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Entries from January 2016

How old is your (Metro) Vancouver neighbourhood?

May 31st, 2012 · 24 Comments

Are you knocked over by strollers every time you step out your door? Or do you find it hard to find a clothing outlet that caters to an under-60 set? Does the place empty out as everyone heads to work in the morning? Or does it come to life during the day, with everyone out […]

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A Vancouver effort to make pedestrians safer is thinking outside the crosswalk box

May 28th, 2012 · 118 Comments

Chicago is setting a new goal of trying to achieve zero traffic fatalities, the most ambitious of any North American city. But, as this story notes, that’s easier said than done. Back here in Vancouver, no one has set a zero-fatality target but the city’s engineering department, with the help of UBC’s pioneering traffic-management research, […]

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B.C.’s francophone schools the fastest-growing in the province, along with Surrey

May 23rd, 2012 · 8 Comments

Many school districts in the province are having to close schools. Few are building. One is Surrey. The other is B.C.’s francophone school board, which currently operates 35 schools around the province, from Prince George to Revelstoke (as of this fall) to Victoria to Vancouver. Their rapid growth means they’re in negotiations with the city […]

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TransLink, hit by falling revenues from gas tax, plans to sell properties to help pay for operating costs

May 23rd, 2012 · 20 Comments

Unbeknownst to most in the media, TransLink’s mayors’ council had a section that was open to the public at the beginning of its meeting Tuesday. That’s where CEO Ian Jarvis made a presentation on the latest belt-tightening news from the agency. Which is: gas-tax revenues are tapped out, with the result that new gas taxes […]

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You said you could run the city better than those clowns doing it now: Here’s your chance

May 21st, 2012 · 12 Comments

The official posting for the general manager of planning and development: http://vancouver.ca/humanresources/jobs/pdf/GMPlanningDevelopment.pdf Capitalizing on its success in hosting the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Vancouver has firmly established its reputation as one of the world’s most liveable cities. That reputation reflects, in large measure, Vancouver’s exceptional achievements in urban planning and design, achievements in addressing […]

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New community plans in the early optimistic stages — but need to prepare for the Trojan horses

May 21st, 2012 · 31 Comments

My narrow-focus little Twitterverse has been filled the last few weeks with heart-warming blips of news about the community planning processes in Marpole, Grandview-Woodlands and the West End. There are story-telling sessions and walk-abouts and more, as enthusiastic planners and residents go about imagining the future of these negibhourhhods. It’s great you all are doing […]

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STIR program to continue with modifications to reduce the amount of public subsidy needed

May 21st, 2012 · 16 Comments

One of Vision Vancouver’s first acts in council was to convene a large group of developers, planners, architects, and housing advocates to come up with a program to create new rental projects in the city. It was a good time for it, as the recession had hit and development companies were open to new proposals […]

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Mayor invited to Paris to talk about new-tech Vancouver

May 14th, 2012 · 29 Comments

Another week, another conference about how to create new cities and improve old ones. Today, Mayor Gregor Robertson opened the New Cities Foundation conference in Paris, with top-rankedVancouver imaginer Doug Coupland also on board, to talk about the city as a frontier for new-tech solutions that will solve all kinds of urban problems, from conserving […]

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Vancouver, Montreal, Portland, Minneapolis all get high “BikeScore” marks with new measuring tool

May 14th, 2012 · 16 Comments

This just out from UBC University of British Columbia researchers are making bikeability research easily accessible to consumers and city planners by introducing bikeability “heat maps” in partnership with Seattle-based Walk Score® at www.walkscore.com/bike. Combining data on availability of cycling infrastructure (bike lanes and trails), topography (hilliness), desirable destinations (attractions, shops and restaurants) and road […]

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For the many missing their mothers today

May 13th, 2012 · 6 Comments

Mothers’ Day is a poignant day for those of us whose mothers are no longer with us. As some of you already know, my mother died a couple of months ago after several difficult years. In those years, and in the weeks since her death, it’s been brought home to me how many people are […]

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