Public Hearing – November 16th, 2023Two years ago, dozens of letters flooded city council as supporters and opponents of a six floor rental application on Arbutus Street clashed over their community’s future. Yet on today’s agenda Item #1, a five floor rental building on the block directly to the north has barely drawn a peep.... Continue Reading →
October 17th, 2023 Public Hearing – Real Estate Insiders Push To Protect Vancouver’s Unqiue Cul-De-Sac Character
Public Hearing – October, 17, 2023 – 6:00pm As one of our cats has fallen critically ill within the last few days, I hope you’ll forgive Hannah and I if this post is a little more unpolished than usual. Thankfully, this hearing’s agenda is almost entirely comprised of simplified rental buildings under the Secured Rental... Continue Reading →
July 11th, 2023 Public Hearing – Seven Lucky Numbers Win Vancouver Renters A Jackpot Of Homes
Public Hearing – July, 11th, 2023 After spending 17 hours at the Khatsahlano Street Party (Hannah was a volunteer), this seven item public hearing agenda looked pretty intimidating on Sunday morning. However, after skimming through it Monday, we realized the actions of the previous council should speed it along, and Item #1 seeks to build... Continue Reading →
April 25th 2023 Public Hearing – Provincial Whac-A-Mole Forces Rental Homes To The Sidelines
Public Hearing – April 25th, 2023 While Item #1 should have been the biggest news story of this night, as it’s the first four floor rental building on a side-street to reach city council, Item #2 may steal its spotlight. To be fair, the former does have its detractors, like a neighbour who prefers continuing... Continue Reading →
City Duo’s Secured Rental Policy Tracker – Find Your Next Home
Updated - May 19th, 2024 Since 2009, various policies have been crafted in Vancouver with the intent of incentivizing the construction of new rental homes as as very few have been built after the 1980s. While Hannah and I have written about some of these largely failed measures, this article is meant to track the... Continue Reading →
September 21st, 2021 Public Hearing – Vancouver Struggles To Keep Pace As Hundreds Demand More Rental Homes
Public Hearing – September 21st, 2021(September 22nd, 2021 Update : As city council only managed to get through five applications, you can still send in comments / register to speak on Item #6, which will be heard on September 23rd, 2021 at 6pm. Also, despite previously claiming to support projects like Item #6, the Dunbar... Continue Reading →
Urban Design Panel Urges Vancouver Rental Homes To Find Sunny Ways Despite City Council Delays
3449-3479 W 41st Ave and 5664 Collingwood StIt’s fitting that this meeting started with several Urban Design Panel members discussing their plans for retirement, as many of the homes in this rental building are being targeted for that very demographic. The applicant explained their discussions with the Dunbar Residents’ Association led them to provide more... Continue Reading →
9 Rental Homes Revive Old Fears As Neighbours Predict Traffic Chaos Will Consume Local Streets
6031 Dunbar Street Over the last couple years, Darren and I have meet many people who share our sense of civic passion, though our opinions often differ. For instance, while we worried these nine rental homes could generate a large backlash, one of our acquaintances was more skeptical. Certainly they were right to point out... Continue Reading →
Vancouver Ghost Town Welcomes ~5% Increase To Family Rental Housing Stock
3449 - 3479 West 41st Avenue & 5664 Collingwood Street As public consultation grinds to a halt over the winter holidays, and Darren is normally the one who covers reviews by the Urban Design Panel, I thought I had already written my last post for this year. While there were a couple small events scheduled,... Continue Reading →
The UDP Regrets Rejection of Dunbar Mid-Rise – Could Proposed Reforms Prevent a Similar Mistake?
4464 Dunbar Street Everyone makes mistakes, but it takes a certain amount of courage to admit you goofed up when it's noted in an official government record. Maybe that says something about the character of the Urban Design Panel members who took a second look at this simple 5 storey mid-rise. During this project's first... Continue Reading →