So, Brendan, Why is the Millennium Line Bad?

Ken Sim and ABC Vancouver just killed the Social Housing Initiative. A program that could have actually gotten people off the streets and into homes? Dead.

I spoke to Dan Fumano about proposed actions to address costs affecting development viability to help unlock new housing supply. Prices and rents are dropping, which is good, but costs need commensurately go down if we are to keep building housing. vancouversun.com/opinion/colu...

Brian Montague, who bluntly has appeared to enjoy being a councillor less than any councillor I’ve ever covered, has announced he won’t be running for re-election

This is a failure of the Ministry/SB system, which doesn’t even react well, let alone plan. I was saying before the 2010 Olympics to build the school early or it would be objected to. And they should have ALWAYS planned it for 4 storeys. In any case, build it now. The “character” there is density.

omg some Olympic Village residents are trying to NIMBY the elementary school. They're citing "neighbourhood character" for why four floors is just too much damned school for their neighbourhood

Great intro to #yvrpoli #yimby by @russilwvong.bsky.social morehousing.substack.com/p/bonsai-city

@vancouversun.bsky.social Following up about lane buildings and hydro Powerline setbacks. As I say here, if this has happened with 9 different design / build teams then it’s a systemic problem not a one-off error. 🧵 vancouversun.com/opinion/colu...

There were a lot of emails flying around last week as the city worked to clarify the rules. In theory the powerline clearances are up to the builder to coordinate with hydro, but hydro's diagrams were confusing, and the design setbacks weren't being flagged by the city at permit review.

This is a good summary of Vancouver's broken planning system (by planning staff!). 871 site-specific zoning districts (27 new ones every year), 3-4 years to get a property rezoned and get a building permit council.vancouver.ca/20250722/doc...

This thread is incredible.

North Saanich finally passes OCP after years of battles www.timescolonist.com/local-news/n... #yyj

Yep. While people are worried about neighbourhood level gentrification they get city level gentrification. But also, households are the wrong units of measurement for affordability, part of this effect is people doubling up more. Household incomes have increased faster than individual incomes.

Emergency Exit Plan - 24-story tall HoHo Wien, one of the world's tallest mass timber structures Interlocking stairs maintain a compact footprint

I think this rather misses the point. Canadians are not boycotting the United States because they expect to crash its economy, though some might relish the idea, but because they don’t want to support or frankly have anything to do with the US under Trump macdonaldlaurier.ca/how-much-did...

About 1 in 4 U.S. adults worry they or someone close to them could be deported. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/06/27/about-1-in-4-us-adults-worry-they-or-someone-close-to-them-could-be-deported/

Guys, Calgary has started more housing starts in 2025 than Toronto. Not more housing starts per capita. More housing starts full stop. Calgary: 14,712 (11,164 multi-family). Toronto: 12,575 (11,110 multi-family). The next few years could be bleak. globalnews.ca/news/1129082...

Good meeting with @cityofvancouver.bsky.social staff re: single stair. We talked building codes, design, zoning and economics. Glad to see they're supportive of a (relatively) simplified set of rules for open stairs, and potentially providing 3 different stair options.

If you have opinions about the time savings of Prefab, or “pre approved designs” then you need to also understand how the various approval processes for new buildings also impact the timeline.

If prioritized homes for people like we prioritize homes for cars we would be much further along in dealing with this housing crisis.

New post where @lausterna.bsky.social and I (again) tie our housing problems to a shortage of housing, with doubling up being the link. And we call for tracking doubling up directly as a measure of housing hardship to avoid some of the pitfalls with our standard affordability metrics.

Hey #NewWest !! It's Monday and that means it's council night tonight! 🥳 The last regular council meeting until late August following a summer break. There is lots on the agenda so I'm sure discussion and debate will go late into the night 🌃 Photo unrelated, it's just nice 🍀

Granville Island joins a host of innovative models from the 1970s (e.g. non-equity cooperatives! historical preservation as a source of cheap housing!) that often involved the same sets of thinkers. And they did not fully build in the cost of upkeep.* (* a lot of that's about rising standards!)

Watching Toronto planning and housing committee debate expanded multiplex permissions, an interesting exchange between @blairscorgie.bsky.social and Cllr Holyday (transcription and any errors are mine)

Finally pulled the trigger and updated my Vancouver tree map with newer data, now it contains not just street trees but also other public trees in e.g. parks. (Thanks Vancouver Open Data!) Handy when wanting to look up a tree while walking around town. mountainmath.ca/vantrees

A short video from yesterday on Vancouver council approving the Broadway-Commercial megatowers, ABC's justification, and the housing split between their different opponents. Because anytime you have a chance to start a story with an accordion, you gotta do it.

