Arbutus

Any arbutus growing in Vancouver is not an "accident" of Nature but a willful effort on the part of its planter. This tree (technically a vine) is difficult to establish, owing to a root system that shuts down when exposed to too much water. Hence the prevalence of arbutuses growing out of rock crevices. For those trying to establish an arbutus, a downward slope is essential.

I watched the former resident at the NE corner of East 18th Avenue and Clark Drive make two attempts at establishing what is now a mature arbutus. When the resident left and the house was slated for demo, I worried it might suffer the same fate as an arbutus across the street, when it was cut down seven years ago to make way for profit. Thankfully the City was watching over this particular arbutus, not to mention a builder who, at some expense, did everything possible to ensure that this tree would survive.

Retention

Re-enforcements were called in to the site of the former Burritt Bros Building at the NE corner of Main and 20th. Not sure what the plan is here, if these supports will be visible to those parking underneath or if they will be buried.

Rize and Shine?

At 2AM on Christmas Day, 2009, fire ravaged a building at the corner of Kingsway and Broadway, destroying seven ground floor businesses and a number of artist studios above that. If I was to set fire to a building in the hope of burning it down, I could not think of a better time to do so.

Eventually the rubble was cleared and an information park was installed by the new land owners as they waited to sell the City on their proposal for a tower complex, what is known today as The Rize.

The video above provides some information of its own on The Rize, not only the "process" but what this complex will feel like once installed. Where in the previous post leopard spots were used to show the presence of Brutopia, this video uses purple.

Kingsgate Mall

A resident of the Kensington-Cedar Cottage area in which I live has apprised neighbourhood listserve subscribers of a pro-community consultation rally tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. on the steps of City Hall. Although her motivation is based on the "Little Saigon" designation, a larger one looms: the proposed development of that most eccentric and wholly affordable of marketplaces -- Kingsgate Mall.

Readers of Kerry Gold's Globe and Mail article (see link) will notice not a news story but a halftone profile of Ryan Beedie, son of Beedie Group founder Keith Beedie. While I am hopeful that Gold's article marks the first of a series on the Kingsgate proposal (articles that include the voices of area workers, residents and social housing advocates), I have my doubts. Gold's real estate beat tends more towards affirmation than balance. Reading her these past few years you would think she is an embedded publicist for Rennie Marketing Systems.