Brendan Dawe
@dawe.bsky.social
Your friendly neighbourhood Vancouverite
Housing abundance enthusiast. Planning & Real Estate Consultant.
Vive le Canada. Elbows Up
Housing abundance enthusiast. Planning & Real Estate Consultant.
Vive le Canada. Elbows Up
It all sorta worked as long as the workhorse for accommodating housing demand was paving over farm fields and clearing forests somewhere out of mind and out of town.
In Vancouver we have a generation of planners who did good work stopping freeways, densifying downtown, and rebuilding industrial sites
…but they’ve been wholly silent about their role perpetuating exclusionary single family zoning amidst an extraordinary land value bubble.
This is “Vancouverism”
…but they’ve been wholly silent about their role perpetuating exclusionary single family zoning amidst an extraordinary land value bubble.
This is “Vancouverism”
If the worst single-family house in your n’hood costs over $1 million, then your n’hood should be zoned for apartment buildings.
(It’s pretty much that simple)
(It’s pretty much that simple)
December 29, 2025 at 12:19 AM
It all sorta worked as long as the workhorse for accommodating housing demand was paving over farm fields and clearing forests somewhere out of mind and out of town.
Hear me out: Knight street container gondola
🧠: gondolas for ski
🧠🧠: gondolas for urban transit
🧠🧠🧠🤯: gondolas for apples
The gondola connecting the central treatment hub of the largest apple producers consortium in Italy to the underground storage facility.
Opened last November.
🧠🧠: gondolas for urban transit
🧠🧠🧠🤯: gondolas for apples
The gondola connecting the central treatment hub of the largest apple producers consortium in Italy to the underground storage facility.
Opened last November.
December 28, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Hear me out: Knight street container gondola
A hazard to navigation
December 28, 2025 at 8:29 PM
A hazard to navigation
Say what you will about the Cowichan decision but the economic damage is mostly going to be from the telephone tag version that business people are hearing about rather than any actual implication of the ruling or any of the principles invoked
December 28, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Say what you will about the Cowichan decision but the economic damage is mostly going to be from the telephone tag version that business people are hearing about rather than any actual implication of the ruling or any of the principles invoked
I think you’re tryin’ a little too hard their bud. Dial it back a wee bit
December 28, 2025 at 2:09 AM
I think you’re tryin’ a little too hard their bud. Dial it back a wee bit
I find it underdiscussed how much worse service is (as well as how much worse ridership is, not unrelatedly but also not necessarily consequentially) since Covid
Hot take:
The transit in Vancouver has lower frequency, shorter span of service, and frequent trip cancellations.
The bike share system has paltry coverage, dated technology, and absurd pricing
Toronto's sheer frequency, availability, and coverage of its transport systems makes it far superior.
The transit in Vancouver has lower frequency, shorter span of service, and frequent trip cancellations.
The bike share system has paltry coverage, dated technology, and absurd pricing
Toronto's sheer frequency, availability, and coverage of its transport systems makes it far superior.
December 27, 2025 at 2:16 AM
I find it underdiscussed how much worse service is (as well as how much worse ridership is, not unrelatedly but also not necessarily consequentially) since Covid
Whether you work in metric or imperial is highly context specific. For instance, real estate and construction are extremely imperial
The only true way is the Canadian way
(As much as I wish it was a joke, it is in fact not one and this is exactly how it works here)
(As much as I wish it was a joke, it is in fact not one and this is exactly how it works here)
December 26, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Whether you work in metric or imperial is highly context specific. For instance, real estate and construction are extremely imperial
a jolly boxing day to the rest of you
December 26, 2025 at 5:32 PM
a jolly boxing day to the rest of you
Reposted by Brendan Dawe
since we’re on creationism as a topic, here’s a grenade into the discourse: attributing conscious intentionality to social forces like capitalism is in many ways a form of creationism or at least adjacent to it
December 26, 2025 at 6:57 AM
since we’re on creationism as a topic, here’s a grenade into the discourse: attributing conscious intentionality to social forces like capitalism is in many ways a form of creationism or at least adjacent to it
Chinook salmon in phyllo with spinach cheese sauce
December 26, 2025 at 3:29 AM
Chinook salmon in phyllo with spinach cheese sauce
As long as we’re not afflicting new housing with the cost of this sure knock yourselves out, float all the old houses up province where they can run and play
December 25, 2025 at 9:22 PM
As long as we’re not afflicting new housing with the cost of this sure knock yourselves out, float all the old houses up province where they can run and play
There's something in this history that speaks to the frivolous aesthetic priorities of Oughts-Era Canadian Urbanism
I have not been shy on my coverage of transit issues in Toronto. With the disastrous opening of the Finch West LRT in early December, I have some thoughts from Hong Kong using my historical experiences with Toronto in this longform post.
The Toronto Tragedy
多倫多啲電車男係唔係太過份?
open.substack.com
December 25, 2025 at 1:24 PM
There's something in this history that speaks to the frivolous aesthetic priorities of Oughts-Era Canadian Urbanism
Reposted by Brendan Dawe
I have not been shy on my coverage of transit issues in Toronto. With the disastrous opening of the Finch West LRT in early December, I have some thoughts from Hong Kong using my historical experiences with Toronto in this longform post.
The Toronto Tragedy
多倫多啲電車男係唔係太過份?
open.substack.com
December 25, 2025 at 7:43 AM
I have not been shy on my coverage of transit issues in Toronto. With the disastrous opening of the Finch West LRT in early December, I have some thoughts from Hong Kong using my historical experiences with Toronto in this longform post.
Merry Christmas everyone!
December 25, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Merry Christmas everyone!
Reposted by Brendan Dawe
the funniest part of this thread is the kitsilano people at the bottom disputing the "west end is canada's greatest neighbourhood"
As a resident of Canada's Greatest Neighbourhood, I am often thinking about ways it could be better
December 24, 2025 at 6:35 AM
the funniest part of this thread is the kitsilano people at the bottom disputing the "west end is canada's greatest neighbourhood"
some of my favorite photos from 2025
December 24, 2025 at 6:19 AM
some of my favorite photos from 2025
ok so the ai rendering of a basic pedestrian plaza at 700 Denman is not half bad
December 24, 2025 at 5:24 AM
ok so the ai rendering of a basic pedestrian plaza at 700 Denman is not half bad
As a resident of Canada's Greatest Neighbourhood, I am often thinking about ways it could be better
December 24, 2025 at 3:08 AM
As a resident of Canada's Greatest Neighbourhood, I am often thinking about ways it could be better
I am begging the Canadian political class to try and think of something to do about foreign social media beyond 'tax it'
Do we have some kind of "fuck the US" working group yet
This may not be the threat he thinks it is.
December 24, 2025 at 3:04 AM
I am begging the Canadian political class to try and think of something to do about foreign social media beyond 'tax it'
Good Afternoon from God’s Own Metropolis
December 23, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Good Afternoon from God’s Own Metropolis
The Vancouver Parks Board has been continuing to fly this very large, storm-damaged flag at Vanier Park for a week today @parkboard.bsky.social
December 23, 2025 at 6:23 PM
The Vancouver Parks Board has been continuing to fly this very large, storm-damaged flag at Vanier Park for a week today @parkboard.bsky.social