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BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION, [caption id="attachment_10802" align="alignleft" width="290" caption="Pope John Paul II in Vancouver. Photo courtesy of Joe Marquette"][/caption]

This year saw the well-received arrival of Pope John Paul II - his first visit to Canada as well as the debut of the Jackson Five at BC Place. It's also the year Bill Reid's renowned Chief of the Undersea World sculpture was unveiled in front of of the Vancouver Aquarium.

Compiled by John Calimente (with permission from the late Chuck Davis)
Photos compiled by Erick Villagomez

Steve Fonyo begins run across Canada

Steve Fonyo, inspired by Terry Fox, Order NASONEX online overnight delivery no prescription, began to run across Canada on March 31. Fonyo was a 19-year-old Vernon kid who'd lost his leg to cancer at age 12. He dipped his artificial leg into the Atlantic Ocean at St, BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION. John's, Newfoundland, then faced west. The journey would take him 14 months, japan, craiglist, ebay, overseas, paypal. It would end May 31, 1985 at the Pacific Ocean in Victoria. He completed 7,924 kilometres, NASONEX from canadian pharmacy, crossed ten provinces and raised almost $9 million for cancer research, education and patient services, including $1 million pledged by the federal government. BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION, (More millions were to follow.) On the way he wore out six artificial legs and 17 pairs of running shoes.

"Shame the Johns" campaign in the West End

A "Shame the Johns" operation began in Vancouver on May 25 in an attempt to drive prostitutes' clients from the West End. Most of the angry residents' attention, however, NASONEX price, coupon, was directed against the prostitutes themselves: picketing and verbally harassing them. The women did leave, but simply moved to other neighborhoods: Mount Pleasant, Strathcona, NASONEX from mexico, Kensington-Cedar Cottage and Grandview-Woodlands.

A month later, on June 20, Christ Church Cathedral was occupied by 12 members of ASP, the Alliance for the Safety of Prostitutes. The attorney general had obtained a Supreme Court injunction prohibiting soliciting west of Granville Street, and this demonstration was in protest of that move, BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION. (Residents of the West End had complained of prostitutes patrolling the Georgia Street sidewalk adjacent to the Cathedral.)"

Pope visits BC

Pope John Paul II visited British Columbia on September 18, online NASONEX without a prescription. This was the first visit to Canada by a Pope and the crowd at Abbotsford was immense: Some 200,000 people came to see and hear the Pope, and he responded by praising British Columbians' struggle to achieve a "just society" between the mountains and the sea.

Later that evening, NASONEX forum, speaking to a capacity crowd at B.C. Place, the Pope, the Province reported, "hammered home the Catholic Church's stand against abortion and artificial birth-control." But, the paper continued, ordering NASONEX online, "They came to hear him speak, but they didn't agree with all he said."

Supreme Court sides with Musqueam

On November 1, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered a historically significant decision in the Guerin or Musqueam case. BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION, For the first time the highest court in Canada held that the Federal Government, namely the Department of Indian Affairs (DIA) and its agents, could be held legally responsible for any improprieties in their dealings with surrendered Indian lands when it is clearly demonstrated that they failed to act in the best interest of the Indian band, which amounted to an equitable fraud.

Signing of Declaration to return Hong Kong to China

T he signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on December 19 mandating the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997 began to cause a flow of Hong Kong capital into Vancouver. Purchase NASONEX for sale, Also in 1984

News

On March 28, a seven-week strike began at The Vancouver Sun and Province newspapers.

Michael Jackson and his brothers, an act called "The Jackson Five," performed the first of three shows at B.C. Place on November 16, where can i order NASONEX without prescription. It was the most successful entertainment event in Vancouver's history to that point, attracting more than 100,000 fans to B.C, BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION. Place, and grossing nearly $5 million, a new Vancouver entertainment record for a three-night stand. A big box on Page 1 of the Province read simply: He's Here. NASONEX australia, uk, us, usa, The Downtown Eastside Residents Association (DERA) established the DERA Co-Op at 638 Alexander Street. Jim Green, who had been hired by DERA as an organizer in 1980, says the Co-Op was "an outstanding example of community development. BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION, This Co-Op, in which 50 per cent of members do not speak English and 50 per cent are over 65, has never had staff. It is run entirely by its members, a powerful example of the abilities of low-income peoples." The Co-Op provided 56 completely wheelchair accessible units, NASONEX wiki.

