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Entries from January 2016

2011: Hoping for a year of productive change

December 31st, 2010 · 43 Comments

Twenty years ago, two city planners wrote a series of articles for the Vancouver Sun where they laid out what our region would look like in 2010 and what the region would be challenged by in those two decades. Michael Seelig and Alan Artibise predicted that the Lower Mainland would grow by a million people, […]

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Vancouver mayor’s thoughts on the year: One big regret is “effing hacks”

December 31st, 2010 · 3 Comments

Yes, I suddenly disappeared for a week. Baking, hunting down obscure gifts, knitting, and conducting my own private Alfred Hitchcock film festival took precedence briefly over other activities. Won’t happen again for a while (though next week could be a bit slow). But here is one enduring piece that I didn’t manage to post before […]

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WikiLeaks, the Olympics and the Olympic village: the inside cable

December 21st, 2010 · 15 Comments

For your reading pleasure. Doesn’t seem to me that there’s all that much new here, but interesting to see how local events get summarized and transmitted back to Washington. Note the section on the Olympic village further down. US embassy cables: Vancouver Winter Olympics feel economic chill guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 21 December 2010 13.19 GMT Thursday, […]

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2010: The year that Vancouver started to turn the corner on homelessness

December 21st, 2010 · 12 Comments

There is a lot to complain about on the civic scene — just read this blog for the complete list! — but one thing that we should appreciate is the way the city (over several administrations) and the province (over Rich Coleman’s last four years) have worked together to tackle homelessness here. Thanks to the […]

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Vision looks for new link to federal Liberals with new staff hire

December 16th, 2010 · 10 Comments

Rita Ko is the latest hire in the mayor’s office, as a mat-leave replacement for Maria Dobrinskaya. Ko comes with an interesting background. She’s worked as a researcher for Greg Lyle’s Innovative Research (more usually associated with B.C. Liberal campaigns) and is a founder of the private tutoring operation, Kumon Learning Service, according to the […]

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Vancouver tax increase: the lowest — or among the highest?

December 16th, 2010 · 35 Comments

Every municipality is struggling with tax increases right now. They all got hit by big jumps in their wage bills, as the four-per-cent increase (negotiated by unions, but usually also given to the non-union staff) hit, while their businesses and residents are still in the throes of the recession. Plus they’re getting less in interest […]

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Vancouver pushes for a green limo industry

December 15th, 2010 · 26 Comments

Live and learn. Who knew the limo business was going green? I didn’t, til a little report popped up on the city’s website this week, aimed at encouraging same.

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Three new views protected (sort of) and four spots for high towers ID’d

December 12th, 2010 · 90 Comments

The latest report is out putting forward Vancouver planners’ best efforts to identify some new spots for tall buildings in the downtown peninsula. Aiming for a 700-foot building in the central business district is not too surprising, nor is the 500-foot spot for the Toyota Pattison block on Burrard. (Though the developers’ current plan is […]

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No more bloggers included in civic-news round-up at the Fortress on 12th

December 9th, 2010 · 11 Comments

As of Dec. 1, an electronic news summary that goes out to councillors no longer included reports on bloggers, as has been the practice in the past. (See the full message on the next page.) Kind of odd, as it’s not really that hard to keep track of the four blogs that cover the city […]

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Tags: City Hall Talk

The state of Vancouver finances? Not an easy election issue

December 9th, 2010 · 53 Comments

I’ve had more than one person, fulminating about how Vision Vancouver is wrecking the city in various ways, suggest that one clear sign of their mismanagement is the state of city finances. The crazy spending on bike lanes, the office renos, the trips here and there, they point to. Others are scandalized by the $20-million […]

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Tags: 2011 Vancouver Civic Election