https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/metro-vancouver-bc-canada-most-livable-cities
Friday, January 30, 2026
Tree-inspired office tower concept proposed for revived Waterfront Station project
Singapore, Perth, Sydney, Seattle, SF and Miami are allowed to have tall buildings right near the water, because they are allowed to be big and tall cities.
Vancouver has several restrictions which prevent it from becoming a proper big city.
Major upgrades for Queensborough Bridge in NW
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/queensborough-bridge-upgrades-new-westminster-richmond
Another classic BC bottleneck-chokepoint. This bridge is so narrow, because there aren't any emergency lanes, let alone any bus & HOV lanes. The narrow and inadequate Queensborough+Bridge just wasn't designed for a properly growing seaport region. A twin or duplicate bridge should have been built immediately east of the first bridge, decades ago. A parallel 4 lane bridge would allow for 3 lanes on each bridge, plus a 4th lane for buses. However, that would go against the regional congestive planning agenda.
Thursday, January 29, 2026
No plan to make 8th Avenue detour bus-only during Broadway road closure for subway construction
Given that this temporary diversion is only 1 lane each way, it should be just for buses.
25-storey, mixed-use residential tower approved for an industrial area
It might be a good idea to keep some land for industrial purposes in small Vancouver.
Whil Houston, TX has already allowed for this, it has a much larger land area than Vancouver.
Wednesday, January 28, 2026
Tuesday, January 27, 2026
Monday, January 26, 2026
Sunday, January 25, 2026
Why Living in Vancouver Has Become Impossible
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puM93PmmWbI
People are leaving Toronto and Vancouver in record numbers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0Jh0EymI_A
Moving From Canada to the U.S. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJAA1D_7lCs
Saturday, January 24, 2026
Friday, January 23, 2026
Thursday, January 22, 2026
Westham Island Bridge remains closed to vehicles
The Westham+Island+Bridge has become another 21st century joke. A new and higher bridge should have 1 wide traffic lane each way, plus 2 separated bike and foot paths. This would not only allow for safer bike crossings, but easier emergency and general vehicle access.
Barnston+Island doesn't even have a bridge. The Barnston+Island+Ferry should be replace with a bridge. Such a bridge should also have 1 wide traffic lane each way, plus 2 separated bike and foot paths.
With a proper bridge crossing Barnston_Island as well as Westham_Island would be so much easier for people to bike around in the spring & summer. Plus, a proper bridge would be more efficient for business.
https://metrovancouver.org/services/regional-parks/park/barnston-island-regional-park
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Overnight closure on Highway 1 planned in North Vancouver for pedestrian and cycling bridge
While every new bike bridge is another victory in regional mobility, Burrard_Inlet is so lacking with a bus and train tunnel and bridge. Unfortunatly, there are still enough people who prefer to have perpetual traffic congestion and chaos.
Perth, WA, Australia
https://www.mainroads.wa.gov.au/travel-information/driving-in-wa/driving-in-perth
https://www.mainroads.wa.gov.au/technical-commercial/smartfreeways While WA take a spart aproach, backwards BC still takes a dumb approach to things.
https://www.mainroads.wa.gov.au/projects-initiatives/all-projects/metropolitan/smartfreeways/ 4 lanes each way with 2 track in the middle. You won't find that in Vancouver or anywhere in backwards BC.
https://www.mainroads.wa.gov.au/projects-initiatives/all-projects/metropolitan In contrast, the Metro Vancouver Region is a joke!
"Perth is Australia’s fourth biggest city, with a population of 2.3 million. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhS-fiJ14GU Perhaps surprisingly, Perth has an expansive suburban railway network. 8 lines, 85 stations and 270 km of track – it’s a large system for a relatively small city."
Bridge and Tunnel Projects in Australia
https://www.webuildvalue.com/en/reportage/sydney-harbour-bridge.html
https://www.smec.com/mm/project/west-gate-tunnel-project/
https://lpclawyers.com/bridging-the-gap-part-1-bridge-projects-in-australia
https://www.georgiou.com.au/project/mandurah-estuary-bridge-duplication/
https://www.bridgewaterbridge.tas.gov.au/about/history , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQJIdGUlFqg , https://www.bridgewaterbridge.tas.gov.au/
Vancouver mayoral candidate pitches plan to build 4,000 City-owned and affordable homes
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-mayoral-candidate-william-azaroff-pitches-affordable-homes Providing more affordable housing in Vancouver would certainly be of great benifit.
In some cases, if a developer was allowed to build Toronto, Sydney and Melbourne sise towers, provided they agreed to build some affordable housing, it could be of mutual benefit.
