British Columbia
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.
Legislating the Waste of Land
Surveys of parking use in multifamily buildings across Cascadia have quantified the extent to which parking requirements have 'force fed' more spaces into projects than developers would provide based on demand. Alan Durning examines the implications.
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.
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'.
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?
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."
Major Oil Pipeline Rejected - But Will Alternatives Have Greater Environmental Impacts?
Kinder Morgan's proposed $2 billion 'Freedom Pipeline' to transport West Texas oil to California refineries has been rejected - not by a governmental entity as occurred with the Northern Gateway, but by oil refineries opting to ship by rail instead.
British Columbia Rejects Massive Northern Gateway Oil Pipeline
The rejection may ultimately doom the $6 billion pipeline to transport Alberta's oil sands crude west through British Columbia for export. Final word is reserved for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but many say an overturn would be highly unusual.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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?”
Testing Density with Trick or Treaters
Planner and urbanist Brent Toderian explains why Halloween is his favorite holiday.
New Study Supports Advocates of Bike Infrastructure
Emily Badger discusses new research showing that dedicated bike infrastructure has a demonstrated impact on reducing the risk of injury for cyclists.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
