I’ve been doing my best to get a somewhat Christmas-y post up each year and for the most part have been successful. The challenging part is honestly finding the time when it is not too early in the month and not too late while also doing all of the other things that need to get done in preparation for Christmas. This year, the holidays did seem to sneak up a little more quickly than they have in previous years though that may be just me getting older. I thought that I would gift all of you another recipe this season, even if it is cutting it close to Christmas. Sponsor Message: Citified is the ..read more

Every morning on my way to work, I walk past The Abbey apartment building as it is slowly chipped away at in preparation for demolition. This isn’t a big surprise, I have written about the building that will replace it. You can read that article here. Compared to a lot of great buildings we have lost in the last few years in Victoria (Pluto's Diner and The Royal Bank Building just to name two) this one is hurting more than those and I have pondered over why that is over the last few months. While I have a biased opinion, I don’t think it is because I am getting old and just don’t like change ..read more

Back in October I co-hosted the inaugural City Talks event. That great night of conversation focused on Downtown Victoria and whether it is currently thriving or dying, which seemingly depends more on your political perspective more than actual data. That said, even just going out for a walk or doing some shopping downtown doesn’t make it necessarily more clear. On the one hand you might see a bunch of new stores and then on the other, you might see a stalwart merchant that has been around for decades closed up. With all of this in mind, when I heard that a new pizza shop was opening up on Gov ..read more

Despite the what you may have heard about modern society, people still like to congregate together. I was reminded of this last week when my wife and I were sitting at the bar at Cafe Brio for our date night and she mentioned how busy it was, despite it still being early. I said at the time and am now reflecting on it, that people do like to be in places with other people. This, of course, includes places outside as well. Whether we want a place to sit on a bench and watch the pedestrians pass by or stand at a focal point where we can meet-up with a friend and have a chat before moving somewhe ..read more

I recently spent a week in Portland Oregon. I hadn’t been down there in about 8 years. I have always had a real fondness for Portland and I think part of the appeal is that in a lot of ways it is very similar to Victoria. I would say that it is kind of like an extra big Victoria and this is especially true when it comes to the myriad of urban nodes that the two cities have. We stayed in North Portland while we were there and literally a half block from where we were staying was a great little urban node along North Killingsworth Street. It had a couple of cafes, a few restaurants, a gym, a yog ..read more

For the longest time, I have wanted to write about alternative attractions or secondary sights in Victoria. To me, it is a sign of a city’s cultural maturity when it not only has a solid list of big attractions, but also an impressive list of secondary places to visit too. If you think of some of the other world cities like Paris or New York, you have your MoMAs or your Louvres, but you also have the Tenement Museum or the Museum of Sewers. In Victoria, we have a growing list of excellent alternative attractions and I will be doing some deep dives into a few of them over the next many weeks. T ..read more

Just a short post today to make sure that all of you are aware that I am co-hosting a panel discussion on Downtown Victoria. The event will be at theDock Co-Working Space on Cormorant Street next Thursday. The event is being put on by myself, Ray Straatsma from the Greater Victoria Placemaking Network and theDock. The event is on October 24, 2024 from 6 - 8. Make sure to read to the end because I am giving away two tickets. Buy Event Tickets Here! Sponsor Message: Citified is the most comprehensive resource for researching a new-build home or commercial space in metro Victoria and southern Van ..read more

We are spoiled in Victoria by the number of great eateries we have all over the city. One of my favourite things to do, especially if I have had a particularly challenging morning at work, is to venture out and get a little something sweet after my lunch. The great thing is that I don’t need to go far to find something delicious and amazing. I know there has been some focus recently, on some of the closures we have seen and one of them, Tombo, would have been on this list if they hadn’t closed last month. Still, there are so many other options that are there waiting for you to walk through the ..read more

Don’t worry I know what your first question is. What is a 'Sponge City'? A few days ago I was listening to the Urbanist (which is a great podcast that you really should be listening to as well) and they had on Kongjian Yu, a Chinese landscape architect who is credited with popularizing the idea of the sponge city. Now, I have a fairly good understanding of modern water management practices, but had never heard the specific term 'sponge city' before. This has led me down a deep rabbit hole over the last number of days and got me thinking about how it could and should apply to Victoria. So, a sp ..read more

Just a short blog post for you today. I know the articles have been a little sporadic, but that is summer for you. Hopefully as we get closer to fall, I will have more time for writing. You may have heard about a new development coming to the Fernwood Village. Just west of the square City Council has reviewed a new development at 1276-78 Gladstone Avenue. You can read the Times Colonist article on the project here. I think that it still needs to get final approval with Council, but it has passed the Committee of the Whole. I have long advocated for expanding the commercial extent of our urban ..read more