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Tag Archives: Vancouver
Election 2018
Vancouver Civic Election 2018 Slate This is a critical election. There is finally an opportunity for a big change at city hall with most incumbents not running again. We need a new direction from Vision’s failed decade in power. The … Continue reading
Jane Jacobs’ wisdom needed now
Vancouver voters need to think about the city they want before they vote By Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun, Tuesday, October 9, 2018 This heritage house was recently demolished that could have instead provided for more units and infill, argues planning activist and private … Continue reading
Posted in Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun
Tagged Affordable Housing, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, property taxes, Vancouver
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2018 Civic Election:
Vancouver: To change or not to change By Elizabeth Murphy, Common Ground Magazine, October 1, 2018 The 2018 civic election has an opportunity for change, with most incumbents not running again. The question is: will the new council lead a new course in … Continue reading
Posted in Common Ground
Tagged Affordable Housing, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, Heritage, Vancouver
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Rezoning undermines affordability and character
Vancouver city hall is slamming through destructive new zoning without giving citizens a say The City of Vancouver is on a mad rush job to rezone 68,000 properties across the city, including Kitsilano and Cedar Cottage, in a move that will only … Continue reading
Posted in Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun
Tagged Affordable Housing, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, property taxes, Vancouver
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High costs raise questions on growth
City’s high housing growth rate making homes less affordable By Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun, Saturday, Sept.1, 2018 Marine Drive and Cambie Street is part of the Cambie corridor plan that requires $750 million in utility upgrades as part of the billions of dollars … Continue reading
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Tagged Affordable Housing, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, property taxes, Vancouver
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City-wide rezoning without consultation
Unprecedented rezoning rush continues By Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun, Saturday, August 4, 2018 Vancouver city councillor Adriane Carr. Gerry Kahrman/PNG ______________________________________________________________ The City of Vancouver continues its rush to rezone city-wide without a prior public consultation process, counter to standard practice. Their clear … Continue reading
Posted in Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun
Tagged Affordable Housing, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, property taxes, Vancouver
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Property surcharge against municipal interests
B.C. property surtax undermines municipal tax base By Elizabeth Murphy, Business in Vancouver, July 12, 2018 Graph source: Metro Vancouver report 2016. The B.C. provincial government’s proposed property tax surcharge encroaches onto the municipal tax base. The B.C. take of 40% will increase … Continue reading
Rezoning increases the divide
Outgoing Vision council doing ‘chainsaw massacre’ to city zoning without public consent By Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun, Monday, July 2, 2018 City of Vancouver maps from 2016 show how ‘hot’ properties that inflated beyond the average are distributed across the city. They closely reflect … Continue reading
Posted in Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun
Tagged Affordable Housing, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, property taxes, Vancouver
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Regressive Property Surcharge – The Georgia Straight
B.C. property surtax undermines cities and affordability By Elizabeth Murphy, The Georgia Straight, June 14, 2018 The province of British Columbia introduced a property tax surcharge that is a substantial encroachment onto the municipal tax base. It is precedent-setting in how it … Continue reading
BC Property Surcharge Town Hall Meeting
WPGRA Meeting on BC Surtax Presentation On May 27, 2018, the West Point Grey Residents Association (WPGRA) held a town hall meeting on the BC ‘school tax’ property surcharge, with MLA David Eby. The Jericho Hill Gym was packed to capacity, … Continue reading
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Tagged Affordable Housing, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, property taxes, Vancouver
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Proposed “School Tax” Property Surcharge
B.C. taxes need a ‘second look’ By Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun, Saturday, May 26, 2018 Graph updated June 13, 2018 Property taxes in the City of Vancouver are the highest in Canada, and if the proposed school-tax surcharge is added, it increases the … Continue reading
Posted in Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun
Tagged Affordable Housing, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, property taxes, Vancouver
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Canadian Property Taxes
Total Property Taxes Paid Based on MLS Detached Benchmarks Updated chart June 13, 2018 City of Vancouver has the highest property taxes in Canada and the Province of BC is proposing to substantially add to this burden. Update: Prof. Andrey Pavlov explains the facts Property … Continue reading
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Tagged Affordable Housing, Chinatown, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, Heritage, Vancouver
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BC Property Tax Surcharge
B.C. undermines municipal tax base and affordability By Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun, Saturday March 9, 2018 Life is made less affordable for owners and renters by provincial encroachment into the municipal tax base. __________ The province recently introduced their budget, the first, full-year budget … Continue reading
Posted in Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun
Tagged Affordable Housing, Chinatown, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, Heritage, Vancouver
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Supply-side Development
City of Vancouver needs treatment for its overbuilding addiction By Elizabeth Murphy, Business in Vancouver Magazine, December 1, 2017 The City of Vancouver has finally admitted that it has an addiction problem. The addiction is increasing density through rezoning that has been inflating … Continue reading
Community Planning
Vancouver’s housing strategy needs a rethink By Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun, Monday, November 27, 2017 __________ The City of Vancouver has an addiction. Like all addicts, the first step is to admit they have a problem. The city has finally taken that step. … Continue reading
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Tagged Affordable Housing, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, Heritage, Vancouver
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Britannia & community centres city-wide
