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

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 Wellingtonhttps://www.centreport.co.nz/ 

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


Port of Vancouver, BC.

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_Hallhttps://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.

Thursday, March 12, 2026

The 50 best cities in the world?

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-best-city-world-timeout 

Fortunately, Australia doesn't have half a year of cold, crappy weather. Even the North Island of NZ can avoid the crappy Canadian weather. Unfortunately, if one wants to avoid the harsh Canadian winter, the best locations are in Greater Vancouver and Greater Victoria, or SW BC in general.

Wednesday, March 11, 2026

Vancouver City Council green lights funding to keep Car Free Days afloat

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-car-free-days-funding-city-council 

The no+fun+city aspect of the Vancouver Mind Virus (VMV) isn't suppose to be real, but it occasionally keeps manifesting. Fortunately, these street festivals still have a chance in Vancouver. Just like some truncated summer fireworks still might be possible. 

What's really fortunate is that the VMV hasn't spread to Montreal & Toronto, Calgary & Edmonton, or Winnipeg, QC & Halifax. Especially to any of the major cities in Australia & NZ.  


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

Thursday, January 15, 2026

Some Ontario civil servants told to get to office in snowstorm or take vacation day

 https://globalnews.ca/news/11615259/ontario-office-mandate-snow-day 

As Australia & NZ get some intense summer weather, Canada is constantly reminded that winter isn't always a fun time. While its sunny and well above freezing in Vancouver & Victoria, Toronto & Montreal are stuck right in the middle of total winter conditions. 


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Toronto+snowstorm

Sunday, August 24, 2025

Second Harbour Crossing, Auckland

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Harbour_Crossing,_Auckland   

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Harbour_Crossing,_Auckland#2023_Waitemat%C4%81_Harbour_Connections_proposals  

https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/5312416/Debate-continues-over-second-harbour-crossing

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/majority-of-auckland-wants-additional-harbour-crossing/6IV4J64EVYPT7D46F6PE3E2L54 

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/second-auckland-harbour-crossing-next-steps-revealed-technical-work-to-begin-soon/4VSLTUM7XVGPTFNESXOAHBEQIM/

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/aucklands-second-harbour-crossing-could-be-practical-and-a-thing-of-beauty-garth-falconer/WALMPRJ3NZHT3MOQRGUMBSX2HE   

"With the second bridge in place, traffic lanes would be split and shared, with northbound lanes on the new six-lane bridge and south bound traffic on the eight-lane Auckland Harbour Bridge. 

There could be dedicated public transport lanes in both directions, and on the eastern side of the Auckland Harbour Bridge, two of the outside lanes can be freed exclusively for walking and cycling.

This plan would reduce the loading on the existing bridge."  https://reseturban.co.nz/news/fresh-thinking-needed-on-second-auckland-harbour-crossing 

Wow, this would be a duplication on the scale of what Brisbane did. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Leo_Hielscher_Bridges#Duplication 

https://briscycle.com/moreton-bay/gateway-bridge-cycleway/ 

https://www.brisbane-australia.com/sir-leo-hielscher-bridges.html

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/queensland/queensland-mourns-sir-leo-hielscher-who-brought-gateway-bridge-expo-88-20250805-p5mkg2.html



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

Auckland Region, NZ

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

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

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

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

3 Vancouver Island beaches declared unfit for swimming

 https://victoriabuzz.com/2025/06/3-vancouver-island-beaches-declared-unfit-for-swimming-this-month

This crappy situation has been going on for several years in BC. Why would backwards BC let some beaches go to shit? 

https://www.vicnews.com/community/swimmers-limited-by-swath-of-greater-victoria-water-warnings-8090552

Hopefully, BC will never send a delegation to Australia, NZ, Hawaii, California, Texas & Florida to show them how its done. Fortunately, all those places understand how important it is for the tourism industry to not lower their standards.

