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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A column I wrote for the Globe’s Amplify newsletter The Christmas-card ritual was a fixture in my mother’s life. She had special books with rows and columns, so she could track the name of each person who had been sent a card, which of them had sent her one back the previous year and who […]

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The issue of what to do about the growing prevalence and size of camps or clusters on the street of homeless people is one that is turning into a top issue for this provincial election. Many mayors are hoping the candidates will have some better answers that they’ve seen in the past. My Globe story […]

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With the provincial election now sucking up all political oxygen in the room, Vancouver councillors are getting to take a breather. For one of them, that’s a welcome reprieve, I’m thinking. My story from the Before Election Call times Vancouver voters could be facing an extra visit to the polls within the year – on […]

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Greater Vancouver’s North Shore communities got a big boost to their pitch to be next in line for rapid transit in the region with the release of a provincial study outlining five feasible routes across Burrard Inlet for a light-rail line. Now those three cities will need to prove they deserve to get billions of […]

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There are going to be many changes along Broadway in the coming years, as the subway goes in, 99 buses no long roar along both sides of the street, density of some description is added (once the new city plan or Broadway plan is decided on), and more residents and businesses are added to the […]

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Some of you might not have seen my latest transit story because it ran in the Alberta pages of the Globe. But it’s relevant across the country. I looked at the difference between Edmonton and Calgary and, it turned out, that explained some of the differences in other parts of the country. It explained by […]

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People who care for the homeless and those living in the worst conditions (shelters, SROs) are frantic about the lack of resources and preparation for the vulnerable group they serve. My story here and in text below. 

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People love their neighbourhood small businesses. Politicians say they’re the lifeblood of the community. But one of the most perplexing parts of covering city hall is hearing the constant stories about how this or that small business went through hell to get a minor commercial-renovation permit. Some just give up; others grit their teeth and […]

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Budget and property-tax-increase time is never a fun period in the year. But it’s feeling especially fraught this year, as there are big debates and objections and announcements about big new hikes in various cities. It seems to me that it’s all a product of the secret burden cities have been carrying for years, where […]

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