Anyone who covered urban issues for longer than a week inevitably ended up speaking at some point to Warren Gill, an urban geographer and someone who loved the city. In recent years, he had become SFU’s vice-president of university relations. He was always thoughtful in explaining the way cities work and he actually helped change […]

[Read more →]

Other blogs posted links to the Vancouver magazine story I did about Mike Magee Mayor Gregor Robertson’s chief of staff, back in August while I was on vacation. So you may have seen this already, but just in case, here it is. Magee is definitely the strongest, most go-to chief of staff I can remember […]

[Read more →]

As many know, Mayor Gregor Robertson announced last week that the city would hold off on proceeding for the moment with one of the tower applications for the West End. The community group that has been doggedly campaigning for a change to the city program that led to this tower application gave it cautious approval […]

[Read more →]

In keeping with my sense that the civic-election campaign has already started, more than a year from the election, here’s some news from the polling front. This poll from Barb Justason confirms that Vision and Gregor Robertson are still riding high with the public. But, in spite of that strength, she says there are signs […]

[Read more →]

Slowly, slowly getting my post-summer brain into gear this week as I re-enter the slipstream of Vancouver politics. I note that it feels like campaign time already, though the election is over a year away. This promises to be a tough fall. Those of you who don’t like fights should tune out now, because opposition […]

[Read more →]

As promised, I am going to try to give my mind a rest (though I will check out the Green Line in Portland shortly — thanks for the suggestion) and therefore not be posting until Sept. 1. The comments section is open here for anyone to post anything they like related, however vaguely, to urban […]

[Read more →]

(Sorry, late posting on this due to sporadic ability to connect from paradise) A new round of layoffs at the Vancouver Art Gallery has prompted staff and their union rep to speak out even more vocally this past week than the unhappy mutterings I’ve heard for the past few months. As my story says in […]

[Read more →]

As promised, the first of my two stories in the Globe Saturday. This a comparison of the rapid-transit lines in Seattle and Vancouver, both celebrating a one-year anniversary this summer but with very different histories and outcomes. I know this has already generated some comments elsewhere but for those who missed them …

[Read more →]

I’m sitting under an apple tree on Hornby Island, not Hornby Street, having just read my way through the 171 comments on the Hornby bike lane. All I can say is  … well, nothing. It’s too mind-boggling, the level of passion that is going into this stretch of pavement. Though, as someone pointed out, also […]

[Read more →]

I know you’re all panting to let the city know your views on this. Don’t waste your breath on me. Go directly to the source. Here’s the city news release. Hornby bike lane open house welcomes public input City of Vancouver transportation staff will be at the Pacific Centre Mall rotunda Wednesday to meet the […]

[Read more →]