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Civic campaign 2022: Ken Sim speech at ABC party dinner Oct. 13

October 29th, 2021 · No Comments

NOMINATION SPEECH KEN SIM FOR MAYOR 2022 A BETTER CITY VANCOUVER  Wednesday, October 13th, 2021  FLOATA SEAFOOD RESTAURANT 180 Keefer St, Chinatown Vancouver, BC V6A 1X4 I want to acknowledge that are on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples and I want to thank them for hosting us. Thank you Elder […]

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A portrait of Philip Owen from the early years

October 1st, 2021 · No Comments

Former mayor Philip Owen died today. Many, many memories of him. Here’s a very early profile I did of him at the Vancouver Sun in 1996. It’s close to midnight and, on the third floor at Vancouver city hall, the lighted windows are going dark, one by one. The man walking through the council offices […]

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As government money for social housing climbs, communities are in debates as they see proposals for new projects of a type they’ve never had before

May 31st, 2021 · No Comments

My story in the Globe is here and also in text below. I’m also appending below the police statistics I got on calls to addresses of all the supportive-housing projects built since 2010. FRANCES BULA VANCOUVER SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL INCLUDES CORRECTION PUBLISHED MAY 26, 2021UPDATED 3 DAYS AGO Open this photo in […]

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Many social-housing announcements and approvals in Vancouver, not so much getting built

May 28th, 2021 · No Comments

I got an email from someone back in January with a list of social-housing projects that had been announced going back a few years, asking what had happened. At first, I thought it might be a problem with BC Housing funding and rules. That probably plays a part, but the bigger issue turned out to […]

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Building an infill/laneway, Part 4: Do you have the stamina, interest, location to make this doable?

February 17th, 2021 · No Comments

FRANCES BULA VANCOUVER SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 3, 2021 My neighbour spent $40,000 going down the road to building an infill house on his lot, with a plan almost identical to ours. He actually started a little before I did, also hoping for a place for their son, his wife and […]

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Building an infill/laneway, Part 3: The part where I pay all the bills and the construction happens

February 17th, 2021 · No Comments

FRANCES BULA VANCOUVER SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL PUBLISHED JANUARY 29, 2021UPDATED JANUARY 29, 2021 Open this photo in gallery The Bula laneway house started to take shape on March 25, 2020. Here is my unsolicited advice to those who build infills and laneway houses for us amateur developers. There should be prenatal classes […]

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Building a laneway/infill in Vancouver, Part 2: Two years of tussles over buildable space, sidewalks, trees, much more

February 4th, 2021 · No Comments

Part 2 of the series, the link and the text below. (Sorry no pix because I can only reprint what belongs to me, not the Globe.) FRANCES BULA VANCOUVER SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL PUBLISHED JANUARY 22, 2021 The low point in Phase 2 of the Ironman slog to build our infill house for […]

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Building an infill/laneway in Vancouver, Part I: The city decides to change the rules midway

February 4th, 2021 · No Comments

Hi all I’ve kicked off 2021 by writing for the Globe and Mail about the five-year process of building my infill (technical term) or laneway, as many people know them. Here’s Part 1, linked and with the text below. FRANCES BULA VANCOUVER SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL PUBLISHED JANUARY 13, 2021UPDATED JANUARY 13, 2021 […]

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