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Owen

@oweninvan.bsky.social
1.4K followers 1.9K following 1.4K posts

The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men gang aft agley, an' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, for promis'd joy! Vancouver, BC

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Reposted by Owen
ellen teapot 🇨🇦🏳️‍⚧️ @ellenteapot.ca · 2h
Well, that’s fine in a big city like Saskatoon, but I don’t know about a sleepy village like Burnaby Heights
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DT Cochrane @dtcochrane.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
When the federal government says, “We can’t afford it” they actually mean, “We don’t want to do it.” Anything we can physically do—like put everyone in a home—we can afford.
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Chad Leddy @chadleddy.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I feel like the trivial complaints of affluent NIMBY homeowners get more coverage than the stories of people literally left homeless by the housing crisis generations of restrictive zoning rules have created
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Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
An elderly couple doesn't like the new housing going up next door. So what? This is not news. They'll suffer minor inconvenience. But no one is forcing them to move. And they have the freedom to sell their big multimillion-dollar house and live comfortably elsewhere.
cbc.ca
Toronto needs more homes. These neighbours say they're paying the price | CBC News
An elderly downtown couple says they’re shocked and upset that the city has approved a duplex next door to their three-story Victorian home that they say will tower metres above their chimney and rend...
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Michael Andersen @andersem.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Some WSJ headline writer is apparently tired of tenants winning, but the reporting is fine: Haddox’s new place didn’t require months of paperwork or administrative bottlenecks. She applied and moved within a week. “This was way easier because the market had gone down.” www.wsj.com/real-estate/...
wsj.com
Portland Real Estate Is Such a Mess That All Housing Is Affordable Housing
Rarely has the Oregon city seen such a narrow price gap between market-rate and affordable units.
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Kathryn @kmsheps.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Man, @onecityvan.bsky.social is just heads and shoulders above the rest when it comes to housing in Vancouver. Credible, innovative and focussed on buidling a welcoming city where everyone belongs.
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Colleen @cbailey6.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Many said that we had to cut immigration so governments could "catch up" on housing. I tried to explain, based on my experience in housing advocacy, why I thought that was unlikely. Immigrants were just a scapegoat for governments who didn't prioritize new homes. I wish that I had been proven wrong.
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Abundant Housing Vancouver @ahvancouver.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Why hasn't Shaughnessy developed into an urban area for tens of thousands of renters like Vancouver's first elite, mansion district: the West End? Walking tour Oct. 3rd!
eventbrite.com
The YIMBYs go to Shaughnessy (birthday edition)
Let's walk around Shaughnessy and imagine a better city. Hedges for a few, or apartments on quiet streets for many?
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Reposted by Owen
California YIMBY @cayimby.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
GGWash: Zoning doesn't decide if housing is "affordable" - funding does, and that can happen anytime, even after a building opens. So opposing market-rate housing to "save room" for subsidized housing is incoherent: you can't subsidize a building that never gets built. ggwash.org/view/104401/...
ggwash.org
Want more subsidized housing? Start by building any housing
Most subsidized or “affordable” housing in America was not initially built as such. It makes little sense to oppose new homes because they are not subsidized from the very start; those homes very…
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Reposted by Owen
GRIDS Vancouver @grids.reillywood.com · 20/09/2026
This is good but let's go further: the province governs the city, the city literally bans hotels near BC Children's Hospital, please fix that!
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Zoomer Antimillenarian @surcomplicated.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
What I really fucking love about Hot Fuzz is that it is a rare piece of artwork that unapologetically defends liberal modernity. A representative of the impartial, uniform rule of law & depersonalized state beings justice to a lawless, backward community run by a wretched clique of local grandees.
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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
New literature review on housing ladder spillovers: When rich tech workers move in, low-end rents go up. So does it follow that adding high-end homes would reduce them? Yes. Changes at the top of the ladder can propagate down and affect prices at the bottom. 1/
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Peter Waldkirch 華彼德 @pwaldkirch.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Hey turns out I was right about the off-arterial part of the Streamlining Rental Policy. (There were only 7 applications, one of which was in December 2023; the policy is effectively dead.)
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Owen @oweninvan.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I think one of the (repeated) lessons here is that more consultation ≠ more buy-in. We'd be better off if planners put in temporary measures they think are best & then adapted quickly to complaints rather than doing half year cycles of consultation & adjustments.
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Owen @oweninvan.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Great explanation, with a demonstration, in this video
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Climate Justice Victoria @climatejusticeyyj.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