New pedestrian and cyclist bridge above railway proposed for Brentwood in Burnaby
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/burnaby-brentwood-pedestrian-cyclist-overpass-proposal Not just in backwards Vancouver, but throughout the Greater Vancouver Region, is a lacking of bike and foot bridges. Of course there also needs to be a regional network of bus and HOV bridges. So many of the existing bridges are too damn narrow.
Tuesday, January 20, 2026
San Francisco’s Biggest Development Projects That Will Change the City
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsIBAwdmWjY
Safeway is disappearing across San Francisco https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbKl6Kerfbo
Monday, January 19, 2026
Sunday, January 18, 2026
Alioto's Restaurant at Fisherman's Wharf is permanently closed and its historic building is currently being demolished to make way for a public plaza
After nearly a century in operation, the restaurant officially ended its lease with the Port of San Francisco in 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNkW8GjXTD8
Saturday, January 17, 2026
The Great SkyTrain upgrade (potential)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D2CXdZ_4Ro
Unfortunatly, the first 2 Skytrain lines were designed to only have 80m stations and trains. The 3rd line to YVR and Richmond was only designed to have 50m stations. In contrast, the Montreal Metro has stations long enough to accomodate 152.4m long trains. Thus, the greatest mistake was to not enable the Skytrain to eventually become a very high capacity train system. Combine that with mostly narrow bridges and roads in Greater Vancouver and you have the epitome of congestive urban planning.
At least by late 2025 some of the new 5 car trains were out, along with some of the old 6 car little box trains on the 1st line. The 2nd and 3rd lines are still running 2 car joke trains, but that symbolically fits right in with the, KEEP BC SMALL AND BACKWARDS mentality.
A proper big city long-term plan would have been to allow for 10 car trains, with at least 5-6 car trains at the start when each line opened.
Friday, January 16, 2026
Thursday, January 15, 2026
Public washrooms in the City of Vancouver
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-public-washroom-strategic-framework
Hardly subtropical, but no snow to shovel during this winter, so far.
Heavy snowfall in Montreal caused stress, delays and accidents
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/deux-montagnes-rem-shutdown-9.7046184
https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/rem-service-disrupted-snowfall
https://montreal.citynews.ca/2026/01/15/snow-causes-rem-disruption/
https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/rem-down-due-to-tricky-weather-conditions/
https://www.cdpqinfra.com/en/projects/rem
Finch LRT shut down all day due to “weather conditions.”
https://toronto.citynews.ca/video/2026/01/15/finch-lrt-shut-down-all-day-due-to-weather-conditions It should have been a proper subway line, protected from the crappy snow & ice. In contrast, Edmonton & Calgary are mostly surface lines and can usually run through the terrible winter conditions.
https://toronto.citynews.ca/2026/01/15/line-6-finch-west-lrt-delays-snowstorm-ttc-updates/
https://www.ttc.ca/riding-the-ttc/Line-6-Finch-West
Some Ontario civil servants told to get to office in snowstorm or take vacation day
https://globalnews.ca/news/11615259/ontario-office-mandate-snow-day
As Australia & NZ get some intense summer weather, Canada is constantly reminded that winter isn't always a fun time. While its sunny and well above freezing in Vancouver & Victoria, Toronto & Montreal are stuck right in the middle of total winter conditions.
Early nightly closures at Oakridge-41st Avenue SkyTrain station for construction extended by two months
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/oakridge-41st-avenue-skytrain-station-early-closure-2026
While some improvements are possible with the very short Canada+Line stations, there was a lack of vision to allow for enough level clearance to be able to double the length of the stations.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/skytrain-oakridge-41st-avenue-station-upgrade-design-renderings
Indeed, the stations should have been at least 100m long, but only can be 50m. So instead of eventually having 5 car trains, only 2.5 car trains will be the maximum. WTH?
Snowfall leads to accidents, road closures across Montreal
https://montrealgazette.com/news/weather/montreal-snowfall-warning-road-conditions
https://globalnews.ca/news/11614578/montreal-storm-road-conditions/
https://montreal.citynews.ca/2026/01/15/heavy-snow-montreal-winter-conditions/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/deux-montagnes-rem-shutdown-9.7046184
Vancouver residents decry lack of government action after London Drugs closure
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-london-drugs-closure-gastown-residents
Vancouver and BC just gave up and let that part of the city go to $HIT!
https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/david-eby-warning-london-drugs-closure
Wednesday, January 14, 2026
UBC students hold a fake party for 18-year unfulfilled promise of SkyTrain
https://www.ams.ubc.ca/news/ubc-students-celebrate-18-years-of-skytrain-delays
The UBC-Broadway+Corridor should have been built to the Tri-Cities_(British_Columbia) in 1 or 2 phases. Unfortunatly, the days of a line from Coquitlam to UBC are still so far away.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/the-14-billion-transit-plan-the-b-c-liberals-conveniently-forgot
The Millennium_Line was built in the middle first, when it should have started with UBC, Vancouver and Burnaby. Instead, it started from East Vancouver, through Burnaby, then to Port_Moody and ending at Lafarge_Lake-Douglas_station in Coquitlam. At least there+will+likely+be+a+UBC+Station+before+the+next+millennium.
