https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hqfb2qXsTKw
A big city versus a HUGE, expensive city.
Tuesday, March 10, 2026
Monday, March 9, 2026
Expanded Trans Mountain pipeline almost doubles oil exports from Port of Vancouver
Huge increases in crude shipments to China helped propel overall cargo to a new record https://financialpost.com/business/expanded-trans-mountain-pipeline-almost-doubles-oil-exports-from-port-of-vancouver/wcm/4cd769bc-0784-40a0-8cd3-32ba6bf3b701
https://www.portvancouver.com/project/second-narrows-dredging-works
The narrow Pattullo Bridge Replacement
https://www.pattullobridgereplacement.ca/construction/current-works Its a nice 4 lane bottleneck choakpoint. There should have been a provision for a lower deck for bus lanes, HOV lanes and LRT, but that would help to alleviate some transportation congestion.
It wasn't designed with that much future capacity in mind, just like the absurd Canada+Line. The SkyTrain-Canada+Line is still only running 2 car trains. The New stal̕əw̓asəm Bridge is only 2 lanes each way. This is congestive urban planning in BC at its best. Narrow bridges and short trains are some of the best ways to symbolically demonstrate a reluctance to accommodate future growth capacity.
People aren't suppose to wonder where all the money went over the past several generations, because it seems that not enough funds have gone towards proper big city infrastructure.
Repairs on the Ironworkers Bridge
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/ironworkers-memorial-bridge-lane-closures-vancouver
Unfortunatly, when this bridge was designed, there was no serious consideration to have 2 wide emergency lanes and 2 wide shoulders. Then, the Iron Bridge could have gradually been adapted to accommodate 2 bus lanes and 2 HOV lanes. At the very least, a bus, HOV and commuter train bridge should have been built next to the inadequate Iron Bridge back in the 20th century.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironworkers_Memorial_Second_Narrows_Crossing Opened August 25, 1960
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granville_Street_Bridge Opened February 4, 1954 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/View_of_downtown_Vancouver_from_the_Granville_Street_Bridge.JPG/960px-View_of_downtown_Vancouver_from_the_Granville_Street_Bridge.JPG
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Street_Bridge Opened June 29, 1957 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Oak_Street_Bridge.jpg/960px-Oak_Street_Bridge.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Street_Bridge Opened January 15, 1974 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Knight_Street_Bridge.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Laing_Bridge Opened 27 August 1975
https://evelazarus.com/third-crossing-here-we-go-again Somehow, Vancouver just never got around to building a bus and train tunnel or bridge in between the Lion Bridge and the Iron Bridge. Since Skytrain doesn't run 24 hours, there needs to be 24 hour bus lanes.
https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=11273 Some day, the Lion Bridge could become a nice bus and bike bridge, if a highway tunnel could ever be built under the park and beside the LGB.
Unfortunately, the Vancouver Mind Virus (VMV) keeps getting in the way of progress. Just look at how short the Canada Line trains are.
Sunday, March 8, 2026
Calls for independent audit of Vancouver Aquatic Centre redevelopment decision with a 25-metre pool
Of course the VMV would manifest to scale back the Vancouver Aquatic Centre. A 25m pool is going backwards for what should be a growing city with a new 50m pool.
The Vancouver Mind Virus (VMV) is such a bad thing for the city.
Saturday, March 7, 2026
Burrard Street Bridge closes for Sen̓áḵw crane removal
https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/burrard-street-bridge-closes-for-senakw-crane-removal
Several cities have parallel bike bridges, then the city planners don't have to remove traffic lanes.
https://vancouversun.com/news/vancouver-burrard-street-bridge-temporarily-closure
Unfortunatly, the Burrard_Bridge (BB) was hit hard by the multigenerational Vancouver Mind Virus (VMV). The Burrard_Bridge was designed to have a lower level for streetcars or tram-trains, but the city never followed through. Fortunately, the VMV was unable to stop Portland and Seattle from reviving some of their streetcar lines.
