to use the Arbutus corridor as a rail line. I’m attaching the city’s statement of claim below so all the legal scholars on the blog can weigh the […]

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For those who wished they had been at the blog gathering, but couldn’t make it, here’s a recap from Kirk Thanks to those that made it out last night. For those that missed it, I heard two main topics: 1. The election and the candidates. 2. Vancouver’s future. Housing, investment condos, demographics, schools, you name […]

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I paid $500 of my own good money, which I’ll have to raise elsewhere, to install this system which several people said would improve the commenting system. We’ll see how it all goes. If really terrible, I’ll uninstall it. My blog-maintenance minions assure me that all previous comments will re-appear, as they are only partway […]

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Warning: This post contains a mix of serious analysis and some whimsically imaginary facts mixed with real ones. If you can’t tell them apart or if the juxtaposition creates too much cognitive dissonance for you, STAY AWAY. The Vancouver election campaign has been so strangely underwhelming so far that it’s allowed many of us in […]

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This came to my inbox from reader/resident George Muenz. Anyone else noticed this problem? Thousands of cyclists go up the Spanish Banks road to UBC in order to get to the cycling paths on Marine Drive and onwards. I have had reports from several people that police have threatened people with fines and worse if […]

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Since the first day that Vision Vancouver came into power, Mayor Gregor Robertson has turned up the flame on efforts to create new shelter spaces, interim housing, and permanent housing in the city. But this week, as the election and a Dec. 31 deadline for “solving street homelessness” approaches, the city has started doing something […]

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So Kirk and Jenables and a few others set a date for a gathering of the blog commenters recently (that week my blog was actually malfunctioning, as it turned out). Kirk has now found a spot for us to gather and reserved a table. See you all there to talk about who is going to […]

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That was the provocative question last night from writer, university lecturer and activist Matt Hern last night as he responded to Andy Yan’s big-data presentation on trends that have influenced Vancouver in the past and will in the future. Hern, reflecting on Yan’s data about foreign ownership, speculation, the city’s low incomes and high house […]

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This letter from Mayor Gregor Robertson’s people, saying he won’t participate in the Oct. 7 UDI breakfast debate,  is going around in various circles. They say the Urban Development Institute, which represents the region’s builders and developers, gave his office only two days to answer an invitation before putting out publicity suggesting the mayor hadn’t […]

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I was very happy to see the city start an urban-design awards program, though I, like the city, mistakenly understood it to mean architectural awards. The city announced the winners last week and, to judge from public and private comments I’m hearing, the process could do with some, shall we say, improvement. Lance Berelowitz weighs […]

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