Trevor Boddy: The New Seattle (versus Vancouver)

[SpongeG]

since there are so many seattle people in this thread - do you think there is a good connection between vancouver and seattle than either city and other cities in other parts of the country

it seems to piss off toronto people and other canadians that vancouver and seattle have such a strong connection instead of having that connection with the rest of Canada...

at least it seems that way to me

[SEA-TOWN]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

since there are so many seattle people in this thread - do you think there is a good connection between vancouver and seattle than either city and other cities in other parts of the country

it seems to piss off toronto people and other canadians that vancouver and seattle have such a strong connection instead of having that connection with the rest of Canada...

at least it seems that way to me

I think it is very healthy considering it is trans-border

BTW, I found the 2005 estimates and the Japanese population estimate is now 40,115 for Washington as of 2005.
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADP...ame=ACS_2005_EST_G00_&-_lang=en&-_sse=on

Wow, I also just realized that the Indian population in Washington has nearly doubled since 2000. Still not even close to the Vancouver area though...

[SpongeG]

i noticed a lot of East indians in bellevue when i was there last week - i had never seen so many before in the area

[seaskyfan]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

since there are so many seattle people in this thread - do you think there is a good connection between vancouver and seattle than either city and other cities in other parts of the country

it seems to piss off toronto people and other canadians that vancouver and seattle have such a strong connection instead of having that connection with the rest of Canada...

at least it seems that way to me

I think so. For one thing a lot of folks back east in both countries think we're all flakes.

I for one feel a lot more "at home" in Vancouver than I do in most cities in the US. I also used to work in the environmental community and there was a lot of cross-border cooperation - way more so than you see in any other part of the US.

[Nutterbug]

Originally Posted by Rusty Gull

Nutterbug, where are you getting your stats on the Japanese populations in Seattle and Vancouver, respectively?

Hearsay, actually.

Also, the fact that Canada didn't allow its Japanese internees back to the coast until a few years after the Americans did left me with the impression that ours had been diminished moreso than Seattle's.

Did you know that we once had a thriving Japantown on Powell St. rivalling Chinatown in the Downtown Eastside prior to WWII, which was practically obliterated due to internment?

[Black Box]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

since there are so many seattle people in this thread - do you think there is a good connection between vancouver and seattle than either city and other cities in other parts of the country

it seems to piss off toronto people and other canadians that vancouver and seattle have such a strong connection instead of having that connection with the rest of Canada...

at least it seems that way to me

I think that I'm going to post more often in the British Columbia sub-forum. By my experience, it does not seem to matter much if Seattle and Vancouver appear to have a closer relationship than say, Seattle and our country's principal city, New York (I spend a good amount of time out there) versus your country's principal city (Toronto). It just does not register. However, I am wholly aware that our two cities do have a very long history of trying to reconcile the border thing. Fine, get your insecurities and shortcomings (perceived or otherwise) of the other city out of the way, but each plays a part and many folks in this discussion are arguing very fine points that most people do not even think about (even if you think they should). I mean, there are only 13-14 THOUSAND people registered to SSP and I cannot imagine it being that much higher at SSC. It may be real and more personal to the parties involved, but whatever you think your purpose is on this forum, it merely serves as an abstract to what value you think your respective city has or represents despite how concrete that reality is demonstrated. In this regard, yes, Vancouver is the darling of the urban planning community, consistently ranks high in livability ratings and pulls in the talent for the movie-making crowd. Seattle has demonstrated successes in the world of commerce, music and that whole new global health-philanthropy bit. Our opinions only partly reflect real life consequences and everyday realities, but many of the nuances that we're debating about do not register in the popular reality of how instantly one may make choices about what they want or what they have before them. Most of our opinions come with having experienced the luxuries of our western upbringing. Surely there are exceptions, but considering the hyper-examination of the minutae expressed throughout this thread (and many before it and yet to come) the to and fro seems useless when one is attempting to highlight the positives of one's living environment that many of us take for granted. I'm going back to my Dick Curless soundtrack now..... Blast away.

[twoNeurons]

i [heart] uniqlo. I would love some competition to fujiya too. Konbinya is HORRIBLE, selling expired food and overpriced.

[mezzanine]

^Uniqlo has its first NA store in Manhattan - it is awesome! hopefully, we'll see it here...

Konbiniya is allright... it has a certain bonhommie charm - if you've ever been in a convienice store in Japan at 0300 in the AM (Japanese scuzzy, which is still pretty good by NA standard) that's about it. The expired snack food is also discounted so if you are jonesing for exciting flavours of pocky and hi-crown chocolate, you don't break the bank.

If you go there at 2300 on a weekday, it's surprising how busy it is - tipsy party goers from shenannigans, underage kids trying to buy cigs and lots o' languange students...

[Rusty Gull]

Yes, Muji would be a welcome addition to the Vancouver retail landscape. One other prominent Japanese retailer I forgot to mention: BookOff -- which has a great location underneath the HSBC Building on Hornby.

