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

Friday, September 11, 2026

How the City Rail Link Transforms Auckland's Train Network while Vancouver is trapped by the BCMV

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmtSI3N57kM Auckland, like Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Seattle, Edmonton, Toronto & Montreal... are just some of the cities that get to have longer train than provincial Vancouver.

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

"Although the trains are capable of having extra cars added in groups of three, the CRL station platforms, as originally specified, would not be long enough to accommodate nine-car trains. The proposed new capacity is 54,000 passengers per hour with the station platforms to be made longer so they can take the longer trains..." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Rail_Link#Capacity_forecast_forces_platform_enlargements 

9 car trains are possible for Auckland, because there isn't anything like a Vancouver Mind Virus (VMV) to thwart it. 

https://www.cityraillink.co.nz/meet-your-stations 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitemat%C4%81_railway_station#Capacity Proper big city infrastructure planning and development, unlike backwards Vancouver.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitemat%C4%81_railway_station#Electrification 


In contrast is the joke that is the two car Canada_Line. There was a deliberate decision, (apparently to save money) to not have a future station level clearance of at lest 100 m, if not even 160 m. So instead of planning for at least 5 car trains, there is only enough space for a 2.5 car joke of a train, some day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Line#Stations "The five busiest stations have platforms 50 metres (160 ft) long, while the rest of the stations have 40-metre (130 ft) platforms that can be easily extended to 50 metres." 

Being that this is a line which could eventually link YVR to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal & eventually Waterfront station with Park Royal and even the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal, the BC Mind Virus (BCMV) got in the way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Line#Technology "The capacity of the trains is estimated at 334 people per pair of cars (comfortably) or 400 people at crush load." 

Since each car is 20 m and the stations are designed to a maximum of 50 m, every effort should be made to try to eventually have 60 m platforms. Unfortunately, it might be difficult enough just to try to gradually have 55 m stations. Still, the initial goal should be to try to have a 3 car train of 60 m. 

Then with Selective+Door+Operation, a 3 car train could become a 5 car train. Its unfortunate that there is such bad transportation planning in Greater Vancouver. Compared to backwards Vancouver, its great that nothing like a VMV has prevented Auckland from eventually having 9 car trains. The Montreal Metro and the Stockholm Subway can also have 9 car trains. Unlike Vancouver, several cities have no problem thinking big.

Auckland is so far away from the backwards mentality of Vancouver. Thus, Auckland is allowed to have longer trains than provincial Vancouver and taller buildings and even a wider harbor bridge. Of course the same can be said about Sydney and several other cities. 

Monday, August 31, 2026

System from Alaska to bring 'fall-type pattern' to Metro Vancouver

 https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/local-news/metro-vancouver-weather-fall-type-pattern-sept-2026-12725632 

Another summer with only a few hot days and some occasional crappy cold fall like weather. Perhaps every year Vancouver will get a slightly shorter summer. 

Some people still build swimming pools in Greater Vancouver, but they are lucky if they could ever use it for half of the year. However, if a greenhouse were to be built over their pool, then they certainly could use it for half of the year. 

Then again, if they actually built a pool in a fully enclosed heated building, then its an all year round amenity. 

In Vancouver, August is always the last full month of summer. Then, most of September becomes more like spring during the day with autumn nights.

https://www.accuweather.com/en/au/melbourne/26216/august-weather/26216?year=2026 

Of course in big city Melbourne, August and September aren't pool and beach months.

https://www.accuweather.com/en/au/melbourne/26216/september-weather/26216?year=2026

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. 

Monday, July 27, 2026

Western Canada's tallest tower, gets green light from Vancouver City Council

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/holborn-vancouver-western-canada-tallest-tower-bay-parkade-redevelopment-approved 

There was a time when Vancouver wasn't allowed to have any building taller than the Great_Pyramid_of_Giza, then Ulm_Minster and then the Philadelphia_City_Hall. 

The Harbour_Centre had to be less than a 3rd of the CN_Tower. 

