Not to nitpick willy but of British Columbia's population of 4.3 million, about 2.5 million of that come from the Greater Vancouver and Capital Region combined.

What is 'Green' anyways? Certainly in the GVRD 'Green' building standards mean that the buildind will turn 'green' with leaky condo syndrom rot in about 5 years.

Like all Olympic villages, ours will look pretty dreary a couple of years after 2010, when all the hype and hoopla dies down.

Willy, I agree you. I live in Coquitlam and work in Vancouver. I'm going to benefit from new bridges, upgraded roads, new RAV line and the economic spinoffs from the Olympics. We need this infrastructure upgrade but so do the communities in the BC interior. The BC Libs only have to look at the results of the last election to see that they're alienating the rural voters. They should throw some of their budget surplus at fixing issues for smaller rural communities instead of only focussing on the cities and offering token dollars to interior communities.

again with the "we gotta better plan".

plans that are not all inclusive are not going to benefit ALL British Columbians.

when you leave out the Social Housing the province loses out any benefit of the experiment.

no Guts,no Glory

I hear that FEMA has a whole bunch of trailers their not using, cheap and then we can move them to Ft Murry.

;-)

i say we stick the athletes in those moldy old trailers to advance science.

see how healthy bodies cope with sickness' the poor have to live with in their lives.

see if there is any gold at the end of that rainbow mister.

Hey, I was trailer trash when I lived in a small town for awhile, I was also working for $5 an hour slinging beer. All for the love of a girl. Not every trailer is moldy, some of them are pretty decent.

trailer trash...

says everything right there !

I was proud of the southeast False Creek development as it directed funds from our "contingency fund" into badly needed social housing. Ever since the feds abrogated their direct responsibility we have seen a spike in homelessness. No many seem to care either despite the rhetoric

Jim
About your other comment about poor people and sickness, some of the toughest people I every knew where the homeless or bushrats. Quite amazing what they will survive. I saw one guy hit by a car flew over the hood and landed on the street, we ran over to give First Aid, he got up told us to go screw ourselves and staggered away. You will get the same type of stories from the ambulance attendants.

we are living in a nihlistic world where it's get what you can and screw everyone else.

the only time the poor are treated half a$$esd is when they are enlisted as cannon fodder.

then the right winged scream...be a patriot !
it's OUR Country YOU are FIGHTING for...

watch for the DRAFT to be initiated by HARPER and watch the homeless disapear.

there is your housing solution thanx to creeps like Campbell,et al.

false creek is for the RICH and don't ever forget it.

Has anyone ever wondered if perhaps instead of wasting millions of dollars on sports, we should use it for education, health care, low income housing, and I repeat, education? I understand that those who've worked hard to become exceptional athletes deserve the recognition and chance to showcase their talent, but what about the rest of us? There are real problems all around BC, maybe attempt to fix them before bringing in the rest of the world? You'd clean your house before inviting friends over, wouldn't you?

Some of my Senior Sergeants/Warrant Officers started out in the army with the Judge giving them the option of jail or army when they were 18. They all said it was the best dam thing to happen to them and several where being offered well paying jobs on civiy street when they retired.

Draft in Canada? Only if you leave your window open.

By the way the army doesn’t want Cannon Fodder and expect you to have at least a grade 12 education to even be considered now and most young people tell me that it is tough to meet their requirements.

Meanwhile back in False Creek, what about the pollution? Canron used to be a nickel, galvanizing and chroming plant and the site is quite polluted, who gets to pay for the clean up?

There won’t be many poor left in the area as the increase in property values is driving them East and elsewhere. Don’t know how many homeless are currently using the area but I am guessing perhaps 10-15 in the area marked on the map.

Nothing wrong with spending a reasonable money on sports as a healthy active society reduces stress on the healthcare system. But I agree that the Olympics in Vancouver/Whistler is a wasted opportunity, far better if it had been held in the Interior where there might have been a better payoff for the province as a whole.

mcdull:

Actually, when I have friends over I usually just cram everything into the closest closet. Then I forget about it for a few months. Then when it pops out again, I use it as an excuse to throw it in the bin in the back alley.

