Mountain Doodles

Metrics, Mechanisms, and Mismatch: Immigration and other Components of Housing Demand in Canada

affordability

canpumf

cansim

cancensus

cmhc

What’s the housing demand due to immigration and how does this relate to other components of housing demand?

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Elections fun - 2025 edition

geeky

Playing with Canadian 2025 federal elections data.

Jens von Bergmann

Housing shortage as an explanation for family and household change

affordability

A run down of our recent paper on this topic, and implications for research and policy.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

cansim revamp

cansim

The cansim package got a speed boost. And some new features.

Jens von Bergmann

Homelessness and Rents in Canada

affordability

canpumf

Homelessness rates in Canada relate strongly to market rents suggesting a clear market mechanism that causes homelessness.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

No spike in “foreign buying”

newsfail

Contrary to news reporting, there is no spike in “foreign buyers” in BC real estate.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

BC Election 2024

geeky

A quick updated on the “land doesn’t vote, people do” theme.

Jens von Bergmann

Distributional effects of adding housing

cansim

cancensus

canpumf

affordability

rental

Vancouver

geeky

We pick up on our post on overall housing targets to estimate distributional effects on housing outcomes if our targets were met.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Geocoding errors in aggregate data

cancensus

tongfen

Vancouver

Toronto

geeky

Geocoding errors can become a problem, especially in temporal data where geocoding processes have changed over time. We propose a method to detect and ameliorate geocoding errors in aggregate data.

Jens von Bergmann

Tenure and Household Independence across the Life Course, 1981-2021

canpumf

affordability

Vancouver

Toronto

We use 1981 through 2021 census data to look at tenure and household formation outcomes in Canada, and develop a metric of “housing frustration”

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Migration and Housing Costs

cansim

canpumf

affordability

Vancouver

Migration and housing costs do not relate in straight-forward ways. In Vancouver we hear a lot about people considering or actually leaving the region because of housing costs, at the same time data on migration shows that Vancouver has a comparatively low share of people leaving the region.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Doubling Up - Distinguishing Families from Households

cansim

cancensus

Households and Families frequently get mixed up in general housing discussions. We explore the difference between the two and interpret it as doubling up, some of which is likely voluntary and some less so.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Zoned Capacity - promise and pitfalls

affordability

Vancouver

Looking at zoned capacity, how it might be useful and examining potential pitfalls.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Parental Help in Property Ownership

affordability

PUMF

cancensus

taxes

wealth

A closer look at the strong correlation between parental co-ownership and median housing value across metro areas that has highlighted in a recent CHSP brief.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Population timelines update

Vancouver

Toronto

density

tongfen

A long overdue update on population timelines for Vancouver and Toronto, adding in 2021 data for a 50 year fine geography population change timeline 1971 through 2021.

Jens von Bergmann

Migrating to quarto

geeky

Some overdue housekeeping and a new look for the blog.

What if recent apartment buildings in Vancouver were 20% taller?

affordability

Vancouver

cmhc

We estimate that planning decisions preventing apartment buildings built in the past 5 years in Metro Vancouver from being on average 20% taller are resulting in an annual redistribution of income from renters to existing landlords on the order of half a billion dollars across the region via higher rents.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

First time buyer Lorenz curves revisited

affordability

cansim

Vancouver

Toronto

PUMF

Taking another look at first time buyer affordability: updating with 2021 data, accounting for property taxes, and introducing a discretized version of the measure.

Keith Stewart, Jens von Bergmann

Housing Outcomes

affordability

cansim

cmhc

cancensus

Vancouver

Toronto

Existing households are partially outcomes of our housing pressures, and basing analysis soley on households introduces collider bias. Which is substantial in tight housing markets and this misspecification can lead to misguided analysis and faulty policy recommendations.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Housing targets

affordability

Vancouver

zoning

Taking a systematic look at how to set housing targets aimed at counteracting restrictive municipal housing policies, and what that means for Vancouver.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Metro Vancouver Planning Regimes

cansim

cancensus

affordability

Taking a look at Metro Vancouver planning around housing and population growth.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Investing in definitions and framing

cansim

newsfail

Taking a closer look at the CHSP data release and clearing up some misunderstandings.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

A Brief History of Vancouver Planning & Development Regimes

affordability

cmhc

Vancouver

zoning

rental

Tracking how Vancouver regulations for development have changed over time, illustrated with two examples.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Analyzing Ballot Composition in Vancouver

geeky

Vancouver

Breaking down the individual ballot data for the 2022 Vancouver municipal election.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

New Premier New Housing Policy

affordability

Empty Homes

taxes

zoning

rental

Breaking down the housing policy announcements.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Still Short: Suppressed Households in 2021

affordability

cansim

cmhc

Vancouver

Toronto

rental

PUMF

Checking in on household suppression in Canada using 2021 data.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Where did all the cheap rents go?

affordability

cansim

cmhc

rental

An investigation into the 320k “lost” units renting below $750.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Rent growth in GDP

affordability

cansim

rental

People in BC spend a lot of money on rent (and imputed rent), and that’s a problem. The way to decrease this “Real Estate Industry” share of GDP is to build more housing.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

25 Years of Structural Change

cancensus

Vancouver

Toronto

land use

density

dotdensity

Taking the long view on changes in our dwelling stock by structural type.

