30-60K per year is the bar for affordable housing now?

Biomass burning, huh? I remember your story about Mason County not wanting that in their area.

It's good to see this project in Victoria, and once they finish building that wastewater plant that finally stops sending that city's 34 million gallons a day of raw sewage into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, that will help, er, considerably.

In Canada, it's actually possible to pull this sort of thing off. In Seattle, anything more than three stories high is "destroying the character of the neighborhood", even if it's only a few blocks from downtown.

Have any of you guys been near this place IRL? It is seriously not welcoming. From a distance it just looks like this big, weird, forboding bunch of buildings. There's nothing "organic" feeling about it. On the other hand, most new developments in Victoria look like they were just plunked down from outer space, so it's no worse than a lot of other things there, I guess.
@2 - you'd be AMAZED how many people in BC (even Victoria itself!) have no idea whatsoever that the city has no sewage treatment. I get into arguments with people who won't believe me when I tell them.

It is coming to Seattle - well Shoreline anyway.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/lo…

has Victoria stopped pumping sewage out into the Sound yet?

@4, sorry to hear it's not all it seems in the renderings, surprise surprise. And that is something about how few people know about the sewage, which wiki notes is "screened to exclude objects larger than 6 millimetres (¼ in) prior to release into ocean outfalls".

@6, I believe a treatment plant has been approved but it's not operating yet.

"From a distance it just looks like this big, weird, foreboding bunch of buildings."

Sounds like Vancouver to me ;-)

And believe me - I am probably the greenest Electrical Hostess that my non-nuclear utility has ever employed. But my advice is don't go all windmilly until you have determined there is actually generation level wind - and I don't mean some nice little breeze off the nearest body of water. (I'm assuming the good people of Dockside Green did their homework. I'm just saying that there are people in Seattle who made some tragic wind mistakes)

I like the idea of equipping houses with real-time meters of energy usage. That feature alone will result in people adopting less wasteful habits.

Now treat your sewage!!

@5 - it's not coming to Shoreline, it's going to Snohomish County, and therein lies the problem. Access will be through Shoreline, they'll be using Shoreline roads, Shoreline services, and probably Shoreline schools, but they'll pay taxes to Snohomish County.

Having spent nearly a week in BC this summer, I have to ask:

Is it just me, or is Victoria just as underwhelming to the rest of you? Sure, there are gems here and there (such as Butchart Gardens, the phenomenal biking trail through the city and Beacon Hill Park) and one can see the health consciousness of the yupsters living in the southern portion of the city, but I left with the distinct impression of it being a tourist trap with some serious social problems. I didn't get to enjoy the rest of the island because of time constraints, so I'm commenting only on the city and its surroundings...