Sunday, December 31, 2023

No fireworks in Vancouver for New Year's Eve 2023

 https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/events-and-entertainment/no-fireworks-in-vancouver-for-new-years-eve-2023-8043481 Another fine example of the backward, watered down citie's mentality. Just because Vancouver gets a lot of rain, that shouldn't mean Vancouver has to water almost everything down, but it does. Throughout its existence, Vancouver has had a force or momentum to keep it as a provincial backwater. All through the decades & generations, Vancouver & BC keep adding red tape & so many regulations, which continue to stunt or truncate the place.

The City of Seattle unlike Vancouver, started to have a big city mindset in the early 1900s, especially by 1915. The Seattle_metropolitan_area is the largest in the Pacific_Northwest.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Seattle+space+needle+on+new+years+eve

While the Metro_Vancouver_Regional_District is the most populous in Western_Canada, the City of Calgary is still the largest in Western_Canada. Like Seattle, Calgary has a proper big city mentality. That mentality started to kick in during the 1960s.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Calgary+tower+on+new+years+eve



https://therabbitportal.blogspot.com/search?q=New+Year's+Eve

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Vancouver

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=BC , https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Canada

https://therabbitportal.blogspot.com/search?q=Vancouver

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

The Tilikum Crossing in Portland vs. others

The Tilikum_Crossing is such a great bridge, that's why it's in Oregon and not in BC.

Portland's Tilikum Crossing: A Bridge for People, Not For Cars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIYPA7jyELs Its a fine example of a transit bridge that Portland, OR really needed, but might never be built in Vancouver, or anywhere else in BC.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Tilikum_Crossing_from_Ross_Island_Bridge_with_MAX.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/North_Arm_Bridge_shot_from_SkyTrain_3622.JPG


https://therabbitportal.blogspot.com/search?q=Tilikum+Crossing+in+Portland

Thursday, December 21, 2023

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Nippon Steel-US Steel deal to boost Japan's growth potential

 https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231219_33 This is big.

https://japantoday.com/category/business/storied-us-steel-to-be-acquired-for-more-than-14-billion-by-nippon-steel

https://investors.ussteel.com/news-events/news-releases/detail/659/nippon-steel-corporation-nsc-to-acquire-u-s-steel


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Nippon+Steel-US+Steel+deal

https://therabbitportal.blogspot.com/search?q=Nippon+Steel+to+acquire+U.S.+Steel

The Tokyo Blade Runner Question

 https://thegaijinghost.com/blog/omoide-yokocho-tokyo-blade-runner-question

Japanese Aesthetics in Blade Runner Movie - NOT in the Original Philip K. Dick Story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUeo2X72kJc

https://japanposter.co.uk/products/blade-runner-original-release-japanese-movie-poster-1982-b3-size

https://filmschoolrejects.com/blade-runner-anxieties-today

https://slate.com/culture/2017/09/blade-runner-s-influence-on-neo-yokio-and-other-anime.html

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2017-10-06/blade-runner-unbelievable-influence-on-anime/.122391

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/apr/02/blade-runner-the-final-cut-review

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2021/11/05/tv/blade-runner-black-lotus

https://cdsvinyljapan.com/products/4548967465433


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Tokyo

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Nippon+Steel-US+Steel+deal

https://therabbitportal.blogspot.com/search?q=Nippon+Steel+to+acquire+U.S.+Steel


Canada's passenger trains on shared tracks with freight trains

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canada-federal-bill-passenger-train-prioritization

By now, Canada should have had all of its major cities connected by new passenger lines so that there would be no conflict with freight trains. All the major urban areas should already have had transit+bridges wherever there was a reluctance to expand road or highway bridges.

Over 1,500 homes and a hotel in Surrey City Centre

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/13044-10392-king-george-boulevard-oviedo-towers-surrey

Since Surrey doesn't have the extreme control measures that Vancouver has, it will eventually become the largest city in BC.


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=BC

Monday, December 18, 2023

Washington Avenue Bridge and the Tilikum Crossing vs...

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Avenue_Bridge_(Minneapolis) 2 lanes & 2 tram-train tracks, bike & walkways.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilikum_Crossing 2 tram train tracks & 2 for streetcars & buses. It's just so far beyond what's allowed in BC, especially in Greater Vancouver.


Both of these bridges should have been designed to have 2 bus & 2 bike lanes each, but that actually might help to relieve some of the congestion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skybridge_(TransLink) In spite of the regional congestion, no bus & bike lanes became part of the design. It's a fine example of inept planning in BC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Arm_Bridge No bus lanes & only 1 bike lane. 


