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Province and city strike last-minute deal to open more shelter beds as young homeless population grows

December 30th, 2015 · 2 Comments

So odd that Vancouver has to go through this push and pull over opening up winter-shelter beds every year. There was some angst behind the scenes as BC Housing, aka Rich Coleman, said Vancouver would get only the same 170 beds that the city got last year, while new Vancouver-type winter shelters (open for the […]

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Single-family homeowners will see the regional tax burden shift slightly towards them

December 30th, 2015 · 8 Comments

Catching up on posting my stories here. This one from a few days ago, about the impact that the big spike in assessments will have for single-family homeowners. There was some reaction on Twitter that, boohoo, these people making hundreds of thousands in real-estate profits should pay up without griping. So this is just a […]

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Only in Vancouver News: City NOT about to shut down popular neighbourhood grocery

December 9th, 2015 · 14 Comments

Reports have trickled out about the hugely popular Marche St. George (28th/St. George) about to lose outdoor seating/right to serve food/right to operate. A sign of the times: City has just issued the following news release. BTW, if the neighbour who complained about the Marche’s operations is ever identified, I would not want to be […]

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Developer Gillespie and Hootsuite CEO Holmes team up to buy block in Mount Pleasant while city considers zoning tweaks

December 4th, 2015 · 8 Comments

The Mount Pleasant industrial zone has turned into one of the hottest pieces of real estate in the city. A story I did last year, based on planner Andy Yan’s maps showing assessment increases, indicated even then that prices had soared. That’s because all kinds of companies have spotted this as a fantastically located and […]

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Cadillac Fairview open house brings unhappy opponents together

December 4th, 2015 · 1 Comment

I dropped by the Cadillac Fairview-hosted open house last night (handily held in the very same hotel as the Urban Development Institute’s Christmas party, thanks), where more than 400 people had shown up in the first two hours to take a look. This was CF’s effort to “engage the public” by displaying nine basic design […]

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First it was laneway houses in Vancouver alleys. Now laneway apartments

December 1st, 2015 · 6 Comments

I’ve been waiting for the first efforts to take advantage of this piece of the new West End plan — laneway apartments. And they’re here, at least in the render and development-permit-approval stage. My story in the Globe on these new buildings, several of which have been designed by Tim Ankenman, an architect who specializes […]

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Open inquiry into the housing market begins. Oh, in London. Not here.

November 27th, 2015 · 3 Comments

I get a lot of junk mail from clueless publicists. But, every so often, something good. This just landed. Perhaps we should all tune in. 27 November 2015 ECONOMIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE OPEN INQUIRY INTO THE HOUSING MARKET WITH EVIDENCE FROM DAME KATE BARKER The Economic Affairs Committee will next week open its new inquiry into […]

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The hard bargaining the city needs to do so all residents benefit from the viaducts

November 27th, 2015 · 6 Comments

There’s a lot of suspicion about whether Vancouver will really benefit from the viaducts or whether removing them will result in another new neighbourhood that seems to exist mostly for the benefit of investors and visitors (Coal Harbour anyone?). Two people who were intimately involved in extracting public benefits for the city when the first […]

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A new private-investment fund puts money into Canadian subsidized housing projects

November 17th, 2015 · 4 Comments

It’s been a struggle in Canada to create affordable housing since the federal government bailed out of supports for social housing under the Liberals in 1994. Their withdrawal prompted many provinces to cut back or eliminate their programs. That’s left cities, with a limited tax base, and non-profits to struggle with this on their own. […]

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Two views of the Vancouver real-estate scene: two worlds colliding

November 17th, 2015 · 9 Comments

I can’t imagine what it’s like for average residents in Vancouver to try to square these two perspectives, which drifted across my screen last week. Peter O’Neil’s story in the Vancouver Sun, titled “Canada a friendly home for illicit cash, corrupt real-estate buys, report says” And this series in New Canadian Media, with a very […]

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