TransLink is pretty darn happy with itself these days, winning awards for service-in-the-face-of-crushing-Olympics-crowds and other categories. This came out earlier this afternoon. Transit numbers after the Games: You came, you rode, you kept riding While TransLink earned worldwide applause for its performance as part of the Transportation Plan during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter […]

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The 10 acres of land that the Squamish own near Burrard Bridge became an object of curiosity this week, with much talk about the development that they have planned there for some time in the future. Don’t expect anything soon. I talked to other municipalities who have worked with the Squamish and they say things […]

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The trial for the Dunsmuir bike lane (soon to be followed by a trial Burrard or Thurlow lane, is my guess) is being voted on tomorrow morning at the 9:30 committee meeting, item 4 on the agenda. I think there might be some strong opinions on this (a joke, get it?) so I’ll get the […]

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We’ve been seeing a lot of action at city hall lately when it comes to bike lanes in a few areas. But there’s a much bigger, more comprehensive re-think coming in the fall, when the city will start talking about an update to its 1997 Transportation Plan. One topic for sure that is going to […]

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Every time I drive around the region, I’m jolted again by some new architectural trend even more hideous than the last one in this city that is allegedly the envy of the world. Each new version of the archetypal Vancouver special is so spectacularly more ghastly than the last one — decorative glass doors! wedding-cake […]

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I never imagined, when I was spending my 20s studying the contemporary French novel, that I would enjoy reading financial statements as much as I do. But it turns out they’re just as fun as Boris Vian or Michel Butor, in their own way, like seeing where the millions go at the city. The city’s […]

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Great media frenzy yesterday, as people rushed to put out the news about the city’s report on its Olympic costs. My version here, including former mayor Philip Owen’s assessment. Those in the know will remember he and his council insisted the city shouldn’t have to pay for anything. But some wildly varying numbers were used […]

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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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Cities all over the Lower Mainland are falling over themselves these days to attract businesses, but Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts is the champ at delivering her message the loudest and clearest that the door is open in her city — complete with property tax holidays and fee breaks. Yet again, she gets lots of attention […]

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