False Creek already has pedestrian-friendly transportation options
By Mike Klassen. Posted at CityCaucus.com on July 3, 2009
False Creek Ferries are an excellent and affordable service that attracts tourists
Owners of False Creek Ferries (aka the Aquabus, as locals call it) must be wondering if Vancouver's Mayor hates them. This small business has thrived over the years moving people to and fro across False Creek harbour.
The ferry which crosses the exact route of Gregor's bridge brainstorm, Vanier Park to the Aquatic Centre at Sunset Beach, runs from 7:30am to 10pm daily, and leaves every five minutes. It is an incredibly reliable service, and a great Vancouver success story.
Isn't it ironic that a Mayor who got elected based upon his reputation built in small business has so much contempt for existing small enterprises here in Vancouver?
Even the city's top bicycle advocate, Arno Schortinghuis of the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition said the bridge would be a “non-starter” with commuter cyclists:
“If you have to descend all the way to the seawall, it would be ridiculously difficult to get back up to Burrard Street, for instance,” he said. ““That would be unacceptable, I would suggest.”
Meanwhile, people commenting on CBC.ca, Globeandmail.com and Vancouversun.com are all having a field day with Gregor's attempt to "change the channel" from his gridlock plan. Here's a sampling below of some of the comments.
Continue reading False Creek already has pedestrian-friendly transportation options.
Tagged: burrard bridge, false creek, false creek ferries, gregor robertson, vancouver
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Gregor blinks on Burrard controversy
By Mike Klassen. Posted at CityCaucus.com on July 2, 2009
Who would blink first over the Burrard controversy? Apparently Mayor Robertson.
After July 13th, when you're sitting in Gregor's Gridlock, and you're contemplating whether to dial 311 to register your complaint with the Mayor over his Council's decision to reallocate a Burrard Bridge lane to cyclists, will it make you feel better to know that Hizonner is musing about building another bridge?
Apparently PR flacks in Mayor Robertson's office hope you will. Tonight they let slip that a "conversation" between the Mayor and architect Gregory Henriquez for a $45 million passerelle over False Creek. It would appear that Robertson has blinked in the face of building public dissatisfaction with his No Consultation Council™.
Just last Tuesday morning my CityCaucus.com colleague Daniel sat on the CKNW's Civic Affairs Panel, and got raked over the coals by Vision's Jim Green over NPA plans to spend $30 million on upgrading crumbling railings and surfaces on the 70-year old Burrard Bridge. This money is still in the City's budget, and it will be spent regardless of the political posturing by Vision.
The NPA proposed that the City eventually spend another $30 retrofitting the bridge to accommodate cyclists. No final design for this has been completed, but heritage advocates were not the slightest bit interested in any change to the old concrete railings.
So the NPA proposed spending $30 million for an improved cycling thoroughfare, and now Mayor Robertson is floating a proposal to spend $45 million?
Continue reading Gregor blinks on Burrard controversy.
Tagged: 311, bike lanes, budget 2009, burrard bridge lane closure, gregor robertson, gregory henriquez, no consultation council, vancouver
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Ballem: "It's time to refresh ourselves!"
By Mike Klassen. Posted at CityCaucus.com on July 2, 2009
A memo circulated at Vancouver City Hall has received a collective groan from overworked staff who are wondering how much harder they can be squeezed during this economic crunch. City Manager Penny Ballem, who did not take our earlier advice to leave her job, should be commended for conducting a core review of city services.
Now, we could remind Ballem that she and Vision were a bit carefree with it came to Vancouver taxpayers' wallets, such as the lavish $84,000 inauguration ceremony, the twin Hoggan PR contracts, the $250,000 for a Burrard Bridge spin plan, or avoidable spending on the too-many-to-mention severance packages. However, we want to support the effort to get Vancouver's civil service to refocus on building a sustainable city, and not solving all of its social ills.
In her memo to staff she states,
As part of our accountability to the citizens of Vancouver, we need to review the services we provide and the way we deliver them. It is our responsibility to ensure we're always responsible in how we manage our processes and finances and that we give our citizens good value for their money.
Continue reading Ballem: "It's time to refresh ourselves!".
Tagged: budget 2009, core review, penny ballem, vancouver, vision vancouver
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Hornby merchants: "We're being Cambie'd by Gregor"
By Mike Klassen. Posted at CityCaucus.com on July 1, 2009
Hornby street merchants are about to be impacted by the Burrard Bridge bike lane trial
Some great reporting by GlobalTV BC's Rumina Daya on the latest victims of Vision's No Consultation Council™ - merchants on Hornby Street about to be undone by the Burrard Bridge lane reallocation. As they describe it, the irony is that they are being "Cambie'd" by Mayor Robertson, as in Cambie Street and the pain those merchants faced when their access to customers was cut off.
Of course, we all know that Gregor Robertson built his political career on the whole Cambie/Canada Line construction issue (he was a notoriously ineffective MLA until that issue was handed to him). So it's quite something to watch the Mayor stick it to another set of businesses without any consultation.
Stay tuned to CityCaucus.com for more about Gregor's Gridlock in the days ahead!
Tagged: burrard bridge lane closure, cambie merchants, global tv, gregor robertson, gregor's gridlock, hornby merchants, no consultation council
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Happy Canada Day!
By Mike Klassen. Posted at CityCaucus.com on July 1, 2009
Happy Canada Day greetings to our faithful readers from coast to coast to coast. We hope you have the time to celebrate today with family and friends.
We like to mix it up about politics, people and policy here at CityCaucus.com, but we must remind ourselves that the kind of respectful debate and dialogue we like to engage in here is the exception and not the rule for many parts of the globe.
We're thankful not only for the right to speak freely on important subjects, but that our readers choose us as one of their sources of news and ideas.
Thank you.
Tagged: canada
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COPE not playing ball on Vision/Coleman plan to demolish Little Mountain housing
By Mike Klassen. Posted at CityCaucus.com on June 30, 2009
Mayor Robertson & Rich Coleman shook hands on taking the wrecking ball to Little Mountain housing
It looks like another group is about to deal a blow to Mayor Robertson's already headache-filled week. Holdout residents in the Little Mountain social housing development have allied with COPE City Councillor Ellen Woodsworth (she's the COPE Councillor who shows up to meetings) in an attempt to scuttle plans to redevelop the site. Woodsworth has circulated an email to supporters and community activists that she thinks Little Mountain should house Vancouver's homeless (the email in its entirety is pasted below).
Woodsworth's plan might be a surprise to the neighbours of the Little Mountain community, who probably had not counted on their neighbourhood carrying a large part of the burden of Vancouver's homeless problem.
For those who have been following this storyline over the past few years, the Little Mountain site has 224 apartments built just after World War 2 in a low density woodframe building with asbestos in the walls. The buildings sit on a 15+ acre site centrally located in the City of Vancouver next to Queen Elizabeth Park.
The City under the previous Council deftly negotiated a commitment from the Province of BC to develop fourteen City-owned sites with new social housing. In order to pay for the new social housing on the fourteen sites, BC Housing is developing the Little Mountain site as a mix of private and social housing. The private housing will outnumber the social housing units, but the Province justifies the plan because the profit will be redirected into creating a large quantity of affordable social housing across the city.
Continue reading COPE not playing ball on Vision/Coleman plan to demolish Little Mountain housing.
Tagged: bc housing, cope, ellen woodsworth, gregor robertson, rich coleman, vancouver, vision vancouver
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