How Portland’s New Streetcar Is Creating an Entire Neighborhood

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk6-pNIUBb4

Burrard Street Bridge closes for Sen̓áḵw crane removal

 https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/burrard-street-bridge-closes-for-senakw-crane-removal 

Several cities have parallel bike bridges, then the city planners don't have to remove traffic lanes. 

https://vancouversun.com/news/vancouver-burrard-street-bridge-temporarily-closure 

Unfortunatly, the Burrard_Bridge (BB) was hit hard by the multigenerational Vancouver Mind Virus (VMV). The Burrard_Bridge was designed to have a lower level for streetcars or tram-trains, but the city never followed through. Fortunately, the VMV was unable to stop Portland and Seattle from reviving some of their streetcar lines.  

The Burrard_Street_Bridge used to have 6 lanes and 2 wide sidewalks. However, since the city has a problem of not building separate bike bridges, 2 potential bus lanes were removed from the Burrard_Bridge. Now, if the city ever wants to have 2 dedicated bus lanes, the BB will only have 1 general lane each way. That's the VMV at work.

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

The 5 Projects That Will Shape Portland's Future

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o81t9wpYkl0 

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

https://www.oregon.gov/odot/projects/pages/project-details.aspx?project=21570

https://www.opb.org/article/2025/09/22/interstate-five-i-5-bridge-replacement-costs-rise/

https://www.interstatebridge.org/about-folder/understanding-the-interstate-bridge-replacement-program 

https://www.opb.org/article/2026/01/16/i-5-interstate-bridge-washington-oregon/ 

https://bikeportland.org/2025/10/30/no-vote-an-ominous-first-for-interstate-bridge-project-397823

Portland’s Problem Isn’t One Thing — It’s a Chain Reaction

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tPtuHDlO9g

Phoenix, AZ

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

Phoenix might eventually get to have a building that's similar in height to the tallest in Portland, OR.

The Tacoma, Washington streetcar

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

Of course Tacoma, Seattle and Portland would all get some of their streetcar routes back long before slow moving Vancouver, BC ever will.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Translink/comments/1pu7jix/i_so_desperately_wish_theyd_just_build_this/

SkyTrain's Canada Line service disruption

(service disruption ends after 14 hours) https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/skytrain-canada-line-service-disruptions-january-14-2026 

For a rapid transit line that opened in 2009, on the surface, it sure wasn't designed to be an efficient high capacity line for the future. It's still just a 2 car joke of a train. Fortunately, most real cities around the world planned for not only 6 car trains, but even 8-10 car trains. 

Unfortunatly, Vancouver has been hit very hard with a multigenerational agenda of continually imposed small scale infrastructure. Vancouver has water on 3 sides, as its on a peninsula. Since the powers that be couldn't build a Boundary+Road moat or trench, the next best thing was to symbolically show the reluctance to build proper big city size infrastructure. This stunted approach to things is about symbolically holding the scale of the city back for as long as possible. 

Despite backwards Vancouver not being able to apply a castle-moat-and-drawbridge control system, the next best thing was to symbolically keep things smaller than what normal or proper big cities allow. 

Here are some of the best examples of holding the size of things back. The 3 lane joke that is the Lions+Gate+Bridge has never had a rapid transit rail tunnel and no express bus tunnel next to it. Especially, no 6 lane highway tunnel. It's a classic BC bottleneck-chokepoint, by design.

From a 3 lane joke of a bridge to a two car Canada+Line joke of a train. It met the symbolic requirement to be shorter than the LRT in Edmonton, the C Train in Calgary and the trains in Seattle and Portland. 

The+Post+building+complex could have been Vancouver's first 50 story office tower, it's not even 25 floors. It would be impressive if it were in Victoria, Kelowna, Kamloops or Prince George. That's the unfortunate thing about Vancouver, so much is done to only be impressive to small cities or towns.  

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=The+small+Westin+Bayshore+Hotel+in+Vancouver

Things have been kept so small in Vancouver throughout its history, that any big city stuff might seem overwhelming. There has been an unofficial KEEP THEM OUT mentality, but since the city cant have checkpoints, building things small symbolically demonstrates the perpetual reluctance to not allow a big city in backwater BC. 