Unfortunately... I wouldn't be surprised if Gordo and Sam do the same thing for their "house parties".

Sam 'talks' a good show; Gordo doesn't even do that! But, it'll be a great party.
Colin:
I heard they're now taking enlistees in the US who haven't got their GED. Dunno about a draft but a few more dead Canadians in Afghanistan and we'll be having trouble finding recruits here too.

And yet in Toronto yesterday they had a funeral for a horse!

Strange times.

i am one who beleives we should honour our beasts of burden.

both human...and equine

and indeed,we have always lived in strange times

Let's look at the realities of hosting the 2010 Olympics -

increased road traffic, increased pollution, increased congestion, increased fatalities due to all of the above and more single occupancy numb nut drivers passing through east van.

This athlete village is a mere scam for more million dollar condos that none of us will ever afford, it is naive for anyone to think otherwise.

At a cost of $4 billion the true legacy of the these games will be the debt left to our children.

Just so 5000 athletes and NGO reps can party on our doorstep on our tab - screw the NDP for bringing it to us and Liberals for perpetrating the crime.

If you want to see the reality of the 2010 Olympics, here is the web site

http://2010watch.com

rockerbiff
I take it you won't be voting for Davie boy if a bye election comes to pass, I'll check out the site.

Gwest
Did you see the story on how Canada was going to cut the funding for a program that pays Afghan Widows so they can eat and survive?

A mere 2.5m a year, after they protested and letters were sent, the government has relented to continue funding. If you withdraw the troops you can kiss the PRT’s and the work they and the NGO’s do goodbye, a tough choice.

It would be good if the West would buy up the poppy crop, this would remove a significant funding source for the Taliban/AQ and by getting the farmers to plant a ¼ of their farms with food crops, paying the difference, you can get more local food in the rural areas. It would certainly be a cheaper option than allowing the Taliban to get the money and then have to fight them.

Colin
No question. We also have to be willing to buy much of whatever they can produce - textiles and the like - so that they can develop an economy that doesn't just depend upon poppy growing. So often, the west has erected tariff barriers that prevent developing nations from making a hard currency living at the same time we give them aid to buy agricultural products and goods that tend to suppress and sometimes cancel out their own efforts to produce food and develop sustainable commerce. USAID programs and agricultural aid policies have been some of the worst offenders in this respect - and when changes have been suggested there's usually some pork-barrel reason Senators and Congressmen from the mid west find to prevent improvement. Canada, lately, in that respect has improved its approach markedly.
I think it's a tough row our troops have to hoe over there and I wish them well - it's not going to be a picnic…the ground has not been well prepared for them.

From a transportation point of view SEFC is pretty pathetic for a development that strives to be a model sustainable community. First of all, it should be car free with parking at the edges (perhaps garages along 2nd Avenue or at the Canada Line Station).

As in stands, every street has automobile access whether it is needed or not. People have several convinent routes to access their condos by car while transit users will have to walk to 2nd, Main Street Station or the Canada Line station to catch transit. There currently is no money for the street car. It might take 10-20 years for the street car to be built.

They even refused to make the Ontario Greenway car free through the site even though it is not required for access. Regarding cycling, the facilities are OK but definately not up to the standard required for a model sustainable community.

In a lot of ways, the city did better 30 years ago with South False Creek. So much for progress.

It appears as if sustainability is driving your hybrid Lexus to your LEED Gold $2 million condo.

good points,rac,and the europeans have shown us the way the GREENS think over there decades ago.
we could have utilized much of their greenbelt policies and some of their housing policies.
the Dutch come to mind quickly because of their limited spaces and novel land,housing issues.

but no! we here can IGNORE all the previous examples and build WHAT WE WANT BECAUSE WE GOT THE LAND AND THE MONEY.

at least thats what they think like at the top.

don't believe me,look at the money they're spending on the Olympics.

they have ILLUSIONS OF GRANDUER!...if we had those same illusions...we would be put on medications.

they are given a blank cheque...

and we quietly go back to work hoping they won't screw up,that they will make things better for all.

Do Paris, New York and London tout themselves as world class cities?

If you describe yourself as "world class" then you are not!