The stations on the first 2 SkyTrain lines are barely 2 thirds of the length of a Montreal_Metro station.

The Canada_Line only has 50 m stations compared to the 152.5 m Montreal_Metro stations. 

For too long, anything that is symbolic of a proper big city was watered down or scaled back in provincial Vancouver. Indeed, Vancouver was supposed to perpetually be a half-sized city, or even a third of what a proper size city should be. The mostly narrow bridges still have no parallel express bus bridge, or BRT bridge built next to them. 

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/holborn-bay-parkade-vancouver-supertall-tower-nav-canada-federal-aviation

If the project actually gets built as envisioned it will be taller than First_Canadian_Place in Toronto, Columbia_Center in Seattle, and a little taller than the Sydney_Tower and the U.S._Bank_Tower_(Los_Angeles). It still won't quite be as tall as Australia_108 in Melbourne or especially the Salesforce_Tower in SF.

Saturday, June 27, 2026

How much will Vancouver change by 2036?

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJtotvMq2ls 

The Lion+Bridge will likely still not have an express bus and LRT tunnel near it. The+Iron+Bridge still might not have a proper BRT and LRT bridge next to it. The OSB and the KSB will likely not have a bus and bike bridge built beside them. There will still likely be no new Fraser Street Bridge for bikes and buses. No Boundary Road bridges to provide a direct link between the North Shore and Richmond for buses, trucks and bikes.

While the first 2 Skytrain lines will have 5 car trains, the stunted YVR-Canada Line will only have 2.5 car trains. Vancouver still might not permit any office tower to have a 40th floor, but might allow some residential towers to be on a Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane & Toronto scale. 

However, BIG city thinking and planning in Vancouver has always been so difficult. Boston, SF and the City of Paris are ridiculously small cities like Vancouver with all 3 having a land area of less than 50 sq. mi. or 129.5 sq. km. Yet, Boston, SF and especially the City of Paris, have all been able to fit so much more into the same general space. That's because they aren't bound by anything like the inept and extreme Vancouver type restrictions. 


Friday, June 26, 2026

CN Tower celebrates 50 years of being a skyline icon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujWLEBhbdt8 

If it were possible today, the KEEP VANCOUVER SMALL AND BACKWARDS people would still not permit any building to be a 3rd of the height of the CN_Tower. (CNT) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CN_Tower#Height_comparisons

The Harbour_Centre opened just over a year after the CNT, and is just under a 3rd of its height. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harbour_Centre#Height

https://www.cntower.ca/

Unfortunately, The Vancouver Mind Virus (VMV) was able to ensure that the Canada_Line Stations aren't even quite a 3rd of the length of the 152.5 m Montreal Metro stations. 


Even the North-Shore mountains aren't allowed to be as tall as the mountains north of L.A. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Shore_(Greater_Vancouver) 


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/LA_San_Gabriel_Mountains.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Gabriel_Mountains#Gallery 


Whether you are from Toronto or Chicago, LA or SF, Melbourne or Sydney, you might be shocked as to seeing how scaled down or watered down Vancouver is. Yet, the City of Paris, despite having a slightly smaller land area than Vancouver, can fit so much more inside. Boston and SF are only slightly larger in area than the City of Vancouver, yet they can also fit in so much more. 

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.

Monday, June 8, 2026

The Unusual transportation approaches used in Vancouver

 https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/history/5-of-a-kind-unusual-modes-of-transportation-used-or-nearly-used-in-vancouver-12388220 

Vancouver is such an unusual and backwards city with its inefficient and congestive approach towards transportation infrastructure.

Getting rid of the streetcars and interurban trams was utterly foolish! Fortunately, such MADNE$$ wasn't adopted in Melbourne, SF, Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia and New Orleans. 

Just because a no freeways mandate was chosen for Vancouver, the streets should have been kept wide enough for busses as well as other vehicles. 

https://movementyvr.ca/the-case-of-vancouvers-nine-missing-bus-lanes

Despite most of the Vancouver bridges being too narrow, some bridge lanes were removed, because the city wasn't interested in building parallel bike bridges. 