People

James Sinclair, federal cabinet minister, died in West Vancouver on February 7, aged 75. NASONEX street price, He was born May 26, 1908 in Banff, Scotland. Writes Constance Brissenden, "In 1935 he was appointed assistant to education minister G.M. Weir, later beoming secretary to B.C, BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION. mines minister, discount NASONEX. At 31 Sinclair was elected a Liberal MP for Coast Capilano, later for Vancouver North (1940-58). He was fisheries minister in the St. Laurent government from 1952 to 1957. His daughter Margaret married Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1970."

Bill Duthie BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION, , bookseller, died in Vancouver on April 6, two days before his 64th birthday. NASONEX used for, He was born in Weston, Ontario April 8, 1920. Alan Twigg, of BC Bookworld, wrote a tribute to him in the June, NASONEX online cod, 1984 issue of Quill & Quire. An excerpt: "Duthie joined the book trade in 1947 as a sales rep for Macmillan of Canada in rural Ontario and Quebec. He became the first full-time western book rep when in 1953 he offered his services first to Macmillan and then to McLelland and Stewart.

Once in Vancouver, according to his wife Macie, he decided he wanted to sell books to people who wanted them, rather than to reluctant stores, BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION. He opened the first Duthie Books on Robson Street [at the northwest corner of Hornby] in August of 1957, NASONEX from canada, taking care to locate his store near the Vancouver Public Library. He subsequently opened branches on West 10th, Seymour, Hastings, and in the Arbutus Village." It's not an exaggeration to say that Bill Duthie raised the level of book selling in the city. It was great to go into a store where the staff knew what the hell they were doing, NASONEX photos.

Lorraine McAllister, singer and actress, died in Vancouver on April 27, aged 62. BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION, She was a singing star of radio and TV in the 1950s, headlining CBC Toronto's Holiday Ranch and Vancouver's Burn's Chuckwagon, Some of Those Days and Meet Lorraine. Online buying NASONEX, She was a headline performer at Theatre Under the Stars, and performed in Johnny Holmes' orchestra with Oscar Peterson as pianist and Maynard Ferguson as lead trumpet player. The wife of bandleader Dal Richards, she sang with his orchestra at the Panorama Roof of the Hotel Vancouver from 1950 to 1965. "One of the glamorous performers whose warmth and charm make her a favorite."

Everett Crowley, Avalon Dairy founder and Collingwood neighborhood activist, NASONEX cost, died in Vancouver on November 25, aged 75. Writes Constance Brissenden: "He was born June 3, 1909 in Vancouver, NASONEX canada, mexico, india, part of a family of 12 that had come from Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula in 1906. Their South Vancouver farm delivered milk by dog and wagon, and registered Avalon Dairy before 1915, BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION. He later served on the parks board (1961-67). Ev Crowley Park on S.E. Marine Drive is named for him (1985). Lee Crowley, his youngest son, online buy NASONEX without a prescription, now runs Avalon Dairy."

Diane Farris opened her first art gallery in Gastown. BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION, In the here-today-gone-tomorrow world of the private art gallery, Diane Farris' 22 years is astonishing. With an alert and discerning eye, she's launched the careers of many West Coast artists, like Attila Richard Lukacs, Buying NASONEX online over the counter, Chris Woods, Angela Grossmann and Graham Gillmore, and represents such luminaries as Dale Chihuly, Phil Borges, Judith Currelly and Gu Xiong.

Business

34-acre Victory Memorial Park cemetery, buy cheap NASONEX no rx, a landmark with its big white cross in the South Surrey-White Rock area since the late 1950s, was acquired by The Loewen Group of Burnaby, which would eventually become the second-largest publicly-owned funeral corporation in North America.

Oakridge Shopping Centre, Purchase NASONEX online no prescription, which had opened in 1959, was being left behind as new malls opened throughout the region and shoppers ranged farther and farther afield. To regain its customers, Oakridge was extensively renovated this year.

Woodwards became the first major Vancouver department store to open on Sundays, BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION.

The Mandarin Hotel opened in downtown Vancouver on May 2, a $41 million structure owned by a Hong Kong chain, NASONEX pics. It's now the Metropolitan Hotel.

Official opening of the Granville Island Brewery, Canada's first microbrewery, was on June 28.

BC Telecom-a reorganization of BC Tel-was incorporated under that name on November 14. NASONEX long term, The company will merge with Telus in 1999. BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION, The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, an independent, non-profit organization headquartered in Vancouver, was established. Its mandate is to enhance awareness and understanding among the peoples of Canada and the Asia Pacific region.

Sports

This was the last season for a while for soccer's Vancouver Whitecaps, and for its parent organization, the North American Soccer League. When the NASL folded, rx free NASONEX, the Whitecaps-and other teams-also died. They would be revived in 1986 as the 86ers . , BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION. . and become the Whitecaps again in 2001. NASONEX use, At the Sarajevo Olympics, Lori Fung became Vancouver's first ever gold medalist in rhythmic gymnastics (in the first time that competition was an Olympic event), and UBC medical student Hugh Pisher teamed with Quebecker Alwyn Morris to win the two-man, 1000-metres kayak final.

Squire Barnes (born June 12, 1963 in Burnaby) emerged in the Vancouver sports media in June, NASONEX no prescription. BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION, In 1992 he will land at BCTV, and he's been there ever since. In 2004 he topped a Georgia Straight poll as best local sportscaster.

Architecture

The Vancouver Pretrial Services Centre opened. It was a remand centre providing facilities for security (maximum), medium and open (minimum) housing for 150 inmates, Doses NASONEX work, with special provisions for 204 spaces. The centre is the City of Vancouver's only holding facility.

The Cambie Street Bridge was closed to traffic in November, while its new $50 million six-lane replacement-the third in that location-was being built, BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION. It would eventually open on December 9, 1985.

Transportation

The Tymac No. 2, NASONEX coupon, a water taxi built in 1938, which in the 1940s and '50s ran passengers from the foot of Columbia Street to Britannia Mines and church camps and summer resorts around Howe Sound, became a False Creek ferry. It had a capacity of 24 passengers. BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION, Says maritime writer Rob Morris: "The teak (estimated to be 200 years old) used for the boat's doors, windows and trim was from the Canadian Pacific liner Empress of Japan."

Construction began on the Broadway SkyTrain station at Broadway and Commercial Drive. Buy NASONEX from canada, Architects were Allen Parker and Associates. The station will be finished in 1985.

[caption id="attachment_10801" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Chief of the Undersea World, by Bill Reid. Image courtesy of Wikipedia."][/caption]

Arts

Bryan Adams won four Juno Awards on December 5, BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION. Adams had become an international superstar with his album Cuts Like a Knife.

Bill Reid's magnificent bronze killer whale was unveiled in the presence of Lt. Gov. Robert Rogers at the entrance to the Vancouver Aquarium. BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION, Also in 1984, Reid unveiled Mythic Messengers, a bronze relief for Teleglobe Canada. Buy NASONEX without prescription, It was inspired, says art writer Elizabeth Godley, by a Haida ritual, "exchange of tongues", whereby power was transferred from one entity to another.

The Terry Fox Memorial was unveiled at the east end of Robson Street, at BC Place. The creator of the memorial was Idaho-born (1937) Franklin Allen. It must be said that most of the initial public reaction was very negative. For one thing, there was no representation of Fox, BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION. Architectural historian Harold Kalman called it a "curious caricature of a Roman triumphal arch." "Images etched onto reflective steel plates [created by Ian Bateson] were subsequently installed within the arch," said Kalman, "and public outrage eventually subsided." Allen's design was chosen by a nine-person jury that included architect Arthur Erickson. It was announced in 2010 that the Memorial will be taken down, to be replaced by one created by Douglas Coupland.

Books published in 1984 on local issues included:

The Automobile Saga of British Columbia 1864-1914 by G.W. Taylor. BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION, Much of the focus is on Victoria, but there are interesting stories and statistics about this side of the water, too, and many funky photographs.

Belfast-born (1947) Brian Kelly, an enthusiast of transit history, published Farewell to Brill, the story of Vancouver's trolley bus operations. Brill was a company that manufactured trolley buses

The book Above Tide: Reflections on Roderick Haig-Brown, describing and assessing the range of Roderick Haig-Brown's output, appeared. Its author was Vancouver reviewer Anthony Robertson.

***

The late Chuck Davis was a Vancouver writer who wrote, co-wrote, and/or edited 15 books. Most of them are on local history, and he described his yet-to-be released book, The History of Metropolitan Vancouver, as the capstone of his career, BUY NASONEX NO PRESCRIPTION. Chuck’s passion for history was contagious and all the information he gathered and wrote about is the priceless gift he has left the citizens of Vancouver.

John Calimente is the president of Rail Integrated Developments. He supports great public transit, cycling, and walking + transit integrated developments + urban life lived without a car.

Erick Villagomez is one of the founding editors at re:place. He is also an educator, independent researcher and designer with academic and professional interests in the human settlements at all scales. His private practice - Metis Design|Build - is an innovative practice dedicated to a collaborative and ecologically responsible approach to the design and construction of places.

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Rapid Rail Transit Around the Globe

With interest in rapid transit systems increasing daily, this information graphic compiles and compares data from 21 rapid rail transit systems from around the world. By Erick Villagomez, re:place Magazine [Editors Note: A quick thanks to all the readers who caught - and continue to catch - errors on the graphic.  Despite checking it multiple times, the dizzying variables seem to have gotten the best of me.  I've now corrected - and am continually correcting - the graphic and revising the text accordingly. Also worth noting is the pioneering work of Neil Freeman - the first person I know of who drew a lot (many more than me here) of rapid rail transit systems to scale and donated it to the public via the web.  His work inspired (the highest distinction, in my mind) the graphic I created, and like all muses served as a guide when I had questions about the information I attained.  In the end, when final decisions had to be made between the sources I had, I willingly erred on the side of Freeman's original work and in the end, this seems to have worked against me in two key ways. First,  despite creating my own the drawings and correcting many things along the way, I seem to have inherited some of the errors original to Freeman's maps.  With such a vast range of patchy information, errors were bound to occur. This is also in defence of Freeman's maps.  Going through the process of compiling and tracing such inconsistent maps has given me even more respect than I originally had for his work. Second, the corresponding similarity in errors seems to have put all my original work into question, making people believe that I used Freeman's maps maliciously as my own (despite the many corrections that were made throughout the process!).  This is not the case.  I created my own drawings and take full responsibility for any overlapping errors. I drew them out of ignorance...but drew them myself, at the end of the day. Period. This brings me to a final humble request:  for those of you who intend on leaving comments, I kindly ask that the works you leave are helpful (i.e. if you see an error in the maps please leave links to correct information that I can use to correct my drawings) and/or add to the conversation (i.e. speaking to the graphic as a whole and lessons/insights based on the interaction of all the information). As many people know, I create these graphics as a hobby - for a volunteer-based magazine, no less! - as a means of generating legitimate discussions. Responding to those  questioning the legitimacy of a small part of the graphic (i.e. the maps) doesn't add anything, and in very real terms, misses the entire point of the graphic - which is to highlight the relationship between the statistics and physical form of the system.  Thanks again.] It goes without saying that the rapid transit is one of the most popular urban issues of our time.  With automobiles dominating the transportation and city planning scenes for the majority of the past century, the recent growth in ecological awareness and sustainability issues has forced municipalities to look for alternate modes of moving people in and around their dispersed cities in a quick and efficient manner.  Rail rapid transit suits these purposes perfectly, making them exceedingly attractive to municipalities around the world. The fact that they also have a long urban history and are intertwined with the successful development of great historical cities also makes them a strong transportation method of choice. Yet, despite their popularity, comparative information - especially in graphic format - are exceedingly difficult to come by. This led to the creation of this information graphic depicting and comparing rapid rail transit systems - i.e. light rail, subways, etc. - of 21 cities from around the world.  All of the transit systems are drawn at the same scale for easy comparison and include a scaled "target" of 1km, 5km and 10Km radius circles (2km, 10km and 20 km diameter circles, respectively). Where possible, the targets are centered at the downtown core of each city. Each map is supplemented by the most recent data I could find on the population of each city as well as the annual ridership and track length of each transit system. Information was gathered from a wide variety of sources and websites and I've done my best to label information (i.e. years of statistics, etc.) as clearly as possible. Although there are a number of way to organize the information, I chose the simple format of ordering them alphabetically in a vertical line.  Admittedly, this isn't the ideal for web distribution and favours a poster format. My apologies, in advance. Why 21 cities, you might ask? Unfortunately, I don't have an overly intelligent answer to that.  Although I have a lot more drawn in my digital archive, the chosen list developed organically from those personally deemed popular and interesting systems, as well as those that have local interest.  This was also balanced with the vertical format chosen. Our Skytrain is included in the list, of course. As are a number of Canadian and west coast cities that we close to us.  This serves to make connections more readily across cities with which most of us are familiar. Although I drew a number of the maps myself - from scaled transit maps - there were a several others that I had to piece together through alternate means due to the fact that many systems distribute non-scaled diagrammatic maps to the public.  As such, I did my best to interpolate the accurate scale from diverse sources. Given all the data within the graphic, many interesting patterns are highlighted.  Beyond the straightforward size differences of each system, I think the relationship between the form of the system and ridership is particularly telling.  More specifically, the cities with the highest ridership numbers - such as New York, Tokyo, London and Berlin - have a dense network of transit routes within a minimum 10km radius from central core. Similar to the walkability of finely gridded street systems, this form allows for a variety of travel routes to a number of destinations around this city and hence makes taking the rapid transit an attractive mode of transportation to those looking for a quick way to get to their respective destinations. Of course, the location of the routes and the density around transit nodes (not to mention local culture) play an important role in the matter. This makes the 20km diameter circle around the central core particularly critical, given that the downtown cores of most cities tend to be the densest and often have older settlement patterns based on smaller blocks and walking distances. Moreover, this pattern maximizes the return on investment for each kilometre of  track laid. With this in mind, Moscow - with the highest ridership of the bunch and reasonable track length - is the most efficient model of this pattern, with its simple radial form and inner transit loop at about the 7km diameter mark. This inner loop serves to connect the radiating spokes and creates a focused network around the central core. Also crucial to its success is the fact that the distance between the spokes is quite close and, thus, facilitates access to the rapid transit system from the areas over 10km (radius) away. Compare this to the dispersed San Francisco system, for example, that creates a widely spread radial system that reaches out far and wide. Low ridership numbers and long track make this systems one of the least efficient overall. The same, perhaps, can be said of Chicago and even Portland. This brings us to Vancouver whose graphic I've adjusted (in accordance with some bright comments....thanks again!) to take clarify pre- and post-Canada Line ridership and track length.  Given the effect of the Olympics on ridership, the accuracy of the 2010 projection is questionable.  That said, it's the best I could find. Nonetheless, the more one looks at the graphic, the more intricate a story it begins to tell.  Look closely and you'll be sure to find many narratives....and don't be afraid to share them with us below. Enjoy! *** Erick Villagomez is one of the founding editors at re:place. He is also an educator, independent researcher and designer with academic and professional interests in the human settlements at all scales. His private practice - Metis Design|Build - is an innovative practice dedicated to a collaborative and ecologically responsible approach to the design and construction of places.

