Vancouver Condo Info

16 Responses to “World Class”

1. 1
   si fu Says:
   October 15th, 2007 at 9:17 am
   It never fails to amaze me that the self-satisfied burghers of Vancouver (not the one in Washington State) seem to think this backwater town is really a big city. Go to Toronto for a week, and then come back. See the difference? Toronto is a real city, and even that metropolis isn’t “world class”, any more than (for example) Chicago is. What makes a city world class? Corporate headquarters? A centre of banking and commerce? Influence? History? Actually all of these. It helps to be located in a country with significant economic power. Like China, the USA, UK, France, Germany, Japan, etc.

   Tell an American you are from Vancouver, and they won’t guess the one in BC. More likely you will get a response like “Oh, that’s near Seattle, huh?”

   Sarajevo had the winter Olympics. So did Calgary. Not world class.

   Flame off.

2. 2
   asalvari Says:
   October 15th, 2007 at 9:58 am
   sad, but true. Most of the people considering Vancouver “world class” have not seen any “world class” city.
3. 3
   Mike Says:
   October 15th, 2007 at 11:05 am
   I love our world-class garbage pickup, museums, and seawall (closed for the last 9 months because of a few downed trees).

   And don’t forget those other world-class olympic cities: Lake Placid, Salt Lake City, Lillehammer and Turin.

4. 4
   asalvari Says:
   October 15th, 2007 at 11:14 am
   rant on

   what pisses me to no end, is the FACT that the trafic really sucks in Vancouver AND people are not doing anything for that.

   Especially when most of the problems can be solved by very simple re-marking of the streets, prohibiting left turns and marking extra line for left turns.

   I simply can not grasp this situation, nor I can understand the capacity the people in charge have, to ignore such an easy fix.

   rant off

5. 5
   Warren Says:
   October 15th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
   Lots of rants in here. It seems people in Vancouver fall into 2 camps:

   1. Shameless self promotion.
   2. Extreme self hate.

   I don’t like either group, but I often wonder why group 2 hangs around.

   I travel all over the US for my job. Lots of people don’t know Vancouver, but many have “heard its great”, etc. And lots know where it is, or have been up for a visit.

   Not being from anywhere else, I can’t speak for what they know of Toronto or anywhere else.

   Just because people don’t know Vancouver doesn’t make Vancouver lame, maybe it makes them an inbred idiot who doesn’t know shit outside of their own home town and local baptist church.

   Traffic bad? Crime? Try Chicago, LA, NYC. I love Chicago and NYC, but they have terrible traffic and large, bad ghettos. Then there are places like Atlanta, or Dallas, which have no redeeming qualities.

   I’ve been traveling around the US for almost 4 years. I’ve seen a lot of alternative places, and there are some great ones. Vancouver is still my #1, just not at any cost.

6. 6
   asalvari Says:
   October 15th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
   warren, traffics is bad in Vancouver, but it is fixable. Doing nothing to improve the situation with it is what really upsets me. I have been/lived in bigger cities, with far worse traffic then Vancouver. However, they would do anything to improve it (Toronto, San Diego, San Francisco, Detroit) and they have success with it.

   However, the Vancouver way is do nothing, because if you improve it it would get more cars on road and again it would be bad. Such a great logic here.. I love it.

7. 7
   beta Says:
   October 15th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
   Lots of rants in here. It seems people in Vancouver fall into 2 camps:

   1. Shameless self promotion.
   2. Extreme self hate.

   People ranting are simply reacting against the overwhelmingly one-sided promulgation of #1 in the mass media.

   To complain about a variety of legitimate ills (or even illegitimate ones) is not the same as “hate” — self or otherwise.

8. 8
   beta Says:
   October 15th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
   the Vancouver way is do nothing, because if you improve it it would get more cars on road and again it would be bad.

   Yes, that idea has been deliberately employed in city planning for more than a decade now. There is even some merit to it, but mass transit hasn’t adequately filled the gap and too many people insist on driving anyway. For all our lip-service to high density & mass transit, we’re still primarily a car culture.

9. 9
   asalvari Says:
   October 15th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
   beta,

   the idea has some merit, indeed. However, there are numerous ways of controlling the number of cars on the road.

