Conflict in Marpole

November 3, 2013 By in Planning and Development, Urban Villages Project, Vancouver, City of Tags: , Leave a comment

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Urban affairs journalist and blogger Frances Bula recently noted a heating up of resistance to densification in Metro Vancouver, especially in the City of Vancouver. A consortium of neighbourhood interests called “Liveable Vancouver” is spotlightlighting the controversy in Marpole, where the City government is trying to develop a plan to accommodate a forecast population increase. On a recent visit, we saw many lawn signs protesting against rezoning; a Marpole neighourhood group claims there are thousands.

The City’s current concept would protect Marpole’s significant stock of rental housing; enable townhome construction on many of the residential streets where there is now single-family housing; and allow condo apartments or towers on the arterial streets. Continue reading →

In pursuit of Fraser Valley wine

October 16, 2013 By in Days Out, Fraser Valley Region Tags: Leave a comment

Tanks, Mt Lehman winery

As mentioned previously on this site, Fraseropolis — the sometimes quarrelsome  liaison of Fraser Valley County and Vancouver County — produces two thirds of the agricultural wealth in British Columbia. This output includes wine grapes.

The Wine Institute of B.C. recognizes the Fraser Valley (including Metro Vancouver) as a wine producing region. There’s room for a little caution here, since most of our locally-produced wine isn’t produced from local grapes. Putting aside the industrial-scale use of Californian and Chilean product, the Vancouver-area wineries that want a “VQA” sticker (made in B.C.) truck in most of their grapes from the sunny Okanagan Valley, four or five hours away. The issue on the Pacific Coast, I think, is the relative shortage of hot, sunny days, combined with a fewness of vines. Continue reading →

Tolls and the decline of driving

October 6, 2013 By in Roads, Bridges and Traffic Tags: , 2 Comments

Golden Ears Bridge reducedMetro Vancouver’s transportation authority has created a stir with the disclosure that tolling revenues on the Golden Ears Bridge, which have been below expectations since the bridge opened in 2009, are falling even further behind. After hopeful signs in 2012, the public subsidy on the bridge is going up, not down.

This is significant because the Golden Ears is the first modern-era toll bridge in urban British Columbia. The bridge was supposed to introduce a user-pay system for the funding of roads and bridges. Continue reading →

Downtown Langley: grey to green

September 22, 2013 By in Surrey Langley White Rock, Urban Villages Project Tags: , 1 Comment

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The City of Langley is one of those pocket-sized, hemmed-in British Columbia municipalities — like Comox, White Rock, or the City of North Van — whose only hope for new development is to densify.

This realization has come late to Langley City. The northern edge of the downtown area gives way to an atrocious patchwork of vacant and underdeveloped commercial and industrial lands. In response, the city adopted a Master Plan in 2009 and 2010 to expand the “realm of influence” of the charming core. Continue reading →