@pwaldkirch.bsky.social
Lawyer, musician, housing advocate. On a quest to win a nomination to run for Vancouver Council with OneCity Vancouver. Join OneCity to support me! Sign up at: www.PeterForCouncil.ca
Many people have been using our interactive crash map, which plots all crashes leading to serious injuries or fatalities since 2023.
We just did a huge revamp of it, and introduced the ability to filter by location, demographic, mode share, and more. Check it out! visionzerovancouver.ca/crash-map/
Yay! I'm looking forward to it!
Join me on a free walking tour: Sunday March 29 @ 2 pm, meeting at W 16th and Heather!
16th Ave is one of the main dividing lines of the city. Let's talk about what it teaches us about the roots of the housing crisis--and what we can do about it!
www.eventbrite.ca/e/fairview-m...
People oppose new housing because it “won’t be affordable enough” and it will “just house high-earners”.
Then they get surprised when long-time tenants in older housing get renovicted for high-earners to move in.
What did you expect?! High-earners would disappear?
I mean regardless of personal preference, AirBnB are largely illegal in Vancouver (as a full time hotel-type space) and there is a huge huge shortage of available hotel rooms...
Oh yeah. But it's bad enough to be deep in a hole, and even worse when we won't even allow ourselves to pick up a shovel.
(Please ignore that broken metaphor 😅)
Another big NIMBY victory thanks to ABC--twice in one week.
A big thank you to Councilor Maloney for once again standing up and doing the right thing and voting for these nonsense procedural games ABC are pulling to kill housing and hotels.
Listening to ABC try to twist themselves into pretzels to say they support hotels and aren't just NIMBYs, while doing very NIMBY things, is pretty hilarious
Peter Meiszner, btw, is really establishing himself as the ABC NIMBY-in-chief
The point is we have a deep shortage of hotel spaces caused by systemic failures and if we can't build this one it really shows how broken our planning and land use system is.
Bligh is giving a meandering speech that is using a lot of words but not saying anything, she has been speaking for several minutes but I have no clue what she's trying to say.
That's that mayoral leadership that has put her campaign on fire
Yeah, ABC want to refer this to nowheresville
ABC: we need lots of hotel spaces!! FIFA! What will we do!
"Can we build a bigger hotel on top of this old hotel?"
ABC: NO!!!!!!!!!
Vancouver has a huge shortage of hotel spaces, in large part for the same reason we have a shortage of housing: a planning system designed to produce scarcity.
This isn't abstract, it has real human consequences.
bsky.app/profile/dawe...
That was a top 5 YIMBY experience for me
Holy moly ABC is really leaning into the NIMBYism and it really sounds like they're about to vote against a hotel, in the West End, right before FIFA, sending a huge sign that Vancouver is closed to tourism.
Like wow if we can't build a hotel in the West End, Vancouver truly is cooked
A very Vancouver story. The Vancouver planning system essentially requires land speculation. That’s considered so normal by now that the school board argues the land it leases should be valued on the speculative value. But ultimately judge disagrees that speculation is part of “immediate” value.
Hope to see you there tonight!
Bring a friend--this is a fun and casual way to introduce someone who is curious about Vancouver's pro-housing and urbanist community!
going to “community meetings” on housing is radicalizing. There is, RIGHT NOW, testimony on building 200 homes on a parking lot in lower Manhattan. Look at all of the rich boomers complaining about shadows vs. the young people begging for housing
Click link to witness the absurdity for yourself
Take our "4/5" single-stair prototype building
and put it on two 33'x122 lots.
Mid block or corner.
18 elevator accessible homes, where every home has windows on 3 sides.
Light, Air, and a Social Stair
I believe there was a risk that this project could get killed off completely, so this at least gives it a chance of proceeding. She confirmed in her speech that these rental homes would be a benefit to the community, and her concern that this referral jeopardized them.
Big victory for NIMBYs today.
They've been organizing against a rental & social housing project at Hastings and Clarke, and today most of council voted to side with them, and instead voted to jeopardize it with ad-hoc new requirements--as if below market housing isn't good on it own!
I'm supporting the ODP, but it's just another example of the city's leadership basically gaslighting us into thinking meaningful housing action is happening, when it's not--just more of the status quo.
🥹
Today Vancouver council is set to approve a staff recommendation to back away from their push to become a Bitcoin friendly city.
Here's my story about it, along with an extended montage about what Ken Sim has said about Bitcoin on various podcasts in the last two years.
Come say hi and meet some pro-housing neighbours at AHV's pub night!
This Thursday, March 12! At the Rogue in Waterfront Station, starting at 5 pm.
Whether you're a regular or a first-timer, we hope to see you there!
Cherry blossom season is upon us in Vancouver. Want to find the best spots for viewing? Interested in specific species of cherry trees? My treemap has you covered. mountainmath.ca/vantrees
It doesn't need to be an either or, support strong urbanists and we'll get some great stuff done!
Frances brings an enthusiasm for cities (and years of experience covering them as one of the best cities reporters in the country!) that has helped bring so many people into the urbanism world.
This is great for OneCity--welcome to the race, Frances!
In 2023 Clr Boyle had a motion to reduce the speed on Cornwall to 30km/h. Clr Klassen amended it to 40km/h instead, under the guise of an umbrella of further safety improvements which he bragged about.
Now, the city is recommending no further action. All we got was a deadlier speed.