It's difficult for such a provincial backwater to behave like a proper city, but having fairs & festivals is a good thing for any thriving city to have.
Monday, March 3, 2025
Queensborough in New Westminster, BC
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensborough,_New_Westminster
Little NW should have annexed at least half of Lulu_Island by the 1870s, when there wasn't much of anything there yet.
44 Montgomery Tower in SF and 611 Place in LA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/44_Montgomery 1967 https://buildingsdb.com/CA/san-francisco/44-montgomery-street-building
This could have and should have been the first building in SF over 600 feet tall.
https://sfyimby.com/2021/08/number-20-44-montgomery-street-financial-district-san-francisco.html Given the building sites limitations, it wasn't able to have a plus sign shape +.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_Street_station
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/611_Place 1969 https://buildingsdb.com/CA/los-angeles/611-place-building
This should have been the first building in LA to be over 650 feet or 200m in height.
https://la.urbanize.city/post/long-empty-dtla-office-tower-being-marketed-prospective-tenants It was able to have a plus sign + shape.
Saturday, March 1, 2025
Bellevue, Western Australia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellevue,_Western_Australia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellevue,_Western_Australia#Railways
Fortunately, the Transperth_C-series_trains are allowed to be longer than what's in the BC part of Canada.
| Train length | 143.35 m (470 ft 4 in) |
|---|---|
| Car length | 24 m (78 ft 9 in) |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transperth_C-series_train#History
From a backwater BC perspective, its amazing that the Transperth_C-series_trains are allowed to be so long. Almost as long as a Montreal Metro train, but closer to the length of the Stockholm Metro trains. It would be chaos if Perth, Montreal & Stockholm had to have short trains like backwards Vancouver does.
Bellevue, Washington
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellevue,_Washington
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellevue,_Washington#Transportation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Bellevue_station
Unfortunatly, the Portland MAX trains are shorter than the nice, long Seattle trains.
While the Link_Light_Rail trains don't run as frequently as those on the Canada (embarrassment) Line, the stations were allowed to be so much longer, right from the start. Then its just a matter of eventually running more trains each hour.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link_light_rail#2_Line_(South_Bellevue-Redmond)
Canadian provinces meet in effort to reduce interprovincial trade barriers
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/anita-anand-interprovincial-trade
Fortunately, Australia never adopted internal trade barriers like Canada did.
https://vancouversun.com/news/bc-eyes-nova-scotia-bill-reduce-interprovincial-trade-barriers
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/article/why-is-it-so-hard-to-do-business-between-provinces
https://www.conferenceboard.ca/insights/insights-blogs-time-to-rethink-internal-trade-in-canada
There are some things that Australia got correct early on, why Canada is still trying to sort some issues out.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/interprovincial-trade-barriers-4-ways-1.7453530
"Canada has free trade agreements with 51 countries, and yet we have never been able to institute free trade within our own borders.
Despite decades of discussion, an array of non-tariff barriers still limits the free movement of people and goods across our provinces. From professional certifications to supply-managed products to regulations in a wide variety of industries, restrictions on interprovincial trade flows prevail." https://financialpost.com/news/economy/beyond-borders-internal-trade-barriers
Federalism and Sub-National Protectionism: a Comparison of the Internal Trade Regimes of Canada and Australia https://www.queensu.ca/iigr/sites/iirwww/files/uploaded_files/SmithAndrewWorkingPaper2015.pdf
Friday, February 28, 2025
An active storm track and changeable temperatures could make for a messy March across much of Canada
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/anita-anand-interprovincial-trade 1
https://vancouversun.com/news/bc-eyes-nova-scotia-bill-reduce-interprovincial-trade-barriers 2
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/article/why-is-it-so-hard-to-do-business-between-provinces 4
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/interprovincial-trade-barriers-4-ways-1.7453530 5
Former B.C. deputy finance minister to lead audit of North Shore sewage plant
While a Burnaby to North Vancouver express bus and rail link is a good idea, there should also be a link between Vancouver and West Vancouver. Unfortunatly, so much extra money will be going toward a shit-pipe and a shit-box, instead of a rail tunnel & a new bridge. So many people are still in denial, but urban planning & funding in BC is really the $HIT$ for Greater Vancouver.
So much money was wasted on a $HIT-BOX and a $HIT-PIPE that could have gone towards a train tunnel near the LGB.
Metro Vancouver regional district governance review changes
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/metro-vancouver-regional-district-governance-review-changes
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/metro-vancouver-treatment-plan-audit-1.7239051 Why have a train tunnel fromWest Vancouver to Waterfront_Station in Vancouver when instead, you can put a few extra billion dollars into a North Shore shit-pipe?
#/media/File:Vancouver_064.jpg){kind=link}
"The reasons behind the escalation are the subject of duelling lawsuits between the contractor Metro Vancouver fired and the regional district, but the now $3.9 billion is five times beyond the original $700 million budget Metro set a decade ago and more than double a revised $1 billion budget from 2021.
The issue’s complexity lies in the fact that Metro Vancouver’s sewage treatment services are broken up into four sewerage areas, unlike the drinking water system that is operated as a single entity.
The sewerage areas are: North Shore; Vancouver, which includes UBC and parts of Burnaby and Richmond; Lulu, which is most of Richmond and Fraser, which is most other Metro municipalities.
All municipalities pay for the capital costs of new facilities, but those within each district pay a bigger share for facilities in their own district." https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/metro-vancouver-will-pay-for-north-shore-sewage-plant
https://www.nsnews.com/in-the-community/north-vancouver-district-asks-province-for-public-inquiry-on-sewage-plant-debacle-9777554 So much extra money will have to be paid out for a shit-box & a shit-pipe cost overrun. A few extra billion dollars could have easily paid for an improved Canada+Line and extension from downtown Vancouver to Park+Royal and the Horseshoe+Bay ferry terminal.
https://vancouversun.com/news/new-westminster-mayor-sides-with-metro-vancouver-in-surrey-spat Surrey wants to eventually become the biggest city in BC. That means not having similar restrictions that Vancouver, NW & Victoria have. Surrey wants to have taller buildings than restrictive Vancouver. First, it will have to rival Burnaby & Bellevue, WA and ultimately, Vaughan, Ontario. Instead of having 1 big downtown area, there will be a few town centres as well.
While Surrey might want to have more autonomy, its still part of the Metro_Vancouver_Regional_District.
50-metre pool at new Vancouver Aquatic Centre becomes by-election issue
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-aquatic-centre-pool-by-election-issue
Unlike most cities, Vancouver has had a history and mentality for refusing to think on a big scale.
Is Too little being done to fix Vancouver’s hotel room shortage crisis?
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-hotel-room-shortage-crisis-solutions
How can a city that wants to cultivate its tourism business not encourage more hotel development?
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/keefer-house-hotel-vancouver-chinatown
There just aren't enough BC+hotels to meet current and future demands.
Thursday, February 27, 2025
The Burlington Canal Lift Bridge
The Burlington_Canal_Lift_Bridge only has 4 lanes, but that's OK, because the 8 lanes of the Burlington+Bay+Skyway+Bridges are right beside it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlington_Canal_Lift_Bridge
https://www.hopaports.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Burlington-Canal-Lift-Bridge.pdf
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Burlington+Canal+Lift+Bridge
The Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway Bridges
The Burlington_Bay_James_N._Allan_Skyway went from being like a 4 lane BC bridge to an 8 lane Ontario crossing. That took place from the late 1950s to the mid 1980s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlington_Bay_James_N._Allan_Skyway#History
There is a point where it would be likely to have 2 HOV lanes or 2 bus lanes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth_Way#St._Catharines%E2%80%93Hamilton
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Burlington+Bay+James+N.+Allan+Skyway
Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Bus Lanes
Given so many narrow streets & bridges in Vancouver, its difficult to have a proper bus lane network, even for the metropolitan region.