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Portland

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Tilikum+Crossing

https://therabbitportal.blogspot.com/search?q=Portland

https://therabbitportal.blogspot.com/search?q=transit+bridges 

Boston and SF

Boston is such a ridiculously small city with an area of 48.4 sq mi (125 km2) & less than 700,000 people.

"Boston is the second smallest major U.S. city in terms of land area after San Francisco that has 47 square miles." https://www.bostonplans.org/getattachment/86dd4b02-a7f3-499e-874e-53b7e8be4770#:~:text=%E2%80%94%20With%20a%20land%20area%20of,up%20the%20Commonwealth%20of%20Massachusetts.

However, the Greater_Boston Area has around 8.5 million people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Bay_Area#Boundaries

 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-12844541/Just-cup-tea-Boston-celebrates-250-years-taxes-brew-sparked-revolution-JANE-KNIGHT-seeks-citys-best-cuppa-digesting-nuggets-history-way.html


San_Francisco is slightly smaller than Boston in land area, but it has around 81% of a million people. However, the San_Francisco_Bay_Area has around 9 million people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Bay_Area#Boundaries

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/tallest_buildings_in_San_Francisco , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/tallest_buildings_in_Boston

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco#Transportation , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston#Transportation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco-Oakland_Bay_Bridge 10 lanes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_P._Zakim_Bunker_Hill_Memorial_Bridge 10 lanes

Saturday, December 16, 2023

Transit Malls

The transit_mall is a great concept, but there is always the potential for improvement.

Nicollet_Avenue in Minneapolis, was never wide like Woodward_Ave_in_Detroithttps://www.mlive.com/entertainment/erry-2018/04/57da31c03d/woodward_avenue_detroit.html

Back in the day, there just wasn't any reason to have Nicollet_Avenue to be as wide as Canal_Street,_New_Orleans or Market_Street_(San_Francisco).

However, Nicollet_Mall should have had 2 passing lanes, instead of only two lanes. Whenever a bus breaks down or there is some emergency, half of the Nicollet_Mall can easily get blocked up.

Fortunately, Portland,_Oregon decided not to follow the Minneapolis and Vancouver, BC examples. MAX_and_bus_side-by-side_on_Portland_Mall, this is so much better than funneling everything into just 2 lanes. The Portland_Transit_Mall remains as one of the best transit corridor examples. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Transit_Mall#Renovation_and_rebuilding

Granville_Street in downtown Vancouver used to be 6 lanes wide. While the initial concept of the Granville_Mall was a good idea, cramming everything into only 2 lanes became another quintessential Vancouver example of bottleneck & congestive planning. It's all part of the narrow-minded BC mentality.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granville_Mall,_Vancouver Of course right at some crucial blocks, the 2 lane segments provide great spots for congestion, all by design. Whenever a bus breaks down or there is some emergency, there isn't a passing lane. Thus, one side of the street remains blocked until the bus can be towed away. Of course it was considered to be a wise decision to have so many bus routes funneled through such a narrow corridor & then remain stubborn about improving the situation.

Reducing the downtown section of Granville_Street from 6 lanes to 4 would have allowed passing lanes for busses & the sidewalks could have still been widened. Plus, it would have been so much easier for emergency vehicles to get through as well. Unfortunately, Metro_Vancouver is all about creating congestion & inefficiency.

If one side of the street has a bus breakdown & the other side has some emergency requiring a bus to remain parked, there isn't an extra couple of lanes for emergency vehicles to pass on some blocks of Granville_Street. Again, it was deemed essential & appropriate to have such a bottleneck on what is suppose to be a high volume bus corridor.


https://therabbitportal.blogspot.com/search?q=The+Transit+Mall

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Montreal bike lanes

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM5NmJyXEeM

Montreal BRT vs. Vancouver

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie-IX_BRT

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie-IX_BRT#Future_plans

https://www.stm.info/en/about/major_projects/major-bus-projects/pie-ix-brt

An express bus route is already good, but BRT is even better.

