Looking at the way Olympics cities all watch each other and share news, I sometimes feel like Vancouver has joined an exclusive little support group. Kind of like a Moms of Troubled Teens or Cancer Survivor group, but on a slightly larger scale. I was reminded of that yet again as this story from Chicago […]

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There was much talk about shovel-ready projects to get the nation moving again when the budget was announced Jan. 27. But no one quite knows yet when or how those projects will roll out. I checked with both Surrey and Vancouver in the last week and neither has heard yet what the process is going […]

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The new Vision council promised to stop putting city money into paying for private security guards in the city’s business districts and it’s about to carry out that promise tomorrow — after hearing from speakers on the subject. If you have a strong opinion, hop on down to the 9:30 committee meeting tomorrow, although I […]

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It looked like it was going to ho-hum day at city council, with councillors Suzanne Anton and Raymond Louie continuing their energetic pillow fighting over the the budget, the Olympic village, the kinds of candies given out for free in the mayor’s office, and so on. But, instead, at the end of the budget presentation, […]

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That’s the subject of my Globe story in today’s paper. I should note that, while the construction industry is grappling with what to do while the housing market/office market/economy seems to be, some people are breathing a sigh of relief that things have slowed down. Gives everyone a chance to collect their wits and attempt […]

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Sorry to disappoint those of you who thought I’d gone dark because I was in the midst of a deep investigation. Instead, all I’ve done is escape to Seattle for a couple of days — always a great way to get a new take on cities, people, art and the economy. It’s been great to eavesdrop […]

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Well, we always wanted to be a world-class city. And now we are, as you can see from this article in the Guardian, documenting London’s troubles in financing its Olympic athletes’ village. And what’s the deal with Whistler? Why aren’t they having the same troubles? They seem to be doing just fine, as Bruce Constantineau’s […]

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Just back from the early-morning gathering at the Rio Theatre on Broadway, where an eclectic crowd of us  watched Obama’s inauguration, with lots of young kids cheering and then oldies like us sniffling and tearing up.  People were in such a feel-good mood that they didn’t even boo when George Bush appeared at various points on […]

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If everyone could just PLEASE REMAIN CALM. As unpopular as this might be to say right now, I’d just like to warn everyone that there’s nothing more dangerous or potentially uninformative as a media pack in full pursuit of a crisis. Everyone scrambles to find a detail that’s worse than what the last guy/gal just […]

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This bulletin just out from the mayor’s office. Mayor announces HEAT shelter numbers from December “No barrier” facilities provide shelter for almost 300 a night Almost 300 homeless people found shelter every night over the past three weeks in emergency facilities opened by the Homeless Emergency Action Team (HEAT), Mayor Gregor Robertson said today. More […]

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