https://vancouversun.com/opinion/op-ed/opinion-bus-lanes-urgent-vancouver
https://vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/bus-network-improvements.aspx
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/11/18/burnaby-hastings-street-bus-lane-city-council/
https://visionzerovancouver.ca/2024/07/10/take-action-add-bus-lanes-to-translinks-priority-routes/
HOV Lanes
With so many narrow streets & bridges in Vancouver, its difficult to have a proper HOV lane network, especially for the metropolitan region.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-occupancy_vehicle_lane
https://www.drivesmartbc.ca/lanes/using-hov-lanes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-occupancy_vehicle_lane#Canada
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-occupancy_vehicle_lane#New_Zealand_and_Australia
hollywood-theatre-in kitsilano and york theater in east-vancouver
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/hollywood-theatre-kitsilano-vancouver-new-ownership
https://henriquezpartners.com/projects/york-theatre/
https://heritagevancouver.org/top10-watch-list/2008/6-york-alcazar-theatre-1913-saved/
https://vancouversun.com/entertainment/new-new-york-theatre-a-celebration-of-cultural-heritage
Park board votes to request 50-metre pool at Vancouver Aquatic Centre
Amended motion came after dozens of people spoke out against a redesign plan that would cut the pool in half https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/aquatic-centre-50-metre-pool-1.7468681
This horrible multigenerational half-size Vancouver and BC mentality is so firmly entrenched. At least if a half-size Vancouver Aquatic Centre, like the half-size Canada+Line, was designed to eventually become a proper big city facility, that's one thing. However, certain people just wanted to have a half-size Vancouver Aquatic Centre, just like a half-size Canada Line. Indeed, the objective was to have infrastructure deliberately designed to just be another Half-A$$ED small-scale backwater BC joke.
Let it fall-apart like the crappy & inadequate Pattullo+Bridge, then just build a half-size joke. It's all part of the mentality to not want more people living in BC, which is almost 2 dozen times larger than Switzerland.
Fortunately, enough people believe in a growing Vancouver & BC, so the new Vancouver+Aquatic+Centre will be a proper big city infrastructure redevelopment. While the argument to just build a half-size facility to save money might make sense to some people, unless it was designed to eventually be brought up to a full-size standard, it's a sad joke.
The Burrard+Street+Bridge (BSB) was originally planned to have a permanent 6 lane upper deck & 2 streetcar tracks on a lower deck. Unfortunatly, the BSB was Vancouverized to become scaled back & remain incomplete. Had there been a nice & wide bike-bridge built next to it, then the BSB could have still had a 6 lane deck. Then there could have been either 2 bus lanes or 2 HOV lanes. Unfortunatly, everything is funneled into just another 4 lane BC bridge.
Since backwards Vancouver wants to be one of the last major cities to bring back streetcars & tram-trains, there has been a mutigenerational lack of interest in completing the lower streetcar deck.
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Park Board backs 50-metre pool for new Vancouver Aquatic Centre after outcry over proposed small replacement
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-aquatic-centre-new-50-metre-pool-feasibility-decision
Vancouver needs to build things that aren't just impressive by Prince George, Kamloops and Kelowna standards.
Nevermind Seattle, strict Vancouver, BC will have less tall buildings than Bellevue.
As of 2025, Vancouver, BC only has 2 buildings taller than what's in Bellevue,_Washington. Eventually, Bellevue will have at least 5 building that are at 600 feet, while Vancouver will only still have two buildings over 600 feet.
Nevermind Toronto, Vancouver must have no building that would rival the tallest in Mississauga and Vaughan.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Canada#Under_construction
Since BC was never able to build a wall or create a forcefield around it, the next best thing was to continually water everything down as much as possible. Thus, the symbolism to have short trains, mostly narrow bridges & short buildings, is all part of not properly planning for growth.
Singapore and Sydney don't have this problem, as they don't have to contend with anything like Vancouver's type of restrictions.
Toronto is a big city like Chicago. Montreal has restrictions, but not as extreme as Vancouver. Unfortunatly, Montreal has yet to become a big city on the scale of Melbourne, let alone Paris or NYC.
Big upgrades coming to Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal in West Vancouver
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-ferries-horseshoe-bay-terminal-upgrades
Its such utter foolishness & inept planning to not have a rail rapid transit line between the Horseshoe+Bay+ferry+terminal and downtown Vancouver, but this is backwards BC.