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/new-design-puts-rem-bus-rapid-transit-corridor-on-montreal-transit-map

https://www.mtlblog.com/montreal/montreals-new-pie-ix-rapid-transit-route-is-finally-opening-heres-where-you-can-go Slow to being implamented, but not as slow as Vancouver, BC. 

https://www.masstransitmag.com/bus/article/21286422/greater-montreals-pieix-brt-begins-operations

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/pieix-rapid-bus-transit-inaugurated-1.6639291 Unlike Montreal, the Vancouver approach is quite a sad joke. Unless Vancouver improves its bridges or at least allows some bus bridges to be built, it will remain as the quintessential example of what not to do.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal#Transportation


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=BRT

The new ÃŽle aux Tourtes Bridge in Montreal

"The new two-span bridge, with three lanes in each direction, a shoulder wide enough for buses and a multipurpose path for pedestrians and cyclists, will be built just to the north of the current bridge..." https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/construction-is-underway-on-the-new-ile-aux-tourtes-bridge

It's always nice to see when another city doesn't Vancouverize its bridges. 

https://globalnews.ca/news/10163545/construction-new-ile-aux-tourtes-bridge-ahead-of-schedule/

At least the old ...Tourtes_Bridge was designed to have 6 lanes, but the new bridge will be able to accomodate 8 lanes. Thus, the 4th lane each way will be for buses & potentially other HOV.  Unlike in Vancouver, no 4th lane each way is allowed, even though that would allow for better efficiency with express bus & BRT. Apparently in Vancouver, its better to cram everything into inept & narrow bridges. Indeed, Vancouver is the epitome of bottleneck planning.

https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/off-island-residents-fed-up-as-work-on-ile-aux-tourtes-continues-1.6681316


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal#Transportation

Shoreline, Washington

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoreline,_Washington , https://www.shorelinewa.gov

A lot of places are experiencing growing pains, because some regions are more popular than others.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_County,_Washington


https://therabbitportal.blogspot.com/search?q=Shoreline

tesla's-new-facility-in vancouver bc

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/tesla-vancouver-new-facility-950-raymur-avenue

translink-r6-scott-road-rapidbus-launch-date-2024

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/translink-r6-scott-road-rapidbus-launch-date-2024


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=BRT

Monday, December 4, 2023

Urban Data intersection

UDi is a counterpart to UTP.  

https://therabbitportal.blogspot.com/2023/12/urban-tech-portal.html

The BC part of Canada has so much potential, but there is all sorts of red tape, B$ & various restrictions. These restrictions & limitations haven't been adopted in Alberta, Ontario & Quebec. Thus, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto & Montreal are able to operate on a much larger scale than what is permitted in Vancouver & Victoria or BC in general. 

SFU-Burnaby-gondola-pushback-from neighbourhood

 https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2023/12/04/sfu-burnaby-gondola-pushback-neighbourhood/

The Portland_Aerial_Tram goes over some houses, but no one from BC could stop it. Of course not, because Portland is part of Oregon, not BC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Aerial_Tram

It has left some people with a bad taste in their mouth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Aerial_Tram#Objections_from_underlying_neighborhoods

What if you are on the toilet when the_Tram passes over? So while Oregon has been able to do some things that BC wont allow, the urban gondola-tram remains as a point of contention.


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=BC

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Portland

https://therabbitportal.blogspot.com/search?q=SFU+gondola

https://therabbitportal.blogspot.com/search?q=Portland

us-federal-government-vancouver-seattle-high-speed-rail-funding-proposal

  https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/us-federal-government-vancouver-seattle-high-speed-rail-funding-proposal

Sunday, December 3, 2023

BC transit-oriented-development-legislation-and Vancouver-view-cones

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-transit-oriented-development-legislation-vancouver-view-cones

There has been a multigenerational plan to hold BC back in almost every way possible. Some just don't want more people moving into BC, so the infrastructure is symbolically kept small when compared to what's allowed in Alberta, Ontario & Québec.

There is also a general half-assed slow approach in BC, which hasn't caught on with Alberta, Ontario & Québec.

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/us-federal-government-vancouver-seattle-high-speed-rail-funding-proposal


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=BC

surrey-langley-skytrain-station-names

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/surrey-langley-skytrain-expo-line-station-names

Saturday, November 18, 2023

To FIX the I-10 in LA

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEvQSq6fQUQ

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_California_freeways

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles#Infrastructure

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=LA%2C+CA

desperate-metro-vancouver-renews-35b-infrastructure-plea-to-feds

 https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/highlights/desperate-metro-vancouver-renews-35b-infrastructure-plea-to-feds-7848918

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/local-news/megathrust-earthquake-could-decimate-metro-vancouvers-water-system-says-report-5249363

The Lions Gate Bridge vs. a First Narrows Tunnel

 https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/local-news/5-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-the-lions-gate-bridge-6614814

A bridge so narrow that it should have only been a foot & bike crossing by now.

The inept Lions+Gate+Bridge should have had an 8 lane tunnel under it several decades ago.

