Vancouver General Discussion Thread

[Klazu]

There should be a nice view of Mount Rainier behind the new Tacome bridge. I hope the weather will give way for a view, but it doesn't look so good.

Will there be anywhere one could see the new highway tunnel being bored underneath Seattle? How is that coming along? Has the digging machine been fixed already?

[urbancanadian]

Have fun in Seattle Klazu! If you are driving the 520, you should take some photos of the work they've done on each side of the bridge, especially from a transit/HOV standpoint. It would be interesting to compare with what is proposed for the Massey Bridge.

It also has the best examples of the freeway "lids" Seattle likes to build overtop of the roadway to minimize the impact freeways have on the community and for increased park space. Might still be under construction on the west side.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by Klazu

There should be a nice view of Mount Rainier behind the new Tacome bridge. I hope the weather will give way for a view, but it doesn't look so good.

Will there be anywhere one could see the new highway tunnel being bored underneath Seattle? How is that coming along? Has the digging machine been fixed already?

Supposed to finish July 2017, they're about half way as of last Friday. Probably can't get close enough to look into the portal but some recent pictures:

http://www.geekwire.com/2016/seattle-tun...y-point-bertha-expected-emerge-next-may/

[Klazu]

Was in Seattle last weekend. I just somehow love Seattle. It's somewhat similar to Vancouver, yet so different and American. The huge freeways and tall skyscrapers and I just love the steeps hills everywhere. I have yet to visit San Francisco and cannot imagine how steep those hills need to be famous and the ones in Seattle are not.

As we didn't have that much to do, we ended up driving around the metropolitan area and there are many interesting areas to be found. I will post lots of photos later when I get to that, but I love how varied Seattle is.

They have a nice boom going on in Downtown, but the skyline is seriously beginning to table top at 40 stories that most new towers area. Amazon's first two towers look great upclose, but I disliked how they are such a bright part of the skyline after dark. Great things still happenning and Columbia Center is not that lonely anymore!

Unfortunately I didn't manage to drive the new 520 as it was completely closed on Sunday when we had the time. I also skipped on the new Tacoma Bridge as the weather was cloudy on Monday morning and there would have not been a view of Mount Rainier. Next time!

Ended up driving many backroads between Everett and Bellingham and discovered some nice areas to visit later on.

I am always amazed how bad traffic can be in Seattle and I-5, I-450 and all other major roads are congested even in the evenings. Those huge freeways are also so uncomfortable to drive in rain after dark, making it difficult to see lane markings.

They seem to have converted HOV lanes on I-450 to HOT lanes in the past few years. I wonder when I-5 will follow the suit? Also, Bellingham could use an extra lane in both direction, as that section always seems super busy with the local traffic using I-5 to move across town.

It also always surprises me in what condition roads in America area. I felt so sorry for my tires all around Seattle and its freeways as the surface is so hard and huge potholes are everywhere. I will not complain of our premium highways ever again.

[red-paladin]

"But But Seattle freeways are superiorer in every way! And Concrete! Always superiorer!" - Home town hater brigade

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by red-paladin

"But But Seattle freeways are superiorer in every way! And Concrete! Always superiorer!" - Home town hater brigade

Metro Seattle has way more people than Vancouver (despite what Vancouverites think) and can sprawl virtually forever. That and the location of I-5 (too close to the water) is their problem, not highways themselves. I love being able to stay overnight in Bellevue and get to Seattle quickly via I-90. Could also go to the North Bend outlet mall in a snap. Forget about that kind of distance with residential blocks.

Originally Posted by Klazu

Was in Seattle last weekend. I just somehow love Seattle. It's somewhat similar to Vancouver, yet so different and American. The huge freeways and tall skyscrapers and I just love the steeps hills everywhere. I have yet to visit San Francisco and cannot imagine how steep those hills need to be famous and the ones in Seattle are not.