Nathan Lauster, Jens von Bergmann

Tumbling turnover

rental

cmhc

cancensus

cansim

affordability

mobility

PUMF

Digging deeper into Canadian residential mobility, tracking changes in mobility over time, and comparing data sources.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

A brief history of Canadian real estate investors

PUMF

canbank

wealth

Recently has been lots of talk about real estate investors, a good time to look at investors over time.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Ins and outs of CMHC data

cmhc

CMHC produces and curates important data on housing in Canada. An overview over some of this data, it’s quirks, and how to access it.

Jens von Bergmann

Residential mobility in Canada

cancensus

rental

PUMF

Vancouver

Toronto

Residential mobility is essential for family formation, accommodating life changes, and the economy. A look at residential mobility in Canada over time.

Jens von Bergmann

Nanaimo Station

zoning

Vancouver

Transportation

cancensus

density

tongfen

Vancouver has been squandering opportunities around existing Skytrain stations. We take a closer look at the Nanaimo Station area.

Jens von Bergmann

On Broadway

zoning

Vancouver

Transportation

affordability

density

The Broadway Plan is coming before council, time for a review of what’s being proposed, which parts are good and which might need work, and how that fits into the historical context.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Children are good, actually

affordability

Vancouver

tongfen

land use

zoning

Assessment Data

CensusMapper

cancensus

cansim

Cities are changing, how do we know if we are headed in the right direction? Looking at the change in children gives us a simple uncontroversial metric to assess that, most people can agree that children are good for cities.

Jens von Bergmann

Estimating Suppressed Household Formation

affordability

cancensus

cmhc

PUMF

Toronto

Vancouver

Household formation is a complex process that is impacted by many factors. We explore the variation in household maintainer rates across Canada to estimate the CMA-level effects on household maintainer rates and suppressed household formation using Montréal as a counterfactual, paying attention to differences in age structure and cultural aspects.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Planning for scarcity

affordability

Vancouver

zoning

Vancouver’s planning regime is set up to reinforce housing scarcity A closer look how Vancouver plans for growth, what’s wrong with it, and some ideas how to fix it.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

What’s up with Squamish?

affordability

cancensus

CensusMapper

tongfen

Squamish’s dwelling stock grew faster than their population, what does that mean?

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

UBCM Shenanigans

affordability

cansim

Vancouver

Taking a look at UBCM’s misguided report.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Vacancy rates and rent change, 2021 update

affordability

cmhc

Vancouver

rental

The 2021 CMHC Rental Market Survey data finally arrived. Time to do a refresh of our vacancy rate vs rent change analysis. And take a look at where Vancouver is at.

Jens von Bergmann

Census quirks; using UBC area as an example

cansim

CensusMapper

Vancouver

Census data is great. But census data also has lots of little quirks. We take the Point Grey Peninsula as an example to show how census data can go sideways.

Jens von Bergmann

Deadbeat Neighbourhoods

Vancouver

tongfen

cancensus

Population change in Vancouver’s neighbourhoods 2016-2021. A first look.

Jens von Bergmann

Unoccupied Canada

cancensus

Empty Homes

Vancouver

The census ‘unoccupied by usual residents’ metric is often in the news and one of the most frequentliy misrepresnted parts of census data. A quick primer on what does does and does not say.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Deadbeat zoning

affordability

CensusMapper

tongfen

Vancouver

cancensus

density

With the new 2021 census data out it’s time for some analysis on how Vancouver has grown. For this time we will examine the role of low-density zoning.

Jens von Bergmann

Canada’s 2021 census, part 1

CensusMapper

cancensus

The first tranche of the 2021 census data has arrived. Here is a quick rundown.

Jens von Bergmann

No shortage in Housing BS

affordability

cancensus

cansim

CensusMapper

Empty Homes

newsfail

Vancouver

There is a special brain worm making the rounds that Vancouver supply has been outstripping demand. Which is obvious nonsense, but maybe still deserves a detailed takedown.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

First Peek at Population and Household Data During COVID & Caveats

cancensus

cansim

cmhc

covid-19

geeky

Vancouver

A deeper look at population and hosehold estimates, how thes estimates are made and what early data can tell us about shifts during COVID times.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Three Years of Speculation & Vacancy Tax Data

cansim

taxes

Empty Homes

We now have three years of SVT data, time to take a look at where things stand, how this fits in with related datasets, and what we can learn.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Acting locally on housing

cansim

affordability

Housing faces lots of challenges, some of the global. But our policy levers are mostly local, increasing housing supply is the most effective (and ethical) local action we can take.