Georgia_Street through most of the downtown is 6 lanes wide, but as you get closer to Stanley Park, its 7 lanes wide. Thus, an 8 lane First_Narrows tunnel could have easily been constructed. 

https://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/west-georgia-complete-street.aspx

While the likelihood of Georgia_Street feeding into the Georgia_Viaduct connecting East Vancouver & Burnaby with a freeway is no more, Georgia_Street could still feed into a Stanley Park tunnel.

There would be no need for a freeway through the downtown, as a tunnel would simply provide a high capacity crossing. 3 lanes each way, plus a bus & HOV lane each way & even a provision for rapid rail transit. 

The stubborn city chooses to do nothing with the First Narrows. However, at least some serious planning has started for the Second_Narrows upgrade or replacement. 


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=BC

vancouver translink-rapid-transit-brt-corridors-route-planning-finalized

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/translink-rapid-transit-brt-corridors-route-planning-finalized

Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Vancouver's west-end-waterfront-plan-english-bay-sunset-beach-draft-design

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/west-end-waterfront-plan-english-bay-sunset-beach-draft-design

vancouver broadway-subway-tunnel-opening timeline

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/broadway-subway-tunnel-boring-progress-opening-timeline

A Horseshoe Bay SkyTrain line to North Vancouver and Downtown Vancouver?

"A SkyTrain from downtown to Horseshoe Bay would provide a solution to the North Shore’s traffic crisis,..." https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/highlights/letter-horseshoe-bay-skytrain-north-vancouver-7753960

When the decision and implementation to put a major ferry terminal at Horseshoe_Bay in West_Vancouver was done, there didn't seem to be any sense of proper long-range urban transportation planning. It didn't matter if it was 2010 or 2020, there still seemed to be no need to build or at least an official plan for a rail rapid transit connection between WV, PR, downtown Vancouver and YVR.

https://www.vancouversnorthshore.com/neighbourhood/horseshoe-bay

https://www.bcferries.com/routes-fares/schedules/daily/HSB-NAN

The lack of an official plan to eventually link the Horseshoe_Bay_ferry_terminal and the Tsawwassen_ferry_terminal to YVR might as well be just another science fiction story.

The Greater Victoria, Swartz_Bay_ferry_terminal should also have a long-term plan for an intercity rail link to Downtown_Victoria and connect with the Duke_Point_ferry_terminal and the Departure_Bay_ferry_terminal in Nanaimo.

For some reason, Vancouver, Victoria and BC in general, doesn't seem to want to be a leader in transportation planning & development.


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Horseshoe+Bay

Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Tuesday, October 10, 2023

Saturday, September 30, 2023

SkyTrain-Canada Line rebuilding

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/skytrain-canada-line-rebuilding

The Canada+Line should have been called, the Financial Drainage Line. However, the Catheter Line seems more appropriate.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/short-platforms-and-trains-is-the-skytrain-canada-line-under-built-and-nearing-capacity

Nevermind designing it to ultimately have 8-10 car trains, starting out with at least 5 car trains. A 2 car train is such a sad joke, but it all fits in with the reluctance to think & build big in BC. 

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canada-line-skytrain

Wow, someday the Catheter Line will be able to accomodate a 2.5 car train. Apparently, a full length 3 car train & especially a 4 car train might actually look like an attempt to have a proper urban train. Even with all the construction budget cuts, the stations could have been built with at least a 152.5 m provision, instead of a 50 m joke.

This approach goes so well with the regions narrow bridges & its reluctance to build a network of bus & HOV bridges. 


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=SkyTrain-Canada+Line

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=SkyTrain+bridges

Thursday, September 28, 2023

How Vancouver’s skyline limits the construction of affordable housing

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuh3kwBjVqQ

TransLink ridership recovery reaches 90% of pre-pandemic volumes

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/translink-ridership-recovery-vancouver-public-transit-september-2023

While the recovery is great, the Skytrain network should have been designed to have 152m stations like Montreal & Toronto, but that would mean big city thinking. So the 50m to 80m stations provide a constant reminder of the refusal to think big.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-transit-ridership-recovery-record

Just like the region should have a proper big city train, there should have also been a proper express bus & HOV system by now. However, with such a refusal to have wider bridges or parallel crossings, it's almost impossible to have a proper rapid bus network.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/ironworkers-memorial-bridge-replacement There could actually be a couple of bus & HOV lanes, perhaps even some breakdown lanes.

However, congestive planning always wins out & who know where all the money has gone over the past several decades?

