Tag Archives: 2010

Olympic Neighbourhoods – The West End

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Vancouver-westendAs a key media outlet for the 2010 Olympics, the Daily Gumboot is excited to bring you our “Olympics Neighbourhoods” series. Here’s how it works: each week, Managing Editor, Kurt Heinrich, and Editor-in-Chief, John will profile a different Vancouver neighbourhood with a specific focus on things that might interest out-of-town visitors who arrive in The Couve for the Olympics. We will do this between now and the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver and the story will be told be the Gumboot’s editors asking and answering the five questions below. These are the straight goods that you can’t get from VANOC, the Ministry of Tourism or the City of Vancouver. Let’s get to it!

1. Where is this neighbourhood exactly, and how do I get there?

JOHN: You know what? Lindsay McKeeman (see the video below) did such a great job that I think I’ll let her walk us all through the colourful journey that is the West End of Vancouver. Here is a map of the neighbourhood. Have fun with it!

LINDSAY: The West End of Vancouver is on the downtown peninsula neighbouring Stanley Park and the areas of Yaletown, Coal Harbour and the central downtown district. Encompassed within the West End is the vibrant Davie Village, or as I affectionately refer to it as the “gaybourhood”, which is home to the city’s gay community and annual Pride Parade held August 1st.  The West End also serves as the corridor to Stanley park, and an entry point to the Seawall.

2. Why should a tourist/traveler be interested in it?

LINDSAY: The West End, while still downtown, offers a close-by residential refuge from the busy bustling downtown business core. In addition this neighbourhood is home to a multitude of restaurants, pubs, cafes and clubs along Davie and Denman streets. If you continue West down Davie Street, you’ll find yourself at the ocean in English Bay. Walk down towards the water and you’ll link up with the Seawall as it snakes along the water to Stanley Park. The Seawall, on a clear day, is one of the most beautiful places to run or stroll, in Vancouver.

JOHN: The laughing statues – created by Yue Minjun – are a must see and you can find them in the Morton Triangle at Davie and Denman. It’s called A-maze-ing Laughter and it will certainly make you chuckle.

3. What good and/or unique things are there to eat?

LINDSAY: Want just a baked potato for dinner? no problem.  How about a baked potato with 40 different topping options? Mr Kumpir has you covered! What if you’re more of a sweet tooth? Again no problem, within the same block of Denman St there are cookie, cupcake, and cream puffs stores to satiate your search for sweets! One item restaurants aside, there are tonnes of cheap Sushi spots along Robson and Denman, including Akira Sushi. Akira Sushi, for what it lacks in esthetics makes up for in its cheap, good quality sushi. Highlights include the toro sashimi, gomae, and black rice rolls! Lolita’s south of the border Cantina, another favourite along Davie Street has super tasty soft taco’s, I recommend the halibut and “oceanwise” ceviche.

4. What can I do for fun in this neighbourhood.

LINDSAY: During the Olympics Vectoria Elevation will be lighting up the night skies over False Creek and English Bay in a myriad of patterns, that you can go online and control and create yourself! http://vectorialvancouver.net/

(I feel like I’ve talked about the seawall and restaurants, but those can be included too)

JOHN: English Bay is the home of the annual Polar Bear Swim (superfun and super cold), and, hey, let’s not forget the dancing. But that’s on New Year’s Day. If you just want to jump in the water when it’s cold, though, that’s cool too.

5. What are your three favourite things about the West End?

LINDSAY:

1) English Bay, and surrounding beaches, including sunset, second and third beach offer up some of the best spots in Vancouver to sit with some food, a bottle of fine wine and watch the sun set over the strait of georgia.

2) People watching. Oh yes, walking up Davie street or running along the Seawall offers some of the best people watching in the city. Whether it be drag queens in full costume or wide eyed tourists taking in the sites, there is never a dull moment in the West End.

Urban Density and the West End get along really, really well...

Urban Density and the West End get along really, really well...

3) Going for a Run along the Seawall. Again, while I feel like I’ve harped on this spot a lot already, I’m still quite new to Vancouver and the West End, so going for a run along the Seawall still leaves me breathless, for two reasons; its beauty, and quite frankly the length of that damn thing! If you’re feeling ambitious, technically you could run all 22km of that beauty!