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=UBC-Broadway+Corridor
The early days of Vancouver's iconic Marine Building
It could have been the cities first 30 story tower, but it's not even up to 25 floors.
SD and SF vs. LA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izx7Y_qw_NQ
San Diego and SF have their downtowns right up to the water, but Downtown LA is a good ways inland.
SkyTrain's Canada Line service disruption
(service disruption ends after 14 hours) https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/skytrain-canada-line-service-disruptions-january-14-2026
For a rapid transit line that opened in 2009, on the surface, it sure wasn't designed to be an efficient high capacity line for the future. It's still just a 2 car joke of a train. Fortunately, most real cities around the world planned for not only 6 car trains, but even 8-10 car trains.
Unfortunatly, Vancouver has been hit very hard with a multigenerational agenda of continually imposed small scale infrastructure. Vancouver has water on 3 sides, as its on a peninsula. Since the powers that be couldn't build a Boundary+Road moat or trench, the next best thing was to symbolically show the reluctance to build proper big city size infrastructure. This stunted approach to things is about symbolically holding the scale of the city back for as long as possible.
Despite backwards Vancouver not being able to apply a castle-moat-and-drawbridge control system, the next best thing was to symbolically keep things smaller than what normal or proper big cities allow.
Here are some of the best examples of holding the size of things back. The 3 lane joke that is the Lions+Gate+Bridge has never had a rapid transit rail tunnel and no express bus tunnel next to it. Especially, no 6 lane highway tunnel. It's a classic BC bottleneck-chokepoint, by design.
From a 3 lane joke of a bridge to a two car Canada+Line joke of a train. It met the symbolic requirement to be shorter than the LRT in Edmonton, the C Train in Calgary and the trains in Seattle and Portland.
The+Post+building+complex could have been Vancouver's first 50 story office tower, it's not even 25 floors. It would be impressive if it were in Victoria, Kelowna, Kamloops or Prince George. That's the unfortunate thing about Vancouver, so much is done to only be impressive to small cities or towns.
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=The+small+Westin+Bayshore+Hotel+in+Vancouver
Things have been kept so small in Vancouver throughout its history, that any big city stuff might seem overwhelming. There has been an unofficial KEEP THEM OUT mentality, but since the city cant have checkpoints, building things small symbolically demonstrates the perpetual reluctance to not allow a big city in backwater BC.
Since Vancouver can't control Burnaby and can't stop Surrey from eventually becoming the biggest city in BC, they are able to build things on a larger scale than Vancouver.
Mild Victoria, BC
Victoria has been a provincial backwater for most of its history. Despite being in a mild winter setting, it's so small when compared to Edmonton, Winnipeg, Quebec City and Halifax.
https://www.onevictoriaplace.ca
https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=37&status=15
While Edmonton was eventually allowed to have a tall building, even by Toronto, Calgary and Montreal standards, Victoria was always supposed to have shorter buildings than Winnipeg, Quebec City and Halifax. That's part of the KEEP THINGS SMALL mentality on V. Island.
Victoria should have had its first LRT line by now, but that might improve urban mobility. Eventually, Victoria and Nanaimo will merge into one linear urban area. Eventually, the Comox_Valley_Regional_District will have over 100,000 people, the Regional_District_of_Nanaimo will have over 200,000 people, the Cowichan_Valley_Regional_District will exceed 100,000 people and the Capital_Regional_District will have over 450,000 people.
Of course there doesn't seem to be any big regional scale planning from Sooke to Courtenay. Perhaps the island's urban planners will wait until there is 800,000 and over a million residents on the island.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver_Island#Demographics
So, as more people discover that Victoria and Vancouver are the mildest winter cities in Canada, more people just might want to move there. Especially, when Canadian Snowbirds don't feel as comfortable with Florida, Texas & California.
Tuesday, January 13, 2026
About 90% of TransLink's first two Bus Rapid Transit lines will have bus-only lanes
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/translink-king-george-langley-haney-place-brt-bus-lanes-proposal
Since the metropolitan area has rivers and an inlet, there should have been a regional network of bus bridges by now. Instead, BC insists on overloading the mostly narrow bridges in the Greater Vancouver Region.
