Showing posts sorted by date for query Australia. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query Australia. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Wednesday, October 7, 2026

Old Pattullo Bridge arches to come down this Thanksgiving weekend

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/old-pattullo-bridge-arch-deconstruction-process-october-2026 

Over a century ago, there was no concept of having bus lanes across a Fraser River bridge between NW and Surrey.

Even with the new bridge, there aren't 2 dedicated bus lanes. That's despite the Skytrain not being a 24hr system. So, busses have to be funneled into only 2 crowded lanes each way. Its been that way since the late 1930s on the old bridge, as well as the new bridge.

Apparently, in the 1930s, there just wasn't any big city vision to build a significantly wider bridge to better handle the future traffic in the 1960s & 70s. The new bridge should have been built in the 1980s or 90s. 

Now, little NW is still stuck with a narrow 4 lane bridge that doesn't even have 2 wide emergency lanes, or 2 wide shoulders, & especially no bus lanes. 

"A couple of Pacific Stage Lines buses can be seen at the BCER bus terminal." https://archives.newwestcity.ca/Results.aspx?AC=NEXT_RECORD&XC=/Results.aspx&BU=http%3A%2F%2Farchives.newwestcity.ca%2Fsearch.aspx&GI=&TN=internet&SN=AUTO80&SE=555&RN=8&MR=100&TR=0&TX=1000&ES=0&XP=&RF=WebStartDate&EF=&DF=WebFull&RL=0&EL=0&DL=0&NP=255&ID=&MF=GENERICENGWPMSG.INI&DT=&ST=0&IR=4702&NR=0&NB=0&SV=0&SS=0&BG=&FG=&QS= 

https://archives.newwestcity.ca/Results.aspx?AC=NEXT_RECORD&XC=/Results.aspx&BU=http%3A%2F%2Farchives.newwestcity.ca%2Fsearch.aspx&GI=&TN=internet&SN=AUTO80&SE=555&RN=7&MR=100&TR=0&TX=1000&ES=0&XP=&RF=WebStartDate&EF=&DF=WebFull&RL=0&EL=0&DL=0&NP=255&ID=&MF=GENERICENGWPMSG.INI&DT=&ST=0&IR=4702&NR=0&NB=0&SV=0&SS=0&BG=&FG=&QS= 

https://archives.newwestcity.ca/Results.aspx?AC=NEXT_RECORD&XC=/Results.aspx&BU=http%3A%2F%2Farchives.newwestcity.ca%2Fsearch.aspx&GI=&TN=internet&SN=AUTO80&SE=555&RN=37&MR=100&TR=0&TX=1000&ES=0&XP=&RF=WebStartDate&EF=&DF=WebFull&RL=0&EL=0&DL=0&NP=255&ID=&MF=GENERICENGWPMSG.INI&DT=&ST=0&IR=4702&NR=0&NB=0&SV=0&SS=0&BG=&FG=&QS=

https://www.surreyhistory.ca/pacificstage.html 


Even the old Port_Mann_Bridge wasn't designed to have 2 bus lanes, just 2 lanes each way with no emergency lanes, or wide shoulders.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Mann_Bridge#Original_bridge Once a 5th lane was squeezed onto the narrow bridge, a parallel 5 lane bridge should have been built. Plus, an extra 2 lane section for express buses and a lower deck provision for future LRT. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Mann_Bridge#Opposition_to_twinning_plan Unlike in Australia, bridge duplication or twinning is culturally difficult in backwards BC. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Mann_Bridge#New_bridge While the new bridge has 10 lanes and can eventually accommodate an LRT line, there should have been a provision for 2 express bus lanes. That's because there is no 24 hour LRT service in Greater Vancouver. 

When a train is shutdown for the night, or there is an emergency that stops service, there should always be a high capacity, or rapid bus route in place. 

Its very difficult to have a proper regional express bus network in Greater Vancouver. Especially, a proper regional BRT system. That's because most of the bridges are so narrow there isn't enough space for 2 bus lanes. 

Since LRT and subways can't cover the entire urban area, the region also needs to have an extensive network of express buses and BRT lines. That can only be accomplished in Greater Vancouver by having a series of bus-bridges. 

https://movementyvr.ca/what-even-is-a-brt


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

Monday, August 31, 2026

VMV and BCMV

What is the Vancouver Mind Virus and the BC Mind Virus?

