Our City- Diverse, Informed, Together
Public Hearing – May, 24th, 2022 With over 130 speakers left to hear from on the Broadway Plan this week, I assume city council are grateful to whoever scheduled the Heather Lands as the lone item for this public hearing. With an election in the fall, they had to be seen as doing something, and... Continue Reading →
Public Hearings – May 17th, 2022, and May 19th, 2022 With over 50 people already registered to speak on the Broadway Plan, it would be easy to forget there are three public hearings scheduled this month. So to simplify things, Hannah and I have combined this week’s zoning bylaw reviews into this post, and we’ll... Continue Reading →
1025 Dunsmuir St (DP-2021-00824)There’s been a lot going on at the Bentall Centre since its new owners took over in 2019, including the addition of murals, lighting features, and the conversion of its large water feature into usable public space. The biggest change has been the loss of its above-ground parking garages with new office... Continue Reading →
1075 Nelson St (DP-2021-00589)To say this proposal has drawn plenty of interest would be an understatement, as it played a significant role in Vancouver landing the International Passive House Conference in 2023. Even city staff acknowledged a project of this scale would further enrich local knowledge, and help build a supply chain for future projects... Continue Reading →
Public Hearing – April 14th, 2022 (Edited: April 19th, 2022 - As councilors Fry, Swanson, Hardwick and Kirby-Yung refused to hear any more speakers, this meeting will resume once again on April 21th, 2022 with Speaker 62 of 73 on Item #4. As such, it is still possible to speak or comment on 1477 W... Continue Reading →
Public Hearing – April 12th, 2022With only ten public hearings scheduled before the civic election, Hannah and I expect this will likely be one of the last calm events this term. The pandemic certainly consumed much of our city council's ambitions, yet they still managed to spend plenty of time debating simple things like Item... Continue Reading →
343 W Pender St (DP-2021-00952) - 470 Homer StreetWhen the Hartney Chambers, and World Buildings were first constructed during Vancouver’s pre-war boom, I wonder if anyone thought they would be standing over a century later. Granted, their insides had been gutted to accommodate some rather interesting things, including a provocatively named waxing studio, an adult... Continue Reading →
625-777 Pacific StHopefully the Urban Design Panel’s volunteers enjoyed their winter break, because their first review of 2022 lasted for nearly three hours. The Omnicron-forced return to a virtual format was partially to blame for this, but as Hannah jokingly pointed out, some people like torturing themselves, and I willingly attend these sessions. Her words... Continue Reading →
8029-8225 Oak St and 1012 W 64th AveAfter spending so much time at city hall over the years, attending these Urban Design Panel meetings oddly began to feel sort of like coming home. Despite what she says, I’m sure Hannah didn’t mind having our actual house to herself for a few hours every second Wednesday... Continue Reading →
1477 W BroadwayFrom the moment its development plans were found in a dumpster, the future South Granville SkyTrain station has polarized opinions. In fact, Councillors Bligh, Hardwick and Kirby-Yung, even voted against (pg 8) the Issues Report that let the average person speak their mind on this mix of market and moderate income rental homes,... Continue Reading →
City Duo 