South Bellevue station

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

https://www.soundtransit.org/system-expansion/south-bellevue-station

https://www.bellevuedowntown.com/go/east-link-south-bellevue-station

https://www.theurbanist.org/2022/08/05/how-to-rescue-south-bellevue-station-from-suburban-asphyxiation

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

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) 

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

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://canada.constructconnect.com/dcn/news/projects/2024/11/massive-master-planned-community-aims-to-bring-tallest-towers-to-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. 

downtown-bellevue-tunnel

 https://www.soundtransit.org/blog/platform/fresh-pics-construction-complete-downtown-bellevue-tunnel

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

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. 

the bellevue-cube-building

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellevue_Hospital ,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellevue_Hospital#/media/File:Bellevue_cube_E27_jeh.JPG

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/57c5a333e58c625a7e36a989/1486687229249-WMMO5APOSWOOZJQ02VBB/16181229808_108ca2d370_o.jpg?format=500w&content-type=image%2Fjpeg


When it opened, the hospital was the largest of its type built in the U.S. The building was criticized by the press, patients, staff and even Bellevue's executive director, who claimed "if the devil himself had been commissioned to build a hospital facility, this is how he would have designed it." According to Stephen Verderber and David J. Fine, authors of Healthcare Architecture in an Era of Radical Transformation,
https://www.nycurbanism.com/brutalnyc/bellevue-new-building

https://www.nycurbanism.com/brutalnyc

bellevue-rolls-out-new-online-map-track-downtown-projects

https://www.seattlebusinessmag.com/real-estate/bellevue-rolls-out-new-online-map-track-downtown-projects

introducing-the-bainbridge-bellevue-freeway-bridge-to-somewhere

https://www.theurbanist.org/2016/04/01/introducing-the-bainbridge-bellevue-freeway-bridge-to-somewhere

http://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/from-the-archives-how-boeing-hid-its-bomber-factory

Vancouver, BC

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

No 40 story office towers on the horizon within the city limits.

https://skyscraperpage.com/b106925/vancouver/the-stack 

https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/the-stack/35667 162.3 m / 533 ft Floors 38 https://www.skydb.net/building/134386807/the-stack/ 

https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/harbour-centre/4144 , https://www.skydb.net/building/357382467/harbour-centre/ 

https://skyscraperpage.com/b63/vancouver/royal-centre

https://www.skydb.net/building/469710364/

https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/id/4396  138 m / 453 ft Floors 35 

In accordance with an unofficial provincial backwater mentality or VMV agenda, Vancouver was able to hold back the urban scale of BC for most of its history. However, Vancouver wasn't able to prevent Burnaby, Surrey and Coquitlam from constructing taller buildings. 

Never mind Calgary and Seattle, strict Vancouver has only permitted 2 buildings to be taller than the 2 tallest in Bellevue,_Washington. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Bellevue,_Washington#Tallest_completed_buildings 

Why is Metro Vancouver Creating a New Downtown?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybMhTlj-l5s 

Unlike Seattle and Calgary, Vancouver has no office towers over 50 stories. There aren't even any 40 story office towers in BC. Vancouver is firmly against permitting any office tower from having a 40th floor. However, Vancouver cant stop Burnaby and especially Surrey from having an office tower over 40 stories. While a 50 story office tower anywhere in backwater BC still seems unlikely, Burnaby and Surrey will likely be the first 2 cities in BC to have at least a 45 story office tower. 

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/50-storey-tower-community-hub-edmonds-burnaby 

So far, stubborn and strict Vancouver has only permitted 2 buildings to be taller than the tallest in Bellevue,_Washington. 

Vancouver has only permitted one building to be taller than the tallest in Vaughan, Ontario.

https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/cg-tower/32139 

Since Burnaby and Surrey aren't under the backwards and thwarting restrictions that Vancouver has, Burnaby and eventually Surrey, will have taller buildings than stumpy Vancouver. Indeed, Burnaby already has some buildings taller than Downtown_Bellevue. Surrey will eventually have some buildings taller than the Vaughan_Metropolitan_Centre.          

