DECADE BY DECADE

1985

“Vancouver is, in fact, well behind every other major city in Canada when it comes to saving and refurbishing old buildings,” declares a pro-heritage column, which goes on to blame lack of incentive and an influx of “Hong Kong money” for the impending demolition of the Orillia, a wood-framed heritage building that is now an office tower at 605 Robson St. Benchmark home price: $123,173

1991

“Five years from now the West End, home of the city’s traditional rental apartment stock, will be surrounded and the skyline will have changed dramatically. All the vacant lots will be towers and all the towers will be condos,” reads a prescient passage from a story detailing—you guessed it—the arrival of condos in the West End.

Benchmark home price: $264,076

1999

“Some of the city’s most respected developers lined Kitsilano, Fairview Slopes and—come to think of it, just about everywhere—with stucco-covered, doodad-trimmed, sieve-roofed disasters, blighting streetscapes, breaking hearts and ruining lives as they went.” Um… our city report card gave leaky condos a failing grade. Benchmark home price: $355,555

2005

“Will Chinatown’s history become mere set decoration?” we asked in “Chinatown Calculations.” Or will it “fulfill its potential as a place where our polyglot community can actually remember our fraught history and turn our social cleavages into seams?” Adecade and change later, the question still stands. Benchmark home price: $589,973