VANCOUVER, B.C. in 2013 (Thread Includes: How has it changed since 2005?)

[Seana]

Re: The Wall Street Journal, July 12, 2013 online edition:
Insider's Guide to Vancouver, Canada

Some Snippets:

BRITISH COLUMBIA'S largest city consistently ranks near the top of lists of the world's best cities. But... ...the City of Glass has not often been accused of having its finger on the pulse of cool—until now.

Young chefs, artists and designers have been moving to town, drawn by its sophistication, ethnic diversity and natural bounty—verdant Vancouver is studded with parks and beaches, and the snow-capped North Shore Mountains are rarely out of sight. The newcomers are helping homegrown talent transform neighborhoods, replacing dilapidated storefronts and gloomy pawnshops with bars that serve local microbrews and eateries that dish up sustainable cuisine.

The days last until almost 10 p.m. in July, and locals spill from restaurant patios and bars into the old cobblestone streets. While Vancouverites still obsess about ski slopes and hiking trails, separate their recyclables and wouldn't dream of honking their horns, now they also dress in designer duds for dinner.

...Stanley Park One of the largest urban parks in North America, it has miles of walking and biking trails among century-old firs, cedars and hemlock trees, plus pristine beaches, First Nations totem poles and a miniature railway... //... Granville Island On this peninsula you'll find a public market filled with fresh specialty foods, as well as pedestrian-only alleys where the shops stock wares by local artisans and designers...

[opinion]
Uncrowded Coastline // Jericho Beach. The beach stretches for miles on end, it's not crowded with people and it's located in a beautiful part of Vancouver. I like to spend the afternoon there with my family. North side of Jericho Park at the west end of Point Grey Road, in the Point Grey neighborhood.

[another opinion]
Best Beach // Spanish Banks. This beach in the West Point Grey neighborhood is fabulous in the winter because it is so peaceful and no one is there. In the summer the water is so shallow you can walk forever in the ankle-deep tidal pools. It's calm and wonderful—very West Coast.

[another opinion]
Seaside Sanctuary // Dundarave Pier. Beautiful any time of year, rain or shine. I see a mix of people there: families and seniors and professionals and young couples in love. It's not a beach just for sun bathing—there's a play area for children and a pier where people like to go crab fishing.

[opinion]
Chinatown... It's real and authentic and full of interesting sights and smells. I love the character of this part of the city. It isn't too polished and yuppie.

[opinion]
Landmark with a View // The Lions Gate Bridge. I love driving from Vancouver and seeing the view of the North Shore from the bridge. Interesting fact: It was built by the Guinness family [of the Irish beer fame].

[another opinion]
Iconic Architecture // The Marine Building. It was completed in 1930 and is a stunning example of craftsmanship and architectural detail—there's really nothing else like it in Vancouver. It's one of the landmarks in this city that has been the same my entire life.

[another opinion]
Best Building // Vancouver Convention Centre. I remember thinking, when it opened shortly before the 2010 Winter Olympics, that the architecture and location embodied the serenity and airiness of the West Coast. It's situated right on the harbor, with a tremendous view of Stanley Park and the mountains.

_____________________________________

When all is said and said, though, this is but one source......

What do Cyburbians think of this article? (It's OK by me if you don't like it.)

What pictures, facts, articles, and commentary on Vancouver would Cyburbians like to add?

_____________________________________


I put on the Subject Line, "Thread Includes: How has it changed since 2005?"
There's an important reason for my choosing that year, but I've run out of computer time.
I'll post about it in the very near future.
Perhaps many perceptive Cyburbians can correctly guess, and then do the rest of the work for me.

[Vancity]

The article just seems like another biased 'things to do' list, of which there are many for Vancouver. It points out a lot of places I've never even heard of, mostly just seems like a travel guide to the city. I'll probably use it next time I'm bored.... It has a bias, you know, as it only points out all the good things about Vancouver... but I share the opinions of this article, (except on Chinatown, yuck). To quote myself on July 12, 2013 "Vancouver is the best city on Earth" ... so you know, my thoughts on the city may be a little one sided

I'll criticize the article because I enjoy giving criticism, despite my love for the city aligning with the author's. It fails to mention that Chinatown and Gastown both border the Downtown East side, an area with the highest levels of concentrated homelessness and drug addiction in Canada. Chinatown is not a place I'd like to find myself alone.. Gastown is really gentrifying right now though, it's pushing further East everyday, but there is a clear border where it ends and the addicts begin. (This gentrification is also, obviously, having a huge negative impact on the population in that area, they have nowhere else to go)

While Vancouverites still obsess about ski slopes and hiking trails, separate their recyclables and wouldn't dream of honking their horns, now they also dress in designer duds for dinner.