The Burrard_Street_Bridge used to have 6 lanes and 2 wide sidewalks. However, since the city has a problem of not building separate bike bridges, 2 potential bus lanes were removed from the Burrard_Bridge. Now, if the city ever wants to have 2 dedicated bus lanes, the BB will only have 1 general lane each way. That's the VMV at work.
Thursday, March 5, 2026
Why the Widest Freeway on Earth still Made Traffic Worse in Houston
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMwKgT4ZUvQ It is utterly foolish to not have enough space for a commuter train to run above, or in the middle or underneath the widest highways.
https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/houstons-15-year-growth-three-charts Simply building wide roads like in Houston, L.A. and Toronto is just as bad as having mostly narrow bridges in Greater Vancouver.
Whether its 10 lanes or 20 lanes wide, there should always be 2 dedicated bus lanes and 2 HOV lanes. While the highway will get clogged up during the day, at least the buses and trains can still get through quickly.
The Pattullo+Bridge+replacement is only 2 lanes each way with narrow shoulders. It should have opened with enough space for 2 bus lanes and 2 HOV lanes, but that would go against the congestive urban planning mentality of BC.
The Samuel-De+Champlain+Bridge in Montreal is just as good as similar wide highway and train bridges in Seattle+and+Perth. All were possible, simply because they aren't limited by anything like the Vancouver and BC Mind Virus.
The narrow-minded Vancouver and BC approach is to try to funnel everything into just 2 or 3 lanes each way. Then there just isn't enough space to have 2 bus lanes and 2 HOV lanes. Greater Vancouver has certainly gone in the extreme opposite direction of Houston, L.A. and Toronto...
A wide Greater Houston highway has lots of space, but without 2 bus lanes and 2 HOV lanes, everything gets plugged up. In contrast, Greater Vancouver has most of its bridges and highways so damn narrow, there isn't enough space to accomodate a proper express bus and HOV network.
This deliberate backwards BC bottleneck-chokepoint planning approach is totally absurd.
There is no commuter train tunnel near the Lions+Gate+Bridge or even for the Massey+Tunnel+replacement. Thus, they are the best examples of BC choke-point urban planning. Despite having twice the lanes as the inept 3 lane LGB, the newer Iron+Bridge never had any emergency lanes. A bus and HOV bridge was never built next to it. Plus, no commuter train bridge. It's another fine example of BC choke-point, bottleneck planning.
A north and south Boundary+Road bridge system would provide direct access between the North+Shore, Richmond+and+Delta, but that's what a proper big city would do. Backwards BC has quite a problem with thinking and building big. The 2 car Canada+Line is another example. Don't build it to at least have a 5 car train, just design it to only have 2.5 car trains, someday.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Houston#Transportation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_610_(Texas)#Lane_configurations There is a point when simply adding more lanes won't provide long-term improvement. However, when combined with dedicated bus and HOV lanes, other options become available. Especially, if there is rail rapid transit and commuter rail as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/METRORail While not as extentise as DART_rail, it still works like a tram-train.
Of course longer streetcars or tram-trains are still slow on the actual surface street segments.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Melbourne#System_upgrades
Last week's malfunction of the Second Narrows (rail) Bridge shows how dependent the Prairie economy is on this transportation chokepoint
https://financialpost.com/opinion/opinion-users-need-more-say-about-vancouvers-rail-bridges
The Greater Vancouver Region should have had all of its freight rail bridges at least double tracked by now.
https://www.cn.ca/en/stories/20250429-cn-and-port-of-vancouver-collaborating/
There is a subtle KEEP BC SMALL AND BACKWARDS mentality, but sometimes it's right in your face.
https://financialpost.com/opinion/opinion-vancouvers-port-must-up-its-grain-game
Its as if there is a VMV and the BC Mind Virus. Although no one can actually pinpoint it, the effects of it are quite apparent.
https://financialpost.com/opinion/nutrien-bypass-port-vancouver-underscores-need-change
Despite the size of Canada, it has less than 1% of the world's population.
https://www.portvancouver.com/project/second-narrows-dredging-works
Unfortunatly, by not even keeping up with moderate infrastructure growth demands, Canada keeps falling behind in a world with over 8 billion people.