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/skytrain-vancouver-demand-extensions

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/commercial-broadway-station-broadway-grandview-woodland-plan-skytrain Brentwood Station, no problem. However, allowing such a crossroads station at a similar scale is too upsetting for the backwater Vancouver mentality.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/city-of-vancouver-car-vehicle-traffic-reductions-broadway Another fine example of the conjestive mentality. Since the train isn't allowed to run 24/7, it's a good idea to still have a wide street for express buses & 24hr traffic, which is common for most major cities.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/skytrain-metro-vancouver-expansion

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canada-public-transit-system-comparison

List of North American cities by population

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_cities_by_population

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_census_metropolitan_areas_and_agglomerations_in_Canada#List

While Vancouver is part of the 3rd largest urban area in Canada, it's one of the smaller cities reaching only 8th place. That helps to maintain its backwater mentality & extremely restrictive approach to planning & development.

U2 ZOO Station

 https://www.u2zoostation.com

When Vancouver can't seem to get enough hotel rooms built, LV just keeps on building in the desert entertainment capital.

Is the Stack, a tower or a stump?

 https://storeys.com/james-cheng-the-stack-vancouver

In Seattle, Toronto, Calgary & even Montreal, this would almost be just another stump building. Those cities & so many more around the planet, have long since allowed office towers to have more than 40 floors. However, in the BC part of Canada, there is no office tower that has reached 40 stories, just a few residential towers are taller. Yet, sometimes the land value in Vancouver is more than in Toronto.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-view-cone-restrictions-policies

Of course Seattle, Toronto, Calgary & Montreal have been allowed to be proper big cities, simple because they aren't under any Vancouver type restrictions or limitations.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouvers-shrinking-skyline

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/larwill-park-office-towers-vancouver-concept

Nevermind Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, LA, SF, Seattle, Toronto, Calgary & Montreal, Vancouver isn't even allowed to build as tall as the tallest in Mississauga or Edmonton. 

https://storeys.com/cities/mississauga

https://storeys.com/cities/toronto/

https://storeys.com/cities/calgary/

Immigrants and students fueled Canada's population jump in 2023

 https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/immigrants-students-fueled-canadas-population-jump-2023-statscan-2023-09-27/

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/immigrants-to-thank-for-canada-s-record-population-growth-this-year-statcan-report-1.6579745

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230927/dq230927a-eng.htm And to think that Canada is nowhere close to containing even 1% of the worlds population, it's been tough enough just to reach 0.5%.

https://moving2canada.com/news-and-features/news/immigration/canadian-population-experiences-record-breaking-growth-thanks-to-international-migration/

https://globalnews.ca/news/9989962/canada-population-boom-immigration-2023 Various forces and mindsets have prevented Halifax from becoming as big as Montreal or Boston. Greater Seattle & the Greater Montreal area each have over 4 million people. However, Greater Vancouver has done its damnedest to be continually stunted when compared to them. 

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Some Vancouver ‘view cones’ could be scrapped under proposed review

 https://globalnews.ca/news/9990941/vancouver-view-cone-review

Toronto, Calgary & Edmonton are allowed to build taller than what's in Montreal. Of course stubborn watered down Vancouver is an exception.

Vancouver & BC was unable to build a wall or generate a forcefield around it like something out of STAR TREK. Thus, a stunted approach was implemented, which was all about slowing down the influx of people. Vancouver doesn't have the authority to restrict Canadian immigration or restrict people from moving into the region from other parts of Canada.  

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-view-cones-review-housing-impacts-motion

At a certain point, the BC part of Canada will be forced to put more money into proper size infrastructure.

https://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/protecting-vancouvers-views.aspx This has been such an ingenious way to hold the city back. So much of BC is mountainous wilderness that will never be blocked out.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-view-cone-restrictions-policies

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouvers-shrinking-skyline Fortunatly, Vancouver doesn't have control over the entire region, so the demand for taller buildings is still possible in the surrounding area.

So many urban restrictions were put into Vancouver during the 1970s, 80s and 90s by a mostly White power structure. In theory, if a city & urban area is continually stunted like Greater Vancouver, then less people will be likely to move there. Calgary & Seattle were never under anything like the extreme Vancouver limitations. Thus, those cities have much taller buildings, wider roads & bridges & any of their underground train stations are much longer than what Vancouver has ever built. The Toronto Subway & the Montreal Metro have stations that are at least 152m or about 500 feet, when stunted Vancouver only built 50m to 80m Skytrain stations.

If Vancouver was ever allowed to become a big city & region like SydneySan_Francisco & Montreal, that would mean accommodating more people of color. It's not that the predominantly White power structure of the 1970s, 80s and 90s officially had a, KEEP THEM OUT agenda, but any slow growth initiative can certainly slow down the influx of people & the local economy. 

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-tower-building-shadowing-solar-access

Indeed, by continually promoting a half size approach to such stunted infrastructure, it shows a reluctance towards accommodating more people. As it so happens, most of the people on the planet aren't of European descent. Thus, anly slow growth initiative is a very clever way to, KEEP PEOPLE OUT. Unfortunately, even if there is finally enough people that want Vancouver & other parts of BC to have big cities, there is quite a tangled mess of laws, ordinances & restrictions that would have to be changed.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/larwill-park-office-towers-vancouver-concept

One would think that especially for a region such as Greater Vancouver with so many narrow roads & streets, there should have been a metro on the scale of what Montreal has. But so much about Vancouver & BC is about congestive planning.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/translink-2017-kevin-desmond-canada-line-built-skytrain Why build 152m long stations linke in Montreal & Toronto when you can build absurd 50m stations? This is a fine example of the reluctance to build without allowing for future expansion. Don't think like a big city or urban region where a train could eventually reach the ferry terminals. It's much better to take the congestion approach.


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=SkyTrain-Canada+Line

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Montreal

Canadians flock to Alberta in record numbers as population booms by 184,400 people

 https://ca.news.yahoo.com/canadians-flock-alberta-record-numbers-154748132.html

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-population-growth-statscan-report-1.6979657

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/alberta-interprovincial-migration-

https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/david-staples-canadians-voting-with-their-feet-and-theyre-picking-alberta

https://www.alberta.ca/population-statistics

BC SkyTrain expansion

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/skytrain-expansion-program-sany-zein-bcrtc-translink

Why have a 9 car metro train like in Montreal when Vancouver can just have a 5 car Skytrain on the first 2 lines? That's because the first 2 lines only have a length of 80m. The extremely underbuilt Catheter Line is a fine example of financial drainage. The Catheter Line stations & the first 2 Skytrain lines should have all been designed to have at least 500 feet or 152.5m long stations. However, the C Line only has 50m stations so the little trains can only be expanded from 2 cars to 2.5 cars, not 5 cars & especially no 10 car trains. It's all about symbolizing the reluctance to build proper big city size infrastructure. One has to wonder where so much of the money has gone, because it hasn't gone into a full size system, only a half-assed infrastructure. 

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/translink-ceo-kevin-desmond-vision

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canada-line-extension-richmond-delta

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/george-massey-bridge-replacement-translink

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canada-line-vancouver-city-centre-station-second-entrance Conjestive planning really bites, but that's the BC way. The KEEP THEM OUT mentality has been around for such a long time, that not enough people pushed for a train in which the station lengths could eventually be doubled or even tripled. Combine that with a mostly narrow regional road network & you have the epitome of bottleneck planing.


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=SkyTrain-Canada+Line

Canada's-house-speaker-steps-down-after-inviting-nazi-veteran-into parliament

 https://www.npr.org/2023/09/27/1201951754/canadas-house-speaker-steps-down-after-inviting-nazi-veteran-parliament

From Colonial times right up to the present, that has always been a, KEEP THEM OUT mentality in Canada. The WW2 era of Germany was partly about creating a continent for only the "best" White people. Japan during the WW2 era also wanted to be at the top of the Asian power structure. 

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canadian-pm-apologises-after-parliamentary-speaker-publicly-praised-nazi-2023-09-27/

The British Colonial System as well as other European Colonial Systems were all about the mother country being at the top & all the non-whites had a lower standing. 

Even if Canada had 80 million people by the summer of 2023, that would only 1% of the worlds 8 billion people. It was tough enough for Canada to just reach 40 million in 2023.

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230927/dq230927a-eng.htm

Canada should be attracting a lot of wealthy people from around the world, but most of the world is non-white & some people might get jealous. Perhaps if Canada were to say that by continuing to contain only a very small amount of the worlds population, that's good for the environment. Then more people around the world might challenge such a ridiculous notion. So many other countries have much less land, yet have a lot more people & infrastructure than Canada. 


Monday, September 25, 2023

Developer announces plan to build 5,000 rental homes after federal decision to drop GST on construction costs

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/dream-unlimited-rental-housing-plan-federal-gst-canada

It's like Canada never really planned to ever have that much of the world's population, despite being the world's 2nd largest county in overall area. A population of 80 million is only 1% of 8 billion. It's taken quite a while for Canada just to contain 0.5% of the world's population. 

https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/subjects-start/population_and_demography/40-million June 2023

There has always been a lagging pace of infrastructure development in BC & Atlantic Canada.

https://www.statcan.gc.ca/o1/en/plus/3861-40-million-strong-canada-reaches-new-population-milestone

One would expect such a slow pace in the arctic regions.


Vancouver uber-ride-hailing-service-area-expansion-fraser-valley

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/uber-ride-hailing-service-area-expansion-fraser-valley

Victoria, BC and other Canadian Capitals

 https://storeys.com/victoria-missing-middle-housing-review/

Such a sleepy little city with perhaps the most mild winters in Canada. Yet, big Edmonton has much colder winters with many times the population of Victoria. 

Victoria,_British_Columbia has yet to exceed 100,000 people, colder Regina,_Saskatchewan & St._John's,_Newfoundland_and_Labrador have more people. However, Greater_Victoria might eventually rival that of Halifax,_Nova_Scotia. Perhaps someday even Quebec_City & Winnipeg, but Victoria would rather remain a provincial backwater for as long as possible. Being on an island is almost as good as having a wall, but its a salt water moat instead. 

Big Toronto has been the only Canadian city to become as large as Chicago.

Perhaps someday Ottawa might get as big as Montreal, but that's quite a long ways off into the future.

Unlike Victoria, NW is part of an urban region of more than a few million people. Thus, its compelled to gradually have more infrastructure.

'Deeply hurtful': Polish ambassador condemns Nazi veteran’s invitation to Canada’s Parliament

 https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/deeply-hurtful-polish-ambassador-condemns-nazi-veteran-s-invitation-to-canada-s-parliament-

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/kremlin-reaction-canadian-parliament-1.6977248

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/kremlin-says-canadian-recognition-of-veteran-from-nazi-unit-is-outrageous-1.6576499

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/canada-needs-to-denounce-ukrainian-nazi-unit-not-honour-it-says-uottawa-professor-who-uncovered-veterans-ss-links

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/canadas-soft-pedalling-ukraine-ss-galicia


"Immediately questionably why nobody recognized this"
A Ukrainian-Canadian professor says even without any specialist knowledge, someone should have had questions about the Ukrainian Waffen-SS veteran invited to Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to Parliament.

https://toronto.citynews.ca/video/2023/09/25/immediately-questionably-why-nobody-recognized-this


https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/25/canada-house-speaker-apologises-for-recognition-of-veteran-linked-to


https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230628/dq230628c-eng.htm

A Routine bank visit devolved into 'dehumanization,' says Black customer

 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/rbc-bank-street-ottawa-allegations-discrimination-black-customer-1.6976967

https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/absolutely-it-was-racially-motivated-says-rbc-bank-client-after-police-called-to-investigate-transaction-1.6577256

https://bnn.network/world/canada/racial-discrimination-claims-surface-against-royal-bank-of-canada/

https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/canada/articles/why-is-canada-nicknamed-the-great-white-north

A 'Whites-only' sign for a mom and tot playgroup in Coquitlam draws outrage

 https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/whites-only-sign-for-a-mom-and-tot-playgroup-in-coquitlam-draws-outrage

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/whites-only-mother-tots-group-condemned-british-columbia-1.6977449

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/white-only-moms-and-tots-group-sign

Unfortunately, some people would still like to revert back to the White Colonial System where non-whites are looked down upon.

https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/canada/articles/why-is-canada-nicknamed-the-great-white-north

New York is Falling Apart… Literally

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-_mOdBTkJw

Friday, September 22, 2023

U2 - ZOO Station, LV

 Unfortunately, there is no holodeck MATRIX yet, so people will just have to settle for a VR, AR, Metaverse sensory data ZOO inside of a SPHERE. 

https://www.thespherevegas.com/shows/u2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEcx9F_FW2U Lemon


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=U2

https://therabbitportal.blogspot.com/search?q=U2

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Metro Vancouver mayors warn housing at risk without expanded transit

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/metro-vancouver-transit-housing-risk

Despite being the 2nd largest country on the planet, there has been a strong, KEEP THEM OUT mentality since colonial times. Halifax hasn't been allowed to become as big as Boston or Montreal. Vancouver hasn't been allowed to be as big as Greater Seattle or Montreal. Victoria is a hicktown when compared to Edmonton, Winnipeg & QC. Yet, Victoria has the mildest winters than any Canadian city. For the longest time, Victoria is suppose to be a provincial backwater & Vancouver is supposed to be the epitome of a stunted city.

When the world population reached 8 billion, Canada didn't even have 80 million, only 40 million people. Most of the world's' population is non-white, so during colonial times the, KEEP THEM OUT mentality was the way it was, because no one could challenge it. Canada only has 1% of the human population, yet its the 2nd largest in overall area. 

One can understand why Antarctica has a very limited population, but for Canada to only have 1% of the world's population seems indicative of a successful plan to keep most of the world out. While a slow growth initiative has been a clever way to reduce the influx of non-white people, many other smaller sized nations have already been able to build more infrastructure and accomodate more people for several decades. 


An aerial view of the Broadway Subways' construction progress in Vancouver

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/broadway-subway-millennium-line-extension-constructon-progress-aerial-photos-video

Toronto and Montreal really know how to build a proper high capacity subway system in Canada. However, Vancouver has been so slow growth for so many decades it's absurd. Toronto & Montreal have 152m or 500 foot long stations. However, Greater Vancouver wasn't allowed to have a proper big city metro system. Thus the first 2 Skytrain lines only have 80m stations. The ridiculously underbuilt C Line was only designed to have 50m stations, when it should have been 3 times as long. 

Just like most of the bridges in the region are so narrow, it's very difficult to have a proper regional express bus system. Special bus bridges or tunnels should have all been built next to the inept narrow crossings. But that would all be indicative of properly planning for growth in a part of Canada that doesn't get -20 to -30C winters.

The Multiverse Perspective on the Cyberpunk MATRIX

Themultiverseperspective.wordpress.com has been dormant for several years.

No new links about urban legends or cyberspace technology for quite a while at TMP.

No_Maps_for_These_Territories and half of U2 could have been part of a supertech series exploring the urban MATRIX around the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Maps_for_These_Territories#Content , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIDVvhy9Z0I , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib6siNUJbx0

Neuromancer: The Origin of Cyberpunk | A Horrifying Dystopia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGW_7HTXuQo

Cyberpunk Documentary PART 1 | Neuromancer, Blade Runner, RoboCop, Akira, Shadowrun... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sttm8Q9rOdQ

William Gibson: The New Cyber/Reality https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVEUWfDHqsU

Blade Runner, Altered Carbon, and the Relevancy of Cyberpunk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK6IjJkjkiI

CyberPunk Cities: Fiction or Reality? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p93lMyCCYig

The Peripheral - Season 1 | RECAP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6DAZ3Nax7E

The_Peripheral_(TV_series) could have gone on for a few years, but... 

https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/the-peripheral-canceled-amazon-season-2


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Cyberpunk

U2 shocks Vegas fans with pop-up concert on Fremont Street ahead of MSG Sphere residency

 https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/09/18/u2-atomic-city-performance-fremont-street-vegas/70896046007/

https://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/entertainment-columns/kats/u2-premieres-new-single-in-surprise-downtown-las-vegas-show-2905889/

https://variety.com/2023/music/news/u2-atomic-city-video-shoot-single-las-vegas-larry-mullen-1235725938/

Before there was the MATRIX in 1999, there was Achtung_Baby and the Zoo_TV_Tour in the early 1990s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U2:UV_Achtung_Baby_Live_at_Sphere Its as close as you can get to the holodeck, the 13th Floor and the MATRIX in 2023.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/2023/09/13/darren-aronofsky-gives-first-look-inside-vegas-sphere/70847497007/


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=U2

Minimum income to buy a home in Vancouver rises to $246,100

 https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/minimum-income-buy-home-vancouver-rises-interest-rates-report

Monday, September 18, 2023

City of Vancouver parts ways with its chief planner

Theresa O'Donnell came to Vancouver as a deputy director of planning in 2019 after 15 years working for the City of Dallas  https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/city-of-vancouver-parts-ways-with-chief-planner

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/theresa-odonnell-city-of-vancouver-chief-planner-departure

Small Vancouver can fit into Dallas 8 times.

Area
 • City123.63 km2 (47.73 sq mi)
 • Land115.18 km2 (44.47 sq mi)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver#Geography


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas

Area
 • City385.9 sq mi (999.2 km2)
 • Land339.604 sq mi (879.56 km2)
 • Water43.87 sq mi (113.60 km2)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas#Geography


Vancouver was one of the first cities to remove its streetcars in the 1950s & will likely be one of the last to bring them back. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver_Downtown_Historic_Railway#Proposed_future_service

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Streetcar Of course Dallas would revive a small portion of its streetcar system long before Vancouver ever could. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Streetcar#Future_expansion_plans

https://www.mata.org/ride/route-map 

Even Los_Angeles & the Brooklyn-Queens_Connector will likely be up & running sooner than Vancouver's attempted revival.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcars_in_North_America#Heritage_streetcar_systems

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcars_in_North_America#List_of_primarily_tourist_heritage_systems_in_North_America

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcars_in_North_America#Light_rail

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_rail_in_North_America#History_of_streetcars_and_light_rail