At his only public talk since arriving from San Francisco, Vancouver’s new Director of Planning voiced an ambitious agenda. He said that since our city’s glory days of the 1980’s and ’90’s, “planning has shrunk. We need to be leaders, not just regulators.” He reminded us that the purpose of planning is to answer, “Where do we want to go?” and listed strategies, relations with senior levels of government, architecture, streetscapes, housing, jobs, transportation, regulation, public engagement, and a host of key project areas to focus on.
Mr. Kelley will talk about these in greater detail, but he’s new to Vancouver, and to Canada. He wants to hear from you. What are your interests, priorities, hopes and dreams for the look and feel of our city?
Please join us for the first conversation with Vancouver’s new decision maker, key staffer and implementer. Feel free to bring your lunch.
Registration is not required but seating is limited. Please try to arrive early to ensure a seat.
Thursday, Nov 3
12:30 – 1:30 PM
Room 1900 (Note room change) – SFU Vancouver at Harbour Centre
What an obnoxious power pose pr flack picture. Plebes must bow in obeisance to the mighty planner from afar. Is this the prophet we’ve been waiting for? What a crock.
Looks like a photo Kim Jong would have taken of himself.
It’s not a selfie – it’s a picture taken by Dan Toulgoet for the Courier. Perhaps he was trying to make the picture of the new guy in town more interesting – he seems to like the ‘don’t look at the camera, look up to one side’ shots.
I’m always suspicious of men obsessed with their facial hair. Seriously, why would someone waste their time playing with their goatee – to create a look that represents what?
How can a town that does not have much of any industry and has an administration that is vocal in opposing energy or port industries, expect to grow a new middle class that will be able to afford homes in the city?
Is our tech industry really big enough and rich enough to make the town wealthy, or are we aiming to be a nice clean resort, with lots of service jobs?
We don’t oppose energy and port industries. We oppose last century’s filthy energy industries knowing that we have to give them up soon anyway. We oppose misguided, environmentally damaging port expansions – not all port expansion and modernisation.
Renewable energy projects create more employment than fossil fuels and are growing much much faster. Fossil fuels won’t be around in any meaningful way in fifty years. Renewables certainly will.
Are we aiming to be a resilient city that has a positive vision of the future or one that clings desperately to the declining industries of the past?