There should be a way to expand the economy and population, while making things more affordable.
Vancouver keeps holding back the scale of bridges, trains and buildings. This is part of a symbolic mentality and agenda to not think like a proper big city.
Wednesday, March 4, 2026
Major expansion of B.C. Highway 1 in Fraser Valley to begin soon
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-highway-1-fraser-valley-expansion Ideally, the section from Horseshoe Bay to Hope shouldn't be a hopeless joke. A main highway in an urban region of over 3 million people should have at least 3 general lanes each way. Plus, a rapid bus lane and a HOV lane each way, but that would be at least 5 lanes each way.
https://transcanadahighway.com/british-columbia/bc-highway-itinerary-horseshoe-bay-to-hope When a highway is only 2-3 lanes each way, it's too damn narrow to accomodate 2 bus lanes and 2 HOV lanes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Columbia_Highway_1#Lower_Mainland_section
BC Hwy 1 - Trans-Canada Highway, Vancouver, BC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf9QTmnxkqw
Seattle, Calgary and Edmonton are all allowed to have residential floors higher above the street than what stumpy little Vancouver permits
Seattle's Tallest Luxury Residential Tower: The Residences @ Rainier Square https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i2DivRATcg
2022 OCEA Award Winner - Rainier Square Redevelopment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HegSZiVNQx0
New Rainier Square Tower becomes Seattle’s second tallest building https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5yKXkCeAGg
At 60-storeys, TELUS Sky is the leading example of a dynamic community of urban living and working. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qWRYwK8z_E
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sRpGYPQY3RY The 3rd tallest in Calgary
Telus Sky top floors view https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HirkgwyphUk
Tuesday, March 3, 2026
Sunday, March 1, 2026
Friday, February 27, 2026
Building the Green Line: Phase 1 in Calgary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V9jgnsAEMk
Designing a Futureproof Transit System https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiTjlcv_1IU
Thursday, February 26, 2026
Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Burrard Inlet's lift rail bridge stuck, unable to open for large ships to pass through Second Narrows for days
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/second-narrows-rail-bridge-malfunction
The tunnel should have been built wide enough to eventually accommodate 2 tracks. Either there should have been a provision to build a 2nd fright bridge and tunnel, or simply have designed a double track bridge and tunnel that could easily and regularly be maintained.
This all symbolically fits in with with the narrow-minded mentality to not build proper big city infrastructure.
Vancouver council boosts budget for roads, sidewalks by $70M
More than 60 per cent of Vancouver’s arterial roads, local streets considered in fair to very poor condition https://www.biv.com/news/economy-law-politics/not-sexy-but-fundamental-vancouver-council-boosts-budget-for-roads-sidewalks-by-70m-11921125
The cities roads and streets are so inadequate, but Vancouver isn't allowed to become a proper big city.
The decision to not carve up small Vancouver with freeways between the 1950s and 1970s was a wise and novel idea at the time. However, there wasn't any proper foresight over the past several generations to make sure that the cities mostly narrow bridges didn't become bottleneck-chokepoints.
By now, every bridge should have had a bus and HOV bridge built next to it. Instead, 2 lanes were removed from the Burrard Bridge, 1 lane from the Cambie Bridge and 2 from the Granville Bridge.
Conveniently, no bike bridges were ever built next to those bridges. Apparently, what was disguised as a cost saving measure by not building proper bike-bridges, the decision was made to remove traffic lanes from some bridges. This all seems to be part of the bottleneck planning mentality.
It's amazing how several cities around the world are able to build bike-bridges, simply because they aren't under anything like the backwards Vancouver planning agenda.
B.C. economy stuck in low gear as trade risks cloud 2026 outlook
A stunted or thwarted BC helps to maintain its provincial backwater mentality.