Monday, January 12, 2026
Sunday, January 11, 2026
The 17 Mile Area That BROKE California's Megalopolis Why Los Angeles Is Americas Most Confusing City
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vzfvk1sl3E
Why Los Angeles Is America's Most CONFUSING City https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJWb50AUAxc
Why Los Angeles Is Americas Most Confusing City https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUclitPknhE
LA
The Houston intersection
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5ikK8b39Hs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cF27fXGveA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enRYHV94MWs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjtabpArILE
Houston's Unbelievable North Highway Improvement Project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69aGW4L6VO0
Saturday, January 10, 2026
From 6 to 4 lanes
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10163196613962377&set=a.10152101514842377
Several cities are able to build bike and foot bridges in their downtowns. Unfortunately, backwards Vancouver has taken a congestion approach to transportation planning for several decades. The Burrard-Bridge could have remained 6 lanes wide if a proper bike+bridge had been built next to it.
https://www.cyclingthread.com/bicycle-bridges-18-stunning-routes-18-unique-crossings-2025
https://momentummag.com/here-are-10-incredible-bicycle-bridges-around-the-world/
https://www.arch2o.com/10-amazing-bridges-passageways-bikes
https://medium.com/@raydelahanty/what-is-north-americas-busiest-bike-bridge-3ac84cf8b8c3
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Burrard+Street+Bridge
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Tilikum+Crossing+in+Portland Unfortunately, it looks like the biggest city in BC won't be getting anything like the Tilikum Bridge in the foreseeable future.
Friday, January 9, 2026
Original cars on SkyTrain's Canada Line set to be refurbished
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/skytrain-canada-line-original-trains-refurbishment
Perhaps allowing for enough future station clearance to accommodate 10 car trains would require too much forward thinking in backwards BC. However, this line should have been started with at least 5 car trains. Unfortunatly, the very short stations were only designed to accommodate 2.5 car trains. As of 2026, only 2 car joke trains are still being run.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyTrain_(Vancouver)#Canada_Line It's one thing to say that having very short stations can save on construction costs, but to not allow for significant future expansion defeats the purpose. Someone clearly didn't want the Canada_Line to eventually have proper, long big city trains.
There still is hope that this Half-A$$ED, small-scale line can become a little closer to that of a proper big city train, someday.
Feb 12, 2020 https://www.richmond-news.com/local-news/canada-line-continues-to-break-records-translink-3116818 "On an average weekday last year, the Canada Line had an average of 150,000 boardings, continuing to “outperform projections,” according to TransLink."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Line "During the 17 days of the 2010 Winter Olympics, the line carried an average of 228,190 passengers per day."
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=YVR-Canada+Line
Thursday, January 8, 2026
Wednesday, January 7, 2026
Four Lane Pattullo Bridge Replacement Project
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-ING5Pfrdk
The old bridge has 4 narrow lanes and no traffic divider. However, the new bridge won't have any bus or HOV lanes and no emergency lanes.
Chokepoint-bottleneck planning remains firmly entrenched in backwards BC.
Metro Vancouver's SkyTrain transit system turns 40
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeSQtHusn1A
The history of SkyTrain 1985-2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEt76BgRP5E
Expo Line Extension (Surrey - Langley) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CavX1TWYUsE
Surrey Langley Skytrain Construction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRARdwNIbls
17 years and waiting for UBC SkyTrain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIEhFrTuqkc
YVR-Skytrain: Canada Line https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvwFeKtbyxU
London Drugs closing its Woodward’s location, citing safety and operational issues
https://globalnews.ca/news/11602959/london-drugs-closing-woodwards-location-safety-issues/
While Kelowna is gradually fitting into its role as the 3rd largest urban area in BC, Greater Vancouver and Greater Victoria need to function more like properly growing metropolitan areas.
https://globalnews.ca/news/11602086/victoria-store-owner-frustrated-911-services-hung-up-on/
Giving up and letting crime take over is foolish. An effective effort needs to go towards dealing with the various urban social issues.
Sunday, January 4, 2026
The Transamerica Pyramid in SF
The Transamerica_Pyramid was permitted to be about 400 feet taller than the LA+City+Hall.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transamerica_Pyramid#Gallery
The very narrow pyramid in SF is almost twice the height of the tallest pyramid in Egypt. Will LA ever be allowed to have a pyramid tower as tall or taller than the one in SF?
