Features
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Rethinking Housing Economics
“The edifice of economic theory constructed over the last two centuries, to an extent in the shadow of physics, has been refuted time and again.” ...
By Erick Villagomez -
21st Century Road Allowances
Yvonne was in her early 40s, with short brown hair and a solid build. She was taller than my 5’ 5” frame, but when I met her she was seated on the steps...
By mariastanborough -
The Language of Uplift
In 2023, the Vancouver City Council recently adopted a motion titled “Uplifting the Downtown Eastside and Building Inclusive Communities that Work for All...
By Erick Villagomez -
Behind the Curtain: Rethinking the Role of the City Manager
In the intricate machinery of urban governance, one figure looms large but largely out of sight: the City Manager. Appointed by City Council, not elected...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Costs We Don’t See
Vancouver’s proposed 2026 Budget arrives with a promise that feels, at first glance, like a reprieve: a 0% property tax increase in a year when almost...
By Erick Villagomez -
Treading Lightly on the Mountain: SFU’s New Gibson Art Museum
Located at the east end of the SFU mountaintop campus and sitting beside a mature stand of trees lining its central promenade, visitors can appreciate how...
By Sean Ruthen -
Week of Learning with Bruntletts
It was a cool late afternoon in October when I met up with Melissa and Chris Bruntlett at Trees Café on Granville Street. The rain held off as we settled...
By mollybarkowsky -
When Density Meets Disgust
Walk down a crowded city street and you might marvel at its vibrancy—people brushing past each other, buildings packed like puzzle pieces, the hum of...
By Erick Villagomez -
Four Projections, One Crisis
What happens when four different reports give four different answers to the same housing question? Every few months, a new report is released with a...
By Erick Villagomez -
Who Gets to Lobby?
When most people hear the word lobbyist, they think of expensive suits, closed-door meetings, and backroom deals. In Vancouver, as in most Canadian...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Slow Emergency, Part II: The Emergency Escalates
What began as a procedural memo has become a full-blown shift in how decisions are made. The City of Vancouver’s September 2025 rezoning...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Coriolis Effect, Part IV: When Viability Becomes Destiny
In my earlier Coriolis Effect series (Part I, Part II, and Part III), I argued that city planning has been quietly absorbed into the logic of the...
By Erick Villagomez