This is a selection of recent popular blog articles from VancouverIAM where you will find the best blogs from Vancouver, BC as well as video uploads, social networking, rumors, and blog authoring

Homeless Couple Catches on Fire

Jamie Hamilton, blogging on Old Town News, reports on the tragic news that while trying to stay warm in a doorway, a homeless couple “caught on fire--most likely due to a malfunctioning camper stove which was being used to protect them from the cold.” The couple “ran into an intersection at 5th and Columbia, on fire, crying out for help.” One of them “now hovers near death” and the other one is most likely “scarred for life.”

Hamilton writes that this sad event only serves to reinforce that “as a society we are continuing to fail those most vulnerable and at-risk.” There are many reasons for homelessness, but we know that “a major contributing factor” is the “widespread indifference and neglect to the plight of those less fortunate in our City.” She notes in her post that the city council was debating yesterday about “whether we need more shelters for the homeless. There seemed to be agreement that yes we do but this serious problem then became bogged down in politics.” Vision and NPA, “warring factions” on the council, began to shamelessly blame each other, arriving at no solutions.

Canucks’ Current Record Worse Than Last Fall

Canuck’s Hockey Blog celebrates its 1,000th post, even through the Canucks have nothing to celebrate after last night’s loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. After their two wins against the New York teams at the start of the year, “the Canucks have won just twice more (both against St. Louis). As crappy as we thought their 5-7 record in October was, their 4-7-1 record in January was one point worse.” They just can’t seem to pull it together.

Our blogger notes in his post that Alex Burrows had a solid game, but not many others did. “Taylor Pyatt has been the best Canuck over the past few games. Maybe Mattias Ohlund too. Both were okay last night.” The Sedins maintained some pressure “but didn't have many scoring chances.” Luc Bourdon was inconsistent. “Overall, however, it's been a while… since the Canucks have played the proverbial 60-minute game.”

Translink to Purchase 141 Hybid Buses

A quick note from Stephen Rees’s Blog announces that “Translink is going to buy 141 Nova hybrids for $81.5 million.”  Some are expansion buses but most (109) are replacements. The buses will be “allocated to Vancouver and Burnaby, displacing some older diesels to Surrey.” These types of buses “work best in stop and go traffic” as braking regenerates the power stored in the battery.

The post notes that “at a price of $580,000 per bus they are about $100,000 more than a straight diesel but cheaper than a roughly [one million] trolleybus.” They are also “cheaper to operate than diesels as they use less fuel.” Translink tested many other buses before deciding on the hybrids. “No more cng or hythane - good!”

Housing Prices to Level Off in 2008

According to a recent post in Chinese in Vancouver, even though BC maintains its title as “the least affordable province in Canada in which to purchase a home,” housing affordability is expected to improve in 2008, “according to a new housing report issued today by RBC Economics.” Our housing market moved into “uncharted territory last year as affordability deteriorated to its worst levels since we started tracking conditions back in 1985,” said RBC’s assistant chief economist Derek Holt, who believes we “reached a peak stress point late last year.”

The RBC Affordability measure “captures the proportion of pretax household income needed to service the costs of owning a home” in BC. Affordability deteriorated “across all housing segments.” The upward pressure has been relieved somewhat by slower demand and a “downward trend in the sales-to-listing ratio.” Due to this, price gains “have started to level off, dropping from 18% in 2006 to 12% last year.” The gains rate is expected to drop to 8% for 2008 states the post.
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