Does Los Angeles have the Most Confusing Skyline?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2ljqamDgwg
Back in the day, the KEEP L.A. SHORT crowd really wanted to make sure that no building in SoCal was as tall as the tallest Egyptian_pyramid. Thus, the Giza_pyramid_complex was taller than anything in LA until the late 1960s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyramid_of_Giza "Initially standing at 146.6 meters (481 feet), the Great Pyramid was the world's tallest human-made structure for more than 3,800 years."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_City_Hall#History "It has 32 floors and, at 454 feet (138 m) high..." https://calisphere.org/item/cf1903e53170db536690f3f8690925a0 Just a little pyramid on top of a building that is shorter than the tallest pyramid in Egypt.
.jpg/960px-Los_Angeles_City_Hall_(from_the_West).jpg)
.tif/lossy-page1-800px-Pyramids_from_afar_(2).tif.jpg)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Pyramids_from_afar_%282%29.tif/lossy-page1-800px-Pyramids_from_afar_%282%29.tif.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giza
https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/vintage-photos-los-angeles-1940s-1960s
Of course LA would eventually allow some buildings to be twice as tall as the tallest Egyptian pyramid.
https://www.commercialcafe.com/blog/evolution-downtown-la-visual-timeline/
https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=26&status=15
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=LA+City+Hall
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=The+Transamerica+Pyramid+in+SF
Saturday, January 3, 2026
The new bridge next to Pattullo Bridge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUGCUqTphCU
This new bridge should have had 2 wide emergency lanes and 2 bus lanes and 2 HOV lanes. While there is a potential for the bridge to eventually have 3 lanes each way, for the foreseeable future everything will just be crammed into 2 lanes each way.
It was a mistake to not have designed this bridge to eventually have a lower deck for buses and LRT.
Wednesday, December 31, 2025
Bridges in Fort McMurray, Alberta
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_McMurray , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FCkJ8ZZ9VI
https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/bridge-to-oilsands-the-biggest-in-alberta
https://www.canambridges.com/projects/athabasca-river-bridge
https://khaledalmaaz.blogspot.com/search?q=Athabasca+River+Bridge
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/relief-for-ft-mac-traffic-jams-in-sight-as-127m-new-bridge-opens
https://www.outokumpu.com/en/expertise/2016/built-for-heavy-loads
https://www.alberta.ca/system/files/custom_downloaded_images/geo2017Paper767.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta_Highway_63#Construction
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_Municipality_of_Wood_Buffalo
https://www.rmwb.ca/news/posts/join-an-rmwb-board-or-committee-and-help-shape-your-community/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_McMurray-Wood_Buffalo
https://www.transportation.alberta.ca/Content/docType4942/Production/HIGHWAY_63_STATUS_MAP2.pdf
Crews cleared multi-vehicle crash blocking Lions Gate Bridge southbound
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2025/12/31/vehicle-incident-blocking-lions-gate-bridge Another year has gone with no plans to have an express bus and a commuter train tunnel there. Especially no 6 lane tunnel for general traffic.
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
New Year's Eve celebrations in Edmonton
The longer that I live in backwards Vancouver, the more glad I am to see that it can't stop other cities from having fireworks...
https://www.ctvnews.ca/edmonton/article/here-are-some-ways-to-ring-in-the-new-year-in-edmonton
https://icedistrict.com/event/upcoming/new-years-eve-december-31-2025
New Year's Eve fireworks in and around Calgary
https://curiocity.com/new-years-eve-fireworks-2026-near-calgary-alberta/
Just like Vancouver can't stop its surrounding cities & suburbs from setting off fireworks, Vancouver can't stop Calgary, Perth and Seattle...
https://www.chatterblock.com/events/427141/new-years-eve-fireworks-calgary/
New Year's Eve fireworks in Seattle
https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/how-watch-nye-fireworks-seattle
Despite Seattle being relatively close to backwards Vancouver, BC, no Mind Virus will be thwarting Seattle.
https://seattlebloggers.com/new-years-eve-in-seattle/
https://www.spaceneedle.com/newyears
https://www.seattlecenter.com/events/featured-events/new-years-eve
Perth New Year’s Eve Fireworks
https://soperth.com.au/perthnews/perth-new-years-eve-fireworks-2025-2026-132795
https://visitperth.com/events/new-years-eve-in-the-city-2025 A nice hot summer in Perth is so much better than a cold, damp depressing winter in Vancouver, BC.
https://www.perth.wa.gov.au/news-and-updates/all-news/double-firework-spectacular-to-ring-in-2026
The people of Perth and WA in general, are so fortunate that nothing like the Vancouver Mind Virus has ever been accepted there.
https://www.worksafe.wa.gov.au/schedule-fireworks-events
Monday, December 29, 2025
No fireworks in downtown Vancouver for New Year's Eve or the rest of 2026
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-fireworks-2026-new-years-eve-nye
While Vancouver hasn't been able to get most other cities across Canada and around the world to stop, ban or cancel their NY Eve fireworks, strange Vancouver will retain this part of its NO FUN CITY mentality and agenda.
https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/local-news/fireworks-banned-halloween-vancouver-fire-department-9726922 Why just ban them in October and January, when you can ban them throughout the year?
https://www.ehnewspaper.ca/articles/third-year-of-vancouvers-fireworks-ban
For some strange reason, backwards Vancouver hasn't been able to get other cities around the world to adopt the same bizarre idiosyncrasies.