   For example a real world class city would implement tax/permit to let you drive downtown, or place stiff parking fees (for example Toronto is 25$/day while Vancouver is 12$/day). And it has been proven working.

   What we have chosen is to do nothing, hoping that the traffic will self regulate. Any sensible person will say that this will never work.

   What we got, is road rage, and bad driving habits to level that I am afraid to turn left (I have numerous stories that will freak you out - the best is as I try to turn left, a huge truck passes on RED, and the driver weaving both hands in the air signaling me not to attempt the turn because he has no desire to break). And that is me being afraid after 5 years commuting in Toronto, using 401 every day.

   It has gone to such extent, that when one drive south, locals really drive away from Canadians car, since we are liability on the road. We scare them.

   This bad driving habits are installed by the system, and I have found that its next to impossible talking to locals here to improve driving situation. They are SCARED of highways, and live in delusion that Vancouver has best solution.

   However, it costs lives, and if ever one attempts driving along Granville in rush hour will understand what I am talking about. Its not the traffic jam, its not the delays that causes this strong feeling I have.

   Of course, everybody has rights to have own opinions of the things, so I am accepting different opinions. What I can not accept is the ignorance and delusion I get from some people.

   I have been living in Vancouver from 94 to 99 and from 05 till now. The results of the traffic policy are terrible.

   p.s. this rant is along the theme of the thread “world class”.

10. 10
    Tony Danza Says:
    October 16th, 2007 at 7:37 am
    One of the reasons Vancouver is often ranked as such a livable city is our lack of a freeway through downtown. I remember when city council planned to construct a freeway through Vancouver to relieve congestion around the same time this was happening in most US cities. Ever been to Phoenix, ugly freeways cutting through the city, traffic much, much worse than here. Or try Atlanta, Denver, LA, Detroit, Boston, Seattle etc… Granted these cities are much larger than our own.
11. 11
    Warren Says:
    October 16th, 2007 at 11:49 am
    The Vancouver Museum has some maps and proposals of the highways that were proposed for Vancouver in the mid-60s. Take a look one day and you’ll be glad it didn’t happen.. think the I5 running along coal harbour.

    Considering the time period, the foresight was quite remarkable. more likely it was luck.

12. 12
    markx Says:
    October 16th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
    Being in Montreal, I find it very amusing that people in Montreal and Toronto seem concerned about being better than the other city, while in Vancouver people consider it “world class”, as in no need to compared Vancouver to anywhere in Canada. Truth is, Vancouver is not even the hub of Canada. This “best place on earth” mentality is just beyond comprehension.
13. 13
    markx Says:
    October 16th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
    By the way, despite having “world class” RE prices, Vancouver sure don’t have world class rental costs. Combine that with decent weather, good food, decent wage for young, non-union workers, and customer services comparable to other English speaking cities in North America, I would say Vancouver is my #1 choice as well. You have to live in Quebec for a while to appreciate simple things people take for granted in Vancouver, like getting internet, and seeing a doctor.

    As long as rent stay in line with wages, I would probably return after the Canada Line is completed. But this “world class” obsession is getting stupid. It feels like the all-french bill boards in Montreal where the target audience is English-speaking.

14. 14
    Tony Danza Says:
    October 17th, 2007 at 8:51 am
    Warren said…
    Considering the time period, the foresight was quite remarkable. more likely it was luck.

    Actually it was a lot of hard work by concerned citizens, prescient architects and planners who opposed the proposals. Oh and can’t forget the environmentalists.

15. 15
    patriotz Says:
    October 20th, 2007 at 7:25 am
    And one more thing - the city and the provincial government couldn’t agree on a cost-sharing formula, which delayed the undertaking.

    Then both city council and the provincial government changed in 1972 and the concept was dead.

    Only one piece was ever built - the (new) Georgia Viaduct, which was supposed to have an interchange at its eastern end.

16. 16
    Warren Says:
    October 22nd, 2007 at 2:56 pm
    tony I don’t doubt people pushed hard against it, but from what patriotz said, conditions could have easily been different and the highway built.