Downtown Vancouver Updates

[eduardo88]

yeah i wish the city had a bigger recycling program. there should be separate bins for glass, paper, and everything else just like they have in germany, something like this...

[deasine]

Originally Posted by raggedy13

Here's a pic I took of one yesterday. I hadn't heard about them having compactors but when I saw this one the thought definitely crossed my mind. The hatch on it is just like one you'd find on a mail box - sort of like a seesawing bucket. And they look pretty heavy-duty to boot. I'm a bit disappointed they don't have some sort of recycling boxes around there though.

More pictures on the Olympic Village Thread.

I was wondering why they looked so boxy and ugly: very different than the ones we have across Vancouver. But because they are trash compactors, they aren't ugly anymore XD

Like others, I am disappointed how we don't even have recycling bins across Vancouver. That recycling rack is useless and is often filled with trash.


Source: Urban Vancouver

How about include Recycling Bins that are exactly the same as the one above painted in a light blue with huge recycle logos on top. Then get rid of that ugly recycling rack.

[eduardo88]

i guess the recycling rack is just so bums dont have to go through the rest of the rubbish to get their cans/bottles?


i'm so surprised theres no recycling bins in the city...such a contrast to germany...its so crazy the garbage area for my flat in berlin has so (maybe too) many different bins...brown glass, green glass, white glass, paper/cardboard, organic material, plastic/packaging and everything else, plus a small one for batteries and other toxic items.

[raggedy13]

Here are a few more construction updates for projects that don't seem to have their own threads and at this point probably don't need one:

The Foundry:




Raffles:

I quite like how Raffles has turned out. Nothing groundbreaking but a great looking building nonetheless.








Cooper's Park towers:

[deasine]

Originally Posted by eduardo88

i guess the recycling rack is just so bums dont have to go through the rest of the rubbish to get their cans/bottles?


i'm so surprised theres no recycling bins in the city...such a contrast to germany...its so crazy the garbage area for my flat in berlin has so (maybe too) many different bins...brown glass, green glass, white glass, paper/cardboard, organic material, plastic/packaging and everything else, plus a small one for batteries and other toxic items.

And Vancouver is the best recyclers in Canada [I think North America] Yet we don't have recycling bins... even Hong Kong has them X_X


Source: HSBC Projects

Oh wait I just realized, if we have recycling bins, can you imagine how many more people with shopping carts and garbage bags will be reaching into them to get all the cans and bottles out? =O Oh well, I guess the city doesn't need to hire more ppl =)

[eduardo88]

well at least vancouver has something of a recycling program...london's got absolutely NOTHING, its sad to think of the amount of garbage that could be stopped from reaching a landfill...especially when over 2 million free newspapers are handed out every day and they just all go into landfills...ridiculous! and theres going to be no recycling until 2010 earliest, and thats only going to be for paper products...

[SpongeG]

teh garbage gets sorted at the garbage facility

they have people who sort it all out there - i have seen people doing sorting when i dropped off trash a few times

what a gross job

[deasine]

Eww that is disgusting. Still, I would prefer to see the public do the sorting so that you can bring the awareness to recycling and the importance of doing so. It's better to teach the kid the clean up rather than always helping the kid clean up.

[David]

The Bartholemew proposal was to go all the way up the hill to back on to Davie Street. I'm not sure I like the idea of losing the whole Burnaby/Harwood neighbourhood of the West End. It is quite nice.

[SpongeG]

apparently the odyssey is closing in october - heard last night

[Coldrsx]

Raffles does look quite well done....unlike cooper's/mariner etc. Concord fails again.

[eduardo88]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Raffles does look quite well done....unlike cooper's/mariner etc. Concord fails again.

raffles just looks so much higher quality, everything concord does seems as if theres minimal effort put into the design and execution...can't believe the city approved so many mediocre designs for such a high profile area as false creek

[officedweller]

Raffles is a pleasant surprise. Real granite on a condo? Wow.

The recycling rack on the garbage cans was an obvious afterthought by Viacom Decaux (the City's contractor) - probably after damage to the cans from binners getting bottles and cans (opening up the back and pulling out the bin). i.e. There is no deposit system in Ontario - so they were probably unfamiliar with the situation and applied a "standard" solution to their Vancouver design. Miserable failure in my view.
Any "recycling bin" on the street should open on top and be accessible to binners - afterall, if they don't sort the bottles and cans, taxpayers will pay a City worker to do that (at union rates)!

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by Smooth

Here's some other pictures from the article...


1970 drawing of False Creek and downtown showing buildings that were never built. The 50-storey Socred courthouse is the tall building downtown.


Stewart McMorran and Robert Bonner look over an early model for the Social Credit government's proposed high-rise courthouse downtown in 1966. This is a 30 storey model: the project eventually would be up to 50 storeys, which would have been the tallest building in Vancouver. Ralph Bower photo.

Thanks for posting!

I think these are the only pics I've ever seen of the tall courthouse project (subsequently "laid on its side" by the NDP to become Robson Square).

[SLC]

Here's more info on the garbage compactors:

http://www.bigbellysolar.com/products/

The city really should implement a recycling program for the streets, and get rid of the existing garbage cans which are now quite dirty and often have garbage in the recycle racks. This issue should be raised in the upcoming mayoral race, considering the city wants to be so eco-friendly.

[deasine]

thanks SLC. I took the video off their website and uploaded to youtube

• Video Link

And no i guess we have raccoon meat anymore XP

[hollywoodnorth]

Originally Posted by deasine

thanks SLC. I took the video off their website and uploaded to youtube

• Video Link

And no i guess we have raccoon meat anymore XP

I dont like have you have to actually TOUCH it to open it. ICKY!

[raggedy13]

Interesting video, thanks guys.

Vancouver sure seemed to like its white-lined, black-glassed office buildings back in the day - I'm thinking Bentall Centre, 777 Hornby, Nelson Square, etc.

[raggedy13]

And speaking of offices, does anybody have any idea when the Metro Core Jobs Study is supposed to wrap up? I'm keen to see if they decide to allow increased commercial density in the core.

[officedweller]

Compare the proposed Court House (above) to the Hawaii State Capitol Building in these Wikipedia pics: