Toderian’s 10 Lessons in More Engaging Citizen Engagement”: A confused response

“Engagement Done Well” In a few days, Vancouver planner Brent Toderian will be speaking in Sydney, where last year he was training planning bureaucrats in the NSW State Government in community engagement. His conference topic is “Density Done Well”.  My topic in the preceding session was “Engagement Done Well”, making the point that density done… Continue reading Toderian’s 10 Lessons in More Engaging Citizen Engagement”: A confused response

Vancouver’s EcoDensity Policy: Reflections on Australian Planning’s Cultural Cringe and Cultural Imperialism

Australia‘s “cultural cringe”   One of the challenges of being a “migrant” in Australia is understanding the “cultural cringe” that infects so much of Australian life. I’ve lived and worked here for 45 years and it still puzzles me. For those not familiar with it, it is an internalised inferiority complex that causes us to… Continue reading Vancouver’s EcoDensity Policy: Reflections on Australian Planning’s Cultural Cringe and Cultural Imperialism

All Hell Breaks Loose with Proposed Housing Density Increases in Vancouver!

  All hell is breaking loose in Vancouver. I wish I were there to watch it.   For decades, the so-called Lotus Land has prided itself on its premier status as the most liveable city in the world.     Etc.   And so on.     Visiting Overseas Experts Its retired or retrenched planners… Continue reading All Hell Breaks Loose with Proposed Housing Density Increases in Vancouver!

Local Wisdom about Apartment Storage

  When I lived in Vancouver in 2007, teaching and managing a housing research project at the University of British Columbia, I had several interesting accommodation experiences.   The first one was terrible: a chronically ill middle-aged couple with a dog who was dying of cancer. They slept with the dog and spent all day… Continue reading Local Wisdom about Apartment Storage

Trouble in Paradise: Dual Occupancy at Jarlanbah

March 15, 2010 – 9:59 pm   Trouble in Paradise   Tomorrow evening my neighbours are meeting to decide whether or not to try to ban dual occupancy (commonly called accessory dwelling units: https://www.mass.gov/envir/smart_growth_toolkit/pages/mod-adu.html ) in this eco-village of 43 dwellings on 22 hectares.   The whole process has me mightily confused.   Imagine the… Continue reading Trouble in Paradise: Dual Occupancy at Jarlanbah