Councillors are about to vote right now on sending Vancouver’s super-jumbo casino to public hearing. But they have a few questions about its future operation: Money-laundering. How much money will go to non-profits, who were promised 33 per cent of the profits in a time long ago and now only get 10 per cent. Is [...]

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This is a complicated story to understand all the details of, but essentially the city’s planning department is recommending that, instead of requiring Concord Pacific to reserve land for affordable housing in its new Northeast False Creek phase, that the city accept two other properties Concord owns on Hastings Street instead. One of those properties, [...]

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In an era where governments seem to be outdoing each other to encourage their citizens to live better lives (no smoking in restaurants and bars in France or Spain; no trans-fats allowed in New York restaurants; no unhealthy food in Vancouver food carts; no cars allowed here there and everywhere), Los Angeles is earning headlines [...]

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I wasn’t going to post this story from the Province about Vancouver’s low numbers of registered chickens, with everything else going on this week. But I woke up this morning in the middle of a dream that two chickens — horribly, scrawny ones with most of their feathers gone and their red, scabby skin showing  [...]

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The city’s report on the Vancouver Art Gallery and its request to build on the empty Georgia Street block next to the QE Theatre came out yesterday, with a recommendation that the gallery get two years to come up with a viable plan for the land. It also said the gallery would only get access [...]

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The Economist sums up our little Olympic village problems (in its section on “the Americas”) with this story, where apparently people on city council are worried that the village’s financial troubles may cost them the November election.

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You know, just when you think life is getting dull, some wacky thing happens that makes you realize you never know what’s around the corner. The fun news today was the announcement that former Vancouver mayor Larry Campbell came out endorsing Kevin Falcon. Campbell, if you’ll recall, once called Conservatives “barbarians at the gates.” Falcon [...]

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For weeks, I’ve been ranting to anyone who would listen to me (fortunately, there aren’t that many) that the BC Place roof was an architectural blight on Vancouver, with giant struts in heavy gray industrial steel going up that looked like some kind of homage to Dominion Bridge. Every time I went over the Cambie [...]

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The city has been on a tear the last week, with city manager Penny Ballem and fire chief John McKearney talking about what they are doing to boost inspections, bring landlords of unsafe buildings into line and more. (Including almost a million for firehall upgrades.) Some of this is just reporters discovering ongoing activities, a [...]

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I didn’t make it last night to the forum that West End Neighbours organized on Vancouver’s proposal to allow some taller new buildings on the downtown peninsula, an issue that council is going to vote on Jan. 20. However, others did. Here is one review, from architect and development consultant Michael Geller. I’d like to [...]

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