Science, technology, politics and dance
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson announced last week with much fanfare that the City of Vancouver has signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbnb to help the city crackdown on illegal short term rentals. I got a hold of the full text of the MOU1)https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fhQagqnZxXHX2DGmAysApgO5xYN0OSaa/view?usp=sharing through a Freedom of Information request. Buried inside the five pages […]
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Yesterday, I demonstrated1)UBC report blaming red tape for housing crisis is based on lobby group report containing demonstrably false numbers that the report3)Growing Pains: Density, economic growth, sustainability and wellbeing in Metro Vancouver by Dr. James Tansey of UBC Sauder School of Business blaming red tape instead of foreign speculators has used a demonstrably false […]
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Dr. James Tansey of UBC Sauder School of Business has just published a study blaming red tape, and not foreign buyers, for Vancouver’s housing affordability crisis1)Growing Pains: Density, economic growth, sustainability and wellbeing in Metro Vancouver. Given that a recent “study” by Prof. Andrey Pavlov of SFU Beedie School of Business turned out to be […]
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Simon Fraser University Professor Andrey Pavlov recently produced a graph with the bold claim that “City of Vancouver currently has the highest property taxes in Canada”. The graph is based on multiplying MLS Detached Benchmark prices by the tax rate1)Prof. Pavlov’s methodology. Cities don’t use MLS Detached Benchmark prices to calculate property taxes. Cities use […]
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Prof. Pavlov has finally published the “methodology”1)Prof. Pavlov’s methodology he used to arrive at the conclusion that “City of Vancouver currently has the highest property taxes in Canada”. Before we examine the methodology, let’s get something out of the way: Prof. Pavlov’s conclusion that “City of Vancouver currently has the highest property taxes in Canada” […]
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Update II: Prof. Pavlov has finally published his materials and methods, almost a month after his graph was published. In the words of great scientist Carl Sagan “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence”, and Prof. Pavlov’s original graph was an extraordinary claim with an extraordinary lack of evidence. But I’m happy that he has finally made […]
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I’ve just filed a complaint against Sutton West Coast over the part they played in disrupting BC Attorney General David Eby’s town hall. Here’s the full text of my complaint: Sutton Group West Coast Realty (“Sutton West Coast”) took out a full page advertisement on Vancouver Courier newspaper published on or about 2018 April 28 […]
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A UCLA study has found that “that a 1% increase in Airbnb listings leads to a 0.018% increase in rents.”. Short term rentals have been illegal in Vancouver until April 18, 2018, but Airbnb listings have grown by over 270% between 2013 and 2018. Applying the UCLA model, Airbnb has lead to a 4.87% rent […]
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