Nathan Lauster, Jens von Bergmann

CensusMapper (p)review

CensusMapper

CensusMapper is six years old now. A review, and a preview where things could be heading.

Jens von Bergmann

Fixing parking

Vancouver

taxes

Transportation

zoning

cancensus

CensusMapper

affordability

Paving the way for removing minimum parking requirements.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Elections fun - 2021 edition

geeky

Playing with Canadian 2021 federal elections data.

Jens von Bergmann

Transnational property ownership in Canada

cansim

PUMF

Toronto

Vancouver

We talk a lot about people living abroad owning property in Canada, let’s take a look at Canadians owning property abroad.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Thoughts on vaccine effectivess estimates

covid-19

We now have some data on vaccination status of COVID cases and hospitalizations in BC. It’s not really enough for robust vaccine effectivness estimates, but given the public interest let’s see how far we can get.

Jens von Bergmann

Satellites, Sprawl, and City Six-Packs

land use

Fun with global satellite-derived land use time series.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Commodity and Keeping it in the Family

cansim

CensusMapper

A look at non-market transfers of market properties.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Lots of Opportunity: Estimating the Zoning Tax in Vancouver

affordability

Assessment Data

density

land use

Vancouver

zoning

Zoning bylaws restrict the size and frontage of lots, preventing lots from getting subdivided. The opportunity cost of freezing City of Vancouver land use in RS zoned areas in amber is enormous, it amounts to around $40 billion from preventing 2:1 lots splits, and an additional $100 billion from preventing further subdivision beyond that.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Basement Confidential: Vancouver’s Informal Housing Stock

affordability

cancensus

Empty Homes

land use

rental

Vancouver

zoning

Basement suites are the Schrödinger’s cat of dwelling units, they span the space betweem formal and informal housing, viewed by some as the problem of, and by others as the solution to Vancouver’s housing woes.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Forced Out in Canada: New Data from CHS

affordability

rental

Vancouver

PUMF

Taking a deeper look at forced moves using CHS microdata. And how it changed over time.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Vaxx vs VOCs

covid-19

Vaccines are here to rescue us, but variants of concern threaten to spoil it. What to expect in BC over the next two months as vaccines and variants of concern battle for dominance.

Jens von Bergmann

Data variants

covid-19

We don’t have data on variants of concern in BC, so let’s take a look at different variants of building proxies.

Jens von Bergmann

On COVID and exponential growth

covid-19

With BC public health officials doubting mathematical modelling it might be time again for an explainer of exponential growth.

Jens von Bergmann

Industrial Strength Zombies: Vancouver Edition

CensusMapper

cancensus

Vancouver

Surrey

What industries are dominant in Vancouver? People throw around all kinds of crazy stories, time take a look at the data and put some zombies to rest. At least for a day or two before someone else digs them up again.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Bartholomew’s dot destiny

density

dotdensity

Vancouver

zoning

Bartholomew made projections of what a Central Vancouver penninsula (UBC, Musqueam 2, Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster) with 1 million people would look like. We no just about hit that number time to compare how his projections stock up.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

On COVID Trend lines

covid-19

geeky

Trend lines help us distinguish noise from the signal in data. COVID-19 case trend lines is an important tool for understanding where we are at, how we got there and which direction we are trending. This deserves more attention than it has been getting.

Jens von Bergmann

Rethinking the “foreignness” of owners living abroad

cansim

Empty Homes

taxes

Vancouver

Comparing CHSP and SVT data we try to tease out how foreign our forein owners really are.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Capital Gains Income

cansim

Vancouver

cancensus

taxes

Income concepts in Canada generally only include regular income and in particular miss (taxable) capital gains. But capital gains makes up an important income source and we should pay more attention to it.

Jens von Bergmann

Vancouver’s pandemic weather

covid-19

Vancouver

The weather during the 2020 pandemic, especially the fall and winter, has felt worse than usual. How much of that is just perception and how much is real?

Jens von Bergmann

BC back to (COVID) school

covid-19

School is about to re-start after Christmas break, lots of questions remain.

Jens von Bergmann, HsingChi von Bergmann

Covid testing data in BC

covid-19

Testing data in BC shoud be straighforward to interpret, but it’s surprisingly tricky.

Jens von Bergmann

What to Expect from an Empty Homes Tax

cancensus

Empty Homes

With more Canadian cities announcing their interestest in an Empty Homes Tax, what should they expect?

