Downtown Vancouver Updates

[vansky]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

i know people from the burbs - they don't desire or go downtown that much - at least not from the eastern suburbs - there are plenty of places out here for them to go too

maybe the north shore suburbs go downtown, or richmond ones but for the most part its vancouver people

for sometime in my life, i think i never went downtown, but there's plenty of life now in richmond....

[Metro-One]

I know that the majority of people in Maple Ridge go out in Maple Ridge itself or the tri-city area. Rarely do people go downtown (in fact I go downtown far more than the average person here for fun, simply because that is where most of my friends are based)

I love hearing the "its people from the burbs causing the trouble" For me it echos more famous quotes such as "Its because of the Jews! Its the Blacks! The Irish! The Italian! The Catholics! It is not my child, it is the other children in the classroom, etc..."

[raggedy13]

Having grown up in the South Surrey / White Rock area, I know lots of people there that go downtown fairly often (especially for birthdays where they go in huge groups in limos / party buses) and they always go to the big generic clubs on Granville Street. They definitely make up the skanky girls and chachi douchebag guys you see on Granville.

[SpongeG]

for special occasions but its unfair to label them douchebags and skanks

just as many of those are in vancouver city proper

[raggedy13]

^I'm just labeling the people that I know are douchebags and skanks because I went to high school with them.

I've got a Vancouver group of friends and a South Surrey / White Rock group of friends. There are several, very stereotypical skanks in my group of SS/WR friends. I didn't 'choose' to be friends with these people, but it was essentially an unavoidable outcome of growing up in that area. They're nice enough people and all (and they're not all skanks) but among them are more than a few of your typical ditzy, bleach-blond "I've been out of highschool for 5+ years and still work at the same place I worked in grade 12" type girls.

Luckily none of my guy friends are douchebags cause I just wouldn't be friends with them if they were, but when they go out to the club you wouldn't be able to tell the difference because of the chachi way they dress (short spiky hair with too much gel in it, collared shirts buttoned down showing off their undershirt and chains, pierced ear/eyebrow, overpriced watches, etc.). And of course the odd time I am out at the generic clubs on the Granville strip (always with my SS/WR friends) I pretty well always run into other skanky / douchey people I knew from high school.

They don't go exclusively downtown but the places outside of downtown that they do go to are the same sort of skanky / douchey places like the OB at White Rock Beach or the Mirage in North Surrey.

Anywho, I'm not saying the Granville strip is exclusively suburbanites but there are definitely a higher concentration of suburbanites (from my experience) and definitely a higher concentration of skanks / douches (regardless of their city of origin).

[WarrenC12]

I grew up in Burnaby and could pretty much duplicate what raggedy13 said. It is definitely the upper middle class suburban kids that are "growing up" and causing a large portion of the trouble in the Granville St area. Factors that lead to this are:

1) Money - kids are from well off families, maybe they don't need to work.
2) Access to a car to drive downtown
3) Need to "get away" as they are still living at home in their mid to late 20s, maybe with strict parents.

#3 can be a cultural thing, but regardless leads to them over-compensating when they are out of the house, doing stupid things.

Over all of this is a general lack of respect for society that young people have these days. Now excuse me as I hike my pants up and write a letter to the newspaper.

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

I grew up in Burnaby and could pretty much duplicate what raggedy13 said. It is definitely the upper middle class suburban kids that are "growing up" and causing a large portion of the trouble in the Granville St area. Factors that lead to this are:

1) Money - kids are from well off families, maybe they don't need to work.
2) Access to a car to drive downtown
3) Need to "get away" as they are still living at home in their mid to late 20s, maybe with strict parents.

#3 can be a cultural thing, but regardless leads to them over-compensating when they are out of the house, doing stupid things.

Over all of this is a general lack of respect for society that young people have these days. Now excuse me as I hike my pants up and write a letter to the newspaper.

I still think this is somewhat B.S. for the average housing prices are more expensive than that of suburban communities, so if anyone has money it is those living within Vancouver's borders.

Also, especially when it comes to Burnaby, is there really any difference between it and Vancouver? To me it honestly feels like the same city, Boundary street to me really seems like an artificial divide and I doubt it is what makes all the difference in youth.
But then where do you draw the line? I wonder how many of the trouble makers are Vancouver residents from areas not on the downtown peninsula. Is the Broadway area considered suburban? Or is it the Oakridge area one draws the line? Or is it anything east of commercial that one thinks people become considerably higher in skanky and douchbag behavior?

