An interesting theory of political backlash to change. Last sentence is important.

Vancouver downzoned most of the city under TEAM in the 70’s.

Always gold.

It’s wild to watch a group of councillors with a majority fail to govern for three years on the platform they were elected on and then try and hammer it all out in a budget doc without doing any of the real work that would be required to achieve their goals.

Latest project, and I'm pretty stoked to be supporting this kind of talent to become the next mayor of Vancouver. This is the kind of leadership we need.

Things I'd do if I was rich: I'd go to Norway (a place that builds with lots of wood) and find some well spoken, burly firefighter and pay them to do a tour of North America's firehalls, explaining why single stair egress is fine. Coalition building is hard, but we gotta do it.

Our neighbourhood would go bonkers for a block party. We have 500-600 children at our door every year. The neighbourhood has relatively narrow sidewalks, and a little more breathing space would be so welcome.

If we want prices to decline, cities need to make that assumption in the economic analysis they use to set form of development and set fees for development. Vancouver's most recent referral report that re-aligns residential zoning used existing prices as a baseline in their modelling by Coriolis.

A wonderful vision of what the future could bring in Vancouver.

It's exceedingly obvious when amateur, or even semi-skilled, communicators use ChatGPT as their voice. It devalues your brand. Stop it.

Question: Do you assume uncredited art is made by AI, now? I'm starting to do so.

"The planning process treats housing, which at least in the abstract is a source of opportunity, as a source of trouble instead. New housing is not considered a benefit in itself, but a burden for which existing residents deserve compensation and developers must make amends."

In a healthy housing market, pre-sales would sell for less than existing stock. More policy should think about how to achieve that.

Vancouver’s developers have made a sharp turn into purpose built development. I don’t think influencers like @mikepmoffatt.bsky.social really have a grasp on the change and its effects.

Canada Post is finally doing the right thing and ending door-to-door mail for rich urbanites. 3/4 of Canadians already use a community mailbox—every person living in a townhouse, an apartment, a condo, or a rural community is deeply subsidizing home delivery for wealthy SFH owners in cities.

Lowest population growth in Q2 since we started keeping record just after WWII. One of the largest swings in our history.

A must read for any and all commentators and journalists on housing. @michaelwiebe.bsky.social is an economist has specialized in replication: basically he’s a scientist who fact checks other scientists.

Strawberry vending machine on the bike route to Antwerp, just across the Dutch border. Wild.

The trains in the Netherlands sure make me appreciate how rarely the skytrain runs late.

So much opportunity here, we just need to get going!

That JCrew can’t afford real creative doesn’t exactly scream quality.

If cities are going to use economic modelling to set taxes in an attempt to control land prices, that modelling needs to be updated quarterly. @jwhiteyvr.bsky.social any plans to bring us into the future or is the CoV just counting on forever rising rents like the current plans dictate?

Imagine if the gulf islands had bike lanes like this everywhere, a couple of e-bike rental shops at the ferry terminal, and luggage delivery. You don’t have to imagine it, you just have to visit the north islands of the Netherlands.

Given the reorganization of left and right happening now, it’s why they are about to come back, too. There’s a far left that will reject anything and everything, and the federal NDP is mired in it. But look at BC politics.

Half the people reading paper books are being performative and the other half are just seeking reality.

Spent an afternoon in Almere, famously pulled out of the ocean in the 50s and 60s and built over the last 60 years or so.

The amount of space we waste on stairs in smaller units in North America is ridiculous.

Amsterdam RoW priority by type: - Tram - Bikes - Pedestrians - motorcycles - Lorries/trucks - Cars Truly the way.

Correct transit:pedestrian:transit ratio (there’s a couple bike lanes in here somewhere).

I’m in Holland this week, visiting family. Unlike most urbanists who gawk at Dutch major cities. I’m staying in a bedroom community about 30 minutes from Amsterdam. No rail service here. A bus comes by once every thirty minutes.

Thanks to ABC Vancouver’s lack of any foresight, failing to defend their decisions to the mat in court, judicial review of housing decisions is going to become commonplace as a delay and deny tactic by housing denialists. www.biv.com/news/real-es...

Many government contracts require national sourcing. We are increasingly seeing knowledge work outsourced to low cost nations. A major example of this is in large global architecture firms and accounting firms. Should cities, provinces, and the feds, be vetting their knowledge supply chain chains?

N: Anchorage, AK 61N W: Maui, HI 156W E: Mt. Asahi-dake, Hokkaido, JPN 142E S: Buenos Aires, ARG 34S (by a tenth over the Cape of Good Hope)

A handful of residents around Cambie plan to block young people from living near them by using judicial review, similar to what happened to 7th and Arbutus. I know there are many moles to whack, but clogging up the courts to delay projects seems like a prudent use of a hammer.

The cost of community is considering others before yourself, and being okay with the occasional inconvenience.

Truly the crux of the matter.

Our construction industry is poised to lose tens of thousands of jobs over the next year—in Ontario alone, a new report from Altus predicts losses of 41,000, as starts plummet in the middle of a housing crisis. It would be equivalent to losing almost half of the auto industry.

Cities are not ruled by their residents, they are ruled by the prospect of complaints. Complaint-based government is not valid.

We need to stop arguing for bike lanes with pretty pictures and "cycling is fun!" and start pointing out that cycling is economically efficient, bike lanes contribute to both labour productivity and economic productivity, and conservatives who push back against bike lanes are ruining the economy.

I’d love to see more coverage of all the harms flowing from America. Let’s get reporting flowing on all the gun smuggling, all the harmful American products like vapes and tobacco, all the toxic cultural exports from down south.

Hey Vancouver city council you don’t have to ask questions just let me speak and get out.

Inclusionary zoning asks current renters and future buyers (young people, immigrants) to subsidize housing instead of asking those who are most successful, businesses who benefit from labour mobility, or from homeowners in the form of property taxes.

This seems good, but has anyone delved into these policy specifics? What happens when the system upgrades are needed but aren't in place, how are things prioritized? Devil's in the details with these things.

Set aside the obvious moral arguments for a second, there’s a huge economic cost to road fatalities and injuries. Bikes are an economic miracle, e-bikes are a lever on that miracle, and in an era where we should be focused on economic efficiency and productivity, Build! Baby! Build! bike lanes.

I don’t get the appeal of riding down cliff faces but I can appreciate the fact that others do.

@acoyne.bsky.social hits the nail on the head with his latest housing piece. However, I think he misses one key point, as does much of the housing discourse. And that is around how boomers (or anyone with a paid off home) views the wealth in that home. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Real privilege in Vancouver is having a bathroom big enough for a double vanity.

Vancouver's initial ODP is supposed to be up for adoption in June 2026. With the Vancouver plan serving as a strong base here, and many other more recent initiatives, there should be a strong base in place, and consultation should start soon. @jwhiteyvr.bsky.social any updates?

Just don’t do it!

A BIA against growth is at an odd junction. A great example of how wealthy interests co-opt left language to oppose housing.