Since Vancouver can't control Burnaby and can't stop Surrey from eventually becoming the biggest city in BC, they are able to build things on a larger scale than Vancouver.

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

Ritz Carlton Million-Dollar Condos at 50% Off: Progressive Portland’s Freefall Continues

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4zn4qpo-Ww 

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2025/07/portlands-newest-skyscraper-home-to-ritz-carlton-turned-over-to-lender.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritz-Carlton,_Portland 

https://oregonbusiness.com/ritz-on-the-fritz-downtown-high-rise-appears-headed-for-sale/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_216 , https://www.block216.com/ 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/comments/1m7gtqc/portlands_newest_skyscraper_home_to_ritzcarlton/

From 6 to 4 lanes

 https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10163196613962377&set=a.10152101514842377 

Several cities are able to build bike and foot bridges in their downtowns. Unfortunately, backwards Vancouver has taken a congestion approach to transportation planning for several decades. The Burrard-Bridge could have remained 6 lanes wide if a proper bike+bridge had been built next to it. 

https://www.cyclingthread.com/bicycle-bridges-18-stunning-routes-18-unique-crossings-2025 

https://momentummag.com/here-are-10-incredible-bicycle-bridges-around-the-world/

https://www.arch2o.com/10-amazing-bridges-passageways-bikes  

https://medium.com/@raydelahanty/what-is-north-americas-busiest-bike-bridge-3ac84cf8b8c3

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Burrard+Street+Bridge 

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Tilikum+Crossing+in+Portland Unfortunately, it looks like the biggest city in BC won't be getting anything like the Tilikum Bridge in the foreseeable future. 

Portland’s Biggest Megaprojects

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ-0TrIau0o

City of Vancouver exploring Olympic Line streetcar test revival after the 2026 FIFA World Cup

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-olympic-line-streetcar-demonstration-revival-proposal 

The city and greater urban region should have never gotten rid of the streetcars and interurban tram-trains. Now, its extremely difficult to bring them back. Fortunately, backwards Vancouver was unable to get Toronto, Melbourne and SF to get rid of their street railways. Those cities and many others just never had anything like a Vancouver Mind Virus or BCMV to thwart them. 

Of course Seattle & Portland would bring back some of their streetcar lines long before slow-moving Vancouver can.

Bus, Bike and Footbridges

 https://www.tbtechno.com/en/portfolios/pergola-viaduct-of1-4b-bus-hov-lanes/ 

https://stvinc.com/project/verrazzano-narrows-bridge-bushov-lane-implementation-design/ 

https://seattletransitblog.com/2025/01/29/wsdot-hov-overview/ 

https://bikeportland.org/2017/05/11/is-it-time-for-more-bus-only-lanes-in-portland-228020

https://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/bus-network-improvements.aspx

https://ipvdelft.com/bicycle-bridges/

https://www.arch2o.com/10-amazing-bridges-passageways-bikes/

https://hansonthebike.com/2017/07/11/dutch-bike-bridges/ 

https://mtc.ca.gov/operations/regional-trails-parks/san-francisco-bay-trail/explore-trail/bridges-bay-trail 

https://mtc.ca.gov/operations/programs-projects/bridges/san-francisco-oakland-bay-bridge/bay-bridge-east-span-path

https://www.curbed.com/2021/04/brooklyn-bridge-bike-lane-narrow.html 

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/the-brooklyn-bridge-is-finally-getting-a-bike-lane-before-the-end-of-the-year-040921

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/tri-city-news-archive/news/new-bridge-bike-path-needs-better-access-hub-3014166

https://www.asiarealestatesummit.com/pedestrian-bridges-and-infrastructures-that-connect-public-spaces-and-other-stories/ 

https://www.benesch.com/project/43rd-street-pedestrian-bridge/

https://surfarchitecture.com/a-new-suspended-pedestrian-bridge-over-the-water-in-toronto

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/581364-longest-enclosed-pedestrian-bridge 

https://www.mediaoffice.ae/en/news/2025/september/14-09/rta-builds-six-new-pedestrian-and-cyclist-bridges-across-major-dubai-roads

https://www.conteches.com/bridges-structures/truss-and-girders/continental-pedestrian-bridge/

