Bligh has a decent amount of support from the province and feds (more than Sim or Allam at this point), which could help. But her 6 years being a supporter of Ken Sim, and getting elected under both the NPA and ABC banners, means it’ll be difficult to get support from local left-wing parties.

In case you missed it, I was on the Early Edition to talk about ABC burying the OneCity motion to legalize apartments by bike routes and parks. There's only 2 places to build an apartment in Vancouver: on top of an old apartment, or on busy roads. That needs to change! www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

Rebecca Bligh just announced she wants to be Mayor. She's had some ups and downs as councilor, but I'll always remember her Shaughnessy votes: voting against rental townhomes there (citing the "iconic look" of its hedges) and against OneCity's motion to legalize more housing in Shaughnessy.

This is heard often in Vancouver--just last week Ken Sim & ABC voted against legalizing 6-floor apts by bike routes and parks. Just last week Sean Orr (COPE) defended the importance of public hearings and individual rezoning housing approvals.

The most underappreciated issue in urbanism is the Anglosphere’s transit construction cost problem. It’s not just that we’re spending too much money on any particular project. It’s that we could be getting *much more transit* for the *same amount of money we’re currently spending*.

@movementyvr.bsky.social is a great advocacy organization fighting for better transit in the Metro Vancouver area, and today they bring you a video all about the problems of the proposed Boundary Rd BRT - Watch this video and learn more! youtu.be/n2TuO_f38FM

On a walking tour of $tens-of-millions mega mansions in Point Grey (no sidewalks), which areq the only properties legally allowed to be built under the local zoning, @pwaldkirch.bsky.social asks "is this really the best thing we could be doing with this land?"

I guess @pwaldkirch.bsky.social will need to write a few more verses to his city council accordion piece. dailyhive.com/vancouver/19...

You know where I'll be: with @ahvancouver.bsky.social at Belmont & Blanca at 2 pm for Vancouver's Worst Zoning: The Walking Tour, TODAY!

A year+ for a development permit (which is still a discretionary approval) for something as simple as a multiplex really shows how necessary it is that we embrace by-right housing approvals. We'll never fix our housing shortage like this.

I'm excited about @ahvancouver.bsky.social's Vancouver's Worst Zoning Walking Tour, TOMORROW! Details below. This is a fun and social way to learn about a neighbourhood you probably didn't even know existed, but that has a lot to tell us about why we're in a housing crisis!

New lit review post: filtering. 1/

This is the 14th road fatality in Vancouver this year and the 10th pedestrian killed, not including another 11 at Lapu Lapu. Our leaders are letting us down. There are 41 crashes per year at this intersection, the 4th worst along Victoria Drive. (1/4). vancouver.citynews.ca/2025/09/18/d...

Caroline...! CAROLIIIIIIIIIIINE!!! (Ninja in the Claws of the CIA (1981))

We had the pleasure to interview @lucymaloney.bsky.social about road safety for the Paper Rag zine! Here's a sneak peak. There are no digital copies; if you want to read more, buy it in person (Book Warehouse on Main carries them) or subscribe to them to support: www.patreon.com/PaperRag

Listen to housing advocate Peter Waldkirch speak to Amy Bell about my motion yesterday to build more housing on Vancouver's quiet streets: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-91-the-early-edition/clip/16170332-vancouver-city-council-considers-density-challenges-low-traffic-streets

It's no surprise that housing in Metro Vancouver is expensive. But it might surprise you that for some parts of our region, transportation costs even more than housing. 1/3

Lenny's response to OneCity is really too much. It was obvious what happened: Ken Sim and ABC looked at a motion to legalize 6 floor apts by bike routes and parks, and they sent it to bureaucratic nowheresville. No timeline, no goals, nowhere. Where's the urgency from ABC on the housing crisis?!

ABC: Another Boorish Chauvinist

Holy moly the way ABC councilor Brian Montague just interrupts Lucy Maloney to make glib, snarky little comments while she's speaking is EXTREMELY condescending and unprofessional. I don't recall seeing anything quite like it in council before. Wow.

Vancouver has a procurement process with rules for requests for proposals, considering them, etc This is serious stuff. Screwing up RFPs leads to litigation. Blowing up the city's procurement process for political reasons would hurt the city. It looks like ABC might be about to do just that!

