It鈥檚 d茅j脿 vu all over again.
I鈥檓 sure I wasn鈥檛 the only 麻豆传媒映画architect and planner who thought of this when the City of 麻豆传媒映画announced the 鈥淢aking Room鈥� program last week.
To quote from the city鈥檚 announcement: 鈥淭he goal of the Making Room program is to provide more housing choice within neighbourhoods for families, downsizing seniors, and other households seeking housing that sits in the 鈥榤issing middle鈥� between single-family homes and higher-density homes.
The Making Room program also represents a transition away from neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood planning to a comprehensive, city-wide approach.鈥�
I applaud the city for proposing the Making Room program, especially since I have been advocating for more duplexes, townhouses, laneway houses and other forms of 鈥済entle densification鈥� within existing single-family zones since I arrived in 麻豆传媒映画in 1974.
More importantly, anyone familiar with the , which Gregor Robertson co-chaired with Olga Illich in 2012, knows the city鈥檚 latest proposals are exactly what the mayor鈥檚 task force recommended six years ago.
It, too, recommended new zoning categories to accommodate townhouses, stacked townhouses and higher density ground-oriented housing in single-family zones. It also proposed 鈥渓ock-off鈥� suites, an idea developed in Burnaby for SFU鈥檚 UniverCity project.
While most Vancouverites should support these initiatives given today鈥檚 housing affordability crisis and the reality that many who previously opposed neighbourhood change are now seeking new housing choices, there no doubt remains some opposition to these sensible proposals.
Hopefully the looming Oct. 20 election, which could result in significant changes in council composition, will encourage the current council to finally approve the required zoning changes before leaving office.
So long, Louie
Raymond
Speaking of the election, I was disappointed to read this past week that , who I long expected to one day be Vancouver鈥檚 first Chinese-Canadian mayor, is not running again.
I have always had a lot of respect for Louie, and not just because he supported my proposals for zoning changes to allow modular laneway houses and lock-off suites in the city. He was always one of the most hard-working and knowledgeable members of council, and I have fond memories of campaigning with him at a Jewish community function early in the 2008 election campaign, even though we were running for different parties.
I wish him well, in whatever he chooses in the next stage of his career.
Mayoral hopefuls
This brings me to two other candidates who have a chance to be Vancouver鈥檚 first Chinese-Canadian mayor.
Wai Young, a former Conservative member of parliament for 麻豆传媒映画South, was initially considering a run for the NPA鈥檚 mayoral nomination before announcing she was running with a new organization called Coalition Vancouver. While she has considerable public and community service experience, she is not someone I will be supporting in the forthcoming election.
is a successful 麻豆传媒映画entrepreneur who co-founded Nurse Next Door in 2001 and Rosemary Rocksalt in 2013. Born in 麻豆传媒映画and attending Churchill and Magee secondary schools and UBC鈥檚 Sauder School of Business, he has strong ties within the city.
I have never met Sim but am told he is a smart and likeable individual. However, I no doubt soured our relationship when I criticized an email sent out by his campaign comparing him with the other two NPA mayoral candidates.
While the email mentioned 鈥渓eadership, training and outcomes鈥� in terms of business accomplishment, it made absolutely no mention of any of Sim鈥檚 public and community service.
This prompted me to write back to his campaign pointing out he was not seeking a position as a CEO. He was seeking to be my mayor. I thought he was demonstrating considerable chutzpah to think he should be mayor without at least acknowledging the importance of public and community service.
On June 21, I plan to attend the NPA gala dinner to hear Sim. Hopefully his remarks will demonstrate he now has a greater appreciation that running a city is not just like running a company.
If he does this, and soon starts to offer some well-reasoned proposals on how to improve housing affordability, he may well be Vancouver鈥檚 first Chinese-Canadian mayor. And hopefully a very good one.
