Lots of shock yesterday re Mark Hume’s story in the Globe with a leaked copy of proposed changes to the ALC, which would see it moved inside a provincial ministry and have its mandate altered to take into account economic factors. Metro Vancouver’s planning committee was already planning to vote on a motion today asking […]

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The civic election isn’t until Nov. 15, 2014. But you’d never know it from the jostling going on among parties hoping to harness the resentment they believe Vision Vancouver is sowing. A sign of the times — I wrote an article for Vancouver magazine about the energy people are putting into campaigns early — especially […]

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Catching up on old news here, but really, hard to keep up with ROB FORD distractions all the time. Anyway, as many of you know, there was a gathering of about 500 last week to talk about the role of transit in the economy. This was largely organized by TransLink and pushed forward by Mayor […]

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As some of you careful readers might have noted in the past, I am not always an admirer of the way opposition groups do war. Saying they’ve been treated disrespectfully by city hall politicians and staff, they then proceed to issue statements and write blog comments that make them sound like foul-mouthed 13-year-olds. Complaining that […]

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That’s the way it reads at first run-through. I await interpretation from the various legal experts out there. Here’s the judgment. COMMUNITYCENTRESVSPARKBOARD1  

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People concerned about the pace of development are not new to Vancouver. There’s been some discomfort almost since the day the city was founded about how rapidly it changes. Neighbourhoods agitated for more control in the big, bad, freeway-building ’60s. In 1996, former alderman Jonathan Baker, who is now part of the new TEAM party […]

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Every development opposition person I meet always starts off by saying, “I’m not opposed to development but …” In some cases, I believe that’s true. In others, it’s more dubious. The more you try to get an answer on what IS acceptable (Not towers. Not low-rise apartment complexes. Not six-storey projects. Not stacked townhouses. Not […]

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My feature piece last weekend is the beginning of a longer look at the anti-development groups, tactics, and messes around the Lower Mainland. People think Vancouver is the only place where residents are increasingly tense about new development. It’s not, as my story makes clear. (And, after I published, a group in Port Moody also […]

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Vancouver council heard all about the latest numbers on homelessness and new housing this week. (Breaking news: The city just bought the Ramada on East Hastings for some dollar amount that we media scum were told we’d get but it hasn’t been provided yet.) The positive: 480 people who went to winter shelters the last […]

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Food trucks and bike shares, the trendiest urban movements of the 21st century. They’re perfect, right? Well, they are great. I’m a huge fan of both. But that doesn’t mean all is bluebirds of happiness in paradise. (Now there’s one weird mixed metaphor.) For my latest Vancouver magazine column, I went out and took a […]

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