Tuesday, February 24, 2026
Delays out of North Shore continue after truck stalls for hour on Lions Gate Bridge
The LGB bottleneck is indicative of how some people don't want Vancouver to become a properly planned functioning big city.
https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/1mehud6/theres_a_single_car_stopped_in_the_only/
Unfortunatly, Vancouver still isn't allowed to function like a real proper big city. For several decades, so many key people, especially urban planners don't want to have a wider structural crossing to at least match what Prince George and Kamloops have. Or, to match what Kelowna has and especially don't want to have what Ft. McMurray has.
Indeed, most proper major cities by now would have had a 6-8 lane tunnel right under the park and close to the LGB. Georgia Street is already 7 lanes wide in the first few bloks closest to the park, so the potential for a 7-8 lane tunnel should be possible.
An 8 lane tunnel would be best in that the 3 & 4 lane counterflow on Georgia could easily feed into an 8 lane tunnel. Then once in the tunnel there world be 3 standard lanes each way, plus a bus lane each way.
A commuter train tunnel or an extension of the YVR-Canada Line should also run close to where the LGB is. Unfortunatly, some key people for several decades don't seem to want or understand the benefits of having a train connecting YVR with both of the regional bc-ferries terminals. That's because it could actually help to relieve transportation congestion. https://www.bcferries.com/current-conditions/TSA-SWB
It's always amazing to see what other cities around the world can do, simply because they aren't trapped within the backwards Vancouver mindset or don't have a backwater BC mentality to thwart them.
https://www.th.gov.bc.ca/atis/lgcws/index.html
This has to be one of the worlds best examples of bottleneck-chokepoint planning around.
https://www.translink.ca/schedules-and-maps/skytrain A rail rapid transit connection to both ferry terminals and YVR would be a huge improvement, but it's still not likely in the foreseeable future.
Vancouver port applies to dredge Burrard Inlet this year to fuel oil exports
The Second Narrows Crossing Area
https://www.vmcdn.ca/f/files/glaciermedia/images/climate-enviro-solutions/oceans/proposed-burrard-inlet-dredging.jpg;w=960 A commuter rail, rapid bus and HOV bridge was never built next to the Iron Bridge, which doesn't even have any emergency lanes. The freight train bridge and tunnel east of it, wasn't designed to eventually accomodate 2 tracks. Taking a narrower bridge and tunnel approach symbolically fits right in with the narrow-minded mentality that is BC.
https://www.bchydro.com/energy-in-bc/projects/second-narrows-crossing-project.html
Monday, February 23, 2026
Why are so many commercial truckers failing road-side safety checks in B.C.?
https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/1rcys2s/why_are_so_many_commercial_truckers_failing/
Its as if BC can just strive to be substandard, because it has such a provincial backwater mentality.
Seattle, WA
https://www.reddit.com/r/CityPorn/comments/1rc5hlj/seattle Another scenic city thats allowed to have taller buildings than Vancouver, BC.
Saturday, February 21, 2026
The Pattullo Bridge Replacement
https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2026TT0025-000178 Its only 2 lanes each way for the foreseeable future. No bus lanes and no HOV lanes, it's just another classic BC funnel for congestion.
Friday, February 20, 2026
Aerial view of downtown Vancouver in 1969
https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/1r960mq/tbt_aerial_view_vancouver_downtown_coal_harbour_c This was still a time when Vancouver didn't allow any office tower to have a 30th floor. As of 2026, no office building in Vancouver has been permitted to have a 40th floor. However, Burnaby & Surrey are planning to have their first office building over 40 stories. That's because they aren't under the extreme height restrictions that Vancouver imposes.
Seattle had its first 50 story office tower in 1969. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safeco_Plaza
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Square The first 50 story office tower in Australia (1967) was possible because they don't have anything like the height restrictions in Vancouver.
Toronto had its first 50+ story office tower in 1967. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto-Dominion_Centre#Late_20th_century
SF had its first office buiding over 50 stories open in 1969. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_California_Street 52 stories, but the equivalent of 60 when counting all of the mechanical plant floors.