Nathan Lauster, Jens von Bergmann

TongFen

tongfen

CensusMapper

cancensus

Tongfen is now on CRAN, time for a short overview of what tongfen is and how it aids research on longitudinal spatial data on different yet congruent geographies.

Jens von Bergmann

COVID-19 Data in BC

covid-19

Looking into what’s going wrong with BC Covid data

Jens von Bergmann

CHS Core Housing Need

affordability

cansim

A quick overview over the freshly released Canadian Housing Survey data

Jens von Bergmann

First-time buyer Lorenz curves

geeky

affordability

Taking a look at affordability for first-time buyers, and what useful metrics can be constructed to measure this.

Keith Stewart, Jens von Bergmann

Income mixing and segregation

cansim

cancensus

geeky

Taking a look at the new StatCan D-index and related income mixing metrics

Jens von Bergmann

Covid school modelling

covid-19

Looking at the impact of different test, trace and isolation protocols.

Jens von Bergmann

Keeping the Leavers

Vancouver

Empty Homes

Some people have a hard time making room for newcomers, but how about making room for people to stay?

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Covid Series 3 Survey

covid-19

cansim

A quick tour through Covid series 3 survey data.

Jens von Bergmann

Canadian 1996 Census

cancensus

CensusMapper

Expanding timelines, the Canadian 1996 census is now available on CensusMapper and via {cancensus}.

Jens von Bergmann

On mixing covid-19 and census data

cancensus

covid-19

Doing this with Canadian data is a tall order. But since people are doing it, we might as well explain some of the ins and outs.

Jens von Bergmann

Projections and self-fulfilling prophecies

cancensus

cmhc

Vancouver

Housing and population growth are endogenous in high-demand areas. Which gives cities the tools to exclude people, but should they? Deciding how to grow is a values question, not a technocratic one.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Toward universal TongFen: Change in polling district voting patterns

cancensus

CensusMapper

tongfen

Expanding tongfen to arbitrary geometries, with an example application to Canadian federal election polling districts.

Jens von Bergmann

COVID-19 data in Canada, effective reproduction rates

covid-19

A follow-up on what data we need.

Jens von Bergmann

Census tract level T1FF tax data

cancensus

cansim

CensusMapper

Canadian T1 taxfiler data 2000 to 2017 on census tracts as open data.

Jens von Bergmann

COVID deaths in context by weeks

covid-19

An updated view at covid-19 mortality and excess mortality.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Covid-19 data in Canada

covid-19

Covid-19 data for Canada is hard to come by. Where to get the data, what it tells us and what’s missing.

Jens von Bergmann

Context for Covid-19 mortality so far

cansim

covid-19

Covid-19 related deaths are mounting,

Jens von Bergmann

Behaviour change in response to COVID-19

Surrey

covid-19

geeky

Transportation

Looking into real-time metrics to measure behaviour change.

Jens von Bergmann

Knock Knock, Anybody Home?

cancensus

Empty Homes

Empty Homes Taxes can be useful, but let’s keep the numbers and expectations straight.

Nathan Lauster, Jens von Bergmann

Overnight Visitors and Crude Travel Vectors

Vancouver

Transportation

covid-19

geeky

Checking in on Vancouver travel data. And the novel corona virus.

Jens von Bergmann

Wealth vs income

geeky

Wealth and income are not the same thing. And it matters. Especially in BC.

Nathan Lauster, Jens von Bergmann

Disaster response maps

cancensus

CensusMapper

Some thoughts on the recent StatCan effort to leverage their data for disaster response efforts.

Jens von Bergmann

Mythical oversupply

cancensus

CensusMapper

Empty Homes

newsfail

Vancouver

Going back to the ‘supply myth’ well.

Jens von Bergmann

Unoccupied dwellings data

CensusMapper

Vancouver

Toronto

cancensus

Empty Homes

A publicly available xtab for Structural type by Document type.

Jens von Bergmann

Keep on moving

cansim

rental

Vancouver

More on reasons to move.

Nathan Lauster, Jens von Bergmann

2019 CMHC Rental Market Survey

cancensus

cansim

cmhc

rental

Vancouver

Checking in with the new Rms data.

Jens von Bergmann

Flow Maps

cancensus

CensusMapper

Transportation

Fun with flow maps.

Jens von Bergmann

Fun with parking tickets

Vancouver

Transportation

Looking for excuses to showcase my {VancouvR} R package to access Vancouver Open Data.

Jens von Bergmann

Property tax snacks

geeky

Vancouver

taxes

A short post munching through some property tax musings.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Canadian Housing Survey

cansim

rental

Vancouver

Toronto

Taking a first look at the new Canadian Housing Survey data

Jens von Bergmann

Commuter growth

cancensus

CensusMapper

land use

Vancouver

Surrey

Transportation

zoning

As our population and jobs grow, so do commuters. Taking a look how commuters grow.