Since most of the bridges are so narrow, there isn't enough room for proper express bus lanes. Of course the city isn't interested in building parallel bus bridges next to the narrow bridges. 

Since Vancouver is supposed to be a major, properly functioning city in Western Canada, the city should have pressed the designers of the first 2 Skytrain lines to make sure that all of the 80 m stations could gradually be extended to 152.5 m, the same as the 500 foot long Montreal Metro stations and trains.

Unlike the first 2 Skytrain lines, the Canada Line was only designed to ultimately have 50 m stations and trains. A 2 billion dollar line to YVR could have been designed in such a way that would have allowed it to look and function like a proper big-city passenger train. 

A commuter train to the North Shore keeps taking a long time to be finalized.

https://northshoreconnects.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/BIRT-Benefits-Assessment_Final.pdf

Think small and build backwards, or not at all. 

Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Racism is a risk when Vancouver and Toronto hosts the World Cup

https://www.humanrightsresearch.org/post/world-cup-2026-raises-human-rights-concerns-in-canadian-host-cities 

https://football.dhgate.com/lifestyle/world-cup-guide-reporting-racism-at-games-what-you-need-to-know-and-do/

 https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/national-sports/racism-is-a-risk-when-vancouver-hosts-world-cup-but-measures-exist-bc-ag-sharma-12361474 So, this is basically the same article repeated. 

https://www.britannica.com/place/British-Empire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire#Rivalry_with_other_European_empires

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2026/06/01/racism-risk-vancouver-hosts-world-cup-measures-exist-ag-sharma/ 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire#Expansion_and_colonial_conflict_(1707%E2%80%931783)

Despite its overall area, Canada has less than 1% of the worlds population. A global population that is mostly nonwhite. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire#Consolidation_and_global_dominance_(1783%E2%80%931815)

https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/world-cup/article/racism-is-a-risk-when-vancouver-hosts-world-cup-but-measures-exist-bc-ag-sharma/ 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire#Britain's_imperial_century_(1815%E2%80%931914)

For its first century, Canada was supposed to be primarily for people from Europe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire#Changing_status_of_the_white_colonies 

That was the British Colonial Agenda, but eventually the British_Empire had to acknowledge that most of the worlds population is nonwhite. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire#Decolonisation_and_decline_(1945%E2%80%931997)

There are strong arguments that Canada should be able to gradually contain a little more of the worlds population. Since a lot of the worlds population is from warmer areas, a lot of people might not like the Canadian Winter season. SW BC just happens to be the most mild part of Canada during the winter. The Lower_Mainland of BC and SE Vancouver_Island have been very reluctant to think big and build on a grand scale. 

The Lions+Gate+Bridge and the Johnson+Street+Bridge are both classic 3 lane BC bottleneck-chokepoints. They are both fine examples of not wanting to build for a growing population on a world that is composed mostly of nonwhite people.

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/06/02/news/racism-risk-when-vancouver-hosts-world-cup-measures-exist-says-bc-ag-sharma 

Toronto and Southern Ontario just never had the same level of small scale thinking as in SW BC. In fact, it the backwards BC approach to things just never caught on in Toronto, Melbourne and SF. They never got rid of their streetcars and trams like Vancouver and Victoria did.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/lzvgg7/the_british_empire_at_its_territorial_peak_oc/ 

As Canada started to become more multicultural in the 1960s and 70s, predominantly White city councils in BC kept imposing a small-scale approach to things. 

Will some people start to say that by keeping most of the world out of Canada is good for the environment? There are already some people that would like to use nonwhites as being too much of a carbon footprint and that Canada should never have 1% of the worlds population. This would be a very clever and sinister way to perpetuate the KEEP THEM OUT agenda. 

The days of Canada being officially under a British Colonial, White authority management power structure are long gone. As of 2026, Canada has yet to have half of 1% of the worlds population. 