Thursday, February 19, 2026
B.C. residential sector reeling despite strong December data
Corporate housing is alright for those who can afford it. However, unless there is more social or affordable housing, more people will be on the streets.
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
Tuesday, February 17, 2026
San Francisco just approved a 67-story, 820-foot residential tower at 10 South Van Ness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-oBDIsEHSQ
SF is finally allowing a building within a few blocks of City Hall to be much taller than the LA City Hall.
Friday, February 13, 2026
Thursday, February 12, 2026
Wednesday, February 11, 2026
Left The UK For Russia (And Will Never Go Back)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxeNaZqRiEw
Living in China and Never Moving Back to America https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJAN1xjwbSY
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
Eglinton LRT is a GAME CHANGER: Eglinton to Mount Dennis under 20 Mins!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qayp0AhnldY
Riders raise concerns about Eglinton Crosstown accessibility issues https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXbAdrUBV38 Any modern transit system needs to be safe and easy for the disabled and elderly to use.
Monday, February 9, 2026
After more than 15 years, Toronto’s Eglinton Crosstown LRT finally opens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDy4t0vCQ_c
Line 5 Eglinton is officially open
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb4EhJpIdm4 Just like Edmonton, Calgary and Seattle, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT is able to have longer stations than what congested Vancouver has.
Sunday, February 8, 2026
Saturday, February 7, 2026
Vancouver, Burnaby and NW
Why People Hate Living in Vancouver (and want to move away) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzyITR89-3s
Vancouver, Burnaby and NW is the city, although they are 3 separate municipalities.
Burnaby, BC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqB1UXuXclc&t=265s
The BRUTAL TRUTH about Living in Washington State
Washington's Dark Side Exposed! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrhL0ih2XcI
A cold, crappy dark and damp fall and winter is common. It's almost as bad as Vancouver, Canada. However, it's important to point out that Seattle and Vancouver never froze over like Minneapolis and Winnipeg, Chicago and Toronto, NYC and Montreal, Boston and Halifax.
Is Canada No Longer A Country? Is it Just A Failed Experiment?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd1uwnBVp1o
People are leaving Toronto and Vancouver in record numbers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0Jh0EymI_A&t=103s
In 2025, over 120,000 citizens and permanent residents left Canada for good—and early data shows this "Great Exodus" is only accelerating in 2026. From the housing crisis to stagnant wages, the reasons are clear, but the real question is: Where is everyone going? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDvV6v3YV-E
A very cold, crappy winter in Toronto, or perpetual cold, dreary dampness in Vancouver, is too much for some people to endure anymore.
Friday, February 6, 2026
Timelapse of the Skytrain-Canada Line from Richmond to the Vancouver Waterfront
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqqfSzQpoFc
How this new railway will reshape Auckland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpcMBDeZo7Y Of course Auckland can eventually have 9 car trains, because they aren't like backwards Vancouver is.
REM and Metro in Montreal
The REM vs. Reality: Does Montreal's new train meet expectations? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq1xpxOt7FM&t=596s
Montreal’s Biggest REM Expansion Yet! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G1oeIAfxDU&t=12s
How Montreal’s miracle metro could change everything https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlHqqA0onn0
Evolution of the Montreal Metro & REM 1966-2030 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zvOk2t1EpE
Why Kelowna Is the Opposite of Every Other Canadian City
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D42cmFfmI84
Kelowna has over $1 BILLION in major projects either already underway or recently approved https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLv1AN6Hlwg
Thursday, February 5, 2026
SF and Seattle, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seyMIhry1M8
The SF and Boston land area can almost both fit into Seattle. However, the SF Bay Area and Greater Boston still have a lot more people than the Seattle-Tacoma Area.
Unfortunatly, growing poverty and substance abuse, combined with more job losses makes for a tougher situation, overall.
