Aberdeen Mambo Cafe is in my top 3 for baked pork chop rice, others would be silver tower and happy day. I’ll give M Cafe a try one day

I don’t see many people who have an existing laneway buying into the subdivision.

If you’re laneway was built 5+ years ago, you’ve probably recouped a bunch of the construction costs already through rent or Airbnb.

Now you’re going to have a person buy into your laneway and have zero control over another house effectively on your property? I don’t see it

And how much will it be? A million? Not sure how many people are gonna pay that to live in a hobo back alley.


I was just looking at Surrey again, I haven't looked into this for a while, it seems like there's lots of inventory for under $1.3m detached. Over 2000sq, big lot, lots of driveway parking. Some even listing for under assessment. I recall these should be in the $1.5-6 range so I'm wondering if this is taking a big dump cuz all the buddy guys got deported.

If someone’s already recouped most of the build cost and can sell the laneway portion for a few million, like we’ve seen in parts of Kits, they might see it as a huge win.

You’re essentially unlocking land value that would’ve stayed dormant. And sure, you give up control, but you’re also walking away with serious cash and still owning your main home. For some, that trade off makes a lot of sense.

so itd be like this for example?
https://www.zealty.ca/mls-R2999428/2...-Vancouver-BC/

I miss Alleluia Cafe. Man, that milk tea was A+.

This doesn't seem like a bad prospect to me. It's like townhouse living without the shared walls and maintenance fees.
No indoor parking is a dealbreaker for me, but it wouldn't be for most people.

Surrey prices are soft because rates are still high and demand has cooled off, same as everywhere else. It's not because “buddy” got deported. That narrative’s tired. If anything, immigration is still at record levels, and most of the detached supply under $1.3M is in less desirable areas or needs work.

These are two very different markets with different buyers. People pay $3m+ for small west side duplexes, and lane ways even if tucked in an alley. In fact, a standalone laneway can be more appealing than a duplex since you’re not sharing walls.

Yup, there are also plenty of examples on the West Side, particularly around the Kits area.

I think rates are quite reasonable right now, literally they are half of what it was a year ago. From 6.8%? If you were on variable, 5% on fixed, down to about 3.9% now. Prices also have been flat if not dropped since last year also.

Don't do it, M Cafe SUCKS

Avoid M Cafe! It sucks!

Youre damn right. It's the only reason to come to this country. Becoming a lazy, feckless, overpaid, fat sack of shit is exactly why our parents worked so hard to get here. oooooo canaadddahhhh

I think what CoV is trying to do is to end detached homes as we know it.

There would be less and less single detached home on a single lot if this passes because essentially, you allow every lot in the city to be sub-divisible.

Still, I just don't think Vancouver has what it takes. Their infrastructure is just not built for such a density. We have no highway or express way running through the city. And frankly, there's just no land that such project can be done even if CoV wants it. The denser you make the city, the worse the traffic is going to be given how narrow roads are in Vancouver.

I have been in the commercial RE business for nearly 3 decades, started being a translator for my parents when I was a teenager. And the one thing I learned about true growth in real estate value is development. There's just no land and infrastructure in Vancouver to support a lot of further growth. And you can kinda see it already. During the post-Covid craze, when Surrey, Langley and even as far out as Mission got a huge boost in price, most places in Vancouver barely moved relatively speaking. Yes, they still increased, but nowhere near the percentage of those East of Fraser river.

Yes, one could argue that the price was already high... bla bla bla... but the simplest form to explain it is this: expected value. There's so many different play that can be done in a larger lot away from Vancouver. Realistically, what more can you do when lots are tiny 4000sqft? Laneway home? Multiplex?

When others municipals adapts the same plan, one could do so much more when you have larger lot.

You're the expect on this stuff.

It seems like a good idea, couldn't this end up having an adverse effect of theoretically raising the cost of housing in general, based on the potential to break down a plot of land for even more of a profit in the future?