SF is the opposite of Seattle in many ways, feels like 1800s Europe rather than America. Every building in the city is gorgeous and the views rival Vancouver's. It's my favourite American city and shows that you can have highways and proper bridges without destroying charm.

And yeah the hills are pretty gnarly. I think the difference is in Seattle the slopes are mostly in the same direction. Like if you walk north/south it's gonna be pretty flat. In SF you're going up and down and up and down huge inclines no matter where you go.

This was the view from my hotel room last year. Was steep downhill in every direction from there:

San Francisco, California. Summer 2015 by chrisjohann, on Flickr

[WarrenC12]

San Fran is so hilly that actually walking places can be a huge chore. Think New West a few blocks from Columbia.

[Klazu]

New Westminster hills are no match for Seattle. But yeah, I suppose San Francisco has steep hills. This was on Reddit today.



In Seattle I just love how they have built Downtown in such a steep place. Having tall skyscrapers at a location like that is just crazy. I wonder if Downtown Seattle ever sees snow or frozen streets? If it does, many od those intersections must be interesting during those times...

[VarBreStr18]

Why is the government relocating the Syrian refugees in Vancouver... the most expensive place on earth? They need a place free from political persecution, daily bombing, so anywhere in Canada would provide freedom, clean air. Many Canadians live happily away from Vancouver. Many out of country doctors , nurses end up in small towns to practice until they get their Canadian licence. Smaller cities are much easier to adjust and cheaper for they to start business. They real help they need is language, more ESL.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by Klazu

In Seattle I just love how they have built Downtown in such a steep place. Having tall skyscrapers at a location like that is just crazy. I wonder if Downtown Seattle ever sees snow or frozen streets? If it does, many od those intersections must be interesting during those times...

Seattle does get snow, though somewhat less than Vancouver. What it does get is more feezing rain. I remember many years ago, March 1st, Vancouver had rain, Seattle was glazed in ice.
What a rambunctious mess they had, with those hills. BTW, the hills of San Fran are infinitely more dramatic than Seattle's, though I like the hilliness of Seattle, too.

[Klazu]

Word of advise for others. If you book to travel with an oversized vehicle on BC Ferries, do also show up with an oversized vehicle.

This past weekend we took a ferry between Horseshoe Bay and Nanaimo and having booked our tickets long in the past, we originally thought of taking our bikes with us on our car's roof. This is naturally doesn't fit on the upper deck of the ferries, so we had booked a spot for an oversized vehicle.

Well, you all know what the weather was like last weekend, so we scratched our original plan and left our bikes home. However arriving in Horseshoe Bay we were advised that since we had booked as an oversized vehicle and showed up with undersize car, they do not honour our reservation. So we lost the $30 bucks for our reservation and had to travel on standby, someone else traveling on standby being given our spot.

This is stupid, but we had no option and due to it being a long weekend, we had to wait one sailing and 3.5 hours Nanaimo bound and two sailings and over 5 hours on the way back.

With hindsight, the tickets do have a small text about this, but it only mentions the lenght of the car and not the height of it. So yeah, pretty nasty to find this out at the terminal and fortunately there was space on the ferries. On the way back it sounded like dozens of travelers did not fit on the last ferry of the evening, having so stay an extra night in Nanaimo.

We need more ferries and a bit more relaxed rules.

[SpongeG]

World's largest light maze for christmas opens next week next to a new christmas market near the olympic village - full info etc in the nightlife discussion thread

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

World's largest light maze for christmas opens next week next to a new christmas market near the olympic village - full info etc in the nightlife discussion thread

Thanks for the tip and it did look cool when I walked by this week. I don't think it's open yet, but have to check it out better.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Thanks for the tip and it did look cool when I walked by this week. I don't think it's open yet, but have to check it out better.

If it merits it, please take some pictures for us!!

[Klazu]

Oh boy, was Whistler amazing today!! 86cm of new snow in last 48 hours, incredible 192cm in the last 7 days (!!) and a sweet base of 208cm. The cumulative snowfall so far is at 302cm - in November!

