Category: Urbanism

We Won! Common Sense Prevails in ‘Bus Dad’ Case.

Today, the BC Court of Appeal released their reasons for judgment in my case against BC’s Ministry of Children & Family Development. In short, the Court allowed our appeal and we won. The Court declared the order made by the…

Parking! What is it good for?

Each new underground parking spot costs between $50,000 and $100,000 to construct – costs that get added directly onto the price of your new apartment or condo, critically reducing affordability in already pricey new buildings

Vancouver Election Guides

For those of you in Vancouver, we go to the polls tomorrow (Saturday, October 20th). I am running as an Independent for Vancouver City Council. Check out my campaign site or a JPEG of my platform, below. If you’re confused…

We’re Going to the BC Supreme Court!

I’m Adrian Crook, a single father of five kids living in a condo in downtown Vancouver and an Independent Vancouver City Council candidate in this October’s election. In April of 2017, British Columbia’s Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD)…

Want To Help Me Run For City Council? Here’s How.

DUDE … after watching @kirstendirksen ‘s Vlog post last night how can you not be the wise choice for a sound and sustainable future for Vancouver. https://t.co/EYPbWniu5l — Chris Istace (@Stasher_BC) April 9, 2018 Those kind words from a Twitter…

Do I Force This Lifestyle on My Kids?

An interesting thing happened last week. Perhaps a milestone in notoriety for this site, or merely a part of its evolution. I’m still deciding which. CTV, one of Canada’s national broadcasters, airs “The Social,” one of those midday panel chat…

Adrian on CBC TV, a Podcast and YouTube

Apologies for the extended absence. It was a busy summer, as parents the world over understand. We managed to do some car-free camping on Saltspring Island and the kids attended three different summer camps concurrently, walking and aqua-busing their own…

Open House: A Video Tour of the Condo

Just last week the Georgia Straight – the main weekly arts and culture paper here in Vancouver – did a video interview with me as part of their “Open House” series. Open House is a new feature aimed at looking inside…

In Support of Purpose-Built Rental Housing for Families

At last night’s Vancouver City Council meeting, I spoke in favour of a development that would add 110 secured rental housing units at 18th and Commercial (a primarily detached house neighbourhood in Vancouver, outside of the city core). 37% of the…

How My Kids Learned To Cook Dinner

The demise of a long term relationship is always a great time to take stock of how you’re embracing life. Even notwithstanding that, I was long overdue for a hard look at how I was living versus how I wanted to…

Opportunity Cost: Suburbia’s Expensive Secret

I just got back from doing another interview on the high price of Vancouver living. Everyone’s fixated on the ever-escalating sticker price of Vancouver real estate. From high real estate costs ($2.5M for the average West Side home) to the…

Car-Free and Carefree in Vancity

I’ve got five kids, and in today’s one-kid society this means I get a lot of unsolicited advice that starts with “You’ve got five kids! You can’t possibly do [fill in the blank].” This is especially true when it comes…

Teaching Our Kids Transit

These days it’s common to hear people of a certain age (my age, let’s be honest) waxing nostalgic about the old days. We walked to school alone, rode our bike for miles, played until well past sundown, lit everything on…

Reader Mail: Owning Your House vs Renting

Hi, I saw your article and it was a pleasant read. I just have one question for you. I agree with you completely with renting a house being cheaper (saving more money) than buying. But everybody I speak with thinks…