Officially, there isn't supposed to be a Vancouver+Mind+Virus, but the backwards city is so stunted and strange. Other cities in a scenic setting such as Sydney, Auckland, San_Francisco and Seattle are able to have wider bridges in or close to their city centers.
Despite warm and scenic Honolulu having some very short bridges, they are still wider than what extremely restrictive Vancouver allows. These two short bridges in Honolulu provide 4 lanes each way. Thus, they form an 8 lane crossing and they aren't even part of a freeway.
There is also a very short 6 lane bridge in Honolulu. In addition to its 6 lanes, there is a turning lane and a one lane wide median, which makes it equivalent to being 8 lanes wide. Plus, there are 2 wide sidewalks, which are wider than the original sidewalks on the Granville Bridge in Vancouver. In other words, no bridge in Vancouver is allowed to be as wide as it. Despite regional population growth, the Granville Bridge was reduced from 8 lanes to 6 lanes.
Considering how Vancouver has such a narrow road system, one would think that a regional network of bus and bike bridges would be essential. Of course the backwards city and greater urban region is too cheap to fund such infrastructure and rather opted for a congestive transportation approach.
In contrast, The+Helix+Bridge in Singapore is fine example of what backwards Vancouver refuses to build. No lanes had to be removed from the 6 lane Bayfront+Bridge or the 10 lane Benjamin+Sheares+Bridge. Stubborn Vancouver could really benefit from something like the Helix Bridge.
While Vancouver went backwards after Expo 86, Brisbane really took of after Expo 88. The Kangaroo_Point_Green_Bridge, Goodwill_Bridge, Kurilpa_Bridge, Jack_Pesch_Bridge and the Go_Between_Bridge are all great examples of what strange Vancouver refuses to build. What's really amazing from a backwater Vancouver perspective is that those bike and foot bridges in Brisbane never required any lanes to be removed from the cities road bridges.
In comparison, Vancouver removed 2 lanes from the Burrard Bridge, 1 lane from the Cambie Bridge and 2 lanes from the Granville Bridge. If urban planning in Vancouver was wise and the city never got rid of its trams or streetcars, perhaps something like the Tilikum_Crossing could have been built across False_Creek.
Sunday, December 28, 2025
Friday, December 26, 2025
Would people pay a bridge toll if it helps solve traffic woes on the North Shore?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Shore_(Greater_Vancouver)
As of 2026, no bus, car, truck and commuter train tunnel was ever built near the extremely inadequate 3 lane Lions+Gate+Bridge. For if there had then, the LGB could have become a nice bike and foot crossing.
Of course no bus, truck and commuter train bridge was built next to the Iron+Bridge. The inadequate Iron Bridge is so narrow that there isn't any room for emergency lanes and especially no proper express or rapid bus lanes.
By now, there should be a SeaBus crossing of at least every 5 minutes in both directions.
Its extremely difficult to bring the Greater Vancouver Region up to a proper urban transportation standard. Partly because this is part of backwards BC and partly because there is just such a lack of a normal big city vision.
For some reason, congestive transportation planning just isn't that popular outside of backwards Vancouver, BC.
Thursday, December 25, 2025
Wednesday, December 24, 2025
Driving over the Pattullo Bridge replacement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwwOqxqzNrQ
It's great symbolism with opening the bridge with just 1 lane. In 1800s backwater BC, it was amazing just to have a wagon road anywhere. Well the new bridge, when it's fully open,will have 2 wagon roads each way, just like the old bridge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0EeyJmmpuM
This is a very good example as to why station planform walls and doors should become standard
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IIpoXRBjJ4A
Even a safety barrier of a meter or a few feet in height would prevent drunk or epileptic or fainting people from falling onto the tracks.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UCzef5fvOao
Of course an entire platform wall would even be safer and not just for jumpers.
Spacex starship height
https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship 123m or 403 feet in length.
https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-starship-nasa-saturn-v-sls-moon-rockets-comparison-2019-7
https://www.nps.gov/wamo/faqs.htm 169m or 555 feet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Monument
Even the Skytrains in backwards Vancouver aren't allowed to be as long, due to such short stations. Of course the Montreal Metro can run 152.4m or 500 foot long trains, because of building longer stations in the first place.
