Category Archives: Urban Life and Local Government

Should we demand report cards on local government?

February 9, 2012 By in Urban Life and Local Government Tags: , 3 Comments

Local governments, we’re told, are close to the people and accountable to the taxpayer. Compared to what, exactly?  Of the 27 municipal governments in  Fraseropolis, which ones do best for their citizens at  earning public support for their programs, designing livable neighbourhoods, or investing for infrastructure  replacement?  Which ones do least?

In the United States, a consortium of organizations is developing a “sustainability index” that will allow communities to “benchmark their performance over time, or compare their results to those of other communities.”  It has taken two years of public process to develop the components of the Star Community Index; they include measures related to green infrastructure and green transportation as well as educational opportunity, housing affordability and arts and culture.  Local governments will enter this program voluntarily; a pilot run, with ten jurisdictions on board including King County (Seattle), is to begin in autumn 2012. Continue reading →

Marijuana grow-ops and their neighbours

January 17, 2012 By in Crime, Urban Life and Local Government Tags: , Leave a comment

At the Liberal Party of Canada’s  national policy convention last weekend, 77 per cent of delegates voted in favour of a youth wing resolution to legalize marijuana.  In part, the vote reflects frustration  that our expensive yet half-hearted efforts at prohibition leave  communities exposed to  unreasonable risk.

Despite ongoing efforts to identify and shut them down, we had an estimated 18,000  illegal indoor marijuana grow operations in summer 2011 in British Columbia alone [Globe and Mail real estate section link, now deleted].  In other words, about one in every 120 dwellings shelters a grow-op.  A 2004 publication for Canadian realtors lists the costs for the wider community: a heightened risk of structural fires, chemical spills, increased violent crime and property crime, and the signficant theft of electric power, which BC Hydro values at $100 million per year in this province.  This is aside from the costs imposed on individuals when they unwittingly purchase a former grow-op.  Continue reading →

Local elections, regional roulette

November 17, 2011 By in Around B.C., Metro Vancouver, Urban Life and Local Government Tags: , , 3 Comments

When British Columbians go to the polls this Saturday to vote for mayors and councillors, they’ll also be voting indirectly for the next chair of their regional district.  This is a little strange, because we don’t know who the candidates will be for those regional leadership positions.

Metro Vancouver, the largest region, is budgeted to spend $620 million in 2012, or $524 for every household in the region.  The chair has influence over the Metro agenda; works closely with the well-paid ($323,767 in 2010) chief administrator, Johnny Carline, whose almost supernatural invisibility in the online world testifies to a high degree of skill; and perhaps most significant, the chair appoints the membership of the Metro committees that oversee Metro’s utilities, parks, housing and planning activities.  Continue reading →

Port Coquitlam: where’s the port?

October 30, 2011 By in Tricities, Urban Life and Local Government Tags: Leave a comment

If you visit Port Coquitlam today, you’ll find it difficult to find a port, aside from a log sort yard a marina and a boat repair shop located some distance from each other along the Pitt River.

When the name “Port Coquitlam” was chosen  in about 1912, there were hopes for the creation of a major shipyard on the Pitt, but this never came to be.

Settlement in the area was focused  east and west of Shaughnessy Street, in what is still the downtown commercial area.  The attraction here was the junction of two rail lines, the Canadian Pacific main line and a branch line to New Westminster.  It’s true that the Coquitlam River runs through the middle of what was called “Westminster Junction,” and it’s a pretty stream, but you would be hard-pressed to operate any craft bigger than a canoe in its waters.  Continue reading →