Building in a track system for the old electric street car and making modern copies would be great for Vancouver and for tourism. Vancouver used to have a great trolly system. The North Vancouver system had a wee problems with brakes coming down Lonsdale.

Mel from Calgary
It's a sign of fundamental insecurity Mel, however, I'll go along with the 'world class' bs when we in vancouver admit we've got a world class drug problem and world class homelessness and world-class unaffordable real estate. I'm sure you can think of a few world class ironies for Calgary too.

Colin:
And why not use the arbutus corridor for light rail to Richmond and to serve the west side too? Anybody familiar with public transit in Europe gets a real kick out of our system.

I have to admit that it gave a me a chuckle that the RAV option had to pass through rich neighbourhood A or rich neighbourhood B, I guess the NPA was glad to be out of office for that one. I seem to remember that the Arbutus corridor was part of the Interurban line to Richmond in the past? It also used to extend across False creek on a wooden trestle of which you can still see the abutments on the SE side of the burrard bridge.

Yeh! public transit in BC is rife with ironies!

It's unfortunate the author threw so much positivism into the mix that some of the environmental projects haven't sparked much comment.

I especially like the composting plan, but after enduring what I thought was the craftings of a public relations specialist determined to convince me back onside the games, the intended message got a bit lost.

Never was onside, but that's another issue.

The games were sold to Vancouverites on the basis that one third of the housing in the False Creek project would be social housing, a legacy of sorts to the little people who only pay taxes and won't make it to Whistler for the fireworks.

But then there is a growing popularity with this type of politics in Vancouver, isn't there?

Here you had the whole pro-Olympics group talking of a new Vancouver for the games. If people supported having the games they would see hundreds of new social housing units spring up almost immediately after the games.

One look at the crowded nightmares many people call home in parts of Vancouver ought to be enough to convince anyone the need for more is an understatement.

No doubt a great many thought that alone was reason enough to take on the games burden.

Resident gave their support and before you can say "we now have a very developer friendly council", social housing is cut back.

"Let the marketplace decide," is the pathetic excuse, as though the marketplace has done a damned thing so far other than to object.

It's also hard to forget that the federal politician in the driving seat in this mess is none other than David Emerson, formerly Liberal MP for Vancouver-Kingsway.

He got re-elected as a Liberal and then, before he was even sworn in, he became the Conservative MP for Vancouver-Kingsway even though a Conservative was the last thing voters wanted.

People in Vancouver Kingsway, who got screwed on both votes must be wondering who to trust anymore.

I suspect a few of them will read about the compost stuff but only sense the manure smell that permeates the politics on this.

Ya gotta larf when this platitude is spewed. Positive legacy being a crushing debt, unneeded highway, crappily constructed leaky condos, empty infrastructure (curling anyone?) and LESS money for the elderly, poor, and disadvantaged children. To waste tax money on a 17 day jockfest is unconscionable and indefensible. The only beneficiaries are the greedy developers, who will ramp up costs as the date appraches to astronomical levels, further gouging the whole province and eroding needed public services. Funny that the symbol - an inukshuk, is made of the same material as the millstone of debt the winter olympics represents.

I gotta say, expo 86 all over again, just different folks doin' the strokin'.

G west

Here's your chance to make a differance

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Rick-Mercer-Report-Liberal-Leadership-Kit_W0QQitemZ6042164599QQcategoryZ317QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Colin

I've been following that. Pretty expensive photocopying in my opinion but fun nonetheless. Never having been too enamoured with the Liberals and I doubt a new leader is going to save the world.
I think I prefer the Daily Show for humour though, and the Colbert Repor(t) as well. Stewart had a sweet interview with Shakey (Neil Young) last night. DId you see it?
CHeers.

No, my 15month old has successfully overthrown the previous ruler of the house and we are all condemned to watching shows that involve various stuffed animals singing and dancing.

Colin
I remember the days. The last 2 of my 4 kids were less than a year apart (don't ask!) so I know whereof you speak. I found the worst part of it was operating on less than 4 hours sleep for what seemed like an eternity.

You need to get satellite TV so you can timeshift! The daily show broadcasts at a decent hour for the Eastern region and that means you can pick it up here before you collapse each night.