Jens von Bergmann

Elections fun

geeky

Playing with Canadian 2019 federal elections data.

Jens von Bergmann

Rents and incomes

cansim

cmhc

cancensus

Vancouver

rental

In Vancouver (both City or Metro), median rents have tracked median incomes quite well. (Although some misleading information that is making the rounds suggests otherwise.)

Jens von Bergmann

Rents and vacancy rates

cmhc

rental

Vancouver

Adding some context to vacancy rates by rent segment.

Jens von Bergmann

Spatial autocorrelation & co

geeky

Common (and commonly ignored) problems in spatial analysis.

Jens von Bergmann

Job vacancies

cansim

Vancouver

The missing part of the Labour Force Survey

Jens von Bergmann

Low income vs new dwellings

cancensus

geeky

Vancouver

Toronto

density

Does adding homes decrease the low income population? A look at the Canadian data.

Jens von Bergmann

Running on Empties

cancensus

Vancouver

newsfail

Empty Homes

Putting Canadian empty homes data into context.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

MIRHPP tradeoffs

cancensus

rental

Vancouver

How does MIRHPP work, and what are the tradeoffs?

Jens von Bergmann

On Vancouver population projections

cancensus

cmhc

Vancouver

cansim

A closer look at the the Regional Growth Strategy and population projections

Jens von Bergmann

Taxing Toxic Demand: Early Results

cansim

Empty Homes

taxes

Vancouver

Checking in on the Speculation and Vacancy Tax preliminary data.

Nathan Lauster, Jens von Bergmann

Shaughnessy Townhomes

cancensus

rental

Vancouver

zoning

Some thoughts on council’s vote to kill the Shaughnessy townhomes.

Jens von Bergmann

How not to analyze the roots of the affordability crisis

cancensus

cansim

newsfail

Vancouver

Taking a closer look at Josh Gordon’s “Solving Wozny’s Puzzle” working paper.

Jens von Bergmann

Frequent transit zoning

OSM

Transportation

Vancouver

zoning

Quantifying zoning in Vancouver’s frequent transit network.

Jens von Bergmann

Some notes on investor and corporate ownership of residential properties

cansim

A quick post on the recent CHSP data release.

Jens von Bergmann

Census custom timelines

CensusMapper

density

land use

Vancouver

Playing with fine geography custom tabulation back to 1971.

Jens von Bergmann

Simple Metrics for Deciding if You Have Enough Housing

How do we know if we have too much, the right amount, or too little housing?

Nathan Lauster, Jens von Bergmann

Vancouver population density over time

cancensus

CensusMapper

density

Vancouver

zoning

A detailed look at growth in the City of Vancouver

Stuart Smith, Jens von Bergmann

Multi-Census Tongfen

cancensus

CensusMapper

Comparing multiple censuses across fine geographies.

Jens von Bergmann

2001 Census Data (and TongFen)

cancensus

CensusMapper

Empty Homes

Vancouver

A quick overview over the 2001 Census data newly imported into CensusMapper, as well as how to compare census data across censuses.

Jens von Bergmann

Population weighted densities

density

Simplifying density into a single number. And animating it.

Jens von Bergmann

A bedroom is a bedroom

Vancouver

zoning

How can we compare density for differnt types of dwellings? Just look at the bedrooms!

Jens von Bergmann

VSB X-Boundary

Vancouver

cancensus

Examining VSB cross-boundary data.

Jens von Bergmann

Density timelines

density

Global city density patterns across time.

Jens von Bergmann

City density patterns

density

How do city densities compare around the globe?

Jens von Bergmann

Airbnb updates

Vancouver

rental

Checking in on the state of Airbnb in Vancouver.

Jens von Bergmann

Tax Speculations

cancensus

cansim

CensusMapper

Empty Homes

taxes

Vancouver

Estimating what to expect from the Speculation and Vacancy Tax.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

Planned displacement

cancensus

CensusMapper

land use

OSM

Transportation

Vancouver

zoning

density

rental

How can we ensure that densifying Vancouver won’t be taken out on the backs of the most vulnerable?

Jens von Bergmann

Vancouver renters

cancensus

cansim

CensusMapper

rental

Vancouver

Understanding renter households in Vancouver

Jens von Bergmann

Vancouver election individual ballots

Vancouver

Individual ballot data is great, let’s put it to work!

Jens von Bergmann

There is no Brain Drain, but there might be Zombies

cancensus

newsfail

Vancouver

Digging into yet another round of claims of some group of people leaving Vancouver.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathan Lauster

The Fleecing of Canadian Millenials

cansim

Income and net worth by age group in Canada.