As one can guess, it was super busy with many traveling to Whistler to start their season on an amazing Pow Day. We left Burnaby right after 6am which is normally enough to easily make it to the first upload, but not today. Traffic was heavy all the way from Vancouver and after Alice Lake the heavy rain changed to heavy snowfall. I have never driven to Whistler in a heavy snowfall and the traffic became crawling. People with summer tires (and there were many) were in big trouble and we saw many Beamers and Audis stuck in snow.

They even said on Mountain FM that RCMP was conducting winter tire / chain inspections, as those were pretty much required, but we didn't see any police. It was very slippery even with winter tires, but we had no problems outside of the traffic that got completely standstill some 5 kilometers before Creekside, taking us 45 minutes to get in the parkade.

The crew had worked all night to open many new runs, but the heavy snowfall had covered everything and the snow was very deep even on the groomed runs. Lots of fun but also so much work to ski those runs and we only managed to do 6 runs during the whole day, as lift queues were very long. It was definitely the busiest first weekend I have ever seen in Whistler.

This was the deepest Powder Day I have ever seen in Whistler and I am sure that people who enjoy such were thrilled. The forecast calls for even more snow in the coming day, so pretty sure we will drive up again next weekend!

[SpongeG]

love it or list it vancouver, I watch it often and the original Love it or list it, which was primarily toronto area, so watching the Vancouver one it seems every episode they run into huge unseen costs and are often due to city codes or requirements which has me wondering, i don't ever recall the toronto version of the show having so many problems.

One of the last episodes i saw in a vancouver house it has sprinklers installed which is a new requirement, so the previous owners struck a deal with the city so they could move into the house to fix it but apparently just sold it and moved out leaving the unsuspecting owners the problem which turned out to be a huge one, i think it was $30,000 to deal with, they had to dig up the street apparently. Other episodes i've seen it happen twice now, the home owners had to install a new power pole at their cost.

Anyway I guess is Vancouver a hard place to build or renovate a house compared to most cities? some of the things that pop up leave the homeowners gobsmacked

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

love it or list it vancouver, I watch it often and the original Love it or list it, which was primarily toronto area, so watching the Vancouver one it seems every episode they run into huge unseen costs and are often due to city codes or requirements which has me wondering, i don't ever recall the toronto version of the show having so many problems.

One of the last episodes i saw in a vancouver house it has sprinklers installed which is a new requirement, so the previous owners struck a deal with the city so they could move into the house to fix it but apparently just sold it and moved out leaving the unsuspecting owners the problem which turned out to be a huge one, i think it was $30,000 to deal with, they had to dig up the street apparently. Other episodes i've seen it happen twice now, the home owners had to install a new power pole at their cost.

Anyway I guess is Vancouver a hard place to build or renovate a house compared to most cities? some of the things that pop up leave the homeowners gobsmacked

What? You need sprinklers in a SFH now? Are there anymore costs Vision can pile on!

[Klazu]

58-storey luxury condo skyscraper in San Francisco is sinking and leaning. Have such happened ever in Vancouver? Big parts of Yaletown and Coal Harbour are built on reclaimed land...

Would be interesting to know how they plan on dealing with the problem as it is sinking with speed.

• Video Link

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by Klazu

58-storey luxury condo skyscraper in San Francisco is sinking and leaning. Have such happened ever in Vancouver? Big parts of Yaletown and Coal Harbour are built on reclaimed land...

Would be interesting to know how they plan on dealing with the problem as it is sinking with speed.

• Video Link

Well I guess you just have to build a suitable foundation for the soil conditions (including reclaimed land). Saw some articles mentioning engineered solutions or just leaving it as is.

[Changing City]

"What? You need sprinklers in a SFH now? Are there anymore costs Vision can pile on!"

Hm - not sure where you've been in the past 26 years. Vancouver has mandated sprinklers for one and two-family dwellings since April 1990. That would have been under Mayor Gordon Campbell. NPA.