Seattle's Economic slide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxB8-RotFIU
Massive layoffs hit Seattle tech companies as city struggles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLvbQGr0Xmg
Seattle’s Downtown Isn’t Coming Back the Same https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLRMYCSm1Cs
Wednesday, February 4, 2026
North Shore of Greater Vancouver
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Shore_(Greater_Vancouver)
Is North Vancouver the most livable city in Canada? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX89qkSRBvg
https://www.vancouversnorthshore.com
Unfortunatly, there still isn't a commuter train from the airport to the H Bay ferry terminal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Shore_(Greater_Vancouver)#Access
There isn't even a train tunnel or a bus bridge between Downtown_Vancouver and the North Shore. Inept regional planning has been very slow to build rapid rail transit, or even a proper rapid bus bridge over the Inlet. An inadequate 3 lane Lion Bridge is so narrow that some people have living rooms or swimming pools wider than it. The 6 lane Iron Bridge that's so narrow, there isn't enough room for emergency lanes and no space for HOV lanes. Any attempt of a rapid bus will still have to be funneled into the inadequate single deck crossing.
Tuesday, February 3, 2026
Monday, February 2, 2026
Seattle's Economic SUICIDE: 16K Layoffs Meet Millionaire Tax Push
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxB8-RotFIU&t=128s
If income tax was abolished and a 10% common tax was put in its place, things would be more balanced. Whether a person made 30K a year, or 300K annually, they would still pay a 10% tax on just about everything. Whether a person makes 10 million a year, or a corporation makes 100 million a year, everyone just pays a 5% & 5% common tax for local and federal rates.
Right now, huge corporations can get away with paying little to no taxes in some cases.
Any Potential of Reviving the 10-lane George Massey bridge project remains inconclusive
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/george-massey-bridge-replacement-ian-black-bc-conservatives
Even if the tunnel crossing was expanded decades ago, there would still need to be a 21st century bridge in the area.
Premier Wab Kinew to visit Churchill amid port expansion talks
https://www.arcticgateway.com/port-of-churchill
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_Bridge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_Bay_Railway_(1997)
There is a lot of potential for the Port_of_Churchill.
NeeStaNan Corridor Project
https://boereport.com/2024/02/28/neestanan-corridor-project-announcement/
https://indigenomics.com/proposed-utility-corridor-revealed-at-indigenous-economic-conference/
https://news.gov.mb.ca/news/index.html?item=60135
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/port-of-churchill-upgrades-2025-1.7585649
Sunday, February 1, 2026
Saturday, January 31, 2026
Sydney's First 300m Towers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUuy94brhLI Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, GC City & Perth, are all allowed to have taller buildings than little stumpy provincial Vancouver, Canada.
How Sydney´s Skyline Will Change by 2030 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzz6aXvTZko Unfortunatly, the AI voice nation wasn't set to an Australian standard.
Why Greater Toronto Has Several Skylines
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI9WJa9Q8dA
Of course many large urban areas around the world have more than 1 or 2 skylines or tower clusters.
For the longest time, no building in Vancouver or BC, was allowed to be as tall as the 1930s CIBC tower, which is now a stump.
https://www.blogto.com/city/2017/05/toronto-lost-observation-deck-commerce-court-north/
https://www.torontojourney416.com/canadian-bank-of-commerce-building/
https://www.25king.ca/the-history
It wasn't until the early 1970s when stumpy, Vancouver allowed a building to be taller than the L.A. City Hall, or the Smith Tower in Seattle.
The 1930s CIBC tower, the L.A. City Hall and the Smith Tower, would still be prominent towers in Vancouver, but stumps in their own cities.
Despite Vancouver being divided by an inlet and a river, the city wasn't able to build a huge wall along Boundary Road. Thus, the KEEP THEM OUT agenda was a little thwarted. The various White city councils tried to do the next best thing. That was to symbolically impose various restrictions as a reluctance to think, plan and build on a BIG city scale. The time especially from 1960 to 2000 had predominantly White City Hall and its councils continually impose several overlapping restrictions.
