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Entries from January 2016

NPA councillor rescinds support for bike lane

October 6th, 2010 · 149 Comments

This out a couple of hours ago. STATEMENT FROM NPA CITY COUNCILLOR SUZANNE ANTON “No one who spoke to council on Tuesday expected to be a part of a Kangeroo council,” says Coun. Anton “On Tuesday night at 11:38pm city council once again held a vote at the end of a marathon meeting that suited […]

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Architect Busby, marketer Rennie debate cost of green building

October 6th, 2010 · 13 Comments

The Globe asked me to bring together architect Peter Busby and condo marketer Bob Rennie to talk about building green. Although the two have worked together on more than one project, Peter is a passionate crusader for green buildings and he keeps pushing forward with new strategies all the time, while Bob has come to […]

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Vision council says: “No more new (separated) bike lanes this term”

October 6th, 2010 · 21 Comments

It’s a year and seven weeks from the election. That means it’s time to stop doing things that get everyone riled up, according to a time-honoured tradition of all governments, and start doing less fight-inducing things. So it wasn’t surprising to hear from Vision Councillor Geoff Meggs this morning that the Hornby bike-lane vote will […]

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Hornby bike lane trial approved, engineering would like to see it tested for “four seasons”

October 6th, 2010 · 91 Comments

The debate and speechifying finally wrapped up at 11:38 last night and, to no one’s surprise, the Hornby bike-lane “trial” was approved — unanimously, with even NPA Councillor Suzanne Anton voting in favour, though expressing concern about the process and the snippy remarks some councillors made that she felt trivialized business concerns. (And much debate […]

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Olympic village prompts questions about city policy of mixing rich and poor

October 5th, 2010 · 35 Comments

There is social housing all over the city, but most people don’t realize it. Coal Harbour, the nice section of Kitsilano next to Jericho Beach, north False Creek, the West End, south Granville — there are unobtrusive apartment buildings everywhere. For a long time, that’s gone unquestioned. But in the past week, the issue has […]

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14,000 shoppers on Hornby could be put off by bike lane, says one assessment

October 4th, 2010 · 77 Comments

In the ongoing debate about the proposed Hornby bike lane, this note just went in from DVBIA director Charles Gauthier, outlining concerns passed on to him about it from a commercial realtor. Another perspective to enrich this debate, which I think is an important one. It’s about far more than just this bike lane. Cities […]

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Development consultant analyzes mistakes and raises questions for Olympic village

October 3rd, 2010 · 49 Comments

Development consultant, ex-planner for Simon Fraser’s UniverCity, and candidate for the NPA in the last election, Michael Geller is front and centre these days talking about the Olympic Village here and on his blog. Michael’s latest analysis, posted on his blog and emailed to many of us (including city manager Penny Ballem) with more details […]

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When will Vancouver be free of the Olympic village? Perhaps not for a long time

October 2nd, 2010 · 25 Comments

There are many, I am sure, who feel about the Olympic village the way they do about trying to sell the house after a divorce. Just anyone take it off our hands, please, at any price, so we don’t have to deal with this any more. Dream on, my friends. The village’s problems may be […]

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Olympic village developers issue statement

October 1st, 2010 · 16 Comments

This out from Peter and Shahram Malek, after the city’s news conference saying yesterday their company failed to pay the full amount on their first loan instalment and that the city is going after their assets. STATEMENT FROM MILLENNIUM September 30, 2010 We have heard the City’s concerns today about the taxpayers investment in this […]

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Hornby (temporary) bike lane cost rises to $3.2 million

October 1st, 2010 · 109 Comments

So much news breaking about city issues these days, it’s hard to keep up. But here’s the Sun’s story on the latest calculation for the Hornby bike lane.

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