With the Winter Olympics fast approaching, the editor of Vancouver Magazine takes a shot at capturing the big picture of the city that has become a model for planners everywhere.
Beyond the clichés of sustainability and eco-consciousness (all true, he adds) Gary Stephen Ross attempts to portray all the facets of Vancouver.
Ross writes, "It's easy to forget now, a quarter century after Expo 86 introduced the world to Vancouver (and Vancouver to the world), easy to forget after the exodus from Hong Kong in the '90s altered the city's demographic profile and fuelled a real estate boom, easy to forget now that Hermes and Coach and Gucci fill our shop windows - and especially easy to forget during the klieg-lit invasion of the Winter Olympics - what a small city this is. With a population of about 600,000, it's a quarter the size of Toronto proper."
FULL STORY: A Tale of Two Cities
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.
Is the Success of Vancouver's Urbanism Just a Facade?
Bob Ransford argues that the policies that have shaped Vancouver's streets and skyline over the last decades into a global icon of planning and design are an accomplishment of style over substance that fail to look at how people inhabit buildings.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Canada vs. Kamala: Whose Liberal Housing Platform Comes Out on Top?
As Canada votes for a new Prime Minister, what can America learn from the leading liberal candidate of its neighbor to the north?
The Five Most-Changed American Cities
A ranking of population change, home values, and jobs highlights the nation’s most dynamic and most stagnant regions.
San Diego Adopts First Mobility Master Plan
The plan provides a comprehensive framework for making San Diego’s transportation network more multimodal, accessible, and sustainable.
Housing, Supportive Service Providers Brace for Federal Cuts
Organizations that provide housing assistance are tightening their purse strings and making plans for maintaining operations if federal funding dries up.
Op-Ed: Why an Effective Passenger Rail Network Needs Government Involvement
An outdated rail network that privileges freight won’t be fixed by privatizing Amtrak.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions