Nathan Lauster
@lausterna.bsky.social
UBC sociologist, demographer, housing & urban regulation scholar, author, immigrant, blogs at https://homefreesociology.com/
📕 VERY VANCOUVER is out! It's an odyssey through backyard gardens, alley bottle hoards, eateries like Duffin's and east-side family life beyond our pretty skylines and granola reputation. I hope you enjoy these 15 stories and hanging out with the ~70 larger-than-life figures who lent their voices.
I forgot Farleigh Dickinson had opened in Vancouver. Given Higher Ed & immigration trends, seems like an interesting and kinda gutsy strategy to expand its footprint in Oakridge. Will be curious how it turns out for them. www.fdu.edu/campuses/van...
Vancouver Campus | Fairleigh Dickinson University
Explore FDU's Vancouver Campus, offering career-driven programs in business, IT, and hospitality. Learn about admissions and campus life.
fdu.edu
Kenneth Chan@iamkennethchan.bsky.social · 6h agoNew Jersey-based Fairleigh Dickinson University will open a 70,000 sq. ft. campus at Vancouver's new Oakridge Park mall in September 2026. This expands and consolidates FDU's existing Vancouver campus locations. #vancre #vanre #vanpoli dailyhive.com/vancouver/fa...
A wildfire has broken out in the Belcarra area of Metro Vancouver— anyone have any footage. Hopefully local crews are able to get on the #BCwildfire quickly! A reminder that we’re not immune to fire even here on the inner south coast! #BCStorm #BCStormWatch #BCWX
Many thanks to @lsolum.bsky.social for giving our new article "The State Constitutional Case Against Exclusionary Zoning" coveted "Highly recommended!" rating at Legal Theory Blog! It's now under submission to law reviews: legaltheoryblog.com/2026/08/05/b...
Braver & Somin on the State Constitutional Case Against Exclusionary Zoning
Joshua Braver (University of Wisconsin Law School) and Ilya Somin (George Mason University – Antonin Scalia Law School) have posted The State Constitutional Case Against Exclusionary Zoning o…
legaltheoryblog.com
I knew it. They're still gunning hard for Canada's Supply Management system...
Jan Jęcz@jeczjan.eurosky.social · 17h ago* SPACEX PLANS TO ESTABLISH "CHEESE MINES" ON THE MOON TO DISRUPT GLOBAL DAIRY MARKET * SPACEX ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH ANDURIL TO PROTECT CHEESE MINES FROM BIKER MICE FROM MARS * ELON MUSK CALLS LACTOSE INTOLERANCE A "WOKE LIE", DONATES $1.5B TO PRO-LACTOSE SUPER PAC
"Malta has refined its appeal as a tax haven over decades... hiring KPMG to draft legislation to help the country compete with offshore hubs like Bermuda and Grand Cayman." Hmm... hiring accounting firms to write your tax evasion codes would certainly help, huh? www.nytimes.com/2026/08/05/b...
How Malta Became a Tax Haven for Crocs and Other U.S. Companies (Gift Article)
The Mediterranean archipelago is a hot destination for U.S. companies seeking to shield profits from income taxes.
nytimes.com
Took a bike ride along the beach up to campus this evening, a little worried that the wildfire smoke was going to descend on me. Got lucky, and it stayed up high, I think. A little hard to tell for sure due to all the clouds of weed I kept passing through. Anyway, Pt. Grey is lit tonight.
i don't like to police genre, but it's not dark academia unless somebody gets squished in one of these bad boys
this editorial manages to avoid the phrase "climate change" entirely
The Globe and Mail@theglobeandmail.com · 5d ago
Can’t get this story out of my head. The delays aren’t unusual, the cost comes out at $100k per unit or ~$400/month rent for those non-market homes. Same issues come up for market housing, developers could keep building at lower rents if munis did not impose those delays and uncertainty.
Ryan Jabs@ryanjabs.bsky.social · 3d agoAnother window into why even non-profit housing is so expensive. Saanich delays led to an extra $9milliom (!!) in costs. No one in Saanich is held accountable so they keep dragging their feet and increasing costs. bcbusiness.ca/real-estate/...
Congrats to NY on this new affordable housing development. And congrats on having a mayor who really gets it. Exceptional framing, positioning the non-market housing announcement sandwiched between two clear pro-housing statements.
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani@mayor.nyc.gov · 2d agoWe can't solve a housing crisis without building more housing. Today we broke ground on the Casanova Residence, which will soon be nearly 100 affordable and supportive homes with on-site services for New Yorkers. Every new home is a step toward a City that everyone can afford.
Nice long form reporting on ranching under wildfire conditions in BC's interior (of special interest to those scholars newly obsessed with all things cow-related, i.e. mostly me). www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
When wildfires struck, these B.C. cattle ranchers called in the cowboy cavalry
Moving livestock to safety means managing their fear and instincts. Here’s how it’s done in the Nicola Valley
theglobeandmail.com
I could hear someone say "I feel like I'm in danger now" as the geese stepped as one in off the water to watch the fireworks with us. It was glorious.
Another way to get at this, in Canada there are 1.56 non-family individuals for every 1-person household. That's a lot of potential to grow the share of 1-person households, and this stat does not even include adult children living with parents. In Quebec City that ratio is 1.2, In Toronto it's 1.9
Non-family individuals vs 1-person households | CensusMapper
This map shows the ratio of non-family individuals over 1-person households. Non-family individuals is a rough proxy for people who might want to live in a one-person household. This excludes couples,...
censusmapper.ca
Oh The Urbanity!@ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 5d agoWhile only 13% of people live in a 1-person household, 30% of households have 1 person. I think this is part of the reason people underestimate the level of demand for smaller (e.g., 1-bedroom) apartments.