Since Vancouver can't control immigration or the movements of non-white people, keeping things small and backwards, means that less people will move there than to Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton. However, with a mild winter climate, more and more people want to move to backwards BC, especially small-minded Vancouver and provincial Victoria.
In spite of immigration and Multiculturalism, Vancouver was to perpetually promote its small scale agenda.
While the first Skytrain line can finally run 5 car trains, the stations weren't designed to become long enough to eventually accomodate 9 car trains like the big city Montreal Metro has.
The 2nd and 3rd Skytrain lines are still only running 2 car joke trains. Running 8-10 car trains is what a proper big city would do, but not backwards Vancouver.
Narrow bridges provides strong symbolism of the cities narrow-mindedness. When bridges are too narrow, its difficult to have a proper express or rapid bus system. The reluctance to build parallel bus and HOV bridges helps to maintain the congestive planning approach that is vancouver and the Greater Region.
Vancouver's refusal to build parallel bike bridges has meant that 2 lanes were removed from the Burrard Bridge, 1 lane from the Cambie Bridge and 2 lanes from the Granville Bridge.
Keeping buildings symbolically short when compared to what scenic Sydney, Auckland, SF and Seattle allow, also helps to maintain Vancouver's reluctance to enter the big and tall urban scale. In fact, the scenic setting that Vancouver is in has been used as the main excuse to continually scale the city down. Yet, several scenic cities around the world are either able to have wider bridges, wider roads, longer trains or taller buildings.
The world is mostly composed of non-white people. Canada has less than 1% of the world's population and stubborn Vancouver symbolically remains as a small provincial backwater on the Pacific Rim.
https://centralparktower.com.au Unlike Perth, Vancouver forbids 50 story office towers and Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne size residential towers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/108_St_Georges_Terrace In fact, no office building in Vancouver has been permitted to have a 40th floor. However, since Burnaby and Surrey aren't under the restrictive controls of Vancouver, they will eventually allow office towers over 40 stories.
Despite Australia having less people than Canada, Perth is allowed to have taller buildings, wider bridges and longer trains than Vancouver. Taller buildings, wider bridges and longer trains are even less likely in Halifax than whats in Brisbane or Queensland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q1_(building) To see buildings on a similar scale of what Brisbane allows, one has to get to Greater Toronto. Brisbane is allowed to have some buildings that would even be impressive in Melbourne and Sydney.
While Montreal is allowed to have taller buildings than Vancouver, Montreal isn't allowed to have Sydney size towers. Especially not on the scale of what Melbourne and Toronto permit.
Friday, January 30, 2026
The 5 Projects That Will Shape Portland's Future
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o81t9wpYkl0
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Bridge Only 3 lanes each way.
https://www.oregon.gov/odot/projects/pages/project-details.aspx?project=21570
https://www.opb.org/article/2025/09/22/interstate-five-i-5-bridge-replacement-costs-rise/
https://www.opb.org/article/2026/01/16/i-5-interstate-bridge-washington-oregon/
https://bikeportland.org/2025/10/30/no-vote-an-ominous-first-for-interstate-bridge-project-397823
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
Australia Day
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Day , https://www.australiaday.org.au/about
Australia Day 2026 should be celebrated ‘loudly and proudly’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW_oufA8Sbw
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Day_debate#Protests
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Day_debate#Suggested_alternatives
Sunday, January 25, 2026
Why Living in Vancouver, BC 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
Phoenix, AZ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAgLCwox_jg
Phoenix might eventually get to have a building that's similar in height to the tallest in Portland, OR.
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.
Ritz Carlton Million-Dollar Condos at 50% Off: Progressive Portland’s Freefall Continues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4zn4qpo-Ww
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritz-Carlton,_Portland
https://oregonbusiness.com/ritz-on-the-fritz-downtown-high-rise-appears-headed-for-sale/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_216 , https://www.block216.com/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/comments/1m7gtqc/portlands_newest_skyscraper_home_to_ritzcarlton/
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
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