JOHN: my favourite thing is that the West End is located right next to my home town of Merville! I guess that’s why Kurt put it in…not because he made a mistake. But we’ll get to that next week. I also like the dancing and weaving through pedestrians who walk on the bike path – for shame, pedestrians…

Olympic Neighbourhoods: Yaletown

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Daily Gumboot Editor-in-Chief, John Horn, has been on assignment in Ottawa, taking on the role of “key negotiator” in the proroguing of parliament. He is at the table with Canadian and Quebecois leaders – so far they are agreeing to eat poutine and beaver tails – and, unfortunately, cannot add a full scope to this week’s installment of the Olympic Neighbourhoods series. But he will add something!


JOHN: (from an airport somewhere in Ontario): Yaletown, I think, is a community in which dogs outnumber children. It hugs False Creek, downtown and the “sporting” district (GM and BC Places).

City of lights.

City of lights.

This community is probably the toniest part of Vancouver, so if you are popping into the hood for a visit, be sure to dress the part.

The Yale Town Brew Pub is a no brainer for casual dining – good food and even better beer define the place.

Steve Nash also recently held a charity soccer game in David Lam Park, which is a cool place to kick a ball around even if Canada’s coolest person isn’t involved in your afternoon at the park.

Finally, the Roundhouse Theatre does amazing work in the cultural arts department: from launching new bands to musicals to Shakespeare, this venue runs the gamut of artistic sensation.

My three Favourite Things about Yaletown are:

1. Steph Hutton. You know and love her from the video and she makes this trendy community even trendier.

2. Yuppies. You just hang out in Yaletown, friends. If too many of you leave your homeworld then people like me will cease to be unique commodities in ‘hoods like The Drive. For better or worse, other communities can define themselves by not being Yaletown.

3. Dogs. What can I say? I love animals. And it is a reflection of true human creativity when someone can house a german shepard in a 500 square foot condo…

Zombies for an Olympic Cause

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Calvin and Hobbes - best comic ever by Bill Watterson

Calvin and Hobbes - best comic ever by Bill Watterson

I live in Vancouver, British Columbia — home and soon to be host of the 2010 Olympic winter games. And can you believe it — the other day, I suggested we get cable to watch the games.

In a little under four weeks, my city will be turned inside out for the event. Not that we haven’t been turned inside out already. Transport officials have already warned us that public transportation will look a lot like it does during the Celebration of Light, an event that spreads over four nights and manages hundreds of thousands of people on public transportation over the span of about 6 hours. So basically, we’ve been told it will be like that, only 2 to 4 weeks long.  Hip, hip.

I live on Commercial Drive, which will be turned into a semi-military zone with an ice rink that will host Olympic hockey team practices. I have friends who are dancing, acting, singing, and filming in the opening and closing ceremonies as well as in events throughout the entire length of the games. And I have no doubt Vancouver’s anti-games community will be represented across the city in it’s designated protest spots as well as outside of them. And then there’s me, right-smack in the middle of it all, on the phone, trying to negotiate a basic cable package.

It’s not like I’m a zombie who just sits and watches television all day. But like most people in the city, I will not be one of the privileged few actually sitting and cheering on our athletes in our host city venues. It doesn’t really leave me too many options. I can join the crowds and huddle in front of the jumbo screens they’re placing throughout the city and watch the ceremonies. Honestly, that’s not really my style.

While Vancouver’s top brass prepares for this once-in-a-lifetime event and the world descends upon Vancouver, the flame, so-to-speak, that is the spirit of this fascinating and beautiful city is left in the hands of those who traverse it’s streets everyday — Vancouverites, of which I am one. With this in mind, I’m strongly thinking about ditching the cable package and venturing out , yellow gumboots on and marching forward, in search of… what? If I’m lucky, I won’t find the Olympics, but rather the small moments that build the community that makes the city that’s part of the country that belongs to this planet that hosts this world event every four years.

Who’s with me?

