News
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Victoria's first commercial rooftop garden in full bloom
An Oak Bay resident is hoping to increase the amount of locally-produced food through a new pilot project that’s proving the sky is the limit.Chris Hildreth, a recent UVic grad who studied environmental studies and sociology, recently launched Topsoil, one of the first urban commercial rooftop gardens on 1001 Blanshard St. On the roof he grows fresh produce that is then delivered to Fiamo Italian Kitchen to use in their dishes.“I wanted to provide restaurants with the highest quality of... Read more »
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Royals Roads to help entrepreneurs at downtown Victoria office
Royal Roads University is putting out the welcome mat at a new downtown Victoria office set up to give a boost to local entrepreneurs.Director Geoff Archer said Wednesday that the message from the university’s Eric C. Douglass Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies is: “Come and interact with us.”“What we are trying to do is engage with you in a way that is win-win for our students and for small-business owners in the Victoria area.”The centre has moved into Fort Tectoria, 777... Read more »
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Pedestrian-only days coming to Government Street in fall, winter
Government Street will be closed to vehicles for a few days this fall and winter rather than for one day next month, Victoria councillors have decided.Three city councillors had proposed that — as a pilot project — Government Street between Humboldt and Yates streets be closed to vehicle traffic Sunday, Aug. 16 from noon to 5 p.m.The hope was to draw local people to that street, profile the businesses through sidewalk sales and to turn the street into “a truly... Read more »
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Victoria's new waste bins designed to promote recycling
Victoria is introducing a number of new waste bins on downtown streets to promote recycling.The new waste bins have separate compartments for recyclables, food waste and garbage.Sixteen bins are being installed throughout downtown on a trial basis, and will remain in place until October.The city will track the volume, type of materials collected and the amount of cross-contamination and then make recommendations on whether to expand the program in 2016.Nine of the new bins will be placed along Government Street... Read more »
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Task force on housing affordability: Scrap minimum apartment sizes
Reducing apartment parking requirements and eliminating minimum apartment sizes are two of several measures being recommended to promote construction of more affordable housing in Victoria.The recommendations come from Mayor Lisa Helps’ Task Force on Housing Affordability, struck in April and composed of elected officials, housing advocates, policy experts and members of the development community.“There’s nothing radical here but taken as a suite — in its entirety — if every single one of these recommendations is implemented over the next three... Read more »
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Victoria councillors back two-way bike lane on Pandora Avenue
City of Victoria councillors have voted in favour of a two-way separated bike lane on Pandora Avenue between Cook Street and the Johnson Street Bridge.It would be the first protected bike lane in the city, a move to improve cycling safety by separating cyclists from motor vehicle lanes with barriers such as planters or curbs. If successful, more protected bike lanes could be added within the next three years, said Mayor Lisa Helps.The two-way bike lane would be built on... Read more »
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Retail rents drop as vacancies grow in Victoria
Victoria is becoming more of a “tenant’s market” with retail space vacancy rates up and rental rates down, says a report from Colliers International.In a survey of its brokers, the commercial real estate firm found vacancy rates in Victoria in three retail categories — neighbourhood, regional and power centre — were up compared to the previous six months.The neighbourhood designation referred to stores of 2,000 square feet with ground-level entrances, while regional referred to enclosed shopping centres with 4,000-square-foot units... Read more »
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Rainbow road: Victoria gets colourful crosswalks for Pride
A downtown Victoria intersection has been splashed with a colourful coat of paint to celebrate the city’s diversity in the lead-up to Pride Week.Pandora at Broad Street is now home to three permanent rainbow crosswalks in a show of support for the local LGBTQ community. It comes two years after Vancouver installed a similar permanent rainbow crosswalk in the city’s West End.Victoria Coun. Jeremy Loveday said the idea was sparked when he snapped a picture of Edmonton’s temporary rainbow crosswalk... Read more »
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Six Blocks of Douglas Street Animated With Street Festival on June 21
Victoria, B.C. – Douglas Street will come alive on June 21 in ways that no one could have imagined. Downtown Victoria’s largest street fair, Car Free YYJ, comes to Douglas Street on June 21 from 12-6pm. Hosted by the Downtown Victoria Business Association in partnership with the City of Victoria and BC Transit, six blocks of Douglas Street from Herald Street to Fort Street will be lined with more than 225 vendors (artisans, businesses, food vendors, and not-for-profits), a 7,000... Read more »
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Victoria opens first downtown parklet
Victoria’s first parklet opened last Friday as part of a pilot project to create more spaces for the public to enjoy while spending time downtown.The parklet, located in the 700-block of Fort Street just outside the Dutch Bakery, is a small urban oasis that was created by replacing several parallel parking stalls with a patio and seating open for the public.The project is a collaborative venture between the City of Victoria and the Fort Street Business Association after they received... Read more »
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Is Douglas Street Due for a Major Redo?
A new vision for Douglas Street could see one of Victoria’s most important and critiqued corridors get a revamp.The vision, championed by the Downtown Victoria Business Association, proposes “a more cohesive, tight-knit, grand avenue and to restore its prominence as the main street of our downtown.”“Douglas Street doesn’t give any sense of Victoria’s identity or create a sense of arrival,” says Gregory Damant of Cascadia Architects. His firm developed the Arriving at Douglas report for the DVBA in consultation with... Read more »
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Victoria's Film Industry Makes a Comeback
Have you been wondering why there have been New York City police cars and Big Apple cabs around Victoria’s downtown this spring?The vehicles were used in the filming of Air Bud Entertainment’s feature film Monkey Up!, just one of the 10 film productions completed in the area by the end of April. Other projects included Hallmark television movies Last Resort and Gourmet Detective 2, and feature films such as Lakeshore Entertainment’s The Boy and Wes Craven’s The Girl in the... Read more »
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Entrepreneurs in BC most positive in the country
Business Barometer®Small business confidence at 70.4 in BC, almost 9 pts higher than national indexBC – The results of the latest monthly Business Barometer survey from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) show British Columbia’s small businesses once again lead the country in optimism, with its Barometer index climbing back above 70 in March. As a result, entrepreneurs in the province are now the most optimistic in the country about the future of the economy and the performance of... Read more »
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