The New Sun, 30” x 40” acrylic on canvas. Book of the New Sun fan art. This thing took me forever, started in October of last year. Will post more info on instagram when I have time. Also if anyone wants to put me in touch with TOR or the Wolfe estate that’d be cool. Alright. Thanks!

Tonight's public hearing was about implementing existing policy. All it did was bring some zoning into compliance with existing policy. And one of the opponents said--and this is a quote: "What atrocities will we have to live with, forever?"

Vancouver, BC. h/t @lausterna.bsky.social. This isn't some random individual monologue; there's an entire faction of Vancouver and BC residents that hold to this worldview, codified in various articles & books which beat this drum with various degrees of candor.

My remarks if anyone wants to give them a read 👀

As an act of mortification of the spirit I'll be speaking to this public hearing and here is what i plan to say. changing zoning when you pass a plan is how i assumed things worked before i took a deep dive into land use. this just makes sense. if you don't like density, take it to the voters.

they walk among us 😑

Boy, these municipal public hearings are real eye-opening

Well this sucks: some members of the public threatened legal action over a 65 apartment social housing project. Council got scared and referred it back to staff instead of to a public hearing for approval. :( NIMBYs are getting increasingly litigious.

I /could/ be spending the night reading this gorgeous HP Lovecraft book...but instead I'll experience a different sort of weird horror. I'm going to liveskeet tonight's public hearing! The city wants to actually <gasp> rezone stuff on its own initiative!

putting together a lil' speech for tonight

Reflections on an afternoon bike ride home: Are we still enforcing traffic laws? Was there ever a time when we did? Is it troubling to anyone else that people keep speeding and running red lights and texting and killing thousands of people and nothing changes?

It should actually be like 8 stories

Do not laugh off the Trump NYT defamation suit. Joke lawsuit but will potentially go in front of a joke judge. MMFA is currently being dismantled in a similar circumstance. Only defense would be journalistic solidarity to punish Trump for attacking their profession but it's probably too late.

Mario Kart is so...cruel

Trust me...it's SHOCKING! Come join @ahvancouver.bsky.social for the Worst Zoning Walking Tour THIS SATURDAY! Details below!

It's not too late to support housing by bike routes and parks! You can find step-by-step instructions on my blog. Here's what I wrote, but remember it's always good to keep it simple. All you need to say is "I support this motion, housing by bike routes and parks is good!"

This is a great observation, and it's also worth noting that it's a *useful* ideological position for some people, because it so easily tips over into "we shouldn't allow newcomers here, because our services are full!"

The NIMBY lady saying it would be bad if the school wasn’t completely full sent me. Like god forbid a school have space for one additional child.

For anyone who cares to pay attention, the fact that major developers are lining up behind the NIMBY mayoral candidate tells you a lot about real-world housing politics and who the real shills tend to be in local YIMBY/NIMBY fights. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/n...

Underappreciated that a restrictive complex zoning system that depends on currying favour with elected officials works just fine for big developers. They have the relationship, capital, and expertise to navigate it while the small players are shut out.

A literal generation missed out on having a school in this gorgeous, dense neighborhood due to the province's failure to pay for building it and their commitment to playing ugly politics with the city and school board. Now (no doubt very few) people who live there are NIMBYing it??

The CBC did a story on the NIMBYs fighting the rezoning for the elementary school in the Olympic Village. I'm happy with the quote I got in at the end! youtu.be/Z8j56MEne0c?...

Bagpipes? What sort of monster do they think I am?? 😤

I never understood why these giant mansions with lush yards get to be across from public parks. Douglas Park should be surrounded by apartments.

this really should be framed as a policy choice, not as a naturally occurring phenomenon

Apartments (including rentals and below market homes!) are banned from most of the city's nice side streets. That sucks! @lucymaloney.bsky.social's motion to legalize 6 floor apts by parks and bike routes could help change that. Here's how you can show support: pwaldkirch.ca/2025/09/12/s...

"Government figures show the cost of building the average home in Canada has increased 58 per cent since 2020 and could rise further, thanks to U.S. tariffs." Super. www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/202...

Langley Township Watch huh

This is a wild tag line for a vape shop at the back of a gas station