Sucher is the author of “City Comforts” - a gem of a book that explains how to design good cities. Essentially, he says, remember the three rules:
Build to the sidewalk (i.e., property line).
Make the building front “permeable” (i.e., no blank walls).
Prohibit parking lots in front of the building.
Here’s an example currently under construction at Denman [...]
My column in Business in Vancouver last week:
Vancouver culture now meeting newcomers halfway
In Vancouver today, there’s a lot of hapa happening. In Japanese, “hapa” means leaf. In Hawaiian, half. It also means people of mixed racial ancestry.
But hapa culture is bigger than that. If you live or work in Vancouver, it includes you. Because living [...]
Peter Berkeley, the bike guy from Brisbane, is in a good mood these days. Here’s why:
“Kevin Rudd (the newly elected PM of Oz) is my local federal member, and Shayne Sutton (in red) who is my local city councillor and switched on to the value of cycling, worked for Kevin years ago and is good friends.
“The photo [...]
Here’s that video I wanted to post - a delightful way of showing that, yes, the world can change. Thanks to WWF Canada for making the video (and to Sungsu for showing me how to post it).
Once again, Chicago leads the way:
Chicago has decided to retrofit its alleys with environmentally sustainable road-building materials under its Green Alley initiative… In a green alley, water is allowed to penetrate the soil through the pavement itself, which consists of the relatively new but little-used technology of permeable concrete or porous asphalt. Then the water, [...]
Okay, I need help.
Youtube used to have a button that would automatically embed a video in a blog, along with a little TV screen to click on.
Must have been too easy. They took it away.
Now, for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to embed the link, little TV screen included, in my blog. I [...]
Good to be back in Vancouver, always changing, set against an enduring landscape - as this photo from Lisa Brideau illustrates:
Off to Montreal and San Francisco for a week.
Weather for Montreal: sunny
Weather for San Francisco: sunny and warmer.
Heh, heh. See you on the 19th.
The other day The Tyee asked me for an idea that I think has traction: something that will shape our city in the coming year.
Well, okay. How about some new housing that effectively addresses affordability and sustainability without changing the character of low-density neighbourhoods? - in other words, an EcoDensity wet dream.
How about if it were simply built, appropriately [...]
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