Excerpt:  The staff at City Hall are pushing a huge amount of business through the Council pipeline, some items controversial and with long-lasting implications for the City. By the start of the summer hiatus, a total of ten public hearing dates (including reconvened/carried over) will have been completed in just June and July. There have...Read More

Excerpt:  Social housing used to mean housing for low-income people. In Vancouver, social housing means another thing. In 2014, the ruling Vision Vancouver party of then-mayor Gregor Robertson changed the definition of social housing. Social housing in Vancouver now means entire residential developments where a majority of the housing units are going to be rented...Read More

Excerpt:  Is anyone home? Perhaps more precisely, the question should be “Does anyone live there”? Just a few lights are on, so what about the other units? ……………   Some people wonder about this building, blocking views, unconventional design, and seismic safety. The site was repeatedly up-zoned in permitted height (started at 225 feet, then...Read More

Excerpt:  While Vancouver city council has spent the last 40 years prioritizing density in the city’s core area, it’s up to the separately elected school board and provincial government to manage the school system and approve funding for new buildings.  “It’s certainly frustrating,” said Coun. Lisa Dominato.  She’s lobbied for approval of an elementary school in...Read More

Excerpt:  While the city already had a higher buildings policy, it was amended and strengthened around 2010. The planning department identified about six sites where particularly tall buildings could be constructed, one of which is at the north end of Granville Bridge where Vancouver House is now situated, while another site is opposite to Vancouver...Read More

Excerpt:  People who live less than 50 metres from a major road or less than 150 metres from a highway are at a higher risk of developing dementia or Parkinson’s disease, according to new research from UBC. Researchers looked at 678,000 adults living in Metro Vancouver between 1994 and 1998, and then followed up with...Read More

Excerpt:  Who will live in Vancouver House? The good news is it includes at least one family-friendly three-bedroom unit. That one, however, will put you back $6.9 million plus a $1,547.70 monthly maintenance fee. Then again, you also get five bathrooms and pets are allowed. Another unit, while smaller, sells for millions more. Gillespie says...Read More

Excerpt: The look of the city, known for its ‘Vancouverism’ design, is changing as the real estate market adapts to the spread of luxury housing and a tech-fueled office boom. The city is one of the least affordable housing markets in North America, a crisis that experts say is fueled by investors, who have long viewed...Read More

The Granville Bridge Connector is intended to address a gap in the city’s active transportation network and serve some of the densest parts of the city with an improved walking and cycling pathway, as well as public spaces. Details: (web) https://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/granville-bridge-connector.aspx Open House boards: (pdf) granville-bridge-connector-phase-2-open-house-information-displays According to the information provided on the Open House Boards in...Read More

Excerpt: One of the ubiquitous social-media images of Vancouver is the aerial shot of its downtown peninsula, with picture-postcard water surrounding it. But underneath some of those glittering blue surfaces is a sludge pile of bacteria and human and animal waste. That reality hit home again as Vancouver prepares for what looks like a bad summer...Read More