GRIDS Vancouver

GRIDS Vancouver

@grids.reillywood.com

An account for Reilly Wood's bad takes about cities. My good takes about computers are over at @reillywood.com

2.3K followers1.1K following2.7K posts

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Belated "who am I?" thread: Hi! I'm Reilly, you might know me from this old tweet: "The majority of Vancouver's land is zoned for residential use but forbids apartment buildings."

GRIDS Vancouver reposted

Before (2021) / After (2026) Place Saint-Gervais, Paris Centre. In 2025, a memorial garden commemorating the November 2015 terrorist attacks was created on the former parking. Note it’s rare to find an old photo of such an unremarkable place back then ! It is from Wikimedia Commons, taken by Chabe01

GRIDS Vancouver reposted

My god, Nordstrom is turning into an Aritzia/Simons/Uniqlo, it's like retail voltron

Kenneth Chan@iamkennethchan.bsky.social

JUST IN... #Uniqlo will finally open a Downtown Vancouver flagship store. It will occupy a portion of the former Nordstrom at CF Pacific Centre mall, joining Aritzia and Simons. #vancre #retail dailyhive.com/vancouver/un...

2024: “What the province has done doesn’t make any sense,” Keithley said. “The Brentwood area has too much density already; it does not need anymore. So we have to find a way to help this neighbourhood out. … We’ve got to find a way to get this done and stop these huge buildings being built there.”

GRIDS Vancouver reposted

It's a new Stone Age in London, with stone apartment buildings and a stone demonstrator exhibit showing how it's done. Because it is silly to grind up limestone, cook it, and then add water to turn it into... stone. We could be doing a lot more of this in Canada- we are made of rock.

lloydalter.substack.comThe Stone Demonstrator shows us how to build for a New Stone AgeWhy grind up rock to make concrete when you can use natural materials like wood and stone?

thinking about Japanese slant plane restrictions. Buildings must slope down toward the north to avoid blocking neighbours' sunlight. even aside from the outcome, I like that it's a simple, fast rule-based approach that scales; doesn't require shadow studies and lots of applicants'+planners' time

The big question for the next 4 years is "how much do the BC Cons cater to the chud part of their base when governing?" and I don't think anyone knows the answer right now

GRIDS Vancouver reposted

One of tonight's story is a lot of former B.C. Liberal organizers who thought the party had become too conspiratorial minded or focused on their most passionate supporters took control of the party, told online influencers to pound sand and support One B.C. if they so dared, and were vindicated

GRIDS Vancouver reposted

Congratulations to Lorne Doerkson on becoming B.C.’s next premier. Serving this province has been the honour of a lifetime. I am so proud of the progress we've made and everything we've done together to make B.C. a stronger, fairer, more caring place. Thank you, British Columbia.

GRIDS Vancouver reposted

IT'S OFFICIAL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 93 YEARS, THE B.C. CONSERVATIVE PARTY WILL LEAD THIS PROVINCE CBC IS PROJECTING A MAJORITY GOVERNMENT LORNE DOERKSON GOES FROM AN UNKNOWN MLA TO THE NEXT PREMIER OF BRITISH COLUMBIA IN FIVE WEEKS

Happy Friday! Near Kits Beach:

Discretionary Vancouver@discretionary-yvr.bsky.social

Rezoning: 2158-2170 W 1st Ave: 26-storey mixed-use, 8.73 FSR, 121 market rental units (20% below-market), 99 hotel rooms, ground-floor commercial. https://engagevancouver.ca.engagementhq.com/2158-2170-w-1-ave-3

(to be clear, the masters thesis is incoherent, the quote is pretty good) My guess is one of the Vision councillors. The point about timing is astute; councillors don't have a ton of incentive to approve things that only pay off after their 4 years term. One big reason to speed things up IMO

GRIDS Vancouver reposted

at no point in Vancouver's history could you escape real estate being the only thing anyone ever talks about (1910, from "The Ambitious City: A History of the City of North Vancouver")

TIL that the Oakridge development was required to have a private car share service with 42 cars (70 at full build out)... what the heck?

Discretionary Vancouver@discretionary-yvr.bsky.social

Rezoning: 650 W 41st Ave (Oakridge): CD-1 amendment to remove parking minimums and shared e-bike requirements, and cut car share provisions. https://engagevancouver.ca.engagementhq.com/650-w-41-ta

putting the substantive issues aside, this sounds funny coming from former attorney general Lawyer McLawyerson

David Eby@davidebybc.bsky.social

My dad was a lawyer, and he used to tell me: no matter what happens, lawyers always win. And if the Conservatives bring personal injury lawyers back into our car insurance system, that’s exactly what will happen. The Conservatives want the lawyers to win big and they want you to pay for it.

regarding the substantive issues: - old system really was bad, people scammed it a lot - new system is also very bad, basically designed to let drivers skimp on insurance

Interesting, someone's swinging for the fences (single-stair building on a single-family lot, using the provincial Transit Oriented Area for cover). One to watch (and please write in in support).

Discretionary Vancouver@discretionary-yvr.bsky.social

Rezoning: 2150 W 16th Ave: 6-storey, 100% market rental building, 24 units, 2.89 FSR. Rezoning from R1-1 to CD-1. https://engagevancouver.ca.engagementhq.com/2150-w-16-ave