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 →
April 14th,19th, & 21st 2022 Public Hearing – Will City Council Vote To Derail Broadway Subway Station?
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 →
April 12th, 2022 Public Hearing – A Conscious Uncoupling Leads The Next Generation Of Moderate Income Rental Homes Back To Their East Van Origins
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 →
Urban Freedom Fighters Help Inch Vancouver’s Failed Freeway Revitalization Closer To Daylight
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 →
March 3rd, 2022 Public Hearing – Hopes For A Balanced Parkside Community Rest On A Quiet Night
Public Hearing – March 3rd, 2022As the civic election nears, it seems city hall is going to be getting considerably busier, as the Broadway Plan, Jericho Lands, and Vancouver Plan’s fates all remain undecided. The April public hearings will likely drag on for multiple nights alone, as the proposal to provide 244 rental homes at... Continue Reading →
Health Care Focused Rental Homes Find An Evergreen Solution To Strathcona’s Decade Old Eyesore
456-496 Prior StAs our regular readers know, Hannah and I do our best to research the projects we write about, and on this occasion we may have gone overboard. Granted, it was a fluke that, as we sorted through my family’s home videos, we found John Daly’s 1989 report on the St. James Social Services... Continue Reading →
January 25th, 2022 Public Hearing – SkyTrain Focused Homes Forced To Undergo A Skyline Shave To Fit In
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 →
World’s Tallest Passive House Fails To Earn The Support Of Vancouver’s Urban Design Panel
1075 Nelson St (DP-2021-00589)As I knew the Urban Design Panel was scheduled to review the world’s tallest passive house building, I was ready to be amazed when I walked into city hall’s Joe Wai Meeting Room. Sure enough, I was greeted by the most impressive scale model I’ve seen in months. It was only after... Continue Reading →
January 18th, 2022 Public Hearing – Vancouver’s Ugly Duckling Looks To Get Jacked Up
Public Hearing – January 18th, 2022Anyone who grew up in a small town in the Canadian Prairies can vouch there’s not a lot to do, especially at this time of year. So it may sound hard to believe, but one of my loving wife’s favourite activities was heading to her hometown’s only 7-Eleven for Slurpees... Continue Reading →
Affordability Comes At A Price For Vancouver’s Hottest Rental Homes
4408-4488 Fraser St and 707-709 E 29th AveAs Hannah and I enter our fifth year of recapping our region’s urban growth review process, Vancouver city council’s vote to streamline the secured rental policy seemed like an early Christmas present. We’re hopeful this means the Urban Design Panel multi-hour reviews of these standard six floor rental... Continue Reading →