Parks and recreation system under threat By Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun, Saturday September 30, 2017 Britannia school and field, part of the community centre complex. Elizabeth Murphy __________ The manufactured consent coming out of the city and Park Board bureaucratic machines has intensified over … Continue reading
Posted in Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun
Tagged Affordable Housing, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, Park Board, Vancouver
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Parks, community centres & schools
Are amenity spaces destined to become housing development sites? By Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun, Saturday September 9, 2017 Parks and schools open green space are irreplaceable and become even more important as the city densifies. __________ Vancouver is designed to have neighbourhoods with parks, … Continue reading
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Tagged Affordable Housing, Chinatown, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, Heritage, Vancouver
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The Vancouver Special
‘Vancouver Specials’ offer many lessons By Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun, August 23, 2017 The Vancouver Special, centre right, would have replaced a demolished character house, such as the house on the left that is converted into multiple units. Elizabeth Murphy __________ The infamous … Continue reading
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Tagged Affordable Housing, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, Heritage, Vancouver
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STIR Resurrected
City repeating mistakes on affordable housing Density bonuses provide unintended consequences. By Elizabeth Murphy, The Vancouver Sun August 5, 2017 “Size matters for a number of reasons, not only because the buildings will not provide a proper fit for the neighbourhood. … Continue reading
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Tagged Affordable Housing, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, STIR, Vancouver
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NDP government
BC Election priority: ending big money in politics By Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun, Monday, July 10, 2017 B.C. citizens voted in May’s provincial election to end big money in politics at the provincial and municipal levels. This was the primary election platform that … Continue reading
Posted in Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun
Tagged Affordable Housing, Chinatown, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, Heritage, Vancouver
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Chinatown: 105 Keefer St. Public Hearing
Historic Chinatown becoming Yaletown North? By Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun, Saturday May 20, 2017 A rendering from the City of Vancouver report for the public hearing to rezone 105 Keefer Street. Handout / PNG __________ The controversial Chinatown condo tower rezoning at 105 … Continue reading
Posted in Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun
Tagged Affordable Housing, Chinatown, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, Heritage, Vancouver
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Housing reset
Supply myth exposed, but more of the same By Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun, April 15, 2017 Vancouver keeps building housing units that few Vancouverites can afford. JONATHAN HAYWARD / THE CANADIAN PRESS __________ The City of Vancouver is finally admitting that they cannot … Continue reading
Posted in Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun
Tagged Affordable Housing, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, Heritage, Transit, Vancouver
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BC Provincial Election
How big money corrupts politics BC’s Wild West of campaign funding needs reform By Elizabeth Murphy Common Ground Magazine April 2017 Of the corporate donations to the BC Liberals, the largest group among the top donors are property developers. The provincial government has … Continue reading
Posted in Common Ground, Elizabeth Murphy
Tagged Affordable Housing, BC Election, Campaign Finance Reform, Vancouver
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Character house zoning backpedaled
Saving character houses needs incentives and zoning By Elizabeth Murphy, Business in Vancouver, March 17, 2017 The city is moving away from downzoning, especially on non-character lots. This is a good thing because much public pushback was generated when they went too far by not … Continue reading
Posted in Business in Vancouver, Elizabeth Murphy
Tagged Affordable Housing, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, Heritage, Transit, Vancouver
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Character house zoning
Saving Vancouver character houses through incentives By Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun, March 2, 2017 The City of Vancouver is reviewing incentives to retaining character houses, such as allowing additional suites. Elizabeth Murphy / PNG __________ The City of Vancouver is doing a character house … Continue reading
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Tagged Affordable Housing, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, Heritage, Transit, Vancouver
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Heritage and character houses
City hall must act quickly to save Vancouver heritage homes By Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun, December 2, 2016 Home at 4255 West 12th in Vancouver is yet another heritage home in the city that will soon be torn down. The City of Vancouver … Continue reading
Posted in Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun
Tagged Affordable Housing, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, Heritage, Transit, Vancouver
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Business in Vancouver – Transit Funding
Victoria’s civic tax grab a threat to local land-use authority By Elizabeth Murphy, Business in Vancouver, November 1, 2016 The province is about to impinge on the civic tax base, land-use authority and democracy by using development fees to fund transit and by … Continue reading
Transit and Development
Density not the answer to transit funding By Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun, October 11, 2016 The B.C. Liberals seem to think that using development to fund transit and making increased density a requirement of transit funding are vote-getters, writes Elizabeth Murphy. Gerry Kahrmann / … Continue reading
Housing principles
Affordable housing needs systemic changes By Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun, Saturday August 27, 2016 Increasing housing supply is often promoted by government, and vested interests, as the solution to the affordable housing crisis. In fact, the current record-breaking level of rezoning and development in … Continue reading
Housing supply clarified
Affordable housing myths and facts By Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun, August 19, 2016 The city’s consultant’s report of June 2014 confirmed, “the City has sufficient capacity in existing zoning and approved community plans to accommodate over 20 years of supply at the recent … Continue reading
Posted in Elizabeth Murphy, Vancouver Sun
Tagged Affordable Housing, Community Plans, Elizabeth Murphy, Transit, Vancouver, zoned capacity
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