Seoul's Subway System Is Decades Ahead of many others

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPlGQDpx4xg 

While there could be a reasonable argument that if a subway or elevated line isn't expected to be that busy in its first few years, then just build half-size stations and run half-length trains. However, in the case of backwards Vancouver, what should have been stations that were designed to accommodate at least 5 car trains, were only designed for an eventual 2.5 car train. Thus, it will be challenging enough just to modify the incredibly short Canada Line stations to gradually accommodate 3 full-size 20 m cars, not just some 2.5 car joke of a train for a 50 m station. 

Fortunately the Skyline_(Honolulu) stations can accommodate a 4 car train right from the start. Someday, with SDO a 4 car train could become a 6 car train.

If Selective+Door+Operation (SDO) can ever be implemented on the YVR-Canada Line then it can go from being a 2 car joke of a train to a 3 car attempt of a train. Then, once people got used to 3 car trains, an extra car could be added at both ends, thus allowing for a 5 car train. 

Ultimately, the YVR-Canada+Line should have been designed as a proper big-city size train with 8-10 cars. There seems to be such a lack of proper long-term transportation infrastructure planning in BC. To just build a small-scale line as a symbolic demonstration of reluctance towards the Pacific Rim is so absurd. 

Fortunately, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane never opted for such a short train.  


There Is a Hidden City Under Seoul Nobody Talks About. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIewf8sOZ0I

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.

Monday, May 25, 2026

TransLink to run temporary Downtown Vancouver circular bus route during FIFA World Cup

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/translink-no-1-downtown-vancouver-south-circulator-bus-route-fifa-world-cup 

Makes sense since the city never planned for a downtown train loop like Chicago, Toronto and other proper cities did generations ago. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Circle Stdney

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Loop#Metro_Tunnel Melbourne  

There should be a permanent downtown bus loop or circle. It could run along Robson to Burrard, then along Davie to Denman and then back to Robson. Every 3-5 minutes during the day and every 5-10 minutes at night. Unfortunately, that would go against the backwards planning mentality of provincial Vancouver.

Friday, May 15, 2026

North Shore CN Rail bridge

https://www.nsnews.com/local-news/agriculture-shippers-call-for-replacement-of-north-shore-cn-rail-bridge-12291086 This BC bottleneck-chokepoint mentality is ridiculous! 

Unfortunately, due to a lack of properly planning for future infrastructure needs, the Thornton_Tunnel and the Second_Narrows_Rail_Bridge weren't designed to be double tracked. 

The New_Westminster_Bridge is also another single track, bottleneck-chokepoint.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Westminster_Bridge#Proposed_changes

https://www.nsnews.com/economy-law-politics/vancouver-council-calls-for-reopening-of-container-truck-entrance-to-port-clark-drive-11231559 More trouble and in efficient B$.


https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/1t9pgs8/lions_gate_bridge_at_night_oc The classic 3 lane BC bottleneck-chokepoint. No need for a bus and commuter train tunnel around there, because that's what a proper city would do. 

 https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/1teae3s/another_beautiful_post  


The Race To Fix The World's Most Isolated Mega-Port https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81CLKTJnw7I 

In Melbourne, its just a matter of finally getting around to getting a huge port upgrade accomplished.

Unfortunately, in Vancouver things are more difficult to do. Key freight rail bridges are still only single tracked.

Saturday, May 9, 2026

Sydney's SEVERED Skyline vs. the stumps of Vancouver

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpEoJia-4ns  Fortunately, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth don't have similar restrictions as Sydney. However, NSW still has less imposed restrictions and impediments as backwater BC.

Backwards+Vancouver B$ logic should never make it to Sydney, or any other properly functioning city. Fortunately overall, NSW never was overtaken by anything like the BC Mind Virus (BCMV). Otherwise, Sydney would also have narrow bridges, short trains and mostly short buildings. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/25_Martin_Place Over 60 levels.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotia_Tower Not even 40 levels.

Vancouver still won't allow any office tower to have 40 floors, let alone 50 or 60.