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 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 →
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 →
Public Hearing – January 25th, 2022If we hadn’t included it in a title years ago, this public hearing would have been a great setup for a “Grand Slam” pun. In fact, if it wasn’t for a significant amount of public support, city council would never have considered the policy updates that allow for Item #1.... Continue Reading →
906-982 W 18th Ave and 907-969 W 19th Ave (Balfour Block) - (revised concept)With how poorly this project’s last Urban Design Panel review went, I imagine this applicant team was looking for every advantage they could find in preparation for its requested return. So the sight of Terra Breads' bagged sandwiches in this townhall room... Continue Reading →
Public Hearing – November 18th, 2021(Update – November 19th, 2021 – Despite relatively few speakers, city council only finished Items #1-3, meaning you still have time to comment on Item #4, which will be heard on November 25th, 2021.)Like recent Canuck’s games, it would be tempting to ignore this public hearing. After all, Item #1... Continue Reading →
418-496 Alexander St (450 Alexander St)Like the Hon’s distribution centre this project will replace, I thought this Urban Design Panel meeting would deliver some good ol’ comfort for the soul. After all, at the other end of the block is the similarly-sized Roddan Lodge, and anyone who works in Railtown can tell you how badly... Continue Reading →
Public Hearing – October 14th, 2021When Hannah and I first moved to Vancouver we didn’t plan to stay long, as the “big city” felt overwhelming, and the transformation the Olympics triggered sure didn’t help. Admittedly, we laugh about that sometimes, as while there’s nothing wrong with a suburban life, we’ve grown to love the flexibility... Continue Reading →
Public Hearing – October 12th, 2021With the ongoing pandemic, and the tragedy of the decades of abuse at the residential schools brought fresh to light, Hannah and I can understand why some may not feel like celebrating today. That said, the grief we’ve experienced over the last year has taught us the importance of taking... Continue Reading →
304 E 1st Ave (DP-2020-00370) - The Sophia - ResubmissionMaybe it’s because Hannah covered the Urban Design Panel’s review of this proposal’s original iteration last September, but I think this revised concept is far more interesting. City staff seemed to agree, as they were satisfied most of the recommendations that resulted in this resubmission had... Continue Reading →
City Duo 