Talking Headways Podcast: The Vancouver Model

Former Vancouver chief planner Brent Toderian joins the podcast this week to discuss the best way to do density, what types of cities should take on the Olympics, and what happens to planners after they have kids. Brent also talks about the downsides of both NIMBYism and YIMBYism, and whether you should believe what you read in all those city rankings.

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In Vancouver, Traffic Decreases as Population Rises

By Angie Schmitt |
Can we all just pause for a moment and give Vancouver a standing ovation? The perennial contender for the title of world’s most livable city has accomplished what Houston or Atlanta never even dream of: It has reduced traffic on its major thoroughfares even as its population has swelled. How did the city pull off […]

Fixing a Blank Wall Streetscape With Storefront Retrofits

By Angie Schmitt |
Every city has places where the buildings present a blank face to the sidewalk. A dark, recessed arcade deadening the pedestrian environment or a soulless concrete wall fronting a windswept plaza. Consultant Brent Toderian, formerly the planning director for the city of Vancouver, pointed out a cheap and easy solution to this problem. He calls them […]

How Vancouver Designs Intersections With Bike Lanes to Minimize Conflicts

By Tanya Snyder |
For the last installment of our series previewing the Pro-Walk Pro-Bike Pro-Place conference, which starts Monday in Pittsburgh, I talked to Jerry Dobrovolny, transportation director of the city of Vancouver, BC, about how the city designs intersections where there are protected bike lanes. (The interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.) Members of his […]