Peter Waldkirch
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pwaldkirch.bsky.social
Peter Waldkirch
@pwaldkirch.bsky.social
1.8K followers 270 following 840 posts
Likes: Star Trek, the accordion
Hates: the housing crisis

Abundant Housing Vancouver: ahvan.org
My website: pwaldkirch.ca
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pwaldkirch.bsky.social
We're all laughing at this, but irl NIMBYs have destroyed more cities than Godzilla, just sayin'!
October 31, 2025 at 5:17 PM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
My favourite de-aging tech: a different haircut and clothes (I'm 100% serious the flashbacks in Better Call Saul were perfect)
October 23, 2025 at 7:18 PM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
This is from the city's info boards on the draft UDP, which is basically just the latest step in the Vancouver Plan, which started in 2019 and has achieved nothing so far, and I'm just really struggling to believe that anyone in the planning dept actually believes we're in a housing crisis
October 17, 2025 at 6:01 PM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
I'm a simple man. I see a graphic novel adaptation of Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis, I buy a graphic novel adaptation of Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis.
October 11, 2025 at 3:21 AM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
Yes, that's right! The problem is that the provincial SSMUH (multiplex) legislation only applies to "restricted zones", and the def of "restricted zone" is based solely on number of units. (The 1st image is the old def; the 2nd the new.)
October 9, 2025 at 10:13 PM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
The DM be like
October 9, 2025 at 6:53 AM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
Ok it passes! Sean Orr abstained which I find hilarious. looooooooool
October 7, 2025 at 6:57 PM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
October 3, 2025 at 9:18 PM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
What am I missing. This is from Vancouver's RM-9 zone: the density was "calibrated for freehold rowhouses and townhouses".

But...freehold rowhouses aren't allowed in the CoV! Why would they calibrate anything to something that isn't allowed? Were the planners just feeling particularly Kafkaesque??
4.11 Dwelling Unit Density The Districts Schedules place a limit to the density of dwelling units permitted for each development site, based on site size and floor area. The intent is to encourage developments to include dwelling units large enough to accommodate families. The Dwelling Unit Density is calibrated for freehold rowhouses and townhouses – developments that typically require internal staircases, which may displace floor area that could otherwise be dedicated to living areas (e.g. bedrooms, living rooms). As such, an increase for projects above 1.2 FSR should only be considered for developments that provide single-storey dwelling units, where a majority of units are accessible by a shared elevator (i.e. 4-storey apartment buildings). This permission will nevertheless be dependent on design criteria set out in the Guidelines including: number of 2- and 3-bedroom units; dwelling unit size and liveability; opportunity for cross- ventilation; and provision of useable private open space.
October 3, 2025 at 9:03 PM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
One Battle After Another is brilliant, PTA's most pressingly timely film. Go see this in the theatres if you can.

And damn, what a score.
September 25, 2025 at 5:41 AM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
Last week ABC's Brian Montague engaged in some seriously unprofessional conduct at city council. This is just a clip of a larger series of interruptions.

This sorts of bullying shouldn't be tolerated in civic business.
September 23, 2025 at 1:18 AM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
Rebecca Bligh just announced she wants to be Mayor.

She's had some ups and downs as councilor, but I'll always remember her Shaughnessy votes: voting against rental townhomes there (citing the "iconic look" of its hedges) and against OneCity's motion to legalize more housing in Shaughnessy.
…while Rebecca Bligh of the NPA said she was also influenced by the fact that the townhouse project would damage the “iconic look” of Granville Street with its large single-family homes and tall hedges and oak trees.
September 22, 2025 at 5:06 PM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
This has gotta be one of the most bloodthirsty little girls in cinema. Anyways this movie rules
September 19, 2025 at 3:38 AM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
Caroline...!

CAROLIIIIIIIIIIINE!!!

(Ninja in the Claws of the CIA (1981))
September 19, 2025 at 3:26 AM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
Lenny's response to OneCity is really too much.

It was obvious what happened: Ken Sim and ABC looked at a motion to legalize 6 floor apts by bike routes and parks, and they sent it to bureaucratic nowheresville. No timeline, no goals, nowhere.

Where's the urgency from ABC on the housing crisis?!
September 18, 2025 at 5:15 PM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
Montague just called this, from Lucy Maloney, "ridiculous".

It's amazing how unprofessional and bullying he acts when he bothers to show up to council!
September 17, 2025 at 9:15 PM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
Tonight's public hearing was about implementing existing policy. All it did was bring some zoning into compliance with existing policy.

