As promised, the first of my two stories in the Globe Saturday. This a comparison of the rapid-transit lines in Seattle and Vancouver, both celebrating a one-year anniversary this summer but with very different histories and outcomes. I know this has already generated some comments elsewhere but for those who missed them …

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As some of you may know already from following my twitter posts, I was in Seattle for the last few days. (Thanks to all the enthusiasts for keeping the blog lively while I was playing hooky.) Besides paying no tax on anything I bought there, as a result of the state’s controversial (and now court-challenged) [...]

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Today’s the day that Vancouver holds its special council meeting to hear from various parties about the issue of oil tankers in Burrard Inlet. I had a story in Saturday’s Globe looking at how this ties in with efforts that environmental groups have been making to get public attention around oil tankers in general, along [...]

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A small brief in the local media last January caught my eye: a 27-year-old had been hit in a pedestrian crosswalk near my house, but he had no identification and police were trying to figure out who he was. The next blurb said he had died in hospital. Police never released his name. But the [...]

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Well, this had to happen at some point and now it has. Here’s the story, which the CBC got first.

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The laneway houses have started to go up — 89 permits issued so far, despite some road bumps along the way — and a few of them are raising eyebrows with their size and ornate look.  (My story on this here.) I know some people have been opposed to them from day one and so [...]

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Ever wanted to run a shrimp-dumpling, bahn mi, or fish-taco cart? Here’s your chance. The city of Vancouver is issuing a call for street-food vendors with “diverse and healthy” offerings as part of its effort to help Vancouver break out of the hog-dog gulag it’s been in for the last several decades. Info on how [...]

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While the STIR projects in the West End have been getting a lot of publicity, STIR (Short Term Incentives for Rental) have been quietly making their way through city hall for other neighbourhoods. When I was at the Marine Gateway urban design panel hearing, this project at 1418 East 41st got a quick approval earlier [...]

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In the last election, Non-Partisan Association organizers were dismayed at their reception in the West End during the campaign. “We gave up phoning because there was no point,” said one. The renters there hated the NPA for not doing more to protect the neighbourhood’s rental buildings, which felt like they were under attack from owners [...]

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It was the official opening of the new bike lane in downtown Vancouver yesterday, which gave all us media types a chance to gather on the street at Granville and Dunsmuir and observe an array of unusual driving techniques while we waited for the news conference to begin. My story here. As I and others [...]

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