Thank you to all who have shared your condolences about Mike's passing - it is overwhelming. There will be a celebration of life for Mike on August 9 at Dogwood Pavilion in Coquitlam - and a livestream to ensure all who were touched by him may come should they wish. More details later. Sylvia
two days after Vancouver city council voted down their own Villages Plan, west side residents who opposed the plan en masse are complaining that Dunbar (!!) doesn’t have any wine bars, boutiques or gyms — the kind of amenities that require neighbourhood density to support
"A Reuters analysis found the image of the map included in the presentation contained an artificial intelligence watermark that signals it was made with OpenAI tools. The company did not respond to a request for comment."
Eric Geller@ericjgeller.com · 7d ago"A US government map of Africa mislabeled every country during a state department presentation at a global conference in Brazil this week, causing a stir among attenders who took screenshots and posted them online."
Hobbes is like, "bees are cool, they know how to chill" "whereas Man is then most troublesome, when he is most at ease: for then it is that he loves to shew his Wisdome, and controule the Actions of them that governe the Common-wealth" That's right! Bees over billionaires. Get 'em Hobbes!
This pattern of politicians running against their own bureaucracies as champions of the people was tagged as "the dysfunctional dance of local governance" by Mariana Valverde when she saw it in Toronto in EVERYDAY LAW ON THE STREETS from 2012. Its biggest beneficiary? Rob Ford.
Justin McElroy 🇨🇦@jmcelroy.bsky.social · last wk.A funny thing about Vancouver's Villages rejection happening so close to the election is Ken Sim's office posting a statement being like "we listen to the wisdom of the people" and ABC Vancouver sending supporters an email being like "we're protecting you from city bureaucrats who are garbage"
Good plans and good positioning by OneCity here, I think. The yes vote on trying to make Villages work by @lucymaloney.bsky.social before the election really differentiates them from the pack in a positive way.
OneCity Vancouver@onecityvan.bsky.social · last wk.To the people who still envision a walkable, vibrant Vancouver, it's still possible. ABC killed the plan today, but OneCity is committed to bringing more diverse, thriving neighbourhoods to every community. Be a part of it - donate or volunteer at the link in bio.
The Vancouver Villages Plan is up for a vote today! It would be a meaningful step in the right direction: low-rise apartments on off-arterial streets; walkable communities. We know it's the right direction for the city. It was prioritized by Ken Sim and ABC. Will they have the courage to pass it?
Peter Waldkirch 華彼德@pwaldkirch.bsky.social · 2w agoDay 3 of the Vancouver Villages Plan is starting up. Here's a live update of how it's going: (As before, I'll be listening but not posting on every speaker---too much psychic damage.) bsky.app/profile/pwal...
Great tribute to Michael Coyle (@oplopanax.ca) up at CBC. Surely just a start. He'll be sorely missed. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
B.C. man who devoted nearly three decades to rescuing strangers dies in Squamish | CBC News
Michael Coyle had worked with Coquitlam SAR for years and helped many other teams in B.C.
cbc.ca
Can bedtime stories help explain far-right voting patterns? Read about it in "Pedagogy of Fear: Folklore and the Far-Right in Weimar Germany," a new study co-authored by CRWS graduate student @elena-amaya.bsky.social. #voting #folklore #sociology
Pedagogy of Fear: Folklore and the Far-Right in Weimar Germany - Elena Amaya, Robert Braun, 2026
This article argues that folklore (orally transmitted group knowledge) shapes far-right voting by inculcating feeling rules that resonate with nativist and auto...
journals.sagepub.com
Handy new chart construction from @ourworldindata.org on income/consumption inequality. Here's a simple Common Canadian Comparisons version. ourworldindata.org/grapher/inco...
Incomes across the distribution - World Bank
An interactive visualization from Our World in Data.
ourworldindata.org
How much sugar would you like in your Milky Way? 30%? 50%? or 100%? www.cbc.ca/news/science...
This sugar is in raspberries, self-tanner and — scientists discovered — space. Here's why that matters | CBC News
It's a sweet discovery that has the science world talking — and may help us better understand the origins of life on Earth.
cbc.ca
All jokes aside, getting people to double up has been very much baked into Metro Vancouver’s Regional Growth Strategy for the past 5 decades. Not voluntary doubling up, which might indeed reduce housing costs, but coerced via under-projecting housing demand and asking munis to under-build housing.
The Beaverton@thebeaverton.com · 2w agoBritish Columbia to address cost of housing by legalizing polygamy
New article in early view at RHE-JILAEH! Together with David González-Agudo and Valentina Ramírez, we reconstruct the cost of housing in Toledo between 1489 and 1810. This is one of the longest such series in existence anywhere in the world. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
The cost of housing in the very long run: Toledo, 1489–1810 | Revista de Historia Economica - Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History | Cambridge Core
The cost of housing in the very long run: Toledo, 1489–1810
cambridge.org
"[C]ivilization-ending sin is expressed through the motif of cruelty to strangers, invoked in the film as “Zeus’s law,” the Greek concept of xenia, or hospitality, in which a host has a responsibility to feed and protect a guest, and guests have matching responsibilities to their hosts." Good stuff!
"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux@bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 2w agoI wrote a thing! My take on Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is up at @foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com/2026/07/23/o...