Sometimes, it can be a provincial backwater approach to things. Other times, its a total Half-A$$ED attempt towards getting something done in backwards BC.

Its taken the City of Vancouver a very long time to surpass half a million residents. Its amazing that Vancouver finally surpassed having 3 quarters of a million people. 

https://worldpopulationreview.com/cities/canada/vancouver 751,644 

It remains to be seen if Vancouver will ever have more people than Winnipeg. Indeed, Winnipeg, like Edmonton and Calgary don't have something like a Burnaby next to them, or a Surrey & Coquitlam close by. While Vancouver barely makes it into the top 10 biggest cities in Canada, Greater Vancouver is still the 3rd largest urban region in Canada. However, so much of the urban scale and infrastructure is being heled back.

The biggest cities in Canada don't have anything like a VMV to thwart or impeded their scale. Thus, Toronto, Calgary, Montreal & Edmonton all have taller buildings than stunted Vancouver. Edmonton and Montreal, like Seattle and Perth, WA are allowed to have wider bridges. Most major cities around the world have longer trains than what's in provincial Vancouver.

Is there a Canadian Mind Virus (CMV)? Of course not officially. Fortunately, nothing like a CMV ever made it to Australia. Otherwise something absurd like provincial Trade Barriers could have really thwarted things down under.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/interprovincial-trade-barriers-9.7323970 

https://www.mnp.ca/en/insights/directory/what-are-the-barriers-to-interprovincial-trade-in-canada

https://www.canada.ca/en/intergovernmental-affairs/services/internal-trade/federal-investments-internal-trade.html 

Despite Canada being surrounded by water on 3 sides, there is no blue on the national flag. Fortunately, nothing like a CMV ever got Australia, NZ, the UK, France and even the US to remove blue from their flags. 

Of course the flags of England, Switzerland and Japan have no blue in them, but blue is still a very nice color to behold. 

Nothing on the scale of the 10 lane Narrows_Bridge_(Perth) is allowed in Vancouver, Victoria or Kelowna. Certainly, nothing like the Sir_Leo_Hielscher_Bridges exists in Halifax. Even Boston and Montreal don't have a 12 lane crossing like the Gateway_Bridges. 

Despite Australia having fewer people than Canada, its been able to exist on a larger scale in some ways. Its like there is still a plan to have a big country down under.


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

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

Saturday, August 29, 2026

Vancouver International Airport (YVR) is Getting MASSIVE Upgrades

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQw18DQ4TlY MA$$IVE Upgrades? Compared to what, other provincial backwaters? 

SkyTrain Front Window View - Canada Line to YVR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxTEBfxYH0g This is very sad & pathetic that the stations weren't designed to be long enough to accommodate a 5 car train. The stations can only accommodate a 2.5 car joke of a train. The real sad joke is that the line is still only running 2 car trains on what is supposed to be a major urban area on the Pacific Rim.

Unfortunately, even if Vancouver-Surrey & Abbottsford, Victoria & Nanaimo, Prince Rupert & Kitimat were all upgraded to proper big urban areas on par with Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane, or even Seattle & Calgary, BC just isn't as warm as Australia, or even NZ for half of of the year. Edmonton & Calgary, Seattle & Portland are able to have wider bridges & roads, and even longer trains than Vancouver to Richmond & Vancouver to Surrey-Langley. 

Fortunately, the Pacific Rim part of Australia hasn't been trapped in a provincial backwater mentality like the Pacific Rim part of Canada. For too long there has been a keep BC small and backwards mindset. AKA, the BC Mind Virus (BCMV).

Running short & frequent trains could be seen as a cost saving measure initially, but unless there is a genuine to have proper long big city type trains, the BCMV still wins out. The fanatical approach to keep most of the bridges in BC so narrow has made it very difficult to have a proper regional express bus network, let alone BRT. 

The 3 main seaport regions of BC, Greater Vancouver, Victoria-Nanaimo-Kitimat should become proper big city ports on the Pacific Rim. BC is 23 times the size of Switzerland, yet it doesn't even have the population of 1 CH. Canada in turn, has less than half of 1% of the worlds population. 


Saturday, August 22, 2026

The 14 lane George Washington bridge vs...