And one of the opponents said--and this is a quote: "What atrocities will we have to live with, forever?"
September 17, 2025 at 5:19 AM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
Here are my notes for my comments.
I’m here to support. A big part of the reason we’re in a housing crisis Is that housing has become so difficult to build. And a big part of that is that our entire planning and approval process depends on discretionary approvals. This paradigm was established in the 1970s And ever since then our housing production has been about 40% less per capita than it was before we embraced this discretionary approach. And we’ve been accumulating an accumulating housing shortage ever since then. Until now we’re in a severe crisis caused by a housing shortage. So getting back to a place where we actually zone for the housing we want instead of going through discretionary processes is key. And this is a big step towards that. So I strongly support it. But I do want to point out there are some real problems here, and that reflecting upon those problems I think can be very instructive about why we’re in a housing crisis. First, this is still based on a discretionary approval process. And I mean “discretionary” here in the legal sense of the word. A rezoning is a discretionary decision made by politicians. And a development permit is a discretionary decision made by planners. That’s an improvement. It’s a step in the right direction. But it’s still not by-right housing.lol The only housing you can build by-right in Vancouver are single family homes and duplexes. And so long as that is true housing will be scarce and expensive. Second, I cringe every time I hear the word “pre-zoning” The fact that this is treated as something unusual really shows how dysfunctional our housing system is. Zoning an area for the housing it should have is the whole point of zoning. That’s why they call it…zoning. It’s in the name. ZONES. And yet we’re so used to zoning individual buildings that this seems like innovation. Vancouver’s first zoning plan had 10 zones. I sometimes ask people how many they think we have now. They sometimes say oh 40? 80? As if that’s ludicrous. We have over 900 legally distinct zones in the City of Vancouver. So yeah this is good but, can we ban the word “pre-zone” please? Third, there are viability concerns here. The Coriolis report noted real viability concerns with this zoning. So a lot of what you’re planning for tonight will never get built. Maybe there will be some tweak down the road But this really highlights how slow and unresponsive our planning system is. We spent years fighting over these small changes in these highly divisive hearings. And in the end nothing really changes. We have a housing shortage of over 100,000 homes. Duplexes produce a couple hundred homes a year Multiplexes produce a couple hundred homes a year The off arterial SRP is dead Apartments are still banned on about 80% of Vancouver’s residential land. Dunbar and Shaughnessy and West Point Grey look basically the same way they did 60 years ago The West Side remains mostly frozen in amber. This council claims to be pro-housing But housing production is down. I have a simple question for the politicians and the planners in this room. Where is the urgency? Does anyone in chambers actually believe we’re in a housing crisis? Because I don’t see it. I don’t see any sense of urgency from this city. So I support this but I don’t think anyone should be giving themselves a big pat on the back for this.
September 17, 2025 at 4:55 AM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
She goes on to ask: "What atrocities will we have to go on to live with, forever?"

yes...that is an actual quote said at a public hearing for a by-law change to bring zoning into compliance with existing policy
September 17, 2025 at 4:43 AM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
next up is Stephen Bohus, who opposes virtually everything and does those hilarious renders
September 17, 2025 at 4:04 AM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
Chengyan is pro-housing tbc. He gave a short but powerful speech in support of this rezoning.

Next up, an opponent. "Vancouver is renowned for its beauty. The towers are destroying neighbourhoods, and the ambience."

She's getting into "towers are inherently anti-social and damaging stuff"...
September 17, 2025 at 3:09 AM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
"Don't sell out to developers and foreigners" ... "to sell empty homes to foreigners who don't participate in the city"

That's the housing discourse in Vancouver for ya gang.
September 17, 2025 at 3:01 AM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
oh god I tuned out for a bit and tuned in to this person saying "expo ruined Vancouver", how British rule in Hong Kong meant we "let all those people and money flow in" and that helped "ruin Vancouver" and ugh the evening has taken a turn for the xenophobic
September 17, 2025 at 2:58 AM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
Next up, another opponent. "The towers are too tall, specifically when off-Broadway in low-rise neighbourhoods."
September 17, 2025 at 2:51 AM
pwaldkirch.bsky.social
Whoa next up is a "Peter V". I often use "Peter W" so I'm curious who this counterpart is.

"I'm happy to see people building housing...but we need parking too."
September 17, 2025 at 2:51 AM