British Columbia

'Laneway housing'- known to many in the U.S. as 'granny units'- is a popular solution for creating more housing in dense Canadian cities like North Vancouver. In fact, Mayor Darrell Mussatto lives in one.

A contest sponsored by the Vancouver Public Space Network asks the public to find Vancouver's heart, a civic square that best defines the city. Sean Ruthen ponders the city's relationships to the each its primary squares now.

Decades of plans and interventions have failed to improve the Downtown East Side of Vancouver, one of Canada's most notorious neighbourhoods. The two mayoral candidates have very different visions for the DETS.

There may be a trend of people moving toward cities globally, but a recent study has shown that when people move within the Canadian province of British Columbia, they move away from urban centers.

Vancouver Olympic officials have announced that temporary Olympic housing units will be reused as permanent affordable housing after the Games.

A court decision in British Columbia allowing people to camp in public parks has resulted in tent cities for the homeless. It is a precedent that may have ramifications across the country.

A supreme court judge in British Columbia has ruled that homeless people can legally camp on public property such as parks.

A proposal to turn part of a 6,000-hectare copper mine into a landfill has just been given the green light for an environmental assessment. The garbage dump would bury 250,000 metric tons of garbage from 25 local communities annually.

A new master-planned development in Whistler blends housing types, keeping in mind its local workers, full-time residents, and seniors. Most notably, however, it provides much needed affordable housing options.

Homelessness is on the rise in metropolitan Vancouver, but the numbers are most significant in the suburbs.

A recent study shows that about 60% of all trips into the urban core of Vancouver are not by car.

That's the question the Vancouver Planning Commission has been tossing around with the public for the last year or so, as they prepare a "Change Charter" for City Hall.

In an effort to clean up the poverty ridden area set to host the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, officials have announced plans to place homeless people into housing next summer.

This article from Vancouver Magazine looks at a recent study naming the livable and oft-envied city home to some of the least happy Canadians and asks why a great city has unhappy people.

Vancouver Magazine takes a look at the many ways people create their own housing solutions outside the norm, from mortgage sharing to garage renovations to illegal units.

In British Columbia, a proposal to require all new buildings to be carbon-neutral is being considered. The rule would require that buildings have no carbon footprint by 2020.

A Vancouver company is importing Dutch city bicycles, and the relaxed commuting lifestyle that goes with them.

Stores in Vancouver suburbs have installed a device outside their stores called a 'Mosquito' that emits a high-pitched frequency that the average adult can't hear. The device is effective in decreasing vandalism, but at what cost to public space?

B.C. Auditor General John Doyle released a scathing report this week claiming that officials have done a poor job of involving the public and looking out for their best interests.

Vancouver's South East False Creek community is making the production of food one of the major aspects of its preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Its emphasis on local food production is a model other cities may look to follow.