Let’s Preserve Vancouver’s Views

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This is my 3rd year in Vancouver and I continue to be bowled over whenever I witness the amazing landscapes which frame the city.  I took this natural beauty for granted until I was informed that our multiple views of the mountains aren’t there by accident. Our fantastic views onto the Grouse, Cypress and Seymour Mountains are not just there by chance – they are the result of a forward-thinking urban planning policy which protects a whole bunch of  “view corridors.” This started with a city planning initiative 30 years ago, when citizens were asked what their top priorities for the city were and preservation of views came out on top.

capacitystudy

By the late 1980’s view protection rose on the city’s priority list as anticipated development around downtown south and north False Creek meant that views of the  mountains from the waters of False Creek could be permanently compromised or entirely lost.  Communities mobilized and progressive individuals in the urban planning office at City Hall took action. After a lot of uphill work, pioneering View Protection Guidelines were issued in 1989 containing 26 protected view corridors.

View Corridors from False Creek

View Corridors from False Creek

The policy protects views of the North Shore Mountains, the downtown skyline and the waters of False Creek from a number of public view points located along the south shore of False Creek, arterial roadways, and from the Granville and Cambie bridges.

According to the City, “In the intervening 20 years a significant number of new buildings have been added to the downtown skyline. The view corridors have had a visible effect on the site location and design of buildings, resulting in the retention of panoramic and narrow views in and around the downtown area.” Check out this walking map and video to explore the view corridors for yourself.

Today, these views and the policies protecting them are coming under threat. The city is conducting a review of the view corridor policy seeing if “ the Council adopted heights limits and view corridors” could undergo changes “to achieve additional development capacity.” The city claims that, with this study it’s 100% behind “the objective underlying the current height and view corridor policies.” Not exactly – this is just window dressing: the purpose of this “study” is really to see which of our views the city could eliminate, paving the way for more downtown skyscrapers: It will “ determine which views the public values most, and work to preserve those views, while possibly altering others.” How noble. Not only does it look like that the vision of Vancouver’s city’s planners will be eroded, the unique harmony between the city and the mountains could be permanently disrupted. Once a view is gone, it is gone. There is no turning back.

So, I have two simple requests:

1)      If you hear from the city and are asked which view you value most, say “All of them”

2)      Tell everyone you know that, or don’t for that matter, that Vancouver’s amazing views have been put there by us and that we need to keep them there.

Olympic Neighbourhoods: The Drive

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Your Olympic Neighbourhood this week is…Commercial Drive!

As a key media outlet for the 2010 Olympics, the Daily Gumboot is excited to bring you our “Olympics Neighbourhood” segment. Here’s how it works: each week, Managing Editor, Kurt Heinrich, and Editor-in-Chief, John will profile a different Vancouver neighbourhood with a specific focus on things that might interest out-of-town visitors who arrive in The Couve for the Olympics. We will do this between now and the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver and the story will be told be the Gumboot’s editors asking and answering the five questions below. These are the straight goods that you can’t get from VANOC, the Ministry of Tourism or the City of Vancouver. Let’s get to it!

1. Where is this neighbourhood exactly and how do I get there?

The nexus of the Drive: 1rst and Commercial

The nexus of the Drive: 1rst and Commercial

JOHN: Since Kurt’s “sense of direction” is one of his superpowers, I’ll leave it to him to create the Googlemap that shows Commercial Drive – “The Drive” – to exist in the Grandview Woodlands community, roughly, between East 12 and Hastings Streets. You can get there from downtown or the suburbs by hopping on the Skytrain and getting off at the Commercial/Broadway Station. If you’re coming from downtown and would like to combine your trip with fun adventure, take the Number 20 bus, which travels through the Downtown Eastside and always yields conversations that are as entertaining as they are interesting.

KURT: Click here to go to the Googlemap.

2. Why should a tourist/traveler be interested in it?

JOHN: The hipster culture and eclectic mix of people are great reasons. But the Commercial Drive neighbourhood, in my opinion, boasts some of the highest real estate prices in the city for two reasons: the food (so much local organic goodness) and the sense of community. People here really, really care about where they live and behave with a true sense of pride about it. The. Drive is the perfect place to start your night – most places close at midnight, so arrive for a delicious dinner, a few drinks, good music, and great times and then continue on with your Olympic exploration!

3. What good and/or unique things are there to eat?

JOHN: See our video. It’s spectacular. For breakfast, I like Cafe du Soleil and recently had a fantastic experience at Theresa’s. For lunch, it’s all about Cafe Wazubee. For dinner, I love the no-utensils-sensual-dining-experience of Addis Cafe. Everyday favourites are Pane Vero cafe and The East End Food Co-op; if you are picking up groceries during your trip this is the place to go!

