https://dailyhive.com/toronto/toronto-meadoway-park-renderings
Monday, January 31, 2022
More snowfall for-Toronto
https://dailyhive.com/toronto/special-weather-statement-snowfall-toronto
Who really likes cold & crappy weather? Most just try to endure it. At least Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa & even Winnipeg are better prepared to handle the snow & ice. All of these cities have better infrastructure than Vancouver & Victoria. At some point, perhaps a significant number of people will start to ask, why is Canada pushing infrastructure & growth mostly in the colder parts of the country? Of course most of Canada gets a harsh winter, when usually Vancouver & Victoria just get an abbreviated or watered down winter. Sometimes its simply more like an extended fall. Yet, most other Canadian cities have wider roads than what Greater Vancouver & Victoria allow. Vancouver & BC really made it a point to have significantly shorter SkyTrain stations than the TTC Subway & Montreal Metro stations. Even the Edmonton LRT in the late 1970s built longer underground stations than what backward Vancouver would do. Of course Ottawa has longer stations as well as wider roads than Vancouver.
https://globalnews.ca/news/8516392/toronto-highways-401-drivers-stuck-ontario-winter-storm-weather Of course Toronto & Montreal can occasionally get blocked up from too much snow. But they always have the wider roads & longer trains than what Vancouver allows. The Vancouver & BC way is to continually hold back or thwart urban infrastructure growth.
Any major urban area has to have a good road system & an efficient transit network.
One has to wonder with short train planning & keeping the roads narrow, where has all the money gone over the past several decades?
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-most-congested-city-canada-2020
https://www.autoloansolutions.ca/blog/canadas-3-worst-cities-for-traffic-and-how-to-survive-them/
Montreal-weather-heavy-snowfall-forecast
https://dailyhive.com/montreal/montreal-weather-heavy-snowfall-forecast
Although it can get very cold at times, at lest the Montreal_Metro is built on a grand scale for a big city. Being from backward Vancouver, one can only imagine if the SkyTrain could have been built on a similar grand scale. All the SkyTrain stations should have been built with a future provision to have 500ft or 152.5m long platforms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyTrain_rolling_stock#Summary
Instead, the first 2 lines are just barely half the length of a Montreal station. The 3rd line was only built to ultimately have only 50m stations. Not even quite a 3rd of the length of a 152.5m Montreal Metro station.
https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/metro-service-partially-disrupted-on-orange-line
Early-work-expedites-Surrey-SkyTrain-project
https://www.reminetwork.com/articles/early-work-expedites-surrey-skytrain-project
Montreal & Toronto were able to build 500ft or 152.5m long stations right from the start. The SkyTrain could have been constructed in a way where there was a future provision to have 152.5m stations instead of 80m & 50m truncated stops.
https://www.reminetwork.com/tags/surrey-langley-skytrain
https://the-intersection-point.blogspot.com/search?q=SkyTrain
north-shore-skytrain-burnaby-metrotown
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/north-shore-skytrain-burnaby-metrotown
Of course it would make more sense to have a subway near the LG Bridge or along the SeaBus route.
But backward Vancouver & BC thinking keeps getting in the way of logic & efficiency.
https://the-intersection-point.blogspot.com/search?q=SkyTrain
Burnaby-mountain-sfu-gondola-route-selection
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/city-of-burnaby-mountain-sfu-gondola-route-selection-official
This is a lot cheaper than trying to run a SkyTrain up there.
https://the-intersection-point.blogspot.com/search?q=SkyTrain
Monday, January 24, 2022
Tunnel boring machines for Broadway Subway to arrive in Vancouver this spring
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/broadway-subway-tunnel-boring-machines There is a way to construct train stations so that they can be easily lengthened as demand increases. Unfortunately, that's not the Vancouver & BC way.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/mark-v-skytrain-design-translink When so many cities planned for 8-10 car trains, Vancouver can only max out with 5 car trains. Its always better to build longer stations & wider bridges in the first place.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/skytrain-station-platform-extension
Apparently, short trains and narrow roads are the best way for Vancouver to deal with its transportation congestion. Of course since most cities don't take a small scale planing approach like Vancouver does, they are able to have larger underground stations that allow for longer trains, wider bridges that make it easier to have bus & HOV lanes.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canada-line-skytrain This is so sad & pathetic for backward BC. Clearly, this was built in symbolic defiance of the 152.5m or 500ft. long stations that the Toronto Subway & the Montreal Metro have. Instead of building all of the Canada Line with 152.5m long stations, the C Line was only designed to have 50m or 164ft. stations. This is classic Vancouver & BC inept logic at its best. Instead of running a 152.5m Montreal metro train every 5 minutes, a short BC train could be run 3 times every 6 minutes. Considering that Vancouver opted to not ever have a freeway to the airport & ferry terminal, a provision for a 500ft long train should have been made, right from the start.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/short-platforms-and-trains-is-the-skytrain-canada-line-under-built-and-nearing-capacity Ultimately, there will only be 50m long trains on the Canada line, that's less than a 3rd of the 152.5m Montreal Metro trains. Unlike Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary & Seattle, Vancouver has been under a multi-generational small town mindset. Short trains & short buildings, narrow bridges & narrow roads, etc., are all indicative of a, KEEP THEM OUT agenda. If you plan & build big city infrastructure, you are indicating that you accept substantial urban population growth & density. Extremely restrictive Vancouver & BC is all about thwarting the influx of people and that's how the power-structure likes it.
