Applicant Team: Everyone from architects, to consultants, to even the owner of the property. These are the people that want to build a building, and essentially must persuade City Staff to agree that it meets the City Guidelines. They need the public to accept it, and require politicians have the courage to approve it. They can make good money, but take big risks in the process.
City Staff: These are public servants and representatives of various fields, including budgeting, engineers, and planners who are instructed to ensure each building meets the city’s many guidelines. They could make more in the private sector, but choose to serve a city for various reasons. As the face of the city, they often are blamed for things that only politicians can control.
COV: The City of Vancouver, our home; A place where friends, cousins and even parents are struggling to afford housing.
Metro Core: The economic centre of Vancouver. This includes everything from Arbutus to Clark St, and then from W 16th Ave to the waters of the Burrard Inlet.
Metro Vancouver: Everything from Delta to Lion’s Bay and Coquitlam, West Vancouver to Langley Township and Maple Ridge. Don’t forget the vast Electoral Districts too!
Nimby / Yimby: No or Yes In My BackYard. Passionate individuals that sometimes only reflect the extremes. Yimbys who desire nothing but soviet style block houses, and Nimbys that long for the Vancouver of the pre-1980s, less people, less buildings and a view that anything new is bad. We consider ourselves reasonable Yimby’s- Change isn’t bad but must be responsible.
Politicians: Those who know best, or at least think they do. We elect them to make informed decisions on our behalf. It is our duty to talk to them, and make sure they are informed on what we need.
UDP: The Urban Design Panel is a City of Vancouver panel that all developers fear. It is comprised of volunteers, experts in the fields of engineering, architecture and, several other backgrounds. They judge a project to make sure it fits the city’s guidelines, fits into the neighbourhood, and can function as a liveable building. City Staff seek their advice on applications, and generally enforce the recommendations, but are not bound to do so.
City Duo 