KURT: I’d like to add that my favorites in the area include the Bump and Grind (for some of the best coffee in the city). For a bio of the owner, check out our Get To Know Your Community section on owner Joe Peterson.

4. What can I do for fun in this neighbourhood?

JOHN: People watch and people talk. There are all sorts of “performers” skipping and dancing and twirling around The Drive. Such folks are great to watch – you can’t help but smile at the stick-twirling antics of Cloud Man – and even better to chat with. Their stories will give you a true sense of the neighbourhood, especially if you ask people what they think about the Olympics.

One of many sites to see.

One of many sites to see.

KURT: Another groovy thing about the drive is the wealth of street and mural art that adorns its walls and sidewalks. There are a number of great murals. To learn more about the murals in the area, check out this earlier post on the Gumboot about the Eastside Mural Project. In addition to the murals of Richard Tetrault, there are a ton of other great ones all along the street.

5. What are your three favourite things about The Drive?

JOHN: First, it’s all about the sense of community and how people are so passionate about preserving their businesses, homes, parks, and public spaces in a way that reflects their collective values. Second, the cultural history of the neighbourhood (did you know that English, while the most commonly spoken tongue, is a minority language in the Grandview-Woodland area?); during a visit to The Drive, a friend of mine from Calgary was heard to say, “this neighbourhood reminds me of New York City, and we have nothing like it in Calgary.” Third and finally, I love the struggle – for me it is both external and internal because of who I am and what I represent – for the future of the Grandview Woodlands community: will it succumb to Yuppification or retain it’s grunge and edginess? Only time will tell!

2010: The Year of Your Community

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Findings show that happy people are the least likely to make New Year's resolutions

Findings show that happy people are the least likely to make New Year's resolutions

Here we are in 2010. Let’s resolve some stuff. In the early days and weeks of 2010, according to a survey cited by The Happiness Project, about 20% of people resolve to lose weight, approximately 16% strive to quit smoking, and 12% aim to spend less.

These are important goals, for certain, but we as individuals and communities can – and should – strive to have much, much higher expectations of ourselves and, whether one tries to be healthier, thriftier, more responsible, more learned, or more of a leader, following through on resolutions, goals and strategy should be more about our communities than ourselves. After all, no great thing – such as transforming the North American consumer’s relationship with debt – was ever accomplished by an individual. For such things it takes a community. Think about re-framing your resolutions and transform your goals from me to we!

Your goals for the New Year can – and should – totally sync and jive with the needs of your community. For example, setting goals around weight is a tricky business. Any Registered Dietitian, like Simon Fraser University’s Rosie Dhaliwal, will tell you that a physical wellness is about eating a variety of healthy foods that follow the recommendations in Canada’s Food Guide and staying physically active. The binge and purge and peaks and valleys of dieting can be precarious, especially when expectations are not realistic. Recent findings show that diets just plain don’t work, too. In fact, dieting is typically adopted as a short-term solution to weight management and can actually divert you from behaviors likely to be more effective in long-term weight management. Some studies argue that dieting actually leads to weight gain. Finally, making your eating and exercising habits more about lifestyle change than post-Christmas-purging will help you get to know your community. Actively embrace your favourite parts of the 100 Mile Diet – such as cutting down on meat and fish, eating food that is in season and searching for the perfect combination of local organic produce at your friendly neighbourhood farmers markets. Check out Edible Communities to find great local food options near you! It’s just an idea, but a weekly bike ride to a farmers market – where you get to travel slowly and intimately through your community – might be a healthier alternative than taking pills that will force you to be no further than three meters away from a bathroom at all times.

This apple should probably focus less on numbers and more on living a healthy, balanced lifestyle!

This apple should probably focus less on numbers and more on living a healthy, balanced lifestyle!