$2-billion Richmond Hospital redevelopment
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/richmond-hospital-new-redevelopment-acute-care-tower-contractor
Having a big hospital in Richmond is important, not only because YVR is part of Richmond, but there are a lot of people travelling between Delta, Richmond & Vancouver.
City of Surrey to withdraw from Metro Vancouver's Regional Growth Strategy
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/surrey-withdraw-metro-vancouver-regional-growth-strategy
Surrey is destined to become the largest city in BC, but in order to achieve that, it has to be freed from the backwater BC mentality. Surrey needs to think and build like a proper big city.
Monday, February 24, 2025
Delta-hospital-emergency-room-closed-staffing-challenges
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/delta-hospital-emergency-room-closed-staffing-challenges
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/delta-hospital-er-closure-1.7466840
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2025/02/23/delta-emergency-room-closed-second-night/
Every city or major municipality should have a big hospital and other appropriate infrastructure. Of course there should be a good working arrangement for all hospital staff.
Unfortunatly, Delta seems to have been treated with a backwater mindset for generations. The East side of Delta is like an urban extension of Surrey. The West side of Delta has a major seaport and a ferry terminal & a big shopping mall. Unfortunatly, it seems in accordance with the backwater planning mentality, that there is no train linking the ferry terminal and the shopping mall to Richmond & YVR, on the horizon.
Watered-down Vancouver and BC
Auckland & Seattle and especially Sydney and SF are very scenic cities. Yet, none of them has taken a watered-down approach to the extent that Vancouver has. Indeed, a mandate to thwart, restrict & limit things, has been part of the water-down Vancouver agenda for generations. This watered-down approach or agenda, has become a clever way to hold back all kinds of infrastructure in the Metro_Vancouver_Regional_District. The mentality to keep things small & backwards is all part of the horrible symbolic desire to not build for a big future.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Vancouver_Regional_District#Geography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Vancouver_Regional_District#Regional_planning Not planning to have trains as long as the Montreal Metro or the Toronto Subway, was an utterly foolish and inept decision. However, it makes sense from a congestive planning perspective.
In the meantime, a short train system can still work efficiently. Thus, there is no good reason as to why the SkyTrain can't be upgrades to the same level as the 24hr Copenhagen_Metro. However, BC is so stubborn & isolated with its approach to things, it would be quite a challenge to get to the standard of the Copenhagen_Metro, but it should be possible. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_Metro#Route Eventually, backwards Vancouver will require proper long trains like on the Stockholm_Metro and the Montreal_Metro.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_Metro#Rolling_stock
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Metro#Models
Not planning & building a regional network of express bus and HOV bridges, was also foolish and inept decision. However, that also makes sense from a congestive planning perspective. Indeed, bottleneck or chokepoint planning is something that commuters don't like, but BC urban planners seem to perpetuate it every year. Of course the lack of infrastructure funding is also a big problem.
Unfortunatly, with Greater Vancouver having such an anti-bridge mentality, it makes it difficult to have a proper regional Bus_Rapid_Transit network. Yet officially, the region isn't against having a proper BRT network. Funneling busses onto the same narrow bridges with cars & trucks is idiotic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_transport#Environmental_impact
Hundreds climb thousands of stairs for Hustle Chicago at former John Hancock Center
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/hustle-chicago-former-john-hancock-center-2025/
https://www.beck-technology.com/blog/how-did-they-build-that-john-hancock-center-chicago
https://www.architecture.org/online-resources/buildings-of-chicago/875-n-michigan-ave
875 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago
https://875northmichiganavenue.com Formerly the John_Hancock_Center.
https://www.beck-technology.com/blog/how-did-they-build-that-john-hancock-center-chicago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hancock_Center#History
https://360chicago.com https://360chicago.com/cloudbar
https://360chicago.com/experience
https://www.chicago-voyage.com/en/hancock-observatory-chicago.html
https://www.architecture.org/online-resources/buildings-of-chicago/875-n-michigan-ave
Manulife Centre in Toronto
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manulife_Centre , https://manulifecentre.com
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Manulife+Centre
https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/toronto/44-charles-street-west/2979 166 m / 545 ft
Fortunately, 44 Charles wasn't just 44 stories. Indeed, it was the first 51 story mixed-use residential & office complex in Canada, but it should have been taller. Chicago has had the 100 story John Hancock Center since 1969. If Toronto couldn't have its own 100 story building in the mid 1970s, similar in scale to the John_Hancock_Center, there should have been two buildings with more than 50 floos.
https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/canada/properties/for-lease/office/on/toronto/55-bloor-street-west/s119707755-l This should have been the first 55 story office tower outside of downtown Toronto.
https://www.loopnet.ca/Listing/55-Bloor-St-W-Toronto-ON/17793768
https://urbantoronto.ca/database/projects/manulife-centre-podium-and-streetscape-renewal.19539
This is a nice, wide Toronto building, but it got Vancouverized or miniaturized, right from the start.
https://www.cbre.ca/properties/retail/details/CA-Plus-268572/manulife-centre-55-bloor-street-w-toronto-ontario-m4w-1a5 It would have been quite impressive if it opened as a 55 story tower.
https://sgconstructors.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/55-Bloor-Manulife-Redevelopment-Profile.pdf
https://urbantoronto.ca/news/2018/09/glazing-enclosing-manulife-centre-addition-bay-and-bloor.33926
Australia was able to go above 99 floors before Canada.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_108 Actually has 100 floors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STH_BNK_by_Beulah 102 floors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Canada#Under_construction
Sunday, February 23, 2025
Saturday, February 22, 2025
Friday, February 21, 2025
Metro Vancouver Regional District considers $22M in budget cuts
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2025/02/21/metro-vancouver-regional-district-22m-budget-cuts/
https://globalnews.ca/news/11016648/vancouver-mayor-ken-sim-board-metro-vancouver-waste-of-time/
Not enough money for an express bus and train tunnel between downtown & the North Shore.
However, there are plenty of funds for an overbudjet shit-box!
Big backlash over smaller pool plan for new Vancouver Aquatic Centre sparks petition
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-aquatic-centre-proposal-controversy
Just because backwards Vancouver gets a lot of rain, that doesn't mean that almost everything should be symbolically watered down.
Why have a Canada+Line with 152m long stations, like on the Montreal+Metro, when a 50m joke of a station provides excellent watered down symbolism? Why have bridges wide enough for bus & HOV lanes, when everything can be funneled into just 2 lanes each way?
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Vancouver+Aquatic+Centre
Thursday, February 20, 2025
Hawaii Has the Highest-Earning Hotels of All 50 States
https://beatofhawaii.com/its-the-rip-off-honolulu-hotels-that-are-killing-us/
Luxurious accommodations always have their high-end market, but having enough basic and mid-quality hotels, are just as important.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Hotels_in_Honolulu
https://www.de-simone.com/projects/project/ko_olani-tower Resedential tower with the most floors in Hawaii.
30-storey tower with a Marriott hotel and rental homes proposed for the Yaletown part of Vancouver
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/888-896-cambie-street-vancouver-marriott-yaletown-hotel-npg
This should be a mixed-use hotel and tower of at least 65 stories.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-hotel-shortage-2026-world-cup-1.7117696
From 1985 to 2010, there should have been a continual hotel expansion. Then, from 2010 & well into the 2040s, the number of hotel+rooms should still keep growing.
The number of BC+Hotels must dramatically be increased in order to meet growing tourism demands. However, there is a multigenerational mentality or agenda to symbolically keep things small and inadequate in backwards BC.
Despite its size, Canada has less than 1% of the world's population. BC is 23 times the size of Switzerland, yet it still doesn't even have the population of 1 CH.
There are 2 prominent mindsets that would like to keep Canada having less than 1% of the population. The first mindset would still like Canada to be primarily just for people of European descent. The other mindset just has an overall, KEEP THEM OUT mentality, because its good for the environment.
It seems odd that in this day & age, there is a mindset that would like Canada to still be a Whitman's Paradise. Then the extreme environmentalists just want the rest of the world to deal with most of the population & keep Canada under 1%.
Since most of the world is nonwhite, there almost seems to a crossover of the KEEP THEM OUT agenda. Since most of the world's population is nonwhite, a SLOW GROWTH AGENDA would primarily be directed towards nonwhites.
Multiculturalism_in_Canada should mean that everyone can retain their heritage & cultural identity as well as be part of the nation at large.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism_in_Canada#Criticisms
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism_in_Canada#Historical_context
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_head_tax
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komagata_Maru_incident
https://www.canada.ca/en/services/culture/canadian-identity-society/multiculturalism.html
https://www.multiculturalcanada.ca , https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/csj-sjc/jsp-sjp/rp02_8-dr02_8/p2.html
I have never been to Europe, but my ancestors are from there.
https://ancnl.ca/guide/culture-and-social-life/multiculturalism-in-canada/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_demographic_decline
The White vs. the rest of the world mentality is becoming more out of place in the 21st century.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-diverse-countries
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-us-will-become-minority-white-in-2045-census-projects
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
The Reality Of Saudi Arabia's $2 Trillion Megacity In The Desert
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi24Xl2PJIc This is impressive, but will it ever get to be properly completed?
Building in a hot & dry desert region vs. building in cold, damp Canada.
Canada has so much area & potential for growth, but it has less than 1% of the world's population. Most of the world's population is non-white. While Canada has become more multicultural over the past few generations, still, some people tend to get upset when they see "too many" non-white people. The days of Canada being some kind of a White colonial utopia are long gone with the 1800s & even most of the 1900s.
Unfortunatly, during economic slow times, immigration is seen as a problem by some. However, even during boom times, a place like BC with series of environmental restrictions, is another clever way to slow down growth in BC.
Vancouver Aquatic Centre rebuild should have a smaller lap pool and larger hot tub, according to park board staff
Swim B.C. president says the group is 'devastated' as the revised plan calls for a lazy river and 25-metre lap pool, rather than the 50-metre pool Vancouver voters backed in 2022
https://vancouversun.com/news/vancouver-aquatic-centre-rebuild-plan-revised
Why build big for a growing future, when you can adhere to the antigrowth mentality and symbolism?
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2025/02/19/vancouver-aquatic-centre-proposal-sparks-petition/
Just like the short SkyTrain stations, the argument of budget limitations is used as an excuse. A train station can be designed to be gradually doubled or tripled in length. The new Aquatic Centre could be designed in which it could eventually be double or even tripled in size, as well.
This building small for the future, because its just for small Vancouver, is an absurd strategy.
The Burrard_Bridge was originally designed to have 6 lanes & 2 streetcar tracks on a lower level. Well, the tram-trains never became part of the BB. The city was too cheap to build a parallel bike bridge, so 2 lanes were removed from the roadway on the BB instead. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burrard_Bridge#History
Had the Burrard_Bridge not been Vancouverized, there could have been 2 bus & HOV lanes & a lower level for tram-trains, along with a parallel bike bridge.
The watering down of Vancouver fits right in with the backwater BC mentality.
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Vancouver+Aquatic+Centre
High speed rail in Australia
https://www.hsra.gov.au/high-speed-rail
If Australia gets around to this faster than Canada does, it might be because Australia is a warmer country. Most of Canada has to contend with cold & crappy weather for almost half of the year.
https://www.wsp.com/en-au/news/2024/transformational-high-speed-rail-network
The proposed design of the new scaled down Vancouver Aquatic Centre
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-aquatic-centre-new-design-proposal
Nothing like going backwards, that's the nature of Vancouver and its watering down mentality. Apparently, there is no concept to build a much larger facility in 2 or 3 phases, so just scale it down and do something that is impressive by Prince Rupert, Prince George or Kamloops standards. Smalltown Vancouver thinking really gets to be so irritating.
The new Vancouver+Aquatic+Centre could easily be built 6-8 metres above sea level. There is extra space north, east & south of the old buildings footprint. Unfortunatly, Vancouver has become so entrenched with a mentality or an agenda to mostly build what would only be impressive by backwater BC standards.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/aquatic-centre-push-back-1.7462480
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Vancouver+Aquatic+Centre
Are Infrastructure costs driving up housing costs in B.C.?
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/housing-costs-bc-government-mismanagement
If the developer was actually allowed to build what would be tall buildings by Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Toronto & SF standards, then the extra money from selling the much higher condo floors could go towards the removal of the viaducts.
Plus, larger buildings could accommodate more affordable housing as well.
https://vancouversun.com/news/vancouver-gridlock-viaduct-removal-funding-question
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/dunsmuir-georgia-viaducts-rethink-vancouver-city-council-2022
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Brisbane-Sydney-Melbourne-Toronto-SF
The South Bow River Bridge in Calgary
https://www.alberta.ca/south-bow-river-bridge Being from backwards Vancouver, its difficult to grasp how Calgary was able to twin the South-Bow-River-Bridge. Not only are there 8 lanes, but at least 2 emergency lanes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoney_Trail#Lane_count In BC, it was tough enough just to have 2 waggon roads side by side. Then to eventually have a bridge the width of 4 waggon roads or 4 carriageways, was amazing. Fortunately, Calgary has progressed so far beyond the 1800s & the early 20th century.
https://www.alberta.ca/calgary-ring-road , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dhrataYz5E
https://majorprojects.alberta.ca/details/Stoney-Trail-SE-Bow-River-Bridge-Widening-Pedestrian-Bridge/4312 There have been a lot of complaints as to why it took so long to compleate this project. While backwater BC notoriously takes longer to get things done than Alberta usually does, there might have been an issue with the river. Still, after any environmental assessment, the construction project should have gone faster.
https://www.renewcanada.net/south-bow-river-bridge-project-receives-70-million/
https://westringroad.ca/bow-river-bridge , https://calgaryringroad.com/tag/alberta-highway-201
A fantastic foot and bike bridge is close by and unlike in Vancouver, lanes were added, not removed. Indeed, the Calgary footbridge and The+Helix+Bridge in Singapore were never used as an excuse to remove any lanes from other bridges. The same for the Jubilee+Bridge.
https://www.highway99tunnel.ca/frt-current-work The environmental assessments while necessary, have pushed this BC infrastructure project to at least 2030. https://www.highway99tunnel.ca/project-overview-frt Several decades ago, another tunnel or bus & bike bridge should have already been built. https://www.highway99tunnel.ca/transit-cycling Unfortunatly, when the first tunnel was built, there was no concept to have 2 bus & 2 bike lanes with 2 protected walkways. No need to have 2 wide emergency lanes with a future clearance to allow for 2 truck lanes, given that this is supposed to be a major seaport region. Just funnel everything into 2 lanes each way, whenever possible.
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Calgary
https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=bike+and+pedestrian+bridges
The Ring Road Concept
A Ring_road has some advantages, but its not a total solution.
Some examples...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sardar_Patel_Ring_Road, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A10_motorway_(Netherlands)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Berlin_BAB_10.svg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brussels_Ring
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Traffic_Bukarest.svg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_Road_(Cairo)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoney_Trail, Calgary. https://www.alberta.ca/calgary-ring-road This was possible, because Calgary doesn't have the same restrictions that Greater Vancouver has. Alberta is able to do more, simply because its not bound by the B$ red tape that BC is under.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Route_9_(Hong_Kong)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_Ring_Road,_Hyderabad , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Ring_Road,_Hyderabad
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Autopistam40.svg, Madrid
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M80_Ring_Road, Melbourne
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Ring_Road , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Ring_Road_(Moscow)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Svincoli_GRA_Roma.svg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Orbital_Network
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Rocades_de_Paris_%282024%29.png
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Ring_Road_System, Singapore
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_Beltway, Washington, DC.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ring_roads
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_road#Canada Of course Greater Vancouver doesn't make the list. It's always amazing to see what so many other cities are able to do, simply because they don't have the hassles & restrictions that BC has.