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH6Q8yWjYpM There are wider sections of freeways in the US, but the double deck GWB has the most lanes. 

Wow, in backwards Vancouver, or almost anywhere in backwater BC, just having 2 lanes each way is tough enough. A consistent 3rd lane each way could be for busses and a 4th lane for HOVs. Given that Greater Vancouver is supposed to be a major port region, several of the bridges should also have a truck lane each way. However, there is only one bridge in backwards BC that has 5 lanes each way. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Mann_Bridge#New_bridge Unfortunatly, it wasn't designed to have a lower deck. Such a lower deck could have had 2 freight train tracks, 2 commuter train tracks and even a provision for 2 BRT lanes. 

Essentially, in any proper big urban area, the bridges should not only provide at least 3 general lanes each way, but a bus and HOV lane each way. That's 5 lanes each way, plus on some crossings that are closer to port activity, there should even be a 6th lane each way. That's the case with the Sir_Leo_Hielscher_Bridges. Unfortunately, unlike Queensland, BC has been very reluctant towards bridge duplication or twinning. 

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/transportation/driving-and-cycling/traveller-information/routes-and-driving-conditions/hov-lanes 

https://www.nsnews.com/local-news/bus-hov-lanes-different-2918490

https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/1d3fixq/hov_and_bus_lanes_how_to_deter_abuse/ 

While Australia has Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane as its major Pacific Rim gateways, Canada just has provincial Vancouver, Victoria and Prince Rupert as port gateway cities. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Leo_Hielscher_Bridges#Design

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/Gateway_Bridge_aerial4.JPG

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Leo_Hielscher_Bridges#Duplication A 12 lane crossing.

The Port_of_Brisbane and the Brisbane_Airport are excellent port facilities in Queensland. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Brisbane#Facilities

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisbane_Airport#Rail Far away from the inept transportation planning in Greater Vancouver, Brisbane was able to do things correctly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_line,_Brisbane Unfortunatly, backwards BC just can't seem to properly plan big city type infrastructure.

The YVR-Canada_Line is a total embarrassment! 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Line#Stations Not 150 m, not 100 m, only a 50 m level clarence was allowed for the stations. Even the first 2 Skytrain lines only have 80 m stations, when they should have almost been twice as long. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Line#Technology Aparently, the inept planning was due to cost saving measures. Thus, instead of designing the stations to be long enough to accommodate 5 car trains, they were only designed to ultimately have 2.5 car trains. Since 2009, the Canada_Line still only has 2 car joke trains. 

The Tilikum_Crossing in Portland vs the North_Arm_Bridge between Vancouver and Richmond. The Tilikum_Crossing accommodates 2 bike lanes, 2 footpaths, 2 MAX-LRT tracks, 2 articulated_bus lanes and even streetcars can cross on it. Such a fine bridge just hasn't been allowed in BC.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/NorthArmBridge.jpg 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Arm_Bridge#Details This bridge should have been wide enough to eventually accommodate 2 bike lanes, 2 footpaths and especially, 2 BRT lanes, the the Skytrain doesn't run on a 24hr schedule. 

Given that most of the bridges in BC are so narrow, there needs to be proper bus, bike & HOV bridges built.

Transportation infrastructure doesn't have to be such a sad joke in backwards BC. 

Saturday, July 11, 2026

First Nation files court challenge against Burrard Inlet dredging project for oil tankers

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/burrard-inlet-second-narrows-oil-tanker-dredging-first-nation-court-challenge 

Decades ago, there should have already been a North Boundary Road bus and bike bridge beside the Iron-Bridge. Since the Iron Bridge wasn't widened to accommodate 2 express bus or 2 rapid bus lanes, a North Boundary Road bus and bike bridge would have been a huge improvement. 

Canada is on the same planet as Australia, but seems to be on a different world. Asia, Europe and the US just don't seem to have the same overlapping restrictions as Canada and especially, BC. 

Greater Vancouver should be on a similar city and port level as Brisbane, but the provincial backwater BC mindset keeps holding things back.

https://thehub.ca/2026/07/08/can-the-port-of-vancouver-handle-supertankers-a-closer-look-at-the-other-megaproject-inside-albertas-pipeline-proposal/

If Burrard Inlet isn't a suitable location for the tankers, then another location must be found. BC remains as a provincial backwater on the Pacific Rim and Canada has less than 1% of the worlds population. If it were possible, there are those in Canada who would like to just shut out the world and even shut Canada down.