I chose food as an example because, as many of The Daily Gumboot’s Correspondents will tell you, what we eat truly reflects who we are and what our communities stand for. The tips below work equally well for spending less, smoking less, learning more, and all the rest of it. Personally, I would love to see you the individual and you the community member have fantastically successful years (you can determine your own spectacular success, my friend). You will need to have a sense of urgency – any Incan will tell you that we’re only a few years away from the end of the world, so it’s probably a good idea to start, um, pulling your weight immediately. Here’s how:

  • Write down your “story of 2009″ – be honest; what worked well, what needs improvement, and what does this say about you?
  • This is the year of ____________! Take a page from the playbook of leadership guru Robin Sharma, and set up your “theme” for 2010: is it “the year of financial freedom” or “the year of professional polish” or “the year of listening” or, as I will suggest to my dear friend Jim Clifford, “the year of historical notoriety”?
  • Set goals. And tell people about them. It sounds simple, but less than 20% of people actually follow through on New Year’s resolutions. So, be sure your goals are strategic, measurable, achievable, realistic, and take place along a timeline – make ‘em SMART! Once your goals are set, tell people what they are. This will hold you accountable and also help your community motivate you towards amazing success!
  • List the three things that have to happen for your theme to be realized and your goals to be achieved in 2010. For example, we should all be helping Jim and the team at Activehistory.ca get noticed by the mainstream media with the hope of them rightfully being given a voice at the local, regional, national, and global decision making tables.
  • Ask yourself this question: what will this do to help my community?

For me, this is The Year of Building Relationships that Build Community. The most important relationship I’ve got going is the one with my wife to be, Michelle, who will – if all goes well – still marry me in July 2010. This modest online publication is also expanding its authorial voice with a talented rotation of new bloggers, which will help to expand our grasp empire influence diabolical reach of Johnism ideas from everywhere to even more people in more communities from here to Buenos Aires to Nairobi to Germania to Toronto and back again. I also have a real job that I should probably try really hard to keep, too…and building on the relationships I have will surely help!

Those are my goals, anyway. What are yours?

- JCH

Torch Travels Across the Communities of Canada

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Hudson Bay Olympics

Hudson Bay Olympics

As the torch slowly winds its way across the country, here in Vancouver, it’s increasingly tough to get away from the reality that the Olympics are coming and coming soon.

Indeed, you’d have to be on the moon here in Vancouver to not notice that the city is starting to feel awash in Olympic-boosterism.

Almost everyday there’s a new story coming out of one of the major new media outlets about the Olympics. A trip to the Bay reveals a store jammed with an entire new section of Olympic themed swag. Outside, in the downtown core, huge banners of athletes hang proudly as city work crews frantically  finish the last bits of construction in advance of the coming tourist hoards.

But for many of us who won’t be enjoying the party but will be feeling the hangover the next day, their are mixed feelings about the whole thing.

Torch to torch across Canada

Torch to torch across Canada

On the one hand, it’s an exciting time. Thousands of international guests, dignitaries, and visitors will be visiting our city from around the world. The business opportunities could well be stellar. Plus, even without tickets, it’s likely that most people will be able to find their way to at least one Olympic related party (there will certainly be enough of them going on). Worse case scenario – there’s always the big screen TVs in community centres. Plus the opportunity to watch or participate in the biggest winter sporting event in the world is pretty nifty – especially if Canada manages to win big.

On the other hand are the list of potential headaches. There’s the traffic congestion, the security hassle, and the general feeling that most tickets are going to companies rather than fans. Add to this that our own government recently dropped over $1 million for 2010 tickets which will be turned over to “foreign dignitaries, international investors, and BC’s biggest customers and future customers,” and it becomes apparent why many Vancouverites are feeling a bit left out in the cold (no pun intended) over the whole two week long event they will be hosting.

Where's the torch heading next?

Where's the torch heading next?

I won’t lie – the whole thing had left me a bit ambivalent.

Yet as the Games get closer, the Olympic Fever is becoming increasingly contagious.

The other day, cloistered in a small pub in Gastown, I had a chance to chat with several torch bearers about their whole experience. Both felt incredibly proud about the opportunity to participate in the ceremony and they both spoke glowingly of the feeling of unity they felt as part of the relay. Their enthusiasm for the whole thing was infectious. And it wasn’t enthusiasm culled from any type of Quachi-inspired boosterism. It seemed like it was coming from some place much deeper. An opportunity to participate in something enormous. To be a small cog in a big machine that slowly winding its way through Canadian communities far and wide.

In the end, the 106-day Olympic torch relay will span 45,000 kilometers and visit more than 1,000 communities with the help of 12,000 torch bearers. Just the thought of the geographic breath of the whole thing is startling.

And, truth be told, it’s kind of exciting.