Yeah because anyone who can't afford designer duds can't live here. The article fails to point out the cost of it's suggestions. Maybe Vancouver has become 'cool' (cool, or pretentious?) because you have to be a millionaire to live even modestly here. (ps, I am not a millionaire ) (pss. we are forced by law to separate our recyclables....I think)


I've only been here since 2008. I can't comment on the changes since 2005. The Olympics made a huge difference in our infrastructure though (expanded train system, convention center mentioned in the article.. ect)

[Vancity]

May I suggest a supplementary article:

http://thethirtiesgrind.com/2013/07/...-july-11-2013/

[PennPlanner]

Whoa!

I almost spilled my coffee on the keyboard.

I knew Vancouver was expensive but those prices make even London look like a midwestern city.

What's the deal with these high prices? Who's paying 2.5, 3.5 million for cramped working class 1950s ranchers? I'm guessing these are teardowns?

May I suggest a supplementary article:

http://thethirtiesgrind.com/2013/07/...-july-11-2013/

[Vancity]

Whoa!

I almost spilled my coffee on the keyboard.

I knew Vancouver was expensive but those prices make even London look like a midwestern city.

What's the deal with these high prices? Who's paying 2.5, 3.5 million for cramped working class 1950s ranchers? I'm guessing these are teardowns?

Foreign investors and immigrants are. Mostly from China.
The people that actually move here usually tear down the crappy homes and build new gigantic ones that take up the entire lot.

A lot of apartments sit empty too, owned by some wealthy business person on the other side of the globe... while Vancouver has some of the highest homeless populations in Canada.
Rent here is also extremely high (people trying to pay off those giant mortgages with renters) and there is an extremely low vacancy rate, so its competitive too.

Our housing market is a sad state of affairs.

It breaks my heart to think I will likely never be able to own one here.

[CanadaJimmy]

Vancouver is expensive, yes, but once you get across the river past New Westminster, towards Surrey, Langley, Mission and Abbotsford the prices do drop quite considerably, and with Highway 1 now being widened, being out that far isn't as much of a chore as it used to be. The reason for the high prices is not just foreign investment but also the fact that Vancouver has very restricted growth - The mountains to the north, the US Border to the South, the Sea to the West, and to the East, you have the ALR - which is basically thousands of acres of protected land that is only permitted for agricultural use. The ALR may seem to hurt more people by raising property prices than help, but in Vancouver we are extremely lucky because there is so much fresh local produce of good quality.

But yes foreign investment is a huge issue too - even with ALR land as Chinese buyers have bought huge ALR lots as a gamble that eventually pushing and pushing for them to be taken out the ALR will pay off. I personally think that foreign property ownership should be restricted and not allowed to over inflate the market in exactly the same way jobs are protected from foreigners coming in and undercutting the market - something like a work permit but for property would really help in my opinion.

As for the city itself in the context of urban planning, it's difficult to summarize, there are some really ugly roads in Vancouver, like Kingsway for example which is just shabby stores on both sides of the road nearly the whole length of it. Hastings St too suffers from a similar problem. But there are some decent roads too, Granville St and Burrard St are quite pleasant to walk and drive on in the downtown. The downtown is mixed use and not zoned, which does not produce an organized appearance, but does have some benefits in that there is a lot of residential in the downtown core - I believe the highest percentage of any North American city - which provides more customers so coffee shops, bars and restaurants are open very late into the night compared to say, Seattle, where many of these places in the downtown seem to close at 6pm.

The City and Downtown are on a decent grid system, providing corners and variety. This grid goes all the way to the historical New Westminster which has a particularly small scale grid network - which brings quite a bit of charm to many areas there. Across the river however in Surrey and Langley we reach typical 1950s post war urban planning, lots of superblocks, lots of culdesacs, in Surrey you can just about survive without a car, but in the newer areas of Langley, forget it, the transit is dreadful and in most neighbourhoods walking anywhere is a dull chore. The best walkable town in Langley is Fort Langley, a historical town with heritage buildings and new buildings in the heritage style (enforced by strict style guidelines). It's really a very nice town and as such the prices there jump right up of course. It is unfortunate that the newer neighbourhoods in Langley couldn't be more modelled after this place - most houses in newer neighbourhoods have 5-7 vehicles - every family member has a vehicle, plus the people renting in the basement, so parking is at a premium.