Speaking Frankly About Los Angeles
Let’s be frank about Los Angeles. When we urbanists think of the City of Angels, we typically lament its many apparent shortcomings. But seldom are the city’s myriad detractors aware that it has the...
View ArticleWhat I want from my new City Council
In just one month, Vancouver residents will elect a new City Council. What do you want to see changed at City Hall? Here is my top-of-list wish:A common-sense reduction in overregulation. Regardless of...
View ArticleTelevision Interview on the David Berner show
I was recently invited onto David Berner’s show on Shaw Cable Television (Channel 4 in Vancouver), to talk about where I see Vancouver going in the next few years, now that the civic election is...
View ArticleHow Our (Media) World Is Changing
Has anyone else had the sense lately how fast things are changing here in Vancouver? I’m referring in particular to our access to various media that many of us have taken for granted for so long, but...
View ArticleHallmark Sporting Events and Cities
I recently got back to Vancouver from a trip to Cape Town and a brief stopover in London. Three cities, each one of which has recently had or is about to host a hallmark sporting event: Vancouver...
View ArticleWither Vancouver?
It’s been more than six months now since the Vision Party-dominated Vancouver City Council fired the City’s last Director of Planning, and still no replacement is in sight. Recently it emerged that...
View ArticleRobert Hughes is Dead: A Fresh Wind Blows Itself Out
This blog is about someone who I never met but felt strongly connected to, someone who has deeply influenced both my thinking and my way of writing.Robert Hughes is dead. He would have appreciated the...
View ArticleHow Other Cities Do It, and Why Can’t We?
Every time I return to Vancouver from a trip to one or another foreign city, I am struck by how many creative yet sensible things that those cities facilitate are not permitted here at home. Compared...
View ArticleVancouver’s First Urban Design Awards: A Mixed Bag
After many years and much discussion, the City of Vancouver recently spearheaded this city’s first ever Urban Design Awards program. The winning results were announced and celebrated at an elegant...
View ArticleWhat Is It About Islam?
What is it about Islam? Why is it that time after time, violent atrocities are committed in its name by hateful, intolerant individuals or groups who claim to be acting on behalf of their God?Lance...
View ArticleFive Game-changers for Affordable Housing?
At the risk of sounding simplistic about a subject in which I am no expert, here’s an interesting game: the following article is from another city in a different country to ours. Sound familiar? Where...
View ArticleThe New Paris?
A visit to Paris last year revealed a much-changed city from that which I lived in as a much younger man. Of course, you may say. But, while change itself is a constant in cities, I could not help...
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