Translink will soon be making its decision on building a rapid transit line along Broadway from Commercial to UBC. This week the City of Vancouver came out in favour of using underground “SkyTrain” technology. However, Translink’s own estimate put the price tag of an underground train at $3 billion, nearly three times their $1.1 billion…
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Oakridge Redevelopment Plan: corporate profits, not affordable housing
A plan to redevelop the Oakridge Mall at Cambie and 41st, unveiled this past week, includes 2,800 condo units in 16 buildings, 6 of which are above 30 storeys. The current developer-friendly City Council is sure to approve the proposal with only minor adjustments. One city councilor anticipated some community concerns about height and density,…
City of Vancouver Transportation 2040 Plan: Market condos disguised as transit policy
Vision Vancouver has recently approved a long-term transportation plan. One of the stated aims of the plan is to increase the percentage of foot, bike and transit trips in Vancouver from 44 to 66% by 2040. Is this one of those “radical plans to attack motorists,” as the editors of the Province claim? Certainly not….
Vision’s Housing Affordability Task Force Recommendations: A Charter of Rights for Developers. What Would a Progressive City Council Do?
Vancouver’s developer-backed municipal party, Vision Vancouver, has recently approved the final recommendations of its Housing Affordability Task Force. The recommendations have been widely criticized for being more of the same pro-market ideology — higher density without any affordable housing! What would a progressive City Council propose? COPE has recently released its own housing recommendations in…
Vision Vancouver’s Affordable Housing Report – More Density, Less Affordable Housing
Last week, on Wednesday Oct. 3, Vision Vancouver approved the final recommendations of the Mayor’s developer-controlled Task Force on Housing Affordability. You may have read an Oct. 3rd article in the Province, “City Council in Density Dilemma – ‘Thin Street’ Plan to Provide Affordable Housing Has Some Residents Fuming.” The headline says it all —…
Vision = NPA + Bike lanes
Much of the past century saw a winning-streak by the right wing NPA, Vancouver’s historic party of wealth and privilege. Pundits talk about Vision Vancouver’s interruption of that NPA legacy, and there has even been talk of the disintegration of the NPA “brand.” By winning two consecutive terms in municipal office, Vision is said to…
City Council sets sights on mega-development at 955 East Hastings
This week, City Councillors will be returning to City Hall from their summer break. One of the first orders of business will be to consider a large-scale condo development in the Downtown Eastside Hastings Corridor, directly across from the Raycam Community Centre and Stamp’s Place social housing. The applicant for the project – Vision financial…