Partial opening of the Pattullo Bridge replacement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDFkc9Oa-j0
Unfortunatly, the old bridge is such bad shape that it can't be refurbished. Otherwise, each bridge could have provided 3 or 4 lanes each way. People will be in for a shock once the old bridge is dismantled. Then the new bridge will become just another classic 4 lane BC bottleneck-chokepoint.
No bus lanes or HOV lanes and especially no wide emergency lanes.
Peace River Nuclear Power Project in Alberta
https://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations/proj/89430?culture=en-CA
It would be very likely for Alberta to have the first such power plants in Western_Canada.
https://www.energyalberta.com Of course there are various risks, but Alberta likes to think big.
https://www.alberta.ca/nuclear-energy-engagement
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_River,_Alberta
https://www.peaceriver.ca/business-development/peace-river-nuclear-project
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_River,_Alberta#Economy
https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/ap1000-under-consideration-for-deployment-in-alberta
https://www.albertawilderness.ca/issues/wildlands/energy/nuclear-power
https://www.energyalberta.com/project#project-overview
Alberta just never had the same impose restrictions that backwater BC has.
One lane of new Pattullo Bridge now open to vehicle traffic
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/riverview-bridge-opening-official-christmas-pattullo-replacement
They should have had a horse and waggon going over the bridge to symbolize the desire by some urban planners to have roads and bridges that aren't much wider than a wagon road.
Tuesday, December 23, 2025
How air cargo is driving Vancouver International Airport's evolution and growth beyond passenger travel
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-international-airport-yvr-cargo-freight
Unfortunatly, the antigrowth crowd will always try to thwart the improvement and expansion of infrastructure.
A Six-hour SkyTrain shutdown caps chaotic pre-Christmas morning in Metro Vancouver
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bridges-skytrain-shutdown-chaos-december-23-2025
There is nothing like short trains that stop running and mostly narrow bridges which prevents a proper and efficient regional rapid bus network.
Japan to restart the world’s biggest nuclear power plant, 15 years after Fukushima disaster
Apparently, some people thought that it was a good idea to build a Nuclear_Power_Plant close to an earthquake faultline.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/22/japan-set-to-restart-worlds-biggest-nuclear-power-plant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_Nuclear_Power_Plant#Site_layout Plus, built it closer to sea level so that it could be more vulnerable to a tsunami.
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/place/403203/earthquakes/date/largest.html
https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h20002
Perhaps there is a kind of wishful thinking going on, a belief that there won't be anymore big earthquakes in Japan. Just rub your tummy and pat the top of your head and all such dangers go away, because it could never happen again. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_earthquake
While many want it to be fully dismantled, others want to boot it up again.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_Nuclear_Power_Plant#Dismantling_of_reactors
https://earthquaketrack.com/p/japan/fukushima/biggest
Perhaps if it can be built back better and bigger, there can be an even greater chance for it to become another disaster zone.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Japan-earthquake-and-tsunami-of-2011
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/japan-population-decline-60-minutes/
With less people being born in JAPAN, one might think that there will be less of a demand for energy.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/4199
https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/07/asia/japan-biggest-population-decline-record-intl-hnk
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c74dnzr4jdvo
https://www.dw.com/en/japan-sees-record-drop-in-population-in-2024/a-73562758
Sunday, December 21, 2025
Friday, December 19, 2025
Thursday, December 18, 2025
Tuesday, December 16, 2025
Monday, December 15, 2025
Metro Vancouver leadership chaos
https://globalnews.ca/video/11579521/metro-vancouver-leadership-chaos
This has been such an inept and mismaged organization for several decades. Too many short trains and mostly narrow bridges, but always enough money to put into another $HIT box project.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Vancouver_Regional_District
Sunday, December 14, 2025
Is Addis Ababa Turning into The Dubai Of Africa?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRC243t3jkc
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addis_Ababa#Economy
Ethiopia’s Capital Is Transforming Into A World Class City https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oxwBIq2Cco
Friday, December 12, 2025
History of the Pattullo Bridge in BC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw934knFUgc Such a very narrow 4 lane bridge that just wasn't properly designed for future capacity.