A similar restrictive power-structure or multi-generational mindset has never been able to take over Alberta or Washington State. Thus, they are able to allow infrastructure to exist on a much larger scale.
More homes began construction in Surrey than in Vancouver
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/metro-vancouver-housing-starts-2021-2
Not a surprise since Vancouver has no control over Surrey.
Thursday, January 20, 2022
Wednesday, January 19, 2022
Seattle Climate Pledge Arena
The Climate_Pledge_Arena is a fine example of a building from 1962 that has been upgraded to modern standards.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_Pledge_Arena#Redevelopment_into_Climate_Pledge_Arena
https://dailyhive.com/seattle/climate-pledge-arena-seattle-amazon
Plaza of Nations slow redevelopment process in Vancouver, BC
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/plaza-of-nations-hong-leong-oei-concord-pacific-bc-appeal-decision
Some 3 and a half decades after Expo 86, the Plaza_of_Nations is still a dead zone.
https://plazaofnations.com/redevelopment-plans/
https://www.urbanyvr.com/plaza-of-nations-redevelopment/
https://rezoning.vancouver.ca/applications/750pacific/index.htm
.jpg/800px-Marina_Bay%2C_Financial_District_and_Singapore_River_(35622190292).jpg)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore#Economy
Unlike little Vancouver with all of its overpowering building size restrictions and overall imposed infrastructure limitations, Singapore is allowed to build big and tall even right by the water.
Miami is also able to build up big and tall right next to the water, simply because its not under Vancouver type restrictions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Downtown_Miami
Of course one would expect Sydney, Melbourne and Perth to excel in a scale far beyond Vancouver. However, Brisbane also shows what is possible without Vancouver type building size restrictions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisbane#Urban_structure
In traditional Vancouver fashion, the city hasn't made it onto this list.
Tuesday, January 18, 2022
Montreal is the 17th most expensive Canadian rental city
https://dailyhive.com/montreal/montreal-expensive-canadian-rent-city-last-month
From a Vancouver perspective, Montreal gets taller buildings, better trains and roads and an overall better infrastructure for the money. Of course Vancouver usually has much more mild winter conditions.
https://dailyhive.com/montreal/average-rent-prices-each-montreal-borough
Canada's severe weather
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canada-severe-weather-2-billion-insured-damages
https://dailyhive.com/toronto/toronto-snow-removal-january-2022
https://dailyhive.com/toronto/storm-hangover-gta-road-conditions-worsen-tuesday-morning
The Nordic_countries are very use to cold and crappy weather.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_countries#Sovereign_states
28 million people in an area much smaller than Canada. Yet, there are those in Canada that would like to see immigration and population growth dramatically reduced.
Sunday, January 16, 2022
Toronto's Gardiner Expressway and DVP completely shut down due to snow
https://dailyhive.com/toronto/gardiner-dvp-shutdown-snow
Don't drive, take public transit and still get stuck.
https://dailyhive.com/toronto/toronto-blizzard-transit-delays
https://dailyhive.com/toronto/ttc-buses-streetcars-stuck-in-snow-photos
Saturday, January 15, 2022
Forced truck retirement could cause "chaos" for Metro Vancouver
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/unifor-truck-retirement-chaos-metro-vancouver
An impatient approach that will indeed cause more chaos.
https://www.unifor.org/news/all-news/unifor-calls-more-time-transition-container-trucks
Vancouver is Canada's most expensive city to rent in
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-expensive-canadian-city-rent
Yet, for all that higher cost of living, the infrastructure continues to be stunted or watered down.
Friday, January 14, 2022
79-storey tower proposed for Bloor and Bay
https://dailyhive.com/toronto/79-storey-tower-bloor-bay-renderings
All that way up and no 80th floor, WTH?
Toronto's Royal Bank Plaza
https://dailyhive.com/toronto/zara-owner-buy-toronto-royal-bank-plaza
| Roof | South Tower: 180 m (590 ft) North Tower: 114 m (374 ft) |
|---|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Bank_Plaza
| Floor count | South Tower: 41 North Tower: 26 |
|---|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Bank_Plaza#/media/File:Royal_Bank_Plaza_(8061882452).jpg
.jpg){kind=link}
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/rbc-plaza-amancio-ortega-1.6314011
Vancouver bogged down by garbage pickup delays
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-garbage-pick-up-delays
Most cities in Canada are use to functioning in winter conditions.
