Tea And Two Slices: New Housing & First Dibs on Olympic Village
May 27, 2010
by Sean Orr | 1,006 new units for Vancouver’s homeless. Yes. Fucking yes. Also, Mining magnate donates $5-million for housing. I mean, I could say that doesn’t excuse the fact that we subsidize one of the most destructive industrial practices on the planet, but I’m not going to.
Buuuuuuut then we go and do something like this: Longtime program for disabled adults dealt death blow.
Buuuuuut then we live in the land of the lotus and we care not for those who toil! Police officers, firefighters, paramedics, nurses and/or teachers apply for subsidised Olympic village housing. They can’t even afford to live in this livable city because we value the people who make quick bucks flipping real estate over the people who protect us.
Well, fuck me with an Ed Hardy condom on, how did I miss this? 917 Main rises from the Cobalt’s ashes. Read more
The Bubble And The Bunker
November 27, 2008
Fur die schadenfreuden awesomelich gesuper laffen (or as translated from my fake German: for super awesome schadenfreude giggles).
Eco-Density Victory: Laneway Housing Green Lit
November 2, 2008
Finally! In the stuffy council chambers at City Hall last night, Vancouver City Council unanimously approved a city-wide change to bylaws that will enable homeowners to apply for rezoning to accommodate the construction of smaller houses or cottages at the rear of their lane-backed lots. A small victory, maybe, but this highly anticipated change in zoning says Vancouver is starting to get serious about eco-density – serious about making Vancouver more sustainable, livable, and affordable.
What’s next?
“There is still considerable and complex work to develop regulatory changes to five different zoning schedules covering close to 70,000 lots of varying sizes and shapes with a variety of existing houses and garage types, as well as changes to the Parking and Building by-laws and related policies. Regulations would include not only topics such as height, setbacks, floor space, and parking, but also green building and site and universal access.”
So when will we see actual structures going up? Laneway housing enthusiasts are hopefully circling December 2009 on their calendars, so I would guess it will be closer to spring, 2010. This is great news for so many reasons, not the least of which is that Vancouver-based Smallworks (smallworks design pictured above) will finally have the chance to bring real style to an alleyway near you. Check out the full report.
MSM linkage: Vancouver Sun
