iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

My entry in the capture the essence of Vancouver’s West End in one photograph challenge

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More towers of all shapes and sizes, downtown Vancouver

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Towers of all shapes and sizes in downtown Vancouver

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New Westminster, another Vancouver suburb with a serious skyline that gets it’s very own Skytrain-only bridge over the Fraser (and so dreamy to roll in on Amtrak)

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The formula for good urban streets is so simple and Vancouver proves that it’s still possible to build it even deep in the age of car culture, no need to do more studies or crack some ancient code, just do this:

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Complete disrespect for the local context in which buildings don’t have big holes cut through their middles, Vancouver’s design review asleep at the wheel

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Not Vancouver Its “suburb” Burnaby

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Wondering why Washington just passed the first statewide elevator reform bill? Still not elevator-pilled? @sightline.org and @welcomingneighbors.us have a webinar for that! Friday April 10 at 11am PST, register at this link: www.sightline.org/going-up-or-...

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

And here's a five-story one with 20 studios, no elevator, on a 3,185 sf lot. blue.kingcounty.com/Assessor/eRe...

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

This pic didn't make the cut for the article but yes, in Seattle we do have some 6-story apartment buildings without elevators. This one has 23 studios on a 3,380 sf lot. blue.kingcounty.com/Assessor/eRe...

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Yet another example of how local policymakers burden home building with extra costs that should instead be funded through a broad tax because they provide broad public benefits. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Here's some empty retail in the front of the same building, and also in the money corner of the Africatown building right next door.

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Ground-floor homes do get built in large apartment buildings and they can be nice!

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

WA's scissor stair bill is sailing through, just passed Senate Housing and the last hurdle is the full Senate, which should be an easy vote. Granted, one thing that makes bills like this easier to pass is that the code council has to do the real work! lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/202...

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Some long overdue recognition for Seattle's unmatched success on smart growth. "Sightline finds that in the twenty-first century, no large metro area in the United States has been better at adding people to already-populated places than Seattle." www.sightline.org/seattle-a-mo...

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Below is the key point of testimony I gave today in support of SB 6026 to allow housing in commercial zones. Anyone who develops mixed-use will tell you that typically retail leases can't cover the cost of construction. Requiring retail space is regressive policy, because renters pay the price.

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

SB 6026 to allow housing in commercial zones passed out of committee today with some reasonable compromise amendments that carve out more exceptions to making ground-floor commercial optional. Great to see this bill moving! app.leg.wa.gov/committeesch...

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Don't get me wrong though, I'm writing these posts from a gorgeous cafe space with 18-foot ceilings in the bottom of a fairly new 5-over-1 that's a stone's throw from a light rail station, and these spaces are essential for a good city. But as so often happens, mandating can come back to bite us.

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But wait, more empty retail spaces, same neighborhood. High density housing is necessary for street-level retail to be viable, but the catch is, mandating those spaces makes it harder to build high density housing. Just make lots of housing and everything else will tend to fall into place!

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And here are some more dead empty retail spaces that I found on the same 15-minute ride around the neighborhood. Sure, some of this is normal turnover, but c'mon. We have a glut of these spaces and it's bad policy to require more, especially when it makes housing less likely to pencil.

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

To celebrate the possibility that SB 6026 will end mandates for apartment buildings to have commercial uses on their ground floors, here's a bunch of pics of empty retail spaces in Seattle's Capitol Hill, the most densely populated neighborhood in WA. app.leg.wa.gov/BillSummary/...

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Scissor stairs are usually associated with tall/skinny residential towers, but Vancouver, BC just updated its rules with the goal of making scissor stairs a viable option for smaller-scale apartment buildings on smaller lots. council.vancouver.ca/20251210/doc...

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

The scissor stair bill, HB 2228, is a simple bill to get the state building code council to do a simple thing: adopt code to allow them. They've been legal in NYC and Vancouver, BC for decades and are common in Europe and Asia. lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/202...

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

@markusja.bsky.social's building code report has a good section on why we should allow scissors stairs: drive.google.com/file/d/1bL2Z...

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Nice words of support for elevator code reform from WA's House D majority leader. Watch for the return of SB 5156 when session starts next week. komonews.com/news/local/p...

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

WA's MDU bill, HB 1443, is running again in the 2026 session. Check out our 2-pager for all the reasons we should allow this flexible, low-cost housing option on any residential lot, just like we do with ADUs. www.sightline.org/wp-content/u...

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Good on Vancouver BC for telling the truth about how unfunded inclusionary zoning is inherently self-defeating.

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

I did it for apartments a few years back. www.sightline.org/2018/11/05/w...

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

Felt an urge to tap the sign. (which may or may not have anything to do with recent convos about potential pilot legislation in WA)

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

Yep, some of WA's housing bills need concurrance and all still need the Gov's signature, but they got over their biggest hurdles and that's cause for celebration... ...so please join us to do that this eve, 5pm at Stoup Brewing on Capitol Hill. BONUS: ONE FREE DRINK FOR THE FIRST 50 TO ARRIVE!

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

The WA legislature has been racking up the wins on housing abundance bills, and there may even be a couple more to come! Please join @sightline.org for a happy hour to celebrate, this Friday at Stoup (formerly Optimism) on Capitol Hill. www.sightline.org/wp-content/u...

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

The WA Senate just passed HB 1183, the first bill in the US to: 1 - Grant extra setback and height allowances for passive house 2 - Prohibit local req's for facade modulation and upper level setbacks for innovative construction types and affordable housing lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/202...

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Dan Bertolet @danbertolet.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Montana's parking bill looks eerily similar to WA's... montanafreepress.org/2025/03/31/m...

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This year WA is trying again on a bill to set a higher REET rate for expensive home sales, but this time around it has a big improvement: it doesn't apply to the sale of rental apartment buildings. So now it won't tax modest apartments as if they were mansions. app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?...

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But the future of housing production in Seattle is looking grim. Permit apps have cratered from a peak of 20.5k in 2020, to just 4.1k in 2024. Vacancy rates will fall, and rents will rise. The antidote is anything that reduces the cost of construction. www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboa...

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When vacancy rates go up, market-rate housing becomes more affordable. In 2024, Seattle completed a record 14.7k new homes. www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboa...

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