Australia hasn't been able to do so much more than Canada simply because it doesn't have half of the year stuck in cold, crappy weather.


Friday, July 10, 2026

Story Bridge and Clem Jones Tunnel vs the inadequat LGB

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Story_Bridge 3 lanes each way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clem_Jones_Tunnel (CJT) 2 lanes each way. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clem_Jones_Tunnel#Public_transport

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Story+Bridge 


The+Missing+Element in backwards BC.

In contrast, Vancouver is stuck with a 3 lane LGB, with no parallel bus, truck and train tunnels. If visiting Vancouver from Brisbane, or almost any Australian city or town, you will be shocked. While Australia is allowed to have 3 big port cities on the Pacific Rim (Mel Syd & Bris), Canada has taken a Half-A$$ED approach.


While the Port_of_Prince_Rupert has a lot of potential, most of it remains as a watered down front. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Prince_Rupert#Conversion_to_an_intermodal_terminal 


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Harbour_(British_Columbia)#Facilities

https://gvha.ca/deep-water-terminal/terminal-information/ V-BC has potential, but its also so scaled back or watered down. 

Despite Victoria wanting to remain as a quaint provincial backwater, it should eventually become a proper port city like Wellington. https://www.centreport.co.nz/ 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CentrePort_Wellington#Containers 


Port of Vancouver, BC.

The Brisbane International Cruise Terminal

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

 https://www.portbris.com.au/cruise 

https://www.arkhefield.com.au/projects/brisbane-international-cruise-terminal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisbane_International_Cruise_Terminal#Usage 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles/port-of-brisbane-cruise-terminal-parking-address-amenity-info 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Brisbane+International+Cruise+Terminal+-+BICT/@-27.3843417,153.1353248,3859m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m15!1m8!3m7!1s0x6b91579aac93d233:0x402a35af3deaf40!2sBrisbane+QLD,+Australia!3b1!8m2!3d-27.4704528!4d153.0260341!16zL20vMDFiOGpq!3m5!1s0x6b93e1443f384133:0x7d95aec9aca010fd!8m2!3d-27.3806396!4d153.1547845!16s%2Fg%2F11h2lg2bl5!5m1!1e2?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDcwOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

The Port of Brisbane’s future capacity

 https://www.portbris.com.au/major-projects/fpe 

https://www.portbris.com.au/property/land-use-planning

https://www.portbris.com.au/portbris-2060 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Port+Of+Brisbane+QLD+4178,+Australia 


The Sir_Leo_Hielscher_Bridges provides a 12 lane crossing and provides great access to the airport and seaport.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Leo_Hielscher_Bridges#Duplication

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

Saturday, June 27, 2026

Australia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNg97yY2TJA  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MDcPI8R2SQ

How The Texas Triangle Is Slowly Turning Into America's Next Mega-City

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3q9Via14O8 Texas has more people than Australia and still plenty of wilderness and open land. 

The 15 and 30 minute city concept is OK, but sometimes people still have to get across town. Fortunately, for now, one doesn't have to get permission from AI to visit another part of the city. 

Thursday, June 25, 2026

Burrard Inlet dredging approved to boost Vancouver port's oil tanker capacity

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/burrard-inlet-second-narrows-dredging-vancouver-oil-tanker 

Its so difficult for Canada to even have even one proper major port city on the Pacific Rim when Australia has Brisbane, Sydney & Melbourne. 

Most of the Greater Vancouver bridges are only 2 lanes each way & single track freight train bridges, when they should have been doubletracked by now.

https://gvha.ca/deep-water-terminal/shore-power-project Small town.

https://www.rupertport.com/cargo-volumes Very small town.

Sunday, May 31, 2026

Vancouver 450 ft and Fahrenheit 451

Was a 450 foot height restriction just by chance, or was it intentionally made to be very close to 451 Fahrenheit? Despite being around the same size as Paris, Boston & SF, Vancouver remains as a very restrictive city. 