The new (4 lane) cable-stayed bridge to replace the old 1937 Pattullo Bridge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHzr0ZSIcfo
History of the Port Mann Bridge in BC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4aYxObfjJ8
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Mann_Bridge#Original_bridge The original PMB had only 2 lanes each way with no emergency lanes or wide shoulders. It was designed to be a classic BC bottleneck-chokepoint right from the start. Eventually, a 5th lane was squeezed in.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Mann_Bridge#Opposition_to_twinning_plan While bridge duplication isn't that big of a problem in Australia or the US, it is in the BC part of Canada. Australia is allowed to have 3 proper big cities on the Pacific. Thus, the urban scale of infrastructure in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane are much larger than what's allowed in the Greater Vancouver Region.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Mann_Bridge#New_bridge Given that this is supposed to be part of the main East-West highway in Canada, a significantly wider bridge was eventually approved. While it was designed with a provision for a potential future rail line, there should have also been a provision for a lower deck.
Are Trams the Best Transportation Mode for Cities?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNTg9EX7MLw While trams and streetcars (LRT) can't rival the capacity of a metro train or commuter rail, they still can be a good intermediate mode of transportation.
Every Type of Transit System That can WORK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYYIXluTu8E
Do Cities Still Need Metros? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp0SystR3GU
Public Transit in Texas and Japan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTbSQyqCuys
Thursday, December 11, 2025
Wednesday, December 10, 2025
Australian pipeline history
https://apga.org.au/pipeline-facts-and-figures
https://www.aemc.gov.au/energy-system/gas/gas-pipeline-register
https://apga.org.au/pipeline-information-users
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Australian-Gas-Pipelines-and-LNG-Plants_fig1_320655629
https://www.australiangasnetworks.com.au/
https://nataustpipe.com.au/national-australian-pipelines-a-brief-history/
https://www.pipeliner.com.au/1968-1979-the-making-of-an-industry/
https://www.jemena.com.au/gas/pipelines/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_natural_gas_pipelines_in_Western_Australia
https://museum.wa.gov.au/explore/wa-goldfields/water-arid-land/building-pipeline
Tuesday, December 9, 2025
No help for Broadway corridor businesses suffering from subway construction
If the Covid control shutdown wasn't bad enough, this is like a push over the edge.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/broadway-subway-won-t-be-cut-and-cover-mayor-pledges-1.2850400 For all the trouble and B$ of constructiong the YVR-Canada Line, the stations should have been long enough to accommodate at least 5 car trains. Unfortunatly, the BC Mind Virus made sure that the stations were only designed to eventually accommodate 2.5 car trains.
https://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Transportation/2009/05/27/CambieWins/
Monday, December 8, 2025
The Montreal Metro and REM Trains
The REM vs. Reality: Does Montreal's new train meet expectations? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq1xpxOt7FM
Sunday, December 7, 2025
Los Angeles and its traffic problems
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7CxiqNnm80
While LA has a subway, it's not that extensive. Of course several other cities have more lines.
What the future has in store for Sydney's Metro! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZlV329Ba8g
Inside the $60 Billion Metro Transforming Sydney https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe3y7Rlhk9c&t=2s
Saturday, December 6, 2025
Halifax, NS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_FnM-e-8xs
This city could have been as big as Boston or Montreal by now.
Canada's plan for the Arctic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7JX6fD6GXA
Manley on Canada joining EU defence program https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m67_sGvESEA
Friday, December 5, 2025
There will be no revival of the Olympic streetcar line in Vancouver for 2026
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-olympic-line-demonstration-streetcar-revival-cancelled
Once again, what's easy for several cities to accomplish is difficult for backwards Vancouver.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcars_in_North_America#Second-generation_streetcar_systems
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tram_and_light_rail_transit_systems
Thursday, December 4, 2025
The Bus and Bike Bridge Concept
The Bus and Bike Bridge Concept isn't officially banned in Vancouver or BC in general. It just hasn't been as important as it is in other cities.
Of course it would be Calgary, not stubborn Vancouver that would have an improved Cushing+Bridge crossing. While the main 4 lane bridge could easily be just like a narrow BC bridge, it's the parallel crossing that takes it above and beyond backwards Vancouver. There is a 2 lane bus bridge with a wide bike & footpath.
Since so many bridges in backwards BC are mostly narrow, a parallel Bus and Bike Bridge would be a huge improvement.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Inglewood+Bicycle+Pump+Track
Not just Greater Vancouver, but several cities in BC could really benefit from having parallel bus+and+bike+bridges.
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=bus+and+bike+bridge
Federal Way Link Extension
https://seattletransitblog.com/2025/12/04/federal-way-link-extension-a-sneak-peek/
https://www.soundtransit.org/system-expansion/tacoma-dome-link-extension
https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article309480020.html
https://www.lightrailnow.org/facts/fa_lrt_sea.htm
https://seattletransitblog.com/tag/tacoma-light-rail/
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
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