Posts from — February 2012

In the wealth of reminisences of my friend Jim Green, these two stand out: an eloquent obituary by Tom Hawthorn and this 2005 radio profile by the CBC’s Stephen Quinn.

Metro Vancouver Housing Corp.’s board voted today to seek rezoning of its 84-unit Heather Place affordable housing project in Vancouver to replace the leaking homes with at least as many affordable units.

But the board went much further to meet concerns of existing tenants, including a pledge to do everything possible to find a strategy that allows existing tenants to stay on the site rather move away during construction. (I am a member of the MVHC board.) Increasing the number of affordable units above the current number is a top priority.

MVHC CEO Don Littleford also told the board that he is working on proposals to expand housing on the site to as many as 200 units in all, including some be based on some form of co-op ownership to further extend affordability even further.

The leaking and moldy homes would cost millions to remediate, an option that board has now rejected in favour of new construction of an expanded project. City of Vancouver staff have indicated they support redevelopment, but the proposal must still be fully designed and taken to public hearing in a rezoning.

The site would remain the property of MVHC. There would be no condo development.

In response to tenant concerns, which were aired last year in a meeting at Heather Place that I attended with senior staff and Councillor Raymond Louie, MVHC has also agreed to:

• ensure existing tenants have first access to the new homes;
• hold the line on rents for subsidy tenants;
• hold rents down for existing market tenants, whose rents are income tested, if new market rents would qualify them for subsidy;
• pay moving expenses for those who prefer to move; and
• make the project non-smoking if possible.

Here’s the statement delivered to the board today by tenants’ reps: [Read more →]

More evidence, if more is needed, that the City of Vancouver remains tireless in the pursuit of business efficiency:  a small lane at Thurlow and Melville is to be named Hailstone St. to facilitate the timely issuance of parking tickets.

As this report to the next council meeting explains:

“Due to the unique configuration of this lane, Parking Enforcement staff are unable to issue tickets with their palm pilots and must instead issue a manual ticket, causing delays in the ticket being entered into the electronic system. For that reason, the Street Naming Committee agreed to assign a name to the street. Since the “lane” is wider than 10.06 metres it will be named as a street rather than a lane.
“Subsequently, at its meeting on October 13, 2011, the Committee considered, among other suggestions, the name “Hailstone.” William Hailstone was, along with Sam Brighouse and John Morton, one of the original owners of District Lot 185 – essentially the entire West End. At the time, people in New Westminster thought the three gentlemen had made a bad investment based on inexperience, and nicknamed them the “Three Greenhorns”.
“Brighouse and Morton are already commemorated with street names in Greater Vancouver. Therefore the Committee agreed to recommend the name “Hailstone Street” for the subject street.”

Vancouver has scored number 31 in a new ranking of the top 50 cities in the world to be a student, well behind Montreal (10) and Toronto (26). This despite our city’s brutal housing costs, which clearly dragged down the rating.

Why should we care? Students are present and future contributors to our economy, a pool of skilled workers whose talents can make for a better city. If housing costs, weak employer markets and poor liveability drive them away, we’re the poorer for it.

Top city? Paris of course, with world class, low-cost institutions in the middle of a massive job market, served by cheap housing. Melbourne, a city to which Vancouver is often compared, ranked fourth.