I honestly think it is really juvenile to think that an areas problems all come from outside. It may seem that way because Granville street is the prime entertainment street in our metro area, and since around 75% of our population lives outside the Vancouver boundary it would only make sense that maybe 75% of the trouble makers come from the burbs, but that does not make their behavior any worse than that of youth from Vancouver, it is simply proportionate to their population mass.

Vancouver really does extend far beyond its current borders. Also, if this theory were true, than clubs downtown, due to the higher concentration of Vancouverites (and non sububanites) should be far safer than the clubs located in the heart of these trouble making nests in the suburbs, but they are not!

Also, just the same as many people along Granville street come from out of Vancouver's borders, so do the people that comprise the scenes in Gastown and Commercial. So what changes there???

Just seems silly thinking to me.

Also, from what I have found, the most spoiled privileged kids come from wealthy families located in the west end of Vancouver and even from areas such as Yaletown.

But as long as it makes people on here feel better I guess.

[GeeCee]

They sure did a real halfass job cleaning Sears..

They totally ignored one side of the building!


They also ignored the roof..


And the side of the building..

My pictures from Flickr

Better than nothing I suppose..

[nova9]

well the washed sides were from a lift so i imagine the roof was too tall and the other side is not accessible. hopefully they'll set up a rig to go from off the roof to finish this miracle!!

[Prometheus]

Maybe they will get those areas next time around, in like 15 years.

[Yume-sama]

They may have done a half 🞵🞵🞵 job, but the clean side actually looks GOOD!

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

They may have done a half 🞵🞵🞵 job, but the clean side actually looks GOOD!

Which is actually maddening because it shows how the building's potential is going inexplicably untapped. Architecturally, the building is actually quite modern and funky. It could look pretty cool and add more funk to the area if the following were done:

1) Clean the entire building to its original sparkling white.

2) Put up hip urban fashion billboards in the two places intended for them on the corner of Howe and Robson.

3) Put up giant high-definition screens at the corner of Granville and Robson. Ideally, it would be one screen, wrapping around the corner seamlessly. Even better, the cladding would be cut out, allowing the screen to be perfectly flush with the facade. The screen could display abstract art as well as advertising and information.

4) Put an LED strip along the entire underside of the bubble-shaped cornice.

5) Put up a much cooler-looking sign than the current dweeby Sears sign. In other words, get rid of Sears.

Can you picture it?

[Yume-sama]

It would be nice to see billboards for the stores inside Pacific Center on the outside of Sears.

Imagine Apple, H&M, Sony, etc.

[wrenegade]

They used to have some big poster ads on the outside of the building (Robson/Howe corner), I wonder why they don't continue to use those spaces? Are they not allowed to by the city anymore? There must be something amiss if that prime billboard space isn't being utilized.

[SpongeG]

probably too lazy

the last ones i remember were for celine dion's perfume

[mcminsen]

The South entrance to the library this morning about 5 AM. They had a new video projection on the windows above the entrance to the atrium.


Feb.5 '10 my pic

[trofirhen]

It's true that the cleaning job on Sears is half-assed, and the smoke stains on the upper level look gross. So .... why not go right, directly to the top manager, in person, and complain.

Years back, when Expo '86 was on its way to town, I thought that the interior of the Pacific Centre Mall looked suburban and cheap (linoleum floors with diagonal brown brick strips, and styrofoam ceilings). Bland, cheap, and ugly.

So I went to the Centre manager Buzz Golightly on my own hook, without an appointment, and told him that the mall did not reflect big city character or elegance, and that with Expo '86 soon due, this would make a mediocre impression. He replied "your point is well made." Whether that meant thanks for coming, but we'll manage it our way thanks, Or ... "thanks for the idea," I will never know.

Maybe my urging helped trigger it, maybe not, but a few months later, the entire mall, got a facelift into the somewhat classier green and white marbled theme it now has. Not perfect, but an improvement what was there before.

In conclusion, why not go (if there's enough time left) to Sears management and give 'em the straight goods?

Like chicken soup, "it wouldn't hoit."

[LeftCoaster]

There is no incentive for anyone to properly upkeep the building

Sears knows they arent going to stay... they wont put money into it.
Cadillac Fairview is trying to get them to leave... they wont put money into it.
Cadillac Fairview is trying to redevelop the site... they definitely wont put money into it.

Just be patient and wait for the re-development. The new structure wont need cleaning, just a window wash or two.

[GeeCee]

Not to mention the fact that Sears is currently owned by a hedge fund.. no interest in maintenance.

[Zassk]

The curving top of the building appears to be plated with fiberglass or plastic, unlike the panels on the sides. Perhaps that material is not easily cleaned with just a power washer.

I could live with the back side still being dirty, I just wish that something could be done to remove the stains on the curving top.