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Entries Tagged as 'Uncategorized'

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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I did a strange thing this Christmas — I went all out on the Christmas-card thing

December 19th, 2020 · No Comments

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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A “new generation of homeless people with brain injuries” means that just housing won’t be enough, say some mayors

October 4th, 2020 · No Comments

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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A Vancouver councillor was on the hot seat two weeks ago, but does anyone remember now?

October 4th, 2020 · No Comments

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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The negotiations over who gets the next big transit project in the region is underway; North Shore gave itself a boost

October 4th, 2020 · No Comments

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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Could Ugly Broadway become a beautiful swan? City says yes

July 7th, 2020 · No Comments

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 Canada’s transit systems crushed at getting riders. And that was their weakness in pandemic

April 27th, 2020 · No Comments

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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