Circular Rail Lines
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_route
https://www.webuildvalue.com/en/infrastructure-news/metro-urban-mobility.html
Some examples...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Ringbahn
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_%22L%22#Circle_Line
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M3_(Copenhagen_Metro)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_line_(London_Underground)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U3_(Hamburg_U-Bahn)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Central_Circle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_Line_(Oslo)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_M%C3%A9tro_Line_15 , https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Plan_Lin%C3%A9aire_M%C3%A9tro_Paris_Ligne_15_%28final%29.svg
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
CTrain, Calgary
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CTrain 1981
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CTrain#History
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westbrook_station_(Calgary) , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMV2fYNBJgk No underground or trench station in Vancouver was designed to be as long as Westbrook station.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/45_Street_station_(Calgary)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/69_Street_station_(Calgary)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CTrain#Further_underground_infrastructure
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-metro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMV2fYNBJgk
https://gecarchitecture.com/projects/westbrook-lrt-station/
https://cana.ca/project-details/Westbrook-Station-Transit-Oriented-Development-Offices
Edmonton Light Rail Transit (LRT)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmonton_LRT#History Unlike what backwards Vancouver would end up doing, Edmonton understood the importance of having long underground stations, right from the start.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_Line#Stations If you are from Edmonton or Seattle, you will be immediately surprised as to how short & small the underground Vancouver train stations are.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchill_station_(Edmonton) 1978
"The underground station has a 129-metre-long (423 ft) centre loading platform that can accommodate two five-car LRT trains at the same time, with one train on each side of the platform. At just under 8 m wide (26 ft), the underground platform is narrow by current Edmonton LRT design guidelines." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchill_station_(Edmonton)#Station_layout
Yet, this is big by narrowminded Vancouver & BC standards. Despite Vancouver having its own version of cold & crappy weather, there just isn't the same concept or desire to have a network of elevated & especially, underground corridors like what Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Dallas & Houston have.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_station_(Edmonton) 1978
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay/Enterprise_Square_station 1983 Being from wattered down Vancouver, it's hard to fathom a 130m long underground station in Edmonton, but Albertal doesn't have anything like a backwards BC mentality to contend with. The first 2 SkyTrain lines were designed to only have 80m stations. The 3rd line to Richmond & YVR, was only designed to have 50m stations. While this initially might have made sense as a cost saving measure, it will cost so much more to eventually try to lengthen these short stations. Thus, all the stations should have been designed to eventually be at least 153m, or just over 500 feet.
"The station has a 130-metre-long (430 ft) centre loading platform that can accommodate two five-car LRT trains at the same time, with one train on each side of the platform." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay/Enterprise_Square_station#Station_layout
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona_station_(Edmonton) 1983
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Centre_station 1989
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_station_(Edmonton) 1992 It remains to be scene if Vancouver might have a UBC station by 2032. While geology & climate can vary between cities, the laws of physics in the BC part of Canada isn't supposed to be different. Yet, it takes a long time to get things done in backwater BC.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Line#Stations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_light_rail_systems
The Valley LRT Line in Edmonton
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Line_(Edmonton)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Line_(Edmonton)#Valley_Line_Southeast
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchill_station_(Edmonton) A nice, long underground train station with a surface line connecting station above it.
https://majorprojects.alberta.ca/details/Valley-Line-West-LRT/3692
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Line_(Edmonton)#Valley_Line_West_(under_construction)
Edmonton to test patience of west-end motorists with accelerated LRT construction
https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/keith-gerein-west-edmonton-lrt-construction
https://globalnews.ca/news/11014951/valley-line-west-lrt-stony-plain-road-construction-pace/
https://www.edmonton.ca/projects_plans/transit/valley-line-west
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Line_(Edmonton)#Valley_Line_West_(under_construction)
Montreal has completed 5% of snow-loading operation, as city braces for winds and chilly temps
https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/02/18/winds-to-intensify-montreal/
https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/02/18/rem-service-disruptions-continue Montreals version of the Skytrain should have a snow-plough at both ends of each train.
https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/02/18/exo-trains-cancelled-snow-accumulation Even for the big trains, at a certain point a snow-plough might not be able to properly clear the tracks.
https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/02/18/montreal-snow-disabled-mobility-challenges/
https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/02/17/snow-piling-up-montreal-clearing-loading
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