I hope you didn't think my using 'sweet' in that reference up above was an attempt at being 'with-it' - long given up on that. I meant Young has mellowed into a wonderful guy, very loveable in a non-threatening way. And still the best out of tune popular singer I know of. I remember hearing that David Foster once told Young that he was off key when they were making a recording, it was one of those 'save the world' recording sessions, and Young replied: 'Ya Man, that's my style!'
Cheers dude.

G west
That’s funny I am so not “with it” that I didn’t even notice the term “sweet”

I remember a conversation with a kid in I think the 90’s. I asked him why his shoelaces were undone, he replied: “Because it’s radical” I told him that being a radical in my day meant fighting for something you believed in and risking, injury, death or jail.

Language is never dead eh? I wonder how a scholar dredging through a copy of this site in two hundred years will interpet our comments.

on the news last night it was very noticeable the discomfort of one david emerson,his eyes darted around like a cornered rat

he also scampered out the back gate in haste after the ceremonies...

and did you notice the police presence around the lone protestor that was inside...wow !

those ceremonies sure showed us we are not welcome iffin we iz common folk,know whut i mean,jelly bean ?

so it's a world affair iffin ya got sum monies

Yes, it was, ummm....enlightening to see him scuttle away out the back door in the little black VW. But at least he's agreed to cooperate with Shapiro; which is not something one can say about our fearless PM.
really 'common' folks are these elitist characters who slide along the surface like slime in a lava lamp - always on top.

i just came back from a nice bike ride and on that ride a little black volkswagen passed me by...like the one emer$on escaped in!

i started laughing at how slow i was(mentally)in not recognizing the irony of that arrogant politician(emer$on)sneaking out the back gate...in the PEOPLES WAGON...

i have been giggling since and i think following the political scene all these years ...just might be getting to me

somebody help!i need a CUERVO fast.

Thomas
For a while I feared that irony might be dead...or going unnoticed. Truth proceeds, after all, on several levels: Hope you had a nice ride!!

Once again someone has a bland and grand developer plan for Vancouver but now it is based upon doing something "right" and green, opposed to high rise development. Still Vancouver comes away with a boring environment that will be eventually populated by people with the most money. It is being passed off as something amazing and green but it is too little too late. Nothing can help the stripping of culture that used to exist in Vancouver this city has become a bland cultural void with a load of hype about how amazing and beautiful it is. Take a look around you, Vancouver it is one ugly city. I would not mind if some amazing design was applied to the development in the last 20 years but it is a repetition of bland highrise development.
I wish I could fake my optimism and pride in this city like many people that are sucked in by fake culture thrust upon them by politicians and developers. This city is always reinventing itself, getting rid of any sense of identity over and over always trying to be a "big city" an "international city".
Most of the people that used to make up this culturally diverse city have been displaced by high property costs generated by developers. Hardly anyone can afford a great home. This last and small corner of false creek will not be affordable to anyone that would make an interesting cultural contribution to Vancouver. Just walk along false creek seawall now and you will feel how cold and unwelcoming it is. Same goes for Yale Town with it's lack of real business that build neighborhoods and communities. Everything is upscale, expensive and instant, all selling the same produce you can buy cheaper a few "inconvenient" blocks away.
This Olympic development is based upon spending large amounts of money and can only be baled out after it is all over by attracting big buyers to buy the dwellings but it is an instant dream with a phony hope of adding to Vancouver culturally. Vancouver thought green in the 70's and those concepts could have turned Vancouver into a far more interesting city but that way of thinking was pushed aside by greed and made to sound ridiculous. Now we get a small corner of false creek to see it happen after Vancouver has been transformed into one of the ugliest and most boring cities in the world. It is not the people that have made Vancouver it is developers. They create this shell make tons of cash and expect everyone to fill it up with instant culture.
The Olympic Village concept would have never have happened if it was not for the Olympics it is like someone is saying "Damn Vancouver looks like crap we better create something to wow people when they start looking at us in 2010". Something other than high rises with a Seven Eleven at the base of it with crack heads clustered in front of the door every 3 blocks. What is with this city and damn Seven Elevens everywhere? Stop already!