reading Theory

Statscan must have talked to their national building code colleagues and figured that our population is getting wiped out in the next earthquake

The 2026 Budget freezes transit funding and forces service cuts. Write your MLA and tell them to protect transit funding! At the minimum, the BC gov should allow local governments to make up for lost funding. #yyj #bcpoli bettertransityyj.ca/2026/02/17/2...

My favourite TTC subway entrance. The 1978 Mid-century Expressionist Dupont Station in #Toronto by Dunlop-Farrow Architects.

"The District is prohibited from holding a public hearing on this rezoning application pursuant to section 464(3) of the Local Government Act" You love to see it, folks!

CanViz is super cool, great work @jensvb.bsky.social canviz.mountainmath.ca

(from last sunday)

The prefab pessimist line seems to be that because a series of prefab firms have failed that the underlying conditions are immutable. I don't expect venture-backed firms to be able to change fragmented codes and approval processes. That's the job of researchers and advocates.

YIMBYs and urbanists often make the point that you should let people live where they want: near jobs, schools and amenities. I'd like to make a special case for Canada: we should let people live where the weather is good! open.substack.com/pub/carboncr...

The lack of rain protection at the Bute St plaza really sucks, a pergola that lets you get soaked is the epitome of no fun city imo

til one early plan (2002) for the Canada Line involved boring the whole thing, *under* a future M-Line extension Also a Nelson station sure would have been nice for me personally www.projects.eao.gov.bc.ca/p/58851099aa...

The main span of the Casano-Loutet overpass was installed this week and can be seen on the DriveBC highway camera. The pedestrian and cycling overpass is expected to be completed in July. #NorthVancouver #BikeYVR

I think the hand-wringing over voters blaming the Feds for a major, nation-wide crisis is overwrought tbh. If the voters want a strong federal government to solve this issue we should manifest one

Something I don't get, why are there a surprising number of townhouses with _porches_ as part of large developments in Vancouver? This seems really bad for accessibility and convenience?

Kinda fascinating claim about NA train crash standards, hadn't read this argument before

Our crew-built work is one big way that we’re delivering the Seattle Transportation Levy. By using in-house construction crews, we complete improvements that you’ve requested with lower costs and faster timelines. Here are 9 recently completed projects from our inspector’s camera roll:

Fireworks back at English Bay after Vancouver puts up $2 million vancouversun.com/news/firewor...

In a big city where people live in apartments it’s not a frivolity that people can come visit and have a place to stay. As my friend @grids.reillywood.com has previously pointed out, an exceptionally egregious example is B.C. Women’s and Children’s Hospital

Here is what I've been doing this past week: git.olaren.dev/Olaren/mapto... A little python program that generates poster for cities! You might have seen stuff like this around lately, but I modified it to put an emphasis on rail infrastructure :3

Canadian local government finance. I promised a review of this article last night, but got diverted. Here we go. This article's representation of a potential 'muni' option in Canada misses a lot of key points, which suggests proponents may be missing them as well. ottawacitizen.com/news/infrast...

With 2025 in the books, we take a look back over the last year for our annual Vancouver City Council Road Safety Report Card. 📝 How did each councillor score? Where did the mayor land? (Spoiler: at the bottom.) Read the full report card here: visionzerovancouver.ca/2026/01/21/v...

Also, from yesterday, bike stuff + Deep Cove in North Van District

lots of great bike/traffic calming infrastructure getting built in new west

Can't build a hotel because it'd put the Stanley Park cayotes at risk

Finished the Power Broker! What a great read

I am committing to Childcare By Right. We will make childcare a permitted use in every residential and commercial zone. If you pass your safety and provincial licensing checks, you open. No hearings and no neighbor vetoes. We are building a city where families actually belong.

We really should try to elevate the conversation about the nitty-gritty of urban integration of transit modes beyond the "I love grassy tram tracks" level. We urgently need it.

Zoning in theory: You can’t build housing next to the pollution source 😊 Zoning in reality: You can only build housing next to the pollution source, also daycares are illegal

OneCity is holding a contested mayoral nomination, and their two candidates, William Azaroff and Amanda Burrows, were on the Cambie Report. Link to the full episode below. Here's what they had to say about housing (see follow up posts for alt text):

Hi everyone, I've been asked recently by many people including a couple of media outlets, whether I will be running for re-election this fall. The answer: Yes I will! There is more to be done for a safe, affordable, livable, sustainable, fun and welcoming City. ❤️ #yyj #yyjpoli

So, Brendan, Why is the Millennium Line Bad?

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... "Not wanting to increase costs to residents, [Mayor] Harrison said the city is waiting for provincial funding before expanding transit services and buying more buses." It's disingenuous takes like this from electeds that are hindering transit expansion altogether.

Exciting news on the housing affordability front (lolsob)

If you're in Vancouver, I would encourage you to join OneCity *before Jan 11* so you can vote for William Azaroff as their mayoral candidate. I think this is one of the most impactful things an individual can do to shape the October election www.onecityvancouver.ca/membership

Always striking to see how much denser the sprawly cities in Canada are than (supposedly) comparable US cities

Good piece from Lewis on the alleged glut of EVs, as well as the nuts-and-bolts of how Chinese EVs are supported

There’s a lot of divergences between land use and transit reform but a consistency is that the practitioners (developers/transit agencies) themselves have substantially more near term priorities for reform than advocates.

Something I've always found fascinating is the South Fraser Perimeter Road bike route, which is the major trucking corridor built in 2013 but also features thoughtful details like this multi-use path connecting to *squints at map* the Delta landfill

Curved tactile warning plates in downtown

This New West project checks all the boxes: ✅ Fully protected bike lane ✅ Vehicle access maintained ✅ No lost parking (I don't care about this but it's often the main concern) ✅ One-way orientation reduces rat running on this residential street Should be the standard for all local bikeways!

Something I like about the west end is that it predates the manicured frontages associated with Vancouverism, and it's so much better as a result There's a handful of new buildings that have the hallmark Beasley look, and they're... somewhat worse imo

As a resident of Canada's Greatest Neighbourhood, I am often thinking about ways it could be better

Seems sub-optimal to double down on a housing form and business model inherently tied to eviction, rather than build more apartment buildings in residential areas

It is time to stop protecting the status quo and start building the housing they actually need. I am running for Mayor to lead a city that will unlock land and build homes for all kinds of people, in every neighbourhood. We need a Vancouver where the people who care for us can afford to live here.

There were some earlier discussion of alternative routes though orangeraisin.wordpress.com/2019/05/14/s...

Same here fwiw, I think Azaroff really Gets It on housing and has the experience required to push through meaningful reforms in a reasonable timeframe

My Tyee article is out - on the stalewasem bridge: thetyee.ca/Culture/2025...

For example, Kelowna did this work years ago and found that the dense core brought in a lot more tax revenue than it cost in infrastructure while the low density suburbs were a drag on city finances

It's Oak Bay OCP night! First speaker is the amazing @jstewgie.bsky.social who points out that the proposed OCP doesn't go far enough in legalizing new housing 2nd speaker is from the Uplands Neighbourhood Association, who is concerned about development ruining the mansion district