Any tall building in SL City is under 450 feet. Honolulu is still stuck around the 450 foot maximum, while San Diego is stuck at 500 feet. Even Rio DeGennaro still has shorter buildings than Vancouver, BC. Washington, DC has strict height limitations like Paris. However, W,DC could eventually set up their own equivalent of La_Defense. Its a fine example of allowing tall buildings just beyond the city limits.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit_451 (1953) By the 1950s, so many things were already banned, watered down or scaled back in provincial backwater Vancouver. Generations later, there was the No Fun City mind virus that further tried to cancel out things in such a small city with so much red tape and other ridiculous obstacles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit_451_(1966_film) By the mid and late1960s, the city made sure that its first office tower to have more than 29 floors wouldn't be until the 1970s. Its highly doubtful that Vancouver will have an office tower at, or over 40 stories by 2030. However, Burnaby and Surrey could, because they aren't under the extreme restrictions of the Vancouver Mind Virus (VMV). 

It wasn't until 1973 when Vancouver allowed its first building to be taller than the Los_Angeles_City_Hall. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_City_Hall 

The Scotia_Tower (stump) is a good reference point to visualize the small scale of backwater Vancouver, as its about the same height as the Los_Angeles_City_Hall at 453'. 

https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/scotia-tower/4396 453'

https://skyscraperpage.com/b65/vancouver/the-scotia-tower 452' 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Wall_Centre It opened in 2001 at 157.8 m (518 ft). Its 49 feet shorter than the Philadelphia_City_Hall.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_City_Hall Opened in 1901 at 548 ft (167 m).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit_451_(2018_film) By 2018 it was quite apparent that Vancouver was in the process of allowing for more buildings over 450 feet. However, nothing has been permitted to reach 700 feet, so far. A tower over 1000 feet would help to water down its provincial mindset. 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Vancouver_panorama_%2849988799796%29_%28cropped%29.jpg/3840px-Vancouver_panorama_%2849988799796%29_%28cropped%29.jpg

SF, Sydney & Auckland are just as scenic as Vancouver & warmer throughout the year. They all have taller building than what Vancouver currently permits. Seattle is just as scenic as Vancouver, but its allowed to function like a proper big city, because it doesn't have the imposed restrictions like Vancouver has. While its cold, damp & depressing like Vancouver during the fall & winter, Seattle usually gets noticeably hotter summers than Vancouver, BC. The tallest building in Seattle is the 76 story B of A office tower. 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/LA_Skyline_Mountains2.jpg/1280px-LA_Skyline_Mountains2.jpg While the L.A. City Hall looks like a stump there, in Vancouver it would still be one of the prominent buildings.

Everything is so small or scaled back in Vancouver. Even the Greater Vancouver mountains aren't allowed to be as tall as the ones in L.A. While the San_Francisco_Bay & Port_Phillip Bay by Melbourne are big next to their cities, English_Bay in_Vancouver is so much smaller. Its even smaller than Elliott_Bay by Seattle. 

Vancouver really needs to have bus and HOV bridges built next to its mostly narrow & congested bridges. Only a 5 car Skytrain is the max on the first 2 lines and ultimately, just a 2.5 car joke of a train on the YVR-Canada Line. 

Selective+Door+Operation can allow a short train to have an extra car at each end, despite a shorter platform. 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/Vancouver_sunset_%28J%29.jpg/3840px-Vancouver_sunset_%28J%29.jpg 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Los_Angeles_with_Mount_Baldy.jpg/3840px-Los_Angeles_with_Mount_Baldy.jpg

Australia like the USA, has some big & tall cities on the Pacific Rim. However, Vancouver symbolically kept watering down its size, because that's how you demonstrate a reluctance towards proper urban planning & growth. 

Oddly enough, the imposed small scale Vancouver mentality & agenda wasn't adopted by most cities around the world. Officially, there is no Vancouver Mind Virus (VMV), but somehow something like it keeps manifesting, just like the BCMV. 

Despite its size, Canada has less than 1% of the worlds population. Its been difficult enough just for Canada to even have half of 1% of the worlds population. 

One expects Melbourne and Sydney to be proper big cities. However, Australia has big stuff at both ends of the country. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Leo_Hielscher_Bridges#Design Its a 12 lane crossing in Brisbane. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrows_Bridge_(Perth) 10 lanes with 2 commuter train tracks in the middle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisbane_Skytower It has 90 floors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q1_(building) Almost has 80 floors.