Jens von Bergmann

High-value homes

cancensus

Vancouver

cansim

Who lives in Metro Vancouver’s high-value homes?

Jens von Bergmann

How are condos used?

cancensus

cmhc

rental

Vancouver

Toronto

Comparing how condos are used across Canada.

Jens von Bergmann, Nathanael Lauster, Douglas Harris

Moving Penalty

cmhc

Toronto

Vancouver

rental

What’s the penalty to move f you are renting in a purpose-built rental building in Canada.

Jens von Bergmann

Vacancy rate and rent change

cmhc

cansim

Vancouver

Toronto

rental

The relationship between rent change and vacancy rates in Canada.

Jens von Bergmann

Understanding income distributions across geographies and time

cancensus

CensusMapper

cansim

Vancouver

Toronto

Some thoughts on income distributions and labelling neighbrourhoods as low, middle, or high income: Most of our neighbourhoods are neither, they are truely mixed-income.

Jens von Bergmann

Toronto wards

Toronto

dotdensity

CensusMapper

cancensus

geeky

Fun with Toronto wards and census data.

Jens von Bergmann

The rise and fall of Vancouver eligible voters

Vancouver

newsfail

cancensus

Running the numbers on eligible voters by neighbourhood.

Jens von Bergmann

Naked Buildings Map

Vancouver

Just buildings.

Jens von Bergmann

Council candidate neighbourhoods

cancensus

Vancouver

Comparing what neighbourhoods council candidates live in.

Jens von Bergmann

Airbnb and STR licences

Vancouver

rental

Checking in on Aribnb operator complicance

Jens von Bergmann

Gross migration

cancensus

CensusMapper

Vancouver

Counting those coming and leaving.

Jens von Bergmann

Taxing property instead of income in B.C.

cancensus

taxes

Assessment Data

What if we were more like Washington and replaced the provinial income tax by a property tax?

Jens von Bergmann

Active Fire

OSM

geeky

Playing with fire data.

Jens von Bergmann

Fact-checking Vancouver’s Swamp Drainers

cancensus

cansim

newsfail

Vancouver

Swampy facts: the dark, broken, and ugly side of housing talk in Vancouver.

Nathan Lauster, Jens von Bergmann

Making Room

cancensus

CensusMapper

density

Vancouver

How is low-density housing currently used?

Jens von Bergmann

Aboriginal overrepresentation in correctional services and police checks

cansim

cancensus

Vancouver

The long legacy of Canadian aboriginal relations

Jens von Bergmann

Skytrain rents

cancensus

rental

Transportation

Vancouver

How much is it to rent a 1 or 2 bedroom near a skytrain station?

Jens von Bergmann

Interprovincial Migration

cansim

Playing with the cansim package to access and process NDM data.

Jens von Bergmann

Vancouver Streets and Lanes

Vancouver

Transportation

land use

How much space is taken up by roads right-of-ways?

Jens von Bergmann

Extra School Tax Calculator

Assessment Data

Vancouver

Apparently 8th grade math ability is inversly proportional to property values, here is a simple calculator for those still suffering from consequences of sub-par math education.

Jens von Bergmann

Short Term Rental Licenses

Vancouver

A first look at STR license data

Jens von Bergmann

Teardowns and Emissions

Assessment Data

cancensus

cmhc

cansim

land use

Vancouver

zoning

Analysing the impact of Vancouver’s teardown cycle on carbon emissions.

Jens von Bergmann

Building Height Profiles

density

land use

Vancouver

Toronto

Building heights by distance from city centre.

Jens von Bergmann

A modest school-tax proposal

Assessment Data

taxes

Vancouver

Looking into the school tax outrage.

Jens von Bergmann

Frontage

Assessment Data

Vancouver

zoning

density

Frontages for commercial zoned properties in Vancouver.

Jens von Bergmann

Transit Data

Vancouver

geeky

Transportation

Playing with our new R API wrapper for transit data from Transitland

Jens von Bergmann

Extra School Tax

Assessment Data

taxes

Vancouver

Impacts of the Extra School Tax in City of Vancouver

Jens von Bergmann

Taxable Dwelling Density

Vancouver

Empty Homes

Assessment Data

When density maps mostly just show population density.

Jens von Bergmann

Building Permits

Vancouver

Trawling through permit data.

Jens von Bergmann

Neighbourhood Level Census Data

cancensus

CensusMapper

Vancouver

The value of stable geographies.

Jens von Bergmann

Real Estate Industry

cansim

Digging through NAICS definitions.

Jens von Bergmann

Empty Suites

cancensus

CensusMapper

Empty Homes

Vancouver

What we have learned from the “Supply Myth” debate.

Jens von Bergmann

Pedestrian counts, or when the kindergardener needs to use the bathroom

Surrey

Transportation

Jens von Bergmann

Local vs Overseas Investors

Vancouver

cancensus

Creative uses of non-resident owner data.

