Park Hyatt (1128 W Georgia) | 197m | 62 fl | Completed

[androo3]

Originally Posted by Hong Kongese

Seattle is as old as Van and has a population slightly more than us. Calgary is younger and has only a million people. But both cities look and feel much bigger than Vancouver with all those hugh tall office buildings and freeways.

I would take Vancouver over either city any day, no matter how tall their towers are. Although I would like to see taller towers too.

[androo3]

Originally Posted by alta-bc

Another area that has seen "no change"

YVR 1986

Is this Abbotsford airport ... ahhh ha ha ha

[giallo]

Well, Seattle feels bigger because it is, but Calgary doesn't feel bigger at all. The downtown is really growing though. When the Beltline fills out it will definitely be able to compete. Although, by the time that happens Vancouver's downtown will have spilled out all the way to Fraser St. Actually, that brings up a question:

How long until Vancouver has a solid, uninterrupted urban streetscape all the way until Commercial Drive?

[vanman]

Originally Posted by Hong Kongese

Seattle is as old as Van and has a population slightly more than us. Calgary is younger and has only a million people. But both cities look and feel much bigger than Vancouver with all those hugh tall office buildings and freeways.

Not exactly. I can't speak for Calgary cause I've never been there but Seattle didn't 'feel' any bigger than Vancouver during the times that I was there. Sure the city might look bigger (which it is obviously) from a distance but at street level some parts almost felt suburban with the lack of street life. There is a lot more to a city than just the height of it's buildings. Street grids, streetwalls, and pedestrian activity are all crucial to any city.

[canucks23]

^ Amen, I totally agree with you.

[vansky]

Originally Posted by vanman

Not exactly. I can't speak for Calgary cause I've never been there but Seattle didn't 'feel' any bigger than Vancouver during the times that I was there. Sure the city might look bigger (which it is obviously) from a distance but at street level some parts almost felt suburban with the lack of street life. There is a lot more to a city than just the height of it's buildings. Street grids, streetwalls, and pedestrian activity are all crucial to any city.

ya, that's true. but i think what hongkong meant was that they have "city like" infastructure (big and interlacing highways and tall office buildings), but we have village like stuff. smaller roads, thin highways and a lot of trees. but like i said, anything manmade would look pretty insignificant against the natural setting we have here. say a big bridge like the lions gate really looks like a toy against the mountains and water. but again, a major river like the ones u have in calgary, ed or winni would feel like a little stream compare to the ones u find here. u can really notice that for sure.

[towerguy3]

Can Shangri-La be seen from Nanaimo? According to my calculations it now should. I checked GoogleEarth and there is a line of sight between Nanaimo and top of Shangri-La. The trees of Stanley Park may be in the way. A photo would verify.

So anyone on the Island, a pic through a telephoto lens would be nice...

[Lee_Haber8]

Originally Posted by vansky

we really have to be modest about yaletown. say, compare to places having 7% + GDP growth, such as calgary a few yrs ago. our change seems small. especially during the 90s. that is mainly what i refer to. van had lots of change from 1930s onward, especially during the 60s and 70s, skyscrapers that are standing in downtown today went up mainly during the 70s. Lots happened during pre expo. but that was the 70s and 80s. calgary seems to be newer, taller and more energetic, as van is getting old. to be honest, calgary is what's been hurting van's confidence for the past few years, and still remain as van's hot rival in economic performance. look at the bow as it is growing up rapidly. and where's the long forgotten fringe towers. we need taller buildings to boost up the city's confidence.

I think a livable and beautiful city is a lot more important than having tall buildings. Many American cities have nice skyscrapers, but that doesn't make them great, in fact many of them are quite shitty. Vancouver is light years ahead of Calgary when it comes to building on a human-scale and creating a vibrant city

[SFUVancouver]

(My photo, taken February 16th, 2008)

[raggedy13]

^Great pic. I'm so jealous of your view.

Here is a quick pic from last night...

[Nites]

Originally Posted by ckkelley

Wow, it's nearly unrecognizable!

[Delirium]

from www.flickr.com

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by vansky

we really have to be modest about yaletown. say, compare to places having 7% + GDP growth, such as calgary a few yrs ago. our change seems small. especially during the 90s. that is mainly what i refer to. van had lots of change from 1930s onward, especially during the 60s and 70s, skyscrapers that are standing in downtown today went up mainly during the 70s. Lots happened during pre expo. but that was the 70s and 80s. calgary seems to be newer, taller and more energetic, as van is getting old. to be honest, calgary is what's been hurting van's confidence for the past few years, and still remain as van's hot rival in economic performance. look at the bow as it is growing up rapidly. and where's the long forgotten fringe towers. we need taller buildings to boost up the city's confidence.

calgary doesn't have surrey, new westminster, burnaby, north van, richmond, coquitlam to compete with like Vancouver does

now imagine if the 100 or so towers that have gone up in those suburbs had been added to the city of Vancouver

metrotowns twin towers
Surrey Central
Obelisk (coqutilam)
edmonds
highgate
gateway
etc etc

[phesto]

Here are a couple more from flickr:


Shot at 2008-02-17


Shot at 2008-02-17 from Harbour Centre

[vanman]

Shangri la from yesterday:

[LukeMasonTRGRealty]

Im much more interested in seeing the Ritz get finished, i find Shangri-la to be a bit of an eye sore.

[98fb]

Originally Posted by LukeMasonTRGRealty

Im much more interested in seeing the Ritz get finished, i find Shangri-la to be a bit of an eye sore.

Agree, ritz is going to be by far the best building in Van and Canada.

It's so sexy

[vansky]

ya, i totoally agree. shangri-la is a lonely stick...

ritz is much more stylish, and probably would take sl over as the true landmark later.

[Phil McAvity]

Originally Posted by vansky

....vancouver seems to never change, but things should really change, i vote for obama.

Many of you jumped down his throat for that comment seemingly oblivious to the fact he said "seems to never change". All he was offering was his opinion on the way he sees Vancouver and I don't have a problem with that at all. In fact, if he was referring to skyscrapers being built, there hasn't been much change in the height of the skyline (until recently of course) in about 30 years.

[Cypherus]

Shangri-la has been topped out (floor-wise) for quite some time since the glass is catching up to the top. I am assuming that the roof fins won't be installed until the glass is right to the top floor pent-house, cosidering the fins are a extension component of the glass.