As for Powell Street and surroundings, it is a civic shame what has happened to that area. At least the heritage watchdogs have the 'hood on their Top 10 Endangered sites. But what little of history in the area is left is under siege from the local drug scene.

[Rusty Gull]

Seattle and Vancouver have a better bond than, say, Toronto and neighbouring Buffalo, New York (the latter two cities despise eachother). However, it's a shame there are not even stronger synergies. The whole co-hosting of major events is a concept long overdue; and why don't pro sports teams like the Seahawks or Canucks play exhibition games in their neighbour city's stadiums?

Business/work has taken me to Toronto often (and other eastern cities), but very seldom to Seattle. Fortunately, I'm not shy to travel to Seattle for fun. I think Vancouver has to take some blame for this. The city can be so inward looking at times that it fails to recognize the dynamic metro right under our noses.

Additionally, I think Seattle has taken the leadership role in the Pacific Northwest, whereas Vancouver seems only content to play a vague international role in the Asia Pacific context. However, Vancouver seems unwilling to take a leadership role in terms of the Canadian West (that title seems to go to Calgary, in my opinion).

I would love to see a high-speed rail link between Seattle and Vancouver; providing the same kind of seamless, downtown-to-downtown connection afforded to major metros like Tokyo and Osaka.

[Nutterbug]

Originally Posted by Rusty Gull

Seattle and Vancouver have a better bond than, say, Toronto and neighbouring Buffalo, New York (the latter two cities despise eachother).

Is that because of the Leafs-Sabres rivalry?

[seaskyfan]

Does Toronto really spend a lot of time thinking about Buffalo?

[SpongeG]

i wonder

i just think there always seems to be two cities which work well together or have a thing going

like London - Paris, Toronto - Montreal, Edmonton - Calgary, Seattle - Vancouver etc.

just from the people i know at work there are loads of relationships between the two places - at least 3 people in my department have lived and worked at some point in seattle, another woman she married a seattle person and lived down there until they divorced

and than there are loads of people who date people from there, or do business - like how starbucks came to vancouver when it expanded out of the country, or taco del mar, or how krispy kreme for the NW is a washington based company but they own the rights to Wa, BC and alaska - where as the KK in the rest of Canada was out of Ontario, and tommy bahama a seattle based co. opened its only Canadian store in Vancouver

and the same happens in reverse often Vancouver companies wishing to expand will look to Seattle or bellingham first before thinking of heading east

[Black Box]

MUJI is COOL! MoMA carries many MUJI products.

[Rusty Gull]

>>Does Toronto really spend a lot of time thinking about Buffalo?

Yes. Many Torontonians have "Buffalo envy" -- they may despise the city, but they crave the Queen City's architecture and more importantly, its National Football League franchise.

[glacierhike]

I have a sister who lives in the Seattle area. With the climate geography and culture of the pacific northwest I certainly would feel more at home in Seattle than in Toronto. It would be interesting too see the number of people from Washington State living in BC and how many from BC live in Washington State. I understand the numbers of people from say Toronto to Vancouver or Vancouver to Toronto would be much higher because we share the same country. Too lazy to do the work I am working seven days a week! LOL
Anyone help me with the numbers?

[Nutterbug]

Originally Posted by Rusty Gull

>>Does Toronto really spend a lot of time thinking about Buffalo?

Yes. Many Torontonians have "Buffalo envy" -- they may despise the city, but they crave the Queen City's architecture and more importantly, its National Football League franchise.

I figured it probably worked the other way, with Toronto practically stealing Niagara Falls from Buffalo's doorstep as its side attraction by having a border run through the river.

[Rusty Gull]

Well, this should probably be in the Canada section, as we're getting into more of a nuanced Canada/Ontario discussion, but many would argue that Toronto has never done a thing for the Niagara Peninsula, particularly Niagara Falls. Now that the area has rebounded, the GTA is jumping on the bandwagon -- but when Niagara Falls was down for the count during the 1990s, its big brother Toronto was nowhere to be seen.

Of course, Niagara Falls New York and its relationship between Buffalo, Albany and NYC is even more bizarre and complex.

[Rusty Gull]

But I think it says a lot that Vancouver and Seattle want to work together to co-host major sporting or cultural events in the future, whereas that would never be dreamed of for Toronto/Buffalo.

Interesting to note: The Vancouver Sun has just launched a "Cascadia" section in their Saturday issue, which will feature news from BC, AB, Yukon, Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana. I like this idea, actually. I just hope it works.

British Columbians tend to be too insular. The Sun used to have a section called "The West", devoted to BC, Yukon, AB, SK, and Manitoba, but it failed miserably. Apparently Vancouverites didn't want to read about the goings on in Brandon, MB.

[Overground]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

i would settle for MUJI

damn i loved that store in the UK

I really miss that shop. I actually emailed them awhile back about expansion to Canada but I haven't had a reply back yet. I think that company would absolutely thrive here in Van, it seems such a no-brainer it's almost silly.

On other retail feedbacks I've received. Yoshinoya Japanese food chain popular in Japan and California gave a positive feedback about expansion here but nothing concrete. The same went for In-N-Out Burger.