Even the beach resorts in Mexico understand that it's not a good idea to let it go to shit. Perhaps there is just a growing give up mentality in backwater BC.

https://cityhallwatch.wordpress.com/2020/08/09/no-swimming-at-sunset-beach/

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/water-at-metro-beaches-unfit-for-swimming-for-50-days-last-year

https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/swimming-advisories-issued-for-three-vancouver-beaches/

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/courier-archive/news/west-end-beaches-unfit-for-swimming-2958828


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

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

Friday, March 7, 2025

Brisbane-Sydney-Melbourne-SF-Boston-Toronto (B-S-M-SF-B-T)

 Auckland, NZ, along with Perth, WA and Seattle, WA have no problems with taller buildings and wider bridges than what Vancouver allows. Established cities like London & Paris, NYC & Chicago, big L.A. and even smaller Singapore, all seem to plan, spend & build more infrastructure than backwards Vancouver does. 

Cities like Brisbane-Sydney-Melbourne-SF-Boston-and-Toronto are all on a much larger scale, simply because they don't have anything like the overlapping restrictions that backwards Vancouver & BC has imposed for itself.

https://x.com/CityHallWchVAN/status/1517347123225718785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Eembeddedtimeline%7Ctwterm%5Escreen-name%3Acityhallwchvan%7Ctwcon%5Es1 What seems big in little Vancouver is small or just average in many other cities.


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Brisbane-Sydney-Melbourne-Toronto 

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Brisbane+Airport+Railway+Line

Thursday, February 6, 2025

Canada Must Offer Alberta More Than Trump Could

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ef8p-kQDRs

It would be quite an irony if Canada went from being a colony of the UK to becoming a US state. It would be much better if Canada could officially become its own republic. 

NZ would rather remain independent of Australia and not have to become an Australia state. Australia might eventually want to become its own republic, thus becoming fully independent of the UK. The same could eventually happen for NZ. Canada should never be too quick to give up and merely transfer from being under the authority of the UK to becoming absorbed by the US. 

Canada, Australia & NZ should each all consider becoming their own republics. Alliances with the UK and the US can easily remain intact.

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Queensland vs. BC

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensland#Transport

Though it might be hard to believe, World_Expo_88 in Brisbane was much more of a catalyst than Expo_86 was for Vancouver. That's because unlike Brisbane, Vancouver imposed & doubled down on various infrastructure restrictions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Expo_88#History

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expo_86#Legacy

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensland#Cities

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Columbia#Cities

After the Expo 88, Brisbane would go onto allowing significantly taller buildings, wider roads and especially longer trains than what backwards Vancouver is still stuck with. Of course Queensland would have larger port infrastructure than backwater BC as well.

Perhaps Australia is able to get things done on a bigger & better scale than Canada, because of the warmer year-round weather. Unfortunately, backwards Vancouver & backwater BC seem to be hindered by something like a Mind Virus.

https://countryeconomy.com/countries/compare/australia/canada

https://www.fraserinstitute.org/commentary/heres-why-australians-make-more-money-canadians Fortunatly, Canada hasn't been able to convince Australia, NZ, UK, USA & France to remove blue from their national flag. Japan is surrounded by water & Switzerland has lakes & rivers, but even a speck of blue isn't allowed on the national flag.

https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2009/jun/pdf/bu-0609-4.pdf

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11f0027m/11f0027m2003018-eng.pdf


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

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

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Brisbane+Airport+Railway+Line

Friday, October 25, 2024

320 Granville Street, Vancouver

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/320-granville-bosa-faria-flooding-dispute

It's a nice looking building, but once again, it's only a half-size figurine, or a stump. 

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bosa-waterfront-centre-320-granville-street-vancouver-office-tower

Unlike scenic Auckland, NZ & especially Sydney, Australia or SF, California, Vancouver continues to cut off the top 15-30 floors of any office tower development. 

https://bosadevelopment.com/project/320-granville , https://320granville.com/

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/320-Granville-St-Vancouver-BC/27653032/

https://storeys.com/vancouver-bosa-waterfront-office-complete/

Even no residential tower within little Vancouver has been allowed to be as high as the tallest condo tower in Seattle, Calgary, Edmonton & Toronto. Especially, Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane.


https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Brisbane-Sydney-Melbourne-Toronto-SF