I'm so glad people built all of these wonderful, tall buildings. Let's keep doing that. What a city.
Danny Oleksiuk
@dannyoleksiuk.bsky.social
Director with Abundant Housing Vancouver Fellow @sightline.org "There are four lights"
Policy researchers from both the left and the right agree: The new B.C. government should not hand housing control back to municipalities. It's short sighted and will allow municipalities to reinflame the housing crisis. www.fraserinstitute.org/commentary/b...
B.C.'s new government should not give cities more power to block housing
These restrictions can limit homebuilding and drive up housing costs for local residents.
fraserinstitute.org
BC Policy Solutions@bcpolicy.bsky.social · 5d agoAre we about to double down on the housing crisis? Premier-elect Lorne Doerkson and the BC Conservatives plan on rolling back NDP housing policies once he takes office. @1alexhemingway.bsky.social spoke to Global BC about this issue. 1/3
Inverting the idea of courtyard housing, for existing n'hoods: Courtyard in the street! Small-lot single-stair accessible flats overlooking a new public space, with street segments converted to a mini plaza, bike path & green infrastructure. (in Vancouver we call that a Rainway / Parklet).
I listen every day, @cbcstephenquinn.bsky.social, so take this in the spirit intended! But saying this morning that supply and demand don’t apply to Vancouver housing is simply wrong. I say that as a social-housing-loving, wealth-taxing, worker-ownership lefty, not a reflexive free-market guy.
The premier is signalling to BC cities: it's open season to impose apartment bans and block housing. Exactly what they've been doing for decades and a key driver of the housing crisis. This is bad news for renters and young families, and good news for landlords. vancouversun.com/news/mayors-...
B.C. mayors largely support Conservative plan to ditch NDP housing policies
Premier-designate Lorne Doerkson says Victoria has no place telling places like Penticton, Chilliwack or Williams Lake how to handle housing
vancouversun.com
An example of Vancouver's regressive zoning in Kits is The Wellington - a three storey, 32 dwelling apartment built in 1926, that could not be built today on the lot's RT-8 zoning. But as multiplexes are in focus again, I think it's more relevant to look at its neighbour...
in honor of the legend: his acting masterclass on the rare quadruple take
it's funny/sad how Vancouver Specials were built to maximize floor space under the zoning at the time, but they are *tiny* compared to pre-zoning houses
I really appreciate Victoria's mayor, Marianne Alto's response to this: “Frankly our own agendas were more assertive than that anyway,” she said, adding they also didn’t have any problem with the province setting housing targets. “We knew we’d exceed them, which we have.”
Municipalities await future of housing law after change in B.C. government
The B.C. Conservatives have promised to return authority to local governments to determine where housing density will go.
timescolonist.com
Michael O’Shaughnessy@mdnoshaughnessy.bsky.social · 2w agoWhy does this party not want my family to have a home? Ridiculous
When you realize how much space is wasted on cars, the possibilities are endless. This transformation in Bratislava 🇸🇰 turned an oversized junction into a green square. It's not about taking space away from cars. It's about giving it back to people.
Whenever people disparage our organizing work, I try to remember that our counterweight to NIMBYs matters, that if we didn’t exist, electeds trying to do the right thing have no political cover and would likely get eviscerated whenever they vote to do the right thing and support multifamily housing.
I’ve seen some folks in the Young B.C. Greens that might, so I truly hope so, because I’d love to pass the torch. I’m tired. But as housing prices fall (due to - gasp - more condo supply), and housing temporarily loses salience in social narratives, I fear this will just be ignored as a hot potato
“While renters and buyers have seen some relief, it is short-term. The underlying problem of a structural shortage of supply remains, and it is getting worse because we have largely stopped building."
The housing crisis is no longer shaping big-city politics. Why not?
In both Vancouver and Toronto, debates about planning and housing have been blunted by a lull in the market and rising housing supply. But experts say that is a temporary reprieve
theglobeandmail.com
@dannyoleksiuk.bsky.social, in an excellent piece about how housing has become less salient in big-city politics (😢) www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
This is Vancouver's very first proposal to build a low-rise, multi-unit residential building on a small single-family lot under the new single-staircase building rules. A 6-storey, wood-frame building with 24 family-sized units. #vanre #vanpoli dailyhive.com/vancouver/21...
This is Vancouver's first housing proposal under the new single-staircase rules | Daily Hive | Urbanized
The housing project at 2150 West 16th Ave. is the very first proposal under the City of Vancouver's new single-egress staircase rules.
dailyhive.com
Your perfect opportunity to walk the walk when it comes to making the rich pay their fair share @copevancouver.bsky.social @vangreens.bsky.social
Danny Oleksiuk@dannyoleksiuk.bsky.social · 3w agoGood luck and congratulations to all of the new and returning councilors, and to Mayor Fry. Now, this council has the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever and to legalize apartment buildings all along Point Grey Road and in Shaughnessy.
Made it back home to Etobicoke for another protest #biketo
“…the Villages Plan, as clunky as it was, should give folks a little bit of a signal where we probably need to go, which I think is four- to six-storey, wood-framed construction, single egress staircase apartments. We need to build a lot more of that because we can build that faster and cheaper.”
Justin McElroy 🇨🇦@jmcelroy.bsky.social · 3w agoGood, comprehensive interview by @iamkennethchan.bsky.social with Fry on managing his governing coalitions, first priorities, and much more as Mayor of Vancouver dailyhive.com/vancouver/pe...
I share this concern. We need properly funded affordable housing, not unfunded affordable housing mandates applied to new small and mid-rise apartments, which suppress this type of housing creation and drive up rents, burdening those already hurt by the housing crisis. bsky.app/profile/west...
Westside Backyard@westside-backyard.bsky.social · 3w agoMy worries are they'll push too much on inclusionary zoning requirements which will disproportionately burden new 4-6 storey apartments, and focusing allowed change on nodes & corridors (which is mostly already allowed).
Congratulations to Mayor-elect Pete Fry on his big win! There is indeed a lot of opportunity to support BC forestry & address the housing shortage with wood-frame construction. (and even mass timber up to 18 storeys!) www.ctvnews.ca/vanco...
Thanks to - allowing single stair buildings - transit-oriented development one can build a 6-storey apt building that fits on 1 single-family lot. *26* units, 6 of them are 3-bed, 18 are 2-bed. https://www.shapeyourcity.ca/2150-w-16-ave #CanadaHousingCrisis
how do you write this?! how do you not realize you are the fucking problem here?! you are the one doing things worse! they are better at this than you!
Mike Klassen is the first councillor of an incumbent mayor's party to get re-elected in Vancouver since 2014. Why have incumbent mayors fared so poorly in Vancouver? What changed in Vancouver after 2014? How can Pete Fry and the Greens buck this trend in 2030?