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Vancouver’s ambitious plan to build affordable housing
Last week, the city of Vancouver announced a sweeping plan to add 72,000 units of housing over ten years in an effort to bring down astronomical rents. The plan would build 12,000 units of “social housing,” rezone to allow townhouses and small apartments buildings in single-family zones, and encourage affordability with higher density bonuses.
Can Portland diversify its city council?
When a former radio journalist announced a run for a Portland city council position, it touched off a firestorm of debate. Portland hasn’t elected a person of color to its council in 25 years, and has never elected a woman of color. So when the young white male journalist entered the field of candidates, which include several black women, including the president of the Portland NAACP, an online debate erupted over whether it’s sometimes appropriate for white male candidates to step aside.
Report on Vancouver, WA oil terminal illustrates risks
A final report from a Washington state energy council outlined environmental risks involved with building a controversial $250 million oil terminal on the Columbia River. The report described frequency of oil train derailments (on average, once every two years) as well as oil spill risks during a major earthquake. The council will announce its formal recommendations Nov. 28 and Gov. Inslee will have 60 days to approve or deny a permit.
BC company’s effort to remove CO2 from atmosphere
Elizabeth Kolbert’s reporting on climate change for the New Yorker has been tireless and first-rate, and in a recent issue, she looks at the controversial and long-shot efforts to develop technology to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Squamish-based company Carbon Engineering, a start-up funded in part by Bill Gates, features prominently. Kolbert finds the technology is in its infancy, and some climate activists claim the effort to pull carbon from the atmosphere distracts from the need to reduce emissions.
Claire Dederer: what to do about art created by monsters?
In the wake of sexual harassment revelations in Hollywood and pretty much every aspect of our society, Seattle-area author Claire Dederer (Love and Trouble) reflects in a fantastic essay about whether we can enjoy films and art created by monstrous men. It’s complicated, Dederer realizes, especially when it comes to Woody Allen. “What is to be done about monsters?” she writes, “Can and should we love their work? Are all ambitious artists monsters? Tiny voice: [Am I a monster?]”
“Love Story,” by Portland poet Marilyn Chin
Marilyn Chin, born in Hong Kong and raised in Portland, has her poem “Love Story” featured as the American Academy of Poet’s Poem a Day. It’s about family and duty in Chinese-American society:
“…Sister dyes pink eggs Auntie boils cider knuckles
The Great Patriarch is happy a bouncy grandson
A bundle of joy from a test tube in heaven…”
That’s all from Cascadia today. Stay dry! ☂️ –Andrew Engelson
Photo credits: Vancouver apartments by Omer Wazir, CC BY-SA 2.0.