Yes, but depends on the rollout and stipulations put in the permits. Everything they do just makes it more expensive though because they will never actually do anything about supply.

I feel prices are already high because supply is limited and zoning is restrictive. Giving owners more flexibility to add or split units can help diversify the types of homes available, which could actually improve affordability over time.

It’s not a silver bullet, but it’s a step toward easing the pressure and it also gives people who want to enter the market, but don’t want a duplex or townhouse, a chance to own a standalone home in Vancouver.

^Wouldn't there be more value in terms of lowering housing costs overall for them to raise the FSR on smaller plots of land, incentivizing other types of housing outside of laneways?

If you think how city gets their money, you'd see that there's little to no incentive for city to lower housing cost at all. It's all nice talk. "our future generations should be able to afford a home"... whatever.

That's a huge conflict of interest.
In order for CoV to charge 10s of thousands in property taxes, they NEED their properties to be in the millions. Otherwise citizens would revolt against it.

And if property is going back to the thousands with property under a million, where exactly is CoV going to come up with enough money to fund its budget?! There has to be either a budget cut relative to the same % decrease in value or there has to be an increase in % of homeowners they can tax from relative to the decrease in tax revenue per home+increase load on public infrastructure such as school and other stuff.

Grew up in Coquitlam with my dad working near QE park. When they moved here in the 80’s that was a 30 minute commute.

I saw that gradually balloon to 1 hour in traffic now, each way, and saw the toll of that. He leaves at like 6:30 am now to have reasonable traffic and hangs around until 5:30 pm to avoid the worst of it.

While I agree a bigger house, more space, and more parking are all great QoL gains, if your employment is tied to Vancouver, the time saved commuting is priceless. Of course if you can work remotely or work in the burbs, more power to you!

Another thing to consider from the perspective of the builder is whether the home owner can even build a laneway house based on the terrain of their neighbourhood.


Some parts of East Van like the Hastings Sunrise area (between Nanaimo street and Boundary road) are full of hills.

One of my uncles living in the Hastings and Sunrise area near Rupert Street wanted to build a laneway house on his property. Unfortunately, a builder explained to him that because his house is on the bottom of a steep hill, a laneway house would run a high risk of being flooded during heavy rain.

Raincouver with our rainy seasons means that home owners that have houses on the bottom of the steep hills in East Van might need to think twice about building a laneway house.

Laneway houses are not every home owner depending on the terrain of their neighbourhood.


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Raising the FSR could help, but it's not an either or situation. Laneways and gentle density offer a way to boost supply without waiting years for full redevelopment.

Also not every homeowner wants to tear down and rebuild. Allowing more units within the existing footprint adds flexibility now and supports broader zoning reform goals..

Spoken like a true baked porkchop rice lover LOL~

I used to go to E-Tea on E22nd and Rupert a lot for the baked porkchop rice in the past, but that was eons ago before they ripped up the ghetto plaza. I haven't been back to E-Tea since that whole corner lot got rebulit into a new fancy condo. Perhaps you can go check it out and lemme know whether their bake porkchop rice is worth a visit?

For now, the Kent's Kitchen $10 a pop deal is my go-to.

Don't forget their free refill! It's nuts how I can get 2 huge ice-cold milk tea in one meal. And their 2-items meal had big portions too!

Kent’s kitchen on Vic right ? Not the hobo infested Chinatown one right?

That 10 bucks the old bitch gives you wayyyy too much rice and not enough soong.
Plus you’ll get your shit pushed in trying to park in that horrible lot.

Richmond public market is where it’s at my brother. Wonder wok. 12 dollars: 3 toppings. Rice and soup. So much sooong that they don’t even bother closing the lid. They just throw it on the other side.

Yeah, Kent's Kitchen on Victoria. The one is Chinatown has changed ownership, and is now operating under a different name (that I can't remember).

FWIW, I love Wonder Wok's beef brisket.