Category: Downtown and Urban Fabric
-
Thank you Victoria, and Looking Ahead
For those of you who followed me as mayor and would like to continue to follow my blog, thank you. To those of you who no longer wish to hear from me now that I’m no longer mayor, thanks for reading over the years; please unsubscribe if you wish. It’s been an enormous privilege to…
-
Council Summer Wrap Up – Housing, Bike Lanes, Sports Fields, and More
Thursday was our last Council meeting before a summer recess, and it was a long one! It was probably one of the most exciting days in my almost-decade at the Council table in terms of big moves that lay the ground work for the future. Here’s a synopsis of the key decisions and, where applicable,…
-
Cautious Optimism for Victoria’s Economic Recovery: Building Back Victoria, by the Numbers
This past week, we turned a corner on COVID-19 as a province. As Dr. Henry laid out our new freedoms in Step 2 of the re-opening plan, she said we may need to go slow moving forward. But she also said – that with more than three-quarters of B.C.’s adult population vaccinated with one dose…
-
2021: Here’s to Hope … and Hard Work
As we awoke on January 1 2020, COVID-19 was a world away. Our economy was one of the strongest in the country; our downtown was thriving. Few of us could have anticipated the toll the pandemic would take on our seniors, health care workers, small businesses, people without homes, governments, on each and every one…
-
City of Victoria Supports Businesses in Restart and Reopening
Facebook live address, Friday May 22nd. We’ll be back Friday May 29th at 1pm. This week, the Province initiated Phase Two of their recovery plan and coffee shops, boutique retailers, and shopping centres around Victoria have started the process of reopening to the public. The City has been collaborating with the Downtown Victoria Business Association,…
-
Wharf Street Pedestrian and Cycling Improvements Open Today – Ahead of Schedule and Under Budget
This fellow and others can now legally and safely use the lanes! A segment of Victoria’s newest protected bike lanes along Wharf Street open for public use today. The phased opening will start from the Johnson Street Bridge to Fort Street and includes the pedestrian scramble crosswalk adjacent to the Victoria Visitor Centre. The section…
-
Compact living doesn’t shrink quality of life
Photos from inside a new apartment building in downtown Victoria. This building was approved in 2012 – the first new rental building approved in the City in the last 30 years. There have been questions from certain corners of our community on the need for rapid densification – why do we need so many new…
-
Victoria to remain a human-scale city
I’ve been reading the news headlines lately: “Victoria’s skyline could soon be reaching higher” and “Vancouver-esque’ 989 climbs downtown skyline”. The latter article states, “The Harris Green strip continues to grow as Cox Development’s $75-million, two-tower condo development climbs the skyline at 989 Johnson St., hoping to shake the design restrictions set by the city.”…
-
Where to Park in our Downtown
From the Downtown Victoria Business Association FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Last week, the complexities of transportation editorial launched what the DVBA is currently partnered and working on. The initial 28 action items have now grown to 31 and we are working diligently to bring some or all of the ideas to fruition. Part one was to…