Why Portland Traffic is a DISASTER and What Oregon is Planning to Do About It

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

All cables and final steel girders now installed for new Pattullo Bridge

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/pattullo-bridge-construction-milestone-cables-deck Unlike the old, inadequate bridge, which only has 4 narrow lanes and just 1 sidewalk, this will have 2 sidewalks and 2 bike lanes. Unfortunatly, there won't be any bus or HOV lanes. Thus, all the traffic will be funneled into just 2 lanes each way. Of course there won't be any emergency lanes or breakdown lanes, so this is another quintessential BC bottleneck by design. At least a provision for a lower deck would have provided some hope. While this bridge can eventually be widened to 6 lanes, there seems to be no serious consideration for there to be bus and HOV lanes. So it will end up like the overloaded 6 lane Iron Bridge.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyBridge_(TransLink) No bike lanes and sidewalks and it wasn't built wide enough to eventually accomodate 3-4 tracks and 2 bus lanes. There is just something about backwards BC that makes it so obtuse and inept. 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/SkyBridge_from_SkyTrain_%285770458210%29.jpg/500px-SkyBridge_from_SkyTrain_%285770458210%29.jpg At the very least, this bridge should have had 3 tracks and 2 bus lanes, a bike lane and a sidewalk on a lower deck. There is only a middle service track and apparently, no provision for a bike lane and a sidewalk.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Westminster_Bridge Still, only a single track bridge for freight and passenger trains. 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/New_Westminster_Swing_Bridge.jpg/960px-New_Westminster_Swing_Bridge.jpg This old single track bridge should have been double tracked on a lower deck and have at least 4 lanes on an upper deck. Then when the first 4 lane Pattullo Bridge opened, it might not have been quite as overloaded in its later decades. 

In order for this joke of a river railway crossing to be properly upgraded and efficient is for there to be at least a new double track bridge.  

NW should have really had something like its own version of the Steel_Bridge in Portland. 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Amtrak_talgo_train_crossing_steel_bridge.jpg/960px-Amtrak_talgo_train_crossing_steel_bridge.jpg Fortunatly, Portland didn't have a provincial backwater mentality like NW. Thus, they could build a lot more bridges. 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/SteelBridgePano1.jpg/960px-SteelBridgePano1.jpg MAX light rail on the upper deck and Amtrack and freight trains on the lower deck. Fortunately, Oregon is far enough away from ever catching the BC Mind Virus. 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Aerial_view_of_Willamette_River_crossings_in_Portland%2C_February_2018.JPG So many nice bridges in Portland. 

 

There is such a the lack of bridges between NW and Surrey.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3d/Portland_OR_aerial.jpg/960px-Portland_OR_aerial.jpg Portland is a city that really exists on both sides of the river.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/New_Westminster_Aerial_view_2015.jpg/960px-New_Westminster_Aerial_view_2015.jpg For most of the history of NW, Surrey was just some farmland south of the river with not much going on, but its many times larger than little NW. 

There just didn't seem to be that much a big city vision for little provincial backwater NW. Back in the day, NW could have acquired what would become the Tri-Cities and perhaps, even Surrey. There just wasn't any desire to have a big river city in BC on the scale of Portland,_Oregon. So while NW is stuck as a tiny city, Surrey is on its way to becoming the biggest city in BC.

Unfortunately, the Iron Bridge and Granville Bridge were never designed to have a lower deck for trains and buses either. That's just how it is in backwards BC.  

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Pattullo+Bridge

Portland MAX Light Rail

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TriMet#Light_rail_(MAX)

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

Tron: Ares in little backwards Vancouver

 https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/tron-ares-review-9.6933888 

Unfortunatly, using special effects is the only way to make Vancouver, BC look like its a proper big city. 

No bridge within the small city limits of Vancouver has been allowed to be as big or wide as the biggest in Perth, Seattle, Portland, Edmonton & Glasgow...

The Skytrain stations are shorter than train stations in Perth, Seattle, Calgary and Edmonton...

No office tower in Vancouver has been permitted to have a 40th floor. Of course, Perth, Seattle, Portland and Calgary have office towers over 40 stories.  

https://hollywoodnorthbuzz.com/2025/10/tron-ares-vancouver-as-real-life-grid.html 

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-landmarks-tron-ares-trailer

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/events-and-entertainment/new-tron-ares-movie-trailer-features-vancouver-sci-fi-setting-10488343 Vancouver is so smallscale, but awesome? Perhaps when compared to Victoria, Kelowna, Prince George, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, it is.

