Frances Bula » Uncategorized

Data junkies alert: More info now available from Vancouver data sources

Frances Bula — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:59:52 +0000

The city just sent out a memo saying it has added more to its list of “open” data sources available to the geek-prone public. Here’s the site for what’s available: http://data.vancouver.ca/

Olympics bid a bad idea, 40 per cent in B.C. still say

Frances Bula — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:57:07 +0000

Here’s a news item that will cheer up some on this site: B.C. continues to lead the way, even in post-Games euphoria, in disapproving of hosting the Olympics.

Art gallery under the gun to get new site and fast, says board

Frances Bula — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:09:01 +0000

The Vancouver Art Gallery’s efforts to move to a new site, with a landmark building double the size of where it is now, are going to be a fascinating show of its own in the next few months.

This is one of those epic stories that happen to cities only every so often, as one group or another launches a major effort to remake a neighbourhood, create a grand new institution or take the city in a new direction. Our neighbours to the south of us in Seattle have been doing quite a bit of cultural monument building in the last couple of decades — library, art gallery, theatre, music museum – thanks to a lot of Microsoft money floating around.

But we really haven’t had a big debate over a cultural building since the new central library was built. The art gallery promises to generate that kind of heated discussion and more, as it lobbies for the land and, if that’s successful, runs a no-doubt international architectural competition to get a design for the new building.

Here’s my latest info on the gallery move, after a lengthy interview Monday with the heavy hitters there. And, just randomly, I found this story elsewhere about the mistake one architecture critic thinks the Seattle Art Museum made by agreeing to co-exist with an office tower in downtown Seattle — something that the city is pushing the local gallery to do on its 150 Dunsmuir site, rather than taking over the whole block for itself.

City councillor knocked off bike, in hospital

Frances Bula — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:39:51 +0000

You knew this had to happen someday, with so many city politicians commuting by bike these days, but scary nevertheless.

Tofino council looks at banning chain stores

Frances Bula — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:59:46 +0000

Just spotted this item (by brilliant Langara journalism grad!!) on the Sun’s website, about Tofino looking at disallowing chains like Tim Horton’s, Starbucks and McD’s. I’ve been wondering when some town in B.C. would do that.

One of my favourite places that I’ve visited in my travels the last few years is Telluride, because they don’t allow any chains. (Though tragically they do allow multi-millionaires to build ginormous third or fourth vacation homes there.) And it’s why Silver Star is one of my favourite ski resorts, where you get to eat in quirky places that are resolutely home-grown.

Vancouver business elite discovers how messy solving homelessness is

Frances Bula — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:12:38 +0000

For years, I’ve heard that business leaders in the city are itching to give millions to solve homelessness and, related to that, the problems of the Downtown Eastside. And many have tried to tap into that.

Former mayor Philip Owen and others started a fund through the Vancouver Foundation to try to encourage donations for the Downtown Eastside. Various housing groups have charitable arms to encourage donations. And especially during the Sam Sullivan administration at city hall, I heard a lot about how there were businesses waiting in the wings to give to the right project.

The Streetohome Foundation, brought to life through former city manager Judy Rogers and former former city manager Ken Dobell, was supposed to funnel all of that goodwill. It may yet do it, but it has had a rocky start the foundation’s business leaders grapple with the complexity and politics around homelessness. I explored the whole issue in my latest Vancouver magazine column here.

Thank the complainers for our exuberant Games

Frances Bula — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:04:40 +0000

Well, now that we’ve had a chance to decompress, to re-accustom ourselves to bad bus service, heavy traffic, empty sidewalks, and winter rain, I thought this was a time to raise a glass of champagne to all those people who complained about how bad the Games were going to be. They predicted that thousands of people would be evicted, that the Games would be dominated by elites partying at exclusive events unavailable to the rest of us, that we’d be living in a militarized zone where free speech was under threat, that the transportation plans would prove to be a disaster, and that generally the whole 17 days would be a downer.

Thanks to them, we went into the Games with incredibly low expectations. And I think it’s what contributed to the emotional highs that people felt. They weren’t expected and so they had much more impact than if we had all been drumming our fingers for the past four years waiting impatiently for the greatest party of our lives.

(And also, thanks to them and their kicking up of such a fuss, there was hyper-vigilance about all of the above.)

If only they had predicted what a downer it would be afterwards.

The problem with the VAG moving to Larwill Park? City needs $50 million profit there

Frances Bula — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:11:21 +0000

The ongoing saga of the Vancouver Art Gallery’s efforts to get more space and/or move to another site have been going on for years, starting sometime in the 90s. (There’s a wild conceptual image from that early era of the plan to double the gallery’s space at the existing location, which you can find on this site.)

The issue has flared up again with the news that the VAG has turned down a site on False Creek announced by the premier two years ago and has now re-opened negotiations to move to the empty block next to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

This was a story all week. The latest complication I discovered on Friday was that the city has already committed to using $48 million of the development profits from the site (most if not all of them) to pay for the QE Theatre renovation that happened in the past couple of years. More details on this confusing tale here.

The media storm over homelessness and Downtown Eastside never happened. What now?

Frances Bula — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:51:20 +0000

For years before the Olympics arrived, we routinely saw commentators warning that when the media arrived here and saw the scene on the Downtown Eastside and the homelessness situation, there would be a firestorm of negative coverage.

That never happened. There was the odd piece here and there in the bigger newspapers, but it never really picked up steam. It just became one of the deck of predictable stories that media outlets did about Vancouver. The great restaurants? Check. Vancouverism? Check. Downtown Eastside and homelessness? Check.

There was coverage of the tent city camp and the various protests, but except for the window-smashing at the Bay on the Saturday after opening ceremonies, it was pretty perfunctory.

I talked to some of the usual suspects about why they think that was and what that means for the future.

Vancouver Art Gallery should stay put, says arts and urban-planner group

Frances Bula — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:46:59 +0000

The question of what to do about the Vancouver Art Gallery is stirring up debate in circles all over the city. People who care about art, about architecture, about urban planning and about money and fundraising all have strong opinions on whether the gallery has outgrown the current site and absolutely has to move in order to be successful. Or not.

Here is one group’s opinions, although I know there are equally strong opinions out there on the other side (or sides).