The 10-lane George Massey Bridge would have been completed this year
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/george-massey-bridge-opening-day
Unfortunately, in typical backward BC style, the bridge project was cancelled. An 8 lane tunnel option without any provision for a train isn't expected to open until 2030.
The Oak_Street_Bridge could have been modified to be 4 lanes northbound, if a new bridge west of it was built to handle 4 lanes from Granville Street going into Richmond.
BC has never been able to thwart the scale of infrastructure in Alberta and Washington State, let alone Ontario and Quebec. So those places and many more, are always to build on a larger scale than what is allowed in backward BC.
Most of Oak Street & Granville Street are 6 lanes wide. That's 12 lanes that never has to become a freeway, just a more efficient traffic corridor.
The 8 lane Granville_Street_Bridge could have been modified to handle 4 northbound lanes from Oak and 4 southbound lanes to Granville Street. Then like what several other cities do, is build more parallel bike bridges so that lanes don't have to be removed from the Granville_Street_Bridge & others.
That's what happened to the former 6 lane Burrard_Bridge. Now the Burrard_Bridge is a classic 4 lane funnel because the city was too cheap to build a parallel bike bridge.
The Ironworkers_Memorial_Second_Narrows_Crossing should have been designed to have 4 lanes each way plus 2 full width emergency lanes. Then by now it could have been a 10 lane bridge. A new rapid transit train & bike bridge should be built beside it.
The new UBC campus in downtown Kelowna
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/ubc-downtown-kelowna-campus-550-doyle-avenue
For the longest time, Vancouver was the only attempt of a big city in BC. Then Surrey, Coquitlam & Burnaby started to be more like a big city. Victoria remains as a provincial backwater, that isn't allowed to rival Edmonton, Winnipeg, Quebec City or even Halifax. Yet, Victoria is the most mild city in Canada, but the local power-structure continues to hold back Greater Victoria. Kelowna is the main city between Vancouver & Calgary. Now it really has a chance to eventually become another big city in BC.
Alberta just isn't under anything like the BC control system, So Calgary & Edmonton are able to be much bigger cities than Vancouver.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-population-growth-2021-2046-1.6106146
Record number of new homes registered in BC
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-new-home-registration-statistics-2021
There should have been a lot more rental units built in BC over the past few decades.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-median-rent-new-high
Unfortunately, there is a power-structure that wants to continually limit the influx of people moving into BC.
That's not the case in Alberta.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-population-growth-2021-2046-1.6106146
Highway 1 to reopen from Lytton to Spences Bridge
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/highway-1-lytton-spences-bridge-photos
Its always been difficult for BC to keep up with its stunted infrastructure.
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
Tuesday, January 11, 2022
PAW Patrol’s Adventure City
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/paw-patrol-adventure-city-vancouver
Both are inept cartoon or toy bridges.
Vancouver ranked as city with Canada's greenest transportation system
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-canada-greenest-transportation
But it hasn't been designed for adequate future capacity expansion.
City of North Vancouver emphasizes public transit in new transportation plan
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/city-of-north-vancouver-mobility-strategy-transportation-plan
Of course for Montreal having an 8 lane bridge with 2 tracks for a train isn't a problem.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champlain_Bridge_(Montreal,_2019%E2%80%93present)
Monday, January 10, 2022
Construction begins on Highway 99 bus-only lanes in Delta
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/highway-99-delta-bus-lanes
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/george-massey-highway-99-corridor-richmond-delta-upgrades
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/george-massey-tunnel-replacement-opinion
Of course the BC version has no provision for a rapid transit train.
Of course in Montreal it made sense to provide enough space for a train.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champlain_Bridge_(Montreal,_2019%E2%80%93present)
Friday, January 07, 2022
Thursday, January 06, 2022
Wednesday, January 05, 2022
Sunday, January 02, 2022
BC Ferries cancels multiple sailings due to strong winds
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-ferries-cancels-sailings-january
There is always the cold & crappy half of the year in Canada. Although winter is suppose to only be 3 dreadfully cold & dark months, some places can get winter like conditions from Halloween to Easter.
Vancouver experiences coldest temperature recorded in half a century
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-coldest-temperature-half-century
Usually one can escape the full force of winter if they are in Vancouver & Victoria. However, every now & then, there is a reminder that the cold crappy weather will reach every part of Canada.
11 movies and TV shows filming in Vancouver this January
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/11-movies-tv-shows-filming-vancouver-january
Winter is the worst time to be filming in Canada, even in SW BC. That is, unless one wants to actually have cold & crappy weather in their film & TV shoots.
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