Jens von Bergmann

School Traffic

Surrey

Transportation

Measuring dropoff and pickup traffic.

Jens von Bergmann

Some Thoughts on the “Supply Myth”

cancensus

CensusMapper

cmhc

Vancouver

Empty Homes

The never ending discussion.

Jens von Bergmann

What’s a Household?

CensusMapper

cancensus

What kind of households does Vancouver have?

Jens von Bergmann

Journey To Work

cancensus

CensusMapper

City of Vancouver commuting and reverse commuting.

Jens von Bergmann

Under Construction

cmhc

We have record under construction, but we also have record length of construction.

Jens von Bergmann

Byelection Data

Vancouver

Results by voting place.

Jens von Bergmann

StatCan Web Maps

CensusMapper

cancensus

Welcome to the world of web mapping!

Jens von Bergmann

Renting in Toronto

rental

Toronto

How much space to you get for $1500 in Toronto.

Jens von Bergmann

Updated Foreign Buyers Data

Vancouver

Foreign buyers data is back!

Jens von Bergmann

Playing with Medians

cancensus

CensusMapper

Why overly focussing on medians is dangerous.

Jens von Bergmann

A First Look At Vancouver Housing Data

cancensus

CensusMapper

Vancouver

Making sense of the new census data.

Jens von Bergmann

Trick-or-Treat 2017

CensusMapper

Halloween Mapping Fun.

Jens von Bergmann

Boomer Exodus?

cancensus

CensusMapper

Vancouver

Change in size of age groups vs net migration

Jens von Bergmann

VSB Vulnerable Students

cancensus

Vancouver

Counting children in poverty by school catchment area.

Jens von Bergmann

A Retrospective Look at NHS Income Data

cancensus

CensusMapper

geeky

How bad were the NHS income numbers?

Jens von Bergmann

Evolution of the Income Distribution

CensusMapper

cancensus

geeky

Digging deeper into the evolution of incomes

Jens von Bergmann

Zoned for Who?

Assessment Data

Vancouver

zoning

What income do you need to buy a single family home in Vancouver?

Jens von Bergmann

Income - A First Look

cancensus

CensusMapper

Incomes are complex.

Jens von Bergmann

Amazon - The Canadian Data

cancensus

CensusMapper

Playing the Amazon Game

Jens von Bergmann

dot-density

CensusMapper

dotdensity

cancensus

geeky

Multi-category dot-density maps are hard.

Jens von Bergmann

Density

newsfail

CensusMapper

cancensus

density

Thinking about density.

Jens von Bergmann

Millennials Redux

newsfail

CensusMapper

Millennials are still not fleeing.

Jens von Bergmann

Lifeblood

CensusMapper

Exploring net migration patterns.

Jens von Bergmann

Surprise Maps

CensusMapper

geeky

Showing only what matters.

Jens von Bergmann

Marine Gateway and Joyce-Collingwood

newsfail

Vancouver

Empty Homes

CensusMapper

Pitfalls in empty condos.

Jens von Bergmann

Comparing Censuses

CensusMapper

geeky

Not so unique GeoUIDs and other pitfalls.

Jens von Bergmann

RS Population Change

Vancouver

CensusMapper

zoning

Did RS zoned land loose population?

Jens von Bergmann

Transit Explorer

Vancouver

Transportation

Mapzen

Dynamic Isochrones!

Jens von Bergmann

More on Teardowns

Vancouver

teardowns

Assessment Data

zoning

Some more details behind our data story on teardowns.

Jens von Bergmann, Joe Dahmen

5 min

2016 Census Data - Part 1

CensusMapper

A first look at the 2016 census.

Jens von Bergmann

Jane Jacobs’ Vancouver

Vancouver

OSM

Neigbourhood typologies within Metro Vancouver.

Jens von Bergmann

Bumper Year for Thumb Twiddlers

Vancouver

Assessment Data

Vancouver land working harder than ever.

Jens von Bergmann

The Coveted $1.2m - $1.6m Vote

Vancouver

Assessment Data

Mapping the poor recipients of a tax break

Jens von Bergmann

2017 Vancouver Assessment Data

Vancouver

Assessment Data

Visualizing the latest land value gains.

Jens von Bergmann

Updated Property Tax Data

Vancouver

Assessment Data

taxes

density

Updaing our tax density visualizations.

Jens von Bergmann

Character Retention

Vancouver

Abuse of Character.

Jens von Bergmann

Interactive Isochrones

Mapzen

Isochrones

OSM

Exploring Isochrones.

Jens von Bergmann

Trick-or-Treat 2016

CensusMapper

Halloween Mapping Fun.

Jens von Bergmann

Secondary Suites and Taxes

Vancouver

taxes

The tax implications of RS zoning.

Jens von Bergmann

Measuring Housing Affordability

Vancouver

Affordable for whom?

Jens von Bergmann

Quick Guide to Income Data

Vancouver

Progressing past medians.

Jens von Bergmann

Mobi Running Stats

OSM

Mapzen

bikes

Bike share stats for all.

Jens von Bergmann

Mobi – a First Look

OSM

Mapzen

bikes

Scraping Mobi data.

Jens von Bergmann

What’s up with RT?

Vancouver

zoning

Scraping Mobi data.

Jens von Bergmann

Bike Share Map

OSM

Mapzen

bikes

We weren’t fond of Mobi’s map, so we made our own.

Jens von Bergmann

Mixing Data

Vancouver

Assessment Data

CensusMapper

Mixing datasets allows a deeper view.

Jens von Bergmann

SDH Zoning and Land Use

Vancouver

land use

zoning

density

How much land do single detached and duplex houses consume?

Jens von Bergmann

FSR

Vancouver

density

Using LIDAR data to estimate building floor space?

Jens von Bergmann

My Global Bike Map

OSM

bikes

Mapzen

The beauty of building things with global datasets.

Jens von Bergmann

Census Mapping for Everyone

CensusMapper

Opening up StatCan open data, one step at a time.

Jens von Bergmann

Census Week

CensusMapper

New data is on the way.

Jens von Bergmann

TOD Mode Share

Vancouver

Transportation

CensusMapper

Adding mode share to our TOD map.

Jens von Bergmann

TOD

Vancouver

Transportation

CensusMapper

Population densities around rapid transit stations.

Jens von Bergmann

On Houses and Dirt

Vancouver

Assessment Data

Visualizing land vs building values.

Jens von Bergmann

On Mixed Use

Vancouver

Assessment Data

taxes

How mixed use redevelopment can lower overall property taxes.

Jens von Bergmann

Surrey Traffic Loop Counts

Surrey

Transportation

Exploring induction loop counter data.

Jens von Bergmann

Unoccupied Dwellings

Vancouver

CensusMapper

Empty Homes

Making sense of the new city data.

Jens von Bergmann

Physical SFH Form Over Time

Vancouver

zoning

Digging into the data of SFH.

Jens von Bergmann

Property Taxes and Land Use

Vancouver

Mapzen

taxes

zoning

land use

Visualizing tax density and land use.

Jens von Bergmann

Land Use, Roads (and Parking)

Vancouver

land use

Transportation

How do we use land in Metro Vancouver?

Jens von Bergmann

On Condos

Vancouver

Assessment Data

geeky

What can open data say about condos?

Jens von Bergmann

Loss of Character

Vancouver

What can open data say about condos?

Jens von Bergmann

Land Use Data

Vancouver

land use

Metro Vancouver Land Use Data

Jens von Bergmann

Work vs Twiddling Thumbs

Vancouver

Assessment Data

CensusMapper

Vancouver land works harder than it’s people

Jens von Bergmann

On Teardowns

Vancouver

zoning

teardowns

geeky

Digging into teardowns

Jens von Bergmann

Updated Vancouver Assessment Data

Vancouver

Assessment Data

VanRE Madness Continues

Jens von Bergmann

Canvas vs SVG

CensusMapper

geeky

Web performance tuning

Jens von Bergmann

Bike Data

OSM

bikes

The bike data I want

Jens von Bergmann

Bike Routing

OSM

Mapzen

bikes

Tweaking bike routing

Jens von Bergmann

How to make a bike map

OSM

bikes

Mapzen

Modern Web Mapping Technology Meets Bikes

Jens von Bergmann

Census Drilldown

CensusMapper

Drilling into census regions

Jens von Bergmann, Alejandro Cervantes

Census Mapper

CensusMapper

Making StatCan open data more accessible

Jens von Bergmann, Alejandro Cervantes

The Hidden Mortgage

CensusMapper

Transportation

Housing vs Transportation Costs

Jens von Bergmann

Vancouver 2011 Census Data on Housing

Vancouver

Playing with Census Data

Jens von Bergmann

Tax Density in Vancouver

Vancouver

taxes

density

Investigating taxes and land use

Jens von Bergmann

Vancouver Bike Paths

Vancouver

bikes

Naked bike maps

Jens von Bergmann

Vancouver Assessment Data

Vancouver

Assessment Data

Mapping Vancouver Assessment Data

Jens von Bergmann

Mapping CACs

Vancouver

Jens von Bergmann

Vancouver High Value Improvements Map

Vancouver

Assessment Data

Playing with Assessment Data

Jens von Bergmann

Vancouver Teardown Map

Vancouver

Assessment Data

teardowns

Playing with Assessment Data

Jens von Bergmann