Multnomah County, Oregon and Clark County, Washington

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multnomah_County,_Oregon While Portland is so tiny when compared to NYC, it still has the potential to become a big city like Seattle, someday.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_County,_Washington Vancouver, WA is basically a suburb of Portland. However, V-WA could eventually become like a smaller version of Jersey_City,_New_Jersey. 

Its a case of a smaller river city next to a larger river city, that is part of a metropolitan area. 

The New_York_metropolitan_area is the most densely populated and the biggest in the US. 

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

The Portland_metropolitan_area could potentially become as big as the Seattle_metropolitan_area, some day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_metropolitan_area#Metropolitan_statistical_area  

Seattle is already a larger city than Boston. However, the Seattle_metropolitan_area still isn't quite as big as the Greater_Boston Area.

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Boston#Metropolitan_Area  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England Boston

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest Seattle 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest#Population

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_City-Windsor_Corridor Montreal and Toronto

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgary-Edmonton_Corridor No hindrence from backwards BC.

Then there is backwards Vancouver and the Lower_Mainland part of BC. Short trains and mostly narrow bridges are hindering the region, by design. The regional passenger rail and the freight rail lines all need to be properly upgraded.

Don't forget the provincial backwater that is Victoria,_British_Columbia. At least Greater_Victoria has the potential to become a major island metropolitan area, someday. There should be a 4 track passenger and freight line between Victoria and Nanaimo and even up to Comox.

Vancouver, WA and Vancouver, BC

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver,_Washington "Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, the city was originally established around Fort Vancouver, a fur trading outpost, and is situated directly north of Portland, Oregon..."  It is part of the Portland_metropolitan_area.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver, BC 

Gastown	(1867–1886)
Granville	(1870–1886)
City of Vancouver	(1886–present)

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

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

C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C40_Cities_Climate_Leadership_Group 

https://www.c40reinventingcities.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C40_Cities_Climate_Leadership_Group#History 

https://www.c40.org/cities/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C40_Cities_Climate_Leadership_Group#Membership 

https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/topic/0TO1Q0000001ldhWAA/mass-public-transit?language=en_US 

https://www.c40.org/cities/vancouver/

https://www.c40.org/cities/seattle/

https://www.c40.org/cities/portland/

Vancouver buildings over 152.4 meters or 500 feet

It took a very long time for Vancouver to have its first building permitted to rise over 500 feet in height. 

152.4 meters = 500 feet and 150 meters = 492.12 feet 

https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=1

 https://www.straight.com/article-371138/vancouver/city-approves-new-policy-taller-buildings-downtown-vancouver While there are some taller resedential towers, Vancouver still has no office tower with at least a 40th floor. Portland,_Oregon has 2. Perth, WA has 2 office towers with at least 50 floors. The_Bow tower in Calgary has 60 floors, when you count all the levels. The Columbia_Center in Seattle has 80 floors in total. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Vancouver#Cityscape

450 feet is equal to about 137.16 meters and that was the height restriction imposed on Vancouver for most of its restrictive, red-tape history. 

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

The powers that be tried their damndest to not allow most Vancouver buildings to be taller than the Smith_Tower, Commerce_Court_North and the Los_Angeles_City_Hall until after the year 2000. Of course in 2025 those buildings are like stumps now, but would still be tall by small Vancouver standards.

https://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=6965 , https://www.smithtower.com/about/ 

https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=27&searchname=timeline

https://beautifulwashington.com/images/sky-view-observatory/sky-view-observatory-at-columbia-center-9.jpg

https://beautifulwashington.com/king-county/attractions/seattle/448-sky-view-observatory.html  

https://www.seattletimes.com/life/heres-a-cheap-way-to-view-seattles-skyline-coffee-at-the-starbucks-on-the-40th-floor-of-the-columbia-tower The 40th floor of an 80 story building, when you count the mechanical or plant floors as well. Perhaps some day strict Vancouver might permit an office building to have a 40th floor. 

https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=1&status=15

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Vancouver#Tallest_under_construction_or_proposed 

stumps and towers