A super El Nino on top of the Pacific Ocean being hotter than we have ever seen it? Yup. More climate disasters brought to you by fossil fuels. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Oix... #bcpoli #cdnpoli
youtube.com
I’ve tracked El Niño for years. I’ve never seen this before
YouTube video by CBC News
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Danny Oleksiuk @dannyoleksiuk.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I'll be at the @ahvancouver.bsky.social booth at car free day on Main Street from 1-5 today. Maybe see you there.
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John Burn-Murdoch @jburnmurdoch.ft.com · 08/09/2026
2) England is a rare exception. During the 2010s many other countries (including the other 3 UK nations) changed tack, experimenting with ideas like transferrable skills instead of focusing on tried-and-tested disciplines and methods. It looks like those experiments have failed.
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Owen @oweninvan.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Going to be a tight race. I saw 50% Ken Sim, 50% Muhammad Ahmad signs on a bike ride the other day.
Ahmad campaign sign
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Reposted by Owen
Henry Grabar @henrygrabar.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
an extra year of permitting time for multifamily is associated with a 39-percent increase in median rent -- relationship is just as strong as with prior measures of land use regulation
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Andrew Lewis FC @andrewlewisfc.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Doug Ford banned speed cameras so people could speed dangerously without financial consequences, regardless of the safety consequences. Doug Ford achieved his goal. There will be many stories like this.
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Toronto Star @thestar.com · 10/09/2026
The family of a teenager injured by a car outside his Toronto school is suing, alleging the removal of a nearby speed camera contributed to the crash. According to the statement of claim, the 15-year-old suffered a traumatic brain injury, skull fractures and ongoing cognitive effects.
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Frank Chiachiere @fchi.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Cities with long permitting times for new housing tend to have higher housing costs, per new paper: "permitting duration is positively associated with housing prices and negatively associated with production." evansoltas.com/papers/Durat...
chart showing project duration for single- and multi-family housing in select US cities.  Seattle is among the slowest.
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Owen @oweninvan.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
TIL Canada Post is trying to build an Amazon marketplace competitor. canadashops.ca
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Owen @oweninvan.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
The popularity of 3-4 year mortgages over the last 3 years really shows people are trying to time interest rates. For the big cohort who did it earliest it's worked out so far I guess, but you have to wonder when the 5-year was already at ~3%. www.canadianmortgage... 1/2
https://www.canadianmortgagetrends.com/2026/09/shift-to-variable-shorter-term-mortgages-raises-borrowers-rate-exposure-cmhc/
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Owen @oweninvan.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I am fine with limiting future immigration for "lower" skilled workers, but I think this is very sad for the kids & this family should be permitted to stay. Even Canadians who think our previous policies were a mistake shouldn't pretend it didn't happen.
ctvnews.ca
Quebec family forced to move back to India after 8 years
A Quebec family that called Canada home for the past eight years has boarded a flight to India after their refugee claim was denied, forcing them to leave the country.
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Reposted by Owen
futur 🔹 @futur.blue · 06/09/2026
if you want a picture of the future, imagine a walking stick assaulting a young woman, forever
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Owen @oweninvan.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
I think it needs to be said: OneCity has been the ONLY party willing to stick their necks out to reduce carbon emissions, especially on land use policy, where City Hall can actually make a difference (& where it's cheaper than free)
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Lucy Maloney @lucymaloney.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I’m so proud to have topped the Vision Zero Vancouver road safety Council rankings for the second year in a row. @onecityvan.bsky.social has topped the rankings EVERY YEAR. If road safety is an important factor for you in deciding how to vote this October, you can find VZV’s rankings here:
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M. Nolan Gray 🥑 @mnolangray.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Any given specific NIMBY argument—about infrastructure capacity, or home values, or aesthetics—is nearly always just a shell game masking generalized opposition to anything changing, and which is why it's a waste of time to engage with NIMBYs on details.
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GRIDS Vancouver @grids.reillywood.com · 27/08/2026
this is my latest very scientific chart
chart with 2 axes: "New housing is usually good/bad" vs "Left/Right"
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M. Nolan Gray 🥑 @mnolangray.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
It's remarkable, the extent to which Chuck Marohn will twist himself into to defend local control and settle personal beefs, even at the expense of Strong Town's theoretical policy goals, and it sucks that so much urbanist discourse is driven by a personalist organization helmed by such a person.
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Owen @oweninvan.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
We need a national inquiry into infrastructure costs, or we're not going to be Building Canada Strong very long. www.cbc.ca/news/cana...
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Owen @oweninvan.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
"The CPP Investments Team that Lost $6 Billion" tps://
youtube.com
Paid Millions to Lose Billions - CPP's Active Equities Team
Read Kaminski's article on CPP's move away from benchmarking, and how employees can influence internal benchmarks: https://mathewkaminski.substack.com/p/tpa-and-the-long-term-view-at-cpp Today, we’re discussing the Active Equities team at CPP Investments. While most people think that CPP manages th
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Reposted by Owen
Brendan Dawe @dawe.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
What we’re seeing nation wide is that the events have conspired to give cities “breathing room” on housing and they are going to mostly squander it across all political tendencies
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3underscores.bsky.social @3underscores.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
New academic study: Inclusionary zoning costs renters $800k per affordable unit created. This is more than the per-unit cost for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program. While LIHTC which is largely funded by the rich via income taxes, IZOs are regressive because they place the burden on renters.
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M. Nolan Gray 🥑 @mnolangray.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
The purpose of American zoning is to put the most people—low- and middle-class families—in the worst locations so that the best locations, the quiet, elevated side streets, can be reserved for a small number of wealthier people. Everything else is just kind of window dressing.
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Gye Incognito @gyeincognito.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
This may go down as the coolest picture I've ever taken. Mt Baker casting a shadow on clouds above during a sunset in 2021.
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Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
After implementing some of the best housing reforms in North America, Edmonton is seeing new 3-bed townhouses for under $2,000 (USD$1,500).
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Gil Penalosa @penalosag.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
What do cities like Oslo, Norway • Helsinki, Finland • Hoboken, NJ, USA, have in common? ZERO DEATHS in TRAFFIC INCIDENTS in 2025! How did they do it? City leaders decided to END killings. Policies + Infra + Programs. Lowered speed • #VisionZero It's doable; not tech or $$ issue, it's POLITICAL!
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Owen @oweninvan.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
There should be a provincial or federal inquiry into why every infrastructure project is a boondoggle & costs 3x as much as in other countries, & taking responsibility away from Metro should be on the table as part of it.
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Christopher Cheung @bychrischeung.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
📕 VERY VANCOUVER is out! It's an odyssey through backyard gardens, alley bottle hoards, eateries like Duffin's and east-side family life beyond our pretty skylines and granola reputation. I hope you enjoy these 15 stories and hanging out with the ~70 larger-than-life figures who lent their voices.
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Ronit Aviva Dancis @ronitadancis.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
If your local town, county or state has a budget deficit, try upzoning. #urbanism #housing
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Owen @oweninvan.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Renovations vs. Construction is an interesting indicator of filtering. If buyers can't find a new home they want, they reno an old one, reducing the supply of depreciated homes, not the supply of new ones. Makes sense that building more drops the lowest rents the fastest.
https://www.pew.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2025/07/31/new-housing-slows-rent-growth-most-for-older-more-affordable-units
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GRIDS Vancouver @grids.reillywood.com · 05/08/2026
dude votes against apartments at the intersection of 2 SkyTrain lines and has the chutzpah to criticize others of being bad on climate stuff, ugh
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M. Nolan Gray 🥑 @mnolangray.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
3. You don't have to pretend like incorrect or baseless claims are anything more, and should call them out; you don't have to engage in "meet in the middle" midwittery. Speak with clarity about what will and won't work; even in 2026, being the person saying the true thing in a sea of BS is power.
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Owen @oweninvan.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Remember that by killing the Villages Plan, Sean, ABC, & "Green" Pete Fry scuttled Complete Communities, an essential Big Move of the Climate Emergency Action Plan. 1000s will commute in cars from exurbs & fossil gas will heat more homes, regardless of what CoV rules say.
SEAN ORR @seanorr.bsky.social.

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Remember as your eyes burn from the smoke today, Ken Sim and ABC voted to allow fracked gas in new builds, cancelled $8 million in climate retrofit grants; voted against funding for cooling kits for people in the Downtown Eastside; and got rid of the climate justice charter.

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Isaac Rowlett @isaacrowlett.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Milwaukee, 2025
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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
What’s happened since? A spike in reckless driving. On Ottawa’s Katimavik Road, 86% of drivers obeyed the limit when cameras were in use. Now just 20% do. In Toronto, the share of vehicles >11 kmh over the limit jumped 4x. In Guelph, the share of cars >15 kmh over has more than tripled.
cbc.ca
Most drivers speeding at 8 former camera sites, city data shows | CBC News
New City of Ottawa data shows that fewer than half of drivers are complying with posted speed limits at eight former speed camera sites in May, months after the province banned automated speed enforce...
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Bram Stolk @bramstolk.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
49th Avenue / Cambie.
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