This project will provide very valuable rental housing supply on top of one of the region's busiest transit hubs. There was a lot of discussion at the public hearing on whether new rental (sometimes suggested that this is 'luxury') can help our housing situation. A few things...

Vancouver city council is voting on a redevelopment of a Safeway next to the Broadway-Commercial Skytrain station for three purpose-built rental towers, ranging in height from 36 to 43 storeys (only 10% of which would be below market rates).

Nothing says a city is serious about building housing like officials leaning on developers of small-scale apartments to includes *a pet-washing station* not even required by the regs. via @johnlorinc.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/...

So: the “Protect Bathurst / Dufferin” astroturf campaign run by Summerhill Market had videos of a guy talking about the neighborhood & RapidTO proposal. Real grassroots feel. Took a screenshot & put it into google image search. Guess what?

Multiple media organizations have reported on a TEAM press release, trumpeting a study that estimates 34,000 Vancouverites didn't vote in the byelection because of long lineups. That'd be quite the story if it was true! But is it? I actually read the report — here's what the estimate is based on.

NEW - As of right now former BC Premier Christy Clark will not be a candidate for the Liberals in the upcoming election. Conversations have been happening around where Clark could run, but concerns about her favourability numbers remain although situation is fluid. #bcpoli

Friedrich Merz did not even wait for the final results in Germany's election before delivering what could well be a defining verdict on US President Donald Trump, consigning Europe's 80-year alliance with the Americans to the past.

Anyone who continues to insist that Canada should sit down and negotiate with the US should read this (free gift link) from the Economist which describes the US demands on Ukraine. -> extortionate offer; nothing in return. -> multiple un-coordinated US 'negotiation' teams. econ.st/3ENoVEf

In my Toronto Star column this weekend I examined the phenomena of people crossing their arms in front of things they are against.

Yes! thewalrus.ca/the-walrus-l...

In 1998 Houston reduced minimum lot size requirements from 5,000 square feet to 1,400 square feet in the Inner Loop and across the whole city in 2013. A cool 80,000 small lot houses have been built as a result. www.mercatus.org/research/pol...

Any plumbers / mech engineers out there who can run a quick DFU (drainage fixture unit) calc for 12 dwellings? (6X) 3br/2bath, (6x) 2br/1bath Just curious what the the actual sewer infrastructure impact is if you take out the storm water component.

BC's transit oriented development law calls for certain areas close to transit to be 3FSR and less than 8 storeys. This is 6 storeys, 12 units on a single lot (in the lower mainland). This type of project doesn't need to be part of massive tower, or multi year rezoning process.

Six storeys almost citywide, plus affordability requirements. Real planning reform.

"The construction of new buildings in areas with rising housing costs often leads people to get the causality backwards—assuming that the rising housing costs must be a result of new construction rather than a response to it."

So many fairly-new single family homes are going to be bulldozed in the coming decade because our city councils and planners failed to allow the land uses to evolve over time. I don't think we've lost one of our homes (so far) to the upzoning early grave, but I expect it will happen soon enough.

Saanich: "We recommend cutting a bunch of housing out of the Quadra McKenzie corridor plan" "Oh and we should spend $30k that we saved to accelerate housing to allow us to spend more time slowing down housing"

Finally got a chance to give yesterday's StatCan report on "housing need and housing instability in households with roommates and extended family" a careful read. It's quite interesting and looks at characteristics of people in doubled-up households.

Ontario: the provincial election is February 27. What would you like to see on housing? More Neighbours Toronto has put together our ideas. We'll be grading the party platforms and statements against this to let you know where they stand. www.moreneighbours.ca/platforms-po...

Let's work to re-align some Canadian standards with the EU vs the US, including elevators.

Imagine if every large city made mid-rise apartments (say, 8 storeys) easy to build everywhere by default. Wouldn’t that be cool?

Congestion Pricing is creating tremendous benefits. Subway Ridership: ⬆️ 13% Bus Ridership: ⬆️ 6% (⬆️ 21% weekends) Transit Crime: 🔻36% Fatal Car Crashes: 🔻44% Trip Times: 🔻10-30%

1/ Eliminating parking minimums in Edmonton is the gift that keeps on giving. Check out this new development coming up near my place. (a thread, with citations at the end). The alley that it backs on to is a dead sea of surface parking lots. This place, on the other hand...