Perth Central_Park_(skyscraper) at 51 floors and 108_St_Georges_Terrace at 50. Very restrictive Vancouver still won't permit any office tower to have a 40th floor. Calgary and Seattle each have a few over 50 stories.


So far, provincial Halifax hasn't been allowed to be on a similar scale as Boston and Montreal. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angus_L._Macdonald_Bridge 3 lanes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Murray_MacKay_Bridge 4 lanes. 


The scale of Vancouver is kept below that of Calgary & Seattle or even Auckland, in some ways.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions_Gate_Bridge A classic 3 lane BC bottleneck-chokepoint. No parallel bus and truck tunnels and especially, no LRT tunnel. 

Provincial backwater Victoria isn't allowed to be on a similar scale of Wellington, NZ.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_Street_Bridge Another BC 3 lane wonder.

Friday, May 29, 2026

The Houston Galleria and Galleria Dallas

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

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

Texas is a place where thinking BIG has been going strong for almost a century. 

By the year 1900, NYC had to start thinking and building on a big-city scale, simply out of necessity.

https://www.nypl.org/blog/2015/03/11/nyc-big-apple 

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

In contrast, backwater BC has a tough time keeping up with Alberta and Washington State. Especially with Ontario and Quebec. BC is 75% mountainous and has a seawater barrier on its west side. Still, its almost as if some people would like to have a wall around BC, or even a forcefield like out of Star Trek. 

Keeping things small and backwards in BC whenever possible seems to be part of a multigenerational symbolic agenda. 

Its as if there is something like a BC Mind Virus (BCMV).

Texas has more people than Australia and California has more people than Canada. Despite its overall size, Canada has less than 1% of the worlds population. 

Singapore is on an island that's smaller than all of NYC or Chicago, even. Yet, it has proper big-city trains, bridges, roads and buildings.

Saturday, May 9, 2026

Metro Vancouver’s 4-minute meeting nets members more than $500

 https://globalnews.ca/news/11841417/metro-vancouver-three-minute-meeting-members-pay-500-dollars/

Apparently, its better to waste money on overpaid managers, rather than putting it towards bus and train bridges and improved highways overall. 


10 Lane Narrows Bridge in Perth Australia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6mVXcX-4h4 

Friday, May 1, 2026

Link 2 Line Cabview POV Seattle to Redmond Eastbound

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlJHHuLdOj0 

Unlike backwards Vancouver, Seattle, WA has longer underground stations, just like Edmonton has. Longer stations make it easier to have longer trains. 

The Narrows Bridge in Perth, WA, Australia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6mVXcX-4h4 It has 5 lanes each way and 2 commuter train tracks. The Homer_M._Hadley_Memorial_Bridge is part of an 8 lane I-5 crossing with 2 LRT tracks. The Samuel-De_Champlain_Bridge has 8 lanes, plus 2 REM commuter train tracks. These 3 fantastic bridges were all possible, because they aren't in heavily restrictive Vancouver. Plus, WA and Que. never wanted to adopt the BC-B$ approach to things.

Unfortunately, in backwards BC, the 1st two Skytrain lines only have 80m stations and the YVR-Canada Line has 50m joke stations. Some of the stations on the first 2 lines might have enough level clearance to only have an extra car at either end of a lengthened platform. 

However, the shortsighted Canada Line wasn't designed to eventually accommodate 5 car trains, just a 2.5 car joke of a train, someday. It was as if someone thought that there was no need to have enough level clearance so that the very short stations could be double or tripled in length eventually.

At least by 2025, the first SkyTrain line was running some 5 car trains. Unfortunately in 2026, the 2nd Line and the 3rd Line are still only running 2 car joke trains. Every Skytrain line should have had stations designed to eventually accommodate 8-10 cars trains, but that's what a proper big city would do. Backwards Vancouver wants to hold out for as long as possible, by symbolically building small.

Monday, April 20, 2026

A record number of British Columbians are leaving Canada

 https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/economy-law-politics/rising-costs-limited-job-prospects-push-bc-immigrants-to-seek-new-homes-abroad-12157664 

Despite its overall land area, Canada has less than 1% of the worlds population. A crappy economy in recent years and cold weather for half of the year helps to keep Canada from ever having 1% of the worlds population. 

Texas has more people than Australia and California has more people than Canada.