City Plumber Q&A:
Any chance the city would use some of the fees collected from developers on Cambie for a new Canada Line station?
Q. There have been numerous rezoning applications recently for Cambie Street near 33rd Avenue, listed here: http://former.vancouver.ca/commsvcs/planning/rezoning/applications/ Given that 33rd Avenue was a proposed future station on the Canada Line, will development there allow that station to be built soon? Is the city doing anything to collect amenity money from developers as part of the [...] [Read more →]
How many shelters are there for homeless people in Toronto? And other skill-testing questions about homelessness
Q. How many shelter facilities are there in Toronto? Name them. Name them? NAME THEM? What is this, some kind of Reach for the Top game, Municipal Issues version? Mind you, I was on Reach for the Top (the antecedent to Jeopardy, for those who didn’t know) when it was just a high-school competition, back when [...] [Read more →]
What will happen to Buy-Low — our little slice of ungentrified Vancouver — if the Kingsgate Mall gets redeveloped?
Q. What happens to my beloved Buy-Low if/when Beedie Developments goes ahead with their plan to redevelop Kingsgate Mall, per the recent article in the G&M http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/home-and-garden/real-estate/kingsgate-mall-tagged-for-redevelopment/article5152540/ A. Well, Chris (I know it’s you because you are the first person to have signed your name to a City Plumber question in almost a year now. [...] [Read more →]
What is with the empty lot at Robson and Broughton, prime real estate sitting undeveloped?
Q. What’s the story behind the vacant lot on Robson at Broughton? A. A lot of people seem to want to know this. In Vancouver, no vacant lot goes unnoticed. When I googled “empty lot Robson and Broughton,” it brought up about half a dozen references to it on various blogs around town. I guess [...] [Read more →]
Why can’t everyone at the Olympic village use the Gold Medal fitness centre? Like the people in the rental and co-op buildings?
Q. Can you tell me if you have any further information on the Gold Medal Club in the Olympic Village? The city rental buildings (2) and the Coop (1) are not allowed access to that fitness centre. With strata fees going up 30% in some buildings, you’d think the city of Vancouver would be eager [...] [Read more →]
Q. How many times have transit police been obliged to draw their firearms?
Answer: Whoever wants to know this is REALLY anxious to find out, as s/he has sent in this question three times over the past six months. I have not been ignoring it. It took me a while to get around to it and get answers, although I suspect the questioner won’t be satisfied with them. [...] [Read more →]
Why do people on Point Grey Road get to have the speed limit lowered and no one else in the city does?
Q. Why was the speed limit on Point Grey Road cut to 30? Who is accountable for the decision? Why does this area get to exclude commuters while East Van areas do not? A. Oh, you tricky thing you, sending this question in just as I was also working on a story about the pitch [...] [Read more →]
When did Vancouver become a landowner in North Van and why is it selling what it owns there?
Question: Why does the City of Vancouver own properties in North Vancouver and why are they being sold now? Answer: Someone once printed out a list for me of every land-titles document for property the city owns in Vancouver. It was about three feet high. I finally threw it out after 10 years because I [...] [Read more →]
Aren’t Vancouver bus-riders really subsidizing all those empty buses roaming hungrily around Maple Ridge?
Question: There are rumours that empty buses drive around Maple Ridge and are being heavily subsidized by those users within the City of Vancouver and other urban areas. Is this true? If buses on busy routes make money, why not put more buses on to generate revenue? How much money does a full bus make/lose [...] [Read more →]
Why does West Van operate its own bus system? And did the NDP ever force them to paint their buses orange?
Question: Why does West Vancouver still operate its own bus system? Is the “Blue Bus” moniker a reason why, through various administrations, the entire fleet has featured blue as part of its “look”? Does anyone remember back when the NDP was first in power they changed the bus colours to NDP orange? Did West Van’s [...] [Read more →]