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Instead of asking what should be built, Barbara Buser asks what can be saved By: Michaela Haas July 20, 2026 Reprinted with permission from the following website: Reasons to be Cheerful Swiss architect Barbara Buser has spent decades proving that the greenest building is often the one already standing. When one unscrews a section of the bright red sheet metal façade from K.118, a former carpentry factory in Winterthur, Switzerland, the interior reveals something few people ex

A commentary by an architect and urban design planner who has worked for more than 30 years in downtown Victoria Throughout Greater Victoria, more - and more diverse - housing is becoming a collective regional agenda, but care for urban quality and contextual scale should be integral to that quest. Continue gathering a healthy concentration of downtown growth, but there is no need for emphasis on excessive vertical tall towers. Keep to moderation, and foster vital streetscape

The biggest public backlashes against Victoria City Council (2023–2026 term) centred on a few recurring themes that generated the highest public anger, media coverage, and engagement across X (Twitter) and Facebook: Short-term rental (STR) restrictions (especially 2023–2024 provincial alignment and local implementation): Landlords, hosts, and tourism advocates saw it as economic harm and scapegoating. CHEK News coverage of delay motions drew thousands of views and dozens of r

In Greater Victoria’s rush to embrace “missing middle” housing, multiplexes have been marketed as the Goldilocks solution: not too big, not too small, and just affordable enough, if at all, for the elusive middle‑income household. But when you examine the actual strata fees, operating budgets, and developer practices behind these new buildings, a very different picture emerges. What looks like affordability on paper is often a carefully engineered illusion, one that shifts lo

Bill 44 must be repealed because it represents a sweeping, top‑down restructuring of land‑use authority pushed through without public consultation and municipal partnership. It is, put simply, a governance bypass: a bill that strips away public hearings, sidelines elected councils, and replaces community‑driven planning with a one‑size‑fits‑all mandate drafted behind closed doors. Back in 2023, when the most invasive Housing Bills were pushed through, several opposition MLAs

British Columbia’s sweeping housing reforms and land‑use overhaul were introduced and passed months before the Province publicly declared a “middle‑income housing crisis” in February 2024 with the launch of BC Builds. This is when the provincial government formally asserted that “middle‑income housing crisis” required direct state intervention. This means the most aggressive zoning, density, and municipal‑power‑limiting legislation in B.C.’s history was justified after the fa

Bill 44 delivers guaranteed density and instant land‑value inflation to developers and speculators, while handing residents the bill. It accelerates upzoning without requiring affordability, infrastructure investment, or accountability, fueling speculation instead of housing. Municipalities are left scrambling to fund the roads, sewers, parks, and emergency services this density demands, and Saanich’s tax spikes are the proof: public budgets absorb the costs while private act

Between January 1 and December 18, 2025, Cadboro Bay has faced an unprecedented assault on its natural heritage. In less than a year, active permits now threaten 168 trees - ranging from protective Arbutus and Garry Oaks to majestic Pines, Cedars, Cypresses, Dogwoods, Willows, Robinias, and Cherry trees. Only four permits were denied, all tied to single-family dwellings, but the reprieve is negligible: at least 30 trees have already been cut down in favour of multiplex develo

Setbacks in Saanich’s single‑family areas are often dismissed as technical zoning details, yet they are one of the most powerful tools shaping the municipality’s character, ecological health, and quality of life. Far from outdated, setbacks remain essential to preserving the green, spacious, and safe neighbourhoods that define Saanich. In a moment of rapid policy change and densification pressure, it is worth remembering why setbacks exist, and why they matter. Setbacks prote

Please see the following analysis on the loss of affordable housing across Canada: https://chec-ccrl.ca/filling-the-hole/ People instinctively know that things have become worse in the last number of years. Here is an analysis that shows this to be true. Councillor Dave Thompson stated in the Times Colonist on March 9, 2025 that "This is why it’s important that council has approved about 7,000 new homes since the beginning of our term. New housing reduces competition for