Posts from — September 2009

Highlights of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games experience in Park City, Utah, as reported at Terasen’s UBCM reception tonight by Salt Lake Olympic board trustee Bill Malone, in no particular order:

• public library closed for the month of February and rented to Norway;
• Bud House a huge hit, especially the Budweiser Clydesdales;
• post-Games survey of retailers found 65 percent in favour of hosting another major event, remainder of sample “not sure” or “never again;”
• achieved 91 percent recycling of trash and litter, above target of 85 percent;
• nearby Ogden, Utah, landed 12 winter sports companies as local employers and/or manufacturers; [Read more →]

Vancouver City Council today finally brought an end, with a split vote,  to one of the most contentious development battles in the city’s recent history, approving the form of development for 1450 McRae Ave. on the northeast corner of Shaughnessy at Granville at 16th.

But an amendment proposed by Mayor Gregor Robertson won unanimous support. It seeks options from staff to slam the door on any repeat of the fiasco, which saw the mobilization of hundreds of Shaughnessy residents in opposition to the unprecedented townhouse development.

Why the anger? There were many reasons, but one stood out. Despite the FSD’s openness to increased density through infill housing, it very clearly rules out townhouses. The McRae project entails the destruction of many trees, the construction of 14 townhouses with 49 underground parking spots, and the restoration of a heritage home.

Despite strong advice from the city’s legal staff that council had little option but to approve the form of development — the very last in a line of decisions which is normally a purely formal rubber stamp  — Councillors George Chow and David Cadman voted no. (NPA councillor Susan Anton was absent on civic business. )

The Mayor, along with councillors Jang, Louie, Stevenson, Deal, Reimer, Woodsworth and I, voted yes, aware that the mayor’s amendment was next. [Read more →]

The proposal by Housing Minister Rich Coleman to force homeless people into shelters in extreme weather may be well-intentioned but is unworkable, as Councillor Kerry Jang has been pointing out in his responses.

It may also be unconstitutional, as David Eby of the BC Civil Liberties Association,  is insisting.

There are many legitimate reasons someone may not wish to go into a shelter, including fear for personal safety. Many homeless people, both men and women, are justly worried about both the health and security aspects of shelters, and prefer to remain outside if that is the only alternative .

The best answer, of course,  is more housing. The shelters now open in Vancouver, thanks to the efforts of Mayor Gregor Robertson and the Vision council, are a stopgap that fall far short of the real need. And they are full.

This morning’s e-mail update from First United Church, forwarded to all councillors each business day by Amanda Trimble, the church’s administrative co-ordinator, shows that 204 people crowded into the sanctuary Saturday night and 193 last night.

So is Coleman laying the groundwork for an Olympic sweep?

The reality is probably simpler: the initiative is the sincere but misdirected effort of a man who has been handed the difficult task of reversing his government’s years of neglect of the housing issue.

That’s why today’s announcement that the government is moving forward with the city to redevelop Little Mountain is more to the point.

As for the Olympic sweep, I’m extremely doubtful. The VPD has enough on its plate without checking doorways and under bushes for homeless people — although its members made every effort to help the woman whose death sparked Coleman’s initiative.

Even if Coleman’s bill becomes law, the VPD would have to have strange priorities indeed to focus on forcing the homeless into shelters — especially shelters that are already full.

Final crop? This Mount Pleasant apple tree at 6th and Alberta is loaded with fruit.

In today’s Sun, Rebecca Tebrake tells the rest of the story of the veteran Mount Pleasant apple tree, now bearing its last crop, that I began here.

The magnificent relic of one of the city’s oldest neighbourhoods is coming down to make way for a BC Hydro substation.