Vancouver will continue to limit the height of its buildings for as long as possible. Vancouver won't allow a bus and train tunnel near the lion Bridge, let alone a 6 lane highway tunnel. Despite the Iron Bridge needing a parallel bus bridge and a Skytrain bridge, progress remains at a snail's pace. There still seems to be no interest in building a bus bridge next to the Oak and Knight Bridges. A city on the moon and Mars might happen before stubborn Vancouver ever builds a new Fraser Street bus & bike bridge. Not only should there be a Boundary Road Bridge to Richmond, but at least a Boundary bus & bike bridge to the North Vancouver.  

Its like backwards BC keeps hoping that by symbolically refusing to build up proper big city size transportation infrastructure, people will stay away. However, its only because no one has been able to effectively challenge the bottleneck-chokepoint mentality, that not much has been done.

Brooklyn, NY

 https://www.reddit.com/r/skyscrapers/comments/1nsyaux/brooklyn/ 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Brooklyn#Tallest_buildings

While stubborn Vancouver only allows 2 buildings to be taller than the tallest in Bellevue,_Washington and nothing to rival the tallest in Vaughan, Ontario, Burnaby will. 

Unlike Vancouver, Burnaby wants to even rival the tallest in Brooklyn. 

Brooklyn used to be an independent city, but it eventually became part of NYC.

soundtransit update-construction-progress

https://www.soundtransit.org/blog/platform/connect-2020-update-construction-progress-link-schedule-tweaks


Bellevue...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF-Di9uGKZc

the Federal Way Link light rail extension opening in 2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wsnTfxa4vs

Surrey, BC

 https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=2&status=15 

https://skyscraperpage.com/b132164/surrey/centre-block 47 office stories? 

As originally proposed, Surrey could have had an office tower that would even be noticeable if it were in Calgary or Seattle.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/10275-city-parkway-surrey-centre-block-office-towers

"Originally, the East Tower was to be 47 storeys while the West Tower was to be 19 storeys.  City staff say the two towers are now planned to be 45 storeys and 17 storeys, although architectural plans indicate the East Tower will be 42 storeys." https://storeys.com/surrey-centre-block-office-tower

If this reduction does happen, Surrey still might be the first city in BC to have an office tower over 40 floors and Burnaby over 45 office stories. Never mind the first 50 story office tower in BC, its difficult enough just to get office floors above 39 storis in BC.

At the very least, Surrey still might have an office tower that might rival the tallest in Bellevue,_Washington. 

Vancouver has heled back the urban scale of BC almost since the beginning. That's because for over a century, practically anything big in BC was in provincial Vancouver. But Vancouver or the VMV, can't stop Surrey, Burnaby and Coquitlam from rivaling some of the things in Vancouver, such as taller buildings.   

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Bellevue,_Washington#Tallest_completed_buildings

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?

"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.

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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.

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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.

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=SHIT-BOX

Burnaby

 https://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?cityID=31&status=15 

https://skyscraperpage.com/b139592/burnaby/concord-metrotown-eight 47 stories at 187.2 m

Tower 8, a 47-storey, 375,000 SF office tower at 614 ft. height, https://vancouvermarket.ca/2022/07/22/phase-2-of-concord-metrotown-to-include-5-towers-2100-units/ 

https://www.urbanyvr.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Concord-Metrotown-phases.jpg , https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=230813&page=37 

https://www.skyscrapercity.com/threads/burnaby-developments.2444861/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic 

For the longest time, Vancouver has prevented BC from having a 40 story office tower, let alone a 50 or a 60 story office tower. Since Burnaby isn't directly affected by the VMV, Burnaby is on track to have the first office tower in BC that's over 45 floors. Indeed, a 47 story office tower at 614 feet would slightly rival the tallest in Bellevue,_Washington. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Bellevue,_Washington#Tallest_completed_buildings

Bold annexation plans could push Vancouver, WA city’s population beyond Spokane and Tacoma

 https://mynorthwest.com/local/vancouver-second-largest-city-wa/4065389

Tacoma is part of the Greater Seattle Area. Spokane is far enough east that it already is the biggest city & commercial center for Eastern Washington. So some day there should be over a million people over there.

Vancouver, WA is part of the Greater Portland Area, and has lots of potential for growth. Perhaps someday Vancouver might have buildings as tall as those in Portland. Ultimately, V,WA should have buildings as tall as the tallest in Bellevue,_Washington.