Housing
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On Taxes, Exemptions, Loopholes, and Reversals: A System Built for Speculation
In British Columbia, ordinary homeowners pay annual property taxes—and when they buy a home, they pay Property Transfer Tax. In recent years, the Province...
By Erick Villagomez -
What, me worry? Yes you should, mayor
In a sit-down Q&A with The Globe and Mail‘s editorial board published over the weekend, Mayor Olivia Chow swatted aside concerns about whether...
By John Lorinc -
The Slow Emergency
The crisis in Vancouver’s housing system isn’t explosive—it’s quiet, procedural, and often disguised as progress. Recently made public, the Broadway...
By Erick Villagomez -
LORINC: What’s so scary about six-plexes?
When I look out my office window, trying to think up a lede, I find myself staring at the grey-stuccoed side-wall of a house kitty corner to mine, which...
By John Lorinc -
Entitled to Flip
In Vancouver today, rezoning doesn’t necessarily mean building. Increasingly, it means something else: securing entitlements — legal permissions that...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Trifecta of Control: Stealth. Speed. Complexity.
In the 1960s, planning decisions in Vancouver—like many North American cities—were made behind closed doors. Freeways bulldozed working-class...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Overhead: Non-Profit Housing and Gentle Density
THIS EPISODE: Non-Profit Housing and Gentle Density In the federal election just passed, we heard many big ideas about how to tackle the housing crisis...
By Spacing Radio -
PODCAST: Spacing Radio 088, Big City Mayor Takes on Canadian Housing
In this episode, with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s pick of former Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson as Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, we...
By Glyn Bowerman -
One more housing bill and no new homes
How many bills does it take to build the homes Ontario says it needs? The recently re-elected Doug Ford government would have you believe it takes...
By Michel Nayrouz -
Et Tu, Uytae?
In just one month, well-known YouTube personality Uytae Lee released three high-profile videos addressing the creation of new downtowns, taxes, and...
By Erick Villagomez -
When Local Planning Becomes Provincial Command: On Bill 13, Bill 15, and the End of Urban Democracy
In British Columbia, democracy is being redefined—not through elections or referendums, but through legislation with quiet names and sweeping...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Coriolis Effect, Part II: Beyond the Spreadsheet
The Coriolis Effect, Part I went through a long gestation period as I humbly asked various people within the discipline for constructive feedback. I was...
By Erick Villagomez