Vancouver

When Debating a Controversial Plan, Does 30 Percent Equal a Majority?

In the face of vocal opposition, Vancouver's city council approved a proposed bike route and greenway. For one former councillor, if a third of the speakers in hostile public meetings support a project, that's enough to indicate a silent majority.

August 1, 2013 - The Globe and Mail

Forgotten Alley Experiment Provides Route to Vancouver's Green Ambitions

Launched a decade ago, Vancouver's 'country lane' demonstration project proved how the city's back alleys could provide attractive and accessible open spaces. As the city seeks ways to provide more green space, it's time to revisit the experiment.

July 22, 2013 - National Post

Vancouver Gets Its Wheels

Vancouver has apparently overcome the obstacle that's prevented the city from hopping on the 'urban trend of the century'. When the city's bike-share system begins operation this fall it will feature 'the continent’s first helmet-dispensing system'.

July 19, 2013 - The Globe and Mail

Cities Take the Lead to Revive Scuttled Columbia River Bridge Project

Efforts by local leaders to revive a $3.4 billion plan to replace the bridge linking Portland, Oregon to Vancouver, Washington is just the latest example of a trend in metropolitan innovation in the face of federal and state gridlock.

July 17, 2013 - The New York Times

Are Vancouver's Leaders 'Tone-Deaf' to Residents' Vision for the City?

After less than a year on the job, Vancouver's planning manager is under fire for controversial proposals. Do the recent misfires reflect poor messaging, tight budgets, and short timelines; or a more fundamental problem with the city's leaders?

July 16, 2013 - The Globe and Mail

Key Decision Due Over Fate of Vancouver's Viaducts

The movement to dismantle the twin viaducts that hover over Vancouver's downtown reaches a crucial milestone today, as the City Council votes to fund the study of how to transform "the last, large, under-utilized area close to the city’s core."

June 26, 2013 - The Globe and Mail

Vancouver's Popular Laneway Housing Program Gets a Redesign

Vancouver's efforts to facilitate accessory dwellings has proven to be popular - perhaps too popular for some residents. As officials prepare to expand the program citywide, they're tweaking it to address concerns with privacy and parking.

May 15, 2013 - The Vancouver Sun

Are Developer Fees Responsible for Vancouver's High Housing Costs?

The Vancouver Sun looks at the fees that the city charges developers, such as the community amenity contribution, and finds them much higher than neighboring areas. Even though costs are higher, so are developer profits.

May 11, 2013 - The Vancouver Sun

Density Done Well, and Not Just Downtown

It’s an understatement to say that the “D-Word” is a controversial subject in cities across North America. It needn’t be so though, and shouldn't be, as when it’s done well, density is immensely important to the success of cities and regions.

April 2, 2013 - Brent Toderian

Why Are There So Many Vacant Condos in Vancouver?

New analysis of census data has found that a quarter of the condos in some areas of downtown Vancouver are empty or occupied by non-residents, leading analysts to raise concerns about the role of investors in the city's housing market.

March 22, 2013 - The Globe and Mail

Making Density a Cornerstone for Successful City-Making

Density is a loaded term that brings with it many negative connotations. But it can help solve "our city's toughest challenges." Brent Toderian discusses lessons from Vancouver on how to turn "the third rail of municipal politics" into an asset.

February 26, 2013 - HuffPost British Columbia

The Most Important Urban Design Decision Vancouver Ever Made

Vancouver's ahead-of-the-curve 1997 decision to prioritize active transport, rather than balance its ways of getting around, has affected everything about how the city has been designed since then.

February 25, 2013 - Brent Toderian

Vancouver Skyline Bikes

Why Has 'Vancouverism' Become a Hard Sell in Canada?

Vancouver's remarkable experiment in livable density is the envy of, and model for, cities across the world. So, after a decade of skyline expansion across Canada, why has densification 'lost steam' in the country? Doug Saunders investigates.

February 25, 2013 - The Globe and Mail

Democratizing Urban Design: A Public Square for Downtown Vancouver

Lacking public open space in downtown Vancouver, the city is taking a nonconventional approach and closing one block off to traffic for the summer months to allow for a pedestrian-oriented public square.

February 24, 2013 - Global Site Plans - The Grid

Small Houses Find Big Following in Cascadia

In a photo essay on small homes and the people who love them, Sightline Fellow Alyse Nelson explains the attraction of compact living and the ways in which small homeowners are living it up by scaling down.

January 3, 2013 - Sightline Daily

Vancouver Hungry for New Food Strategy

Yolande Cole discusses some of the elements being considered for Vancouver's new city-wide food strategy, which "will include over 60 actions intended to expand [the city's] food system."

November 26, 2012 - Straight.com

Disgruntled Developers and Residents Have Vancouver Planning Chief Talking Transparency

Just two months into his job as Vancouver's Chief Planner, Brian Jackson is responding to a growing backlash from developers and residents unhappy about an opaque system for determining and implementing community benefits.

November 19, 2012 - The Globe and Mail

Does Urbanism Correlate with Happiness?

Planning policies related to the economy and environment are easier to measure, but Hazel Borys asks, "how do we measure national happiness, well-being, and social capital as they relate to the way we plan our neighborhoods, towns and cities?”

November 8, 2012 - Better Cities & Towns

Infographic Evaluates the World's Greenest Cities

An informative, detailed, and attractive infographic from the vacation rental website HouseTrip compares the environmental credentials of London, New York, Vancouver, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Stockholm, across a range of categories.

October 21, 2012 - Fast Company Co.Exist

Will Vancouver Lose It's Farming Mojo?

Vancouver has the most farmland and farmers in North America. However, as Vancouver booms, the thriving agricultural belt that surrounds Greater Vancouver is at risk from an expanding city.

October 7, 2012 - Vancouver Magazine

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