A Year in Five Minutes: Vancouver 1971

[caption id="attachment_8839" align="alignleft" width="290" caption="Pender Street in Chinatown in 1972, which was now part of a designated historic area. Item # CVA 780-447. Photo courtesy of Vancouver Archives."][/caption] In 1971, Greenpeace was making waves, there was a riot in Gastown and the CBC started filming a very popular series on the Sunshine Coast. By Chuck Davis, The History of Vancouver 1971 census figures for Metropolitan Vancouver The 1971 census showed the metropolitan Vancouver population had topped the million mark for the first time. One remarkable finding of that census was that Delta’s population had more than tripled in 10 years. Bowen Island    350 Burnaby    125,600 Coquitlam    53,225 (includes Fraser Mills, pop. 157, annexed this year) Delta    45,860 (1961 pop. 14,597) Langley City    4,680 Langley Township    21,935 Lions Bay    396 (incorporated this year) Maple Ridge    24,480 New Westminster    42,835 North Vancouver City    31,847 North Vancouver District    57,861 Pitt Meadows    2,770 Port Coquitlam    19,560 Port Moody    10,778 Richmond    62,121 Surrey    96,601 Vancouver    426,256 University Endowment Lands    3,536 West Vancouver    36,440 White Rock    10,349 Total: 1,077,480 Greenpeace and Amchitka The Greenpeace sailed from Vancouver September 15, 1971 to the island of Amchitka to protest a nuclear test on the remote Aleutian island by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. The Greenpeace—the original name of which was the Phyllis Cormack, an 80-foot fishing vessel named after skipper John Cormack’s wife—had been chartered by the Don’t Make a Wave Committee. “Environmentalists feared,” the Province reported, “that the underground blast might touch off an earthquake or tidal wave and that radiation might leak to the surface or into the sea.” The test occurred while the Greenpeace was still en route, but the protest sparked a huge anti-nuclear demonstration in Vancouver by high school students and the Don’t Make a Wave Committee—renamed Greenpeace—stepped onto the world environmental stage. While the Greenpeace was en route the atomic blast they were planning to protest—a five-megaton explosion detonated under Amchitka Island—went ahead. A second ship was organized, and left Vancouver October 6. This was the converted Canadian minesweeper Edgewater Fortune. She was named the Greenpeace Too. She passed the Greenpeace near Campbell River and carried on north to Alaska—first to Juneau, and then outward bound across the Gulf of Alaska to the Aleutians. The detonation of November 1971 was the last nuclear test to take place at Amchitka. Gastown Riot The Gastown Riot, or “The Battle of Maple Tree Square” on August 7, 1971 drew more than 1,000 people to Gastown as a protest against the illegality of marijuana. But police on horseback were called in to break it up, arresting 79 and charging 38. A later judicial inquiry headed by Justice Thomas Dohm criticized the action, characterizing it as a “police riot.” A “Gastown Festival,” exactly one week after the riot, and meant to repair the area’s image, drew 15,000 peaceful participants. Student Protest On October 6 more than 10,000 secondary school students from all over the Lower Mainland massed in the 1000-block Alberni—near the U.S. consulate general’s office—as a protest against a planned U.S. nuclear test on Alaska’s Amchitka Island. The students sang, chanted and listened to speeches . . . and when the demonstration was over, some of them stayed behind to sweep up and collect litter boxes. A delegation from the group went to the consulate general’s office to explain their opposition to the blast. See the Greenpeace item above. Sports Hall of Fame The British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame opened October 21 in the B.C. Pavilion at the PNE. Tributes were paid to sports writer Eric Whitehead as the man most responsible “for the splendid collection of memorabilia, not to mention various splendid collections of money which made the Hall possible and will ensure its future.” Today, with 19 galleries and even more splendid memorabilia (film, video, uniforms, trophies and more), the Hall is in bigger quarters (20,000 sq ft) at B.C. Place—and well worth a visit. Vancouver Chamber Choir The Vancouver Chamber Choir, led by its founder/conductor/music director Jon Washburn, was formed in 1971. It is still making great music, samples of which you can hear at their website. Tamahnous Theatre Tamahnous Theatre was founded in 1971 by John Gray, the late Larry Lillo and others. It would present new and challenging work for more than 20 years. A UBC site says: “In addition to scripted works produced by the company, including many plays written for the group, Tamahnous Theatre was known for, and was based in, collective creation. It was a mark of the collaborative nature of this group that even the scripted works developed by the company’s writers went through a workshop process with all of the members of the troupe, and had input from everyone involved with the project. After the 1980s, the number of Tamahnous’ collective creations declined and the company went in other directions.” [caption id="attachment_8676" align="alignleft" width="180" caption="British Columbia Coast Names was published by D&M starting in 1971."][/caption] D & M The leading publisher in BC of trade books—those directed at the general public—is Douglas & McIntyre, the largest English-language Canadian-owned publisher outside Toronto. The company began this year—publishing two books—as J.J. Douglas Ltd., named for company founder Jim Douglas. Douglas’ partner was Scott McIntyre, now the company president. Their first two books were: British Columbia Coast Names, by John T. Walbran, a book that first appeared in 1909. It’s still in print under the D&M imprint. The other book was Cooking for One, by Norah Mannion Wilmot, which went on to sell some 50,000 copies and which was in print for many years. The company was off to a great start! Also in 1971 Lions Bay was incorporated January 2, 1971. Resident (and former Lions Bay mayor) Max Wyman has written: “A plebiscite on incorporation late in 1970 drew more than the requisite 60 per cent majority vote from the 250 residents, and in the spring of 1971 Lions Bay officially became a village municipality. Some members of the GVRD board felt such a small community should not be allowed one of only 57 GVRD votes. ‘I think it's totally wrong,’ said Bill Vander Zalm, then Mayor of Surrey. ‘I don't know why it was done.’ A village complex was built: fire hall, fire truck storage, a council room, village office, kitchen and community hall-cum-gym. Allan (Curly) Stewart was elected mayor by acclamation, and villagers elected their first four-member council.” Seaspan International was chosen January 8 as the new name after the merger of Vancouver Tugboats and Island Tug and Barge. The North Vancouver company operates tugs and specialty barges from Alaska to Mexico. Vancouver got title January 15 to the old Shaughnessy Golf Course lands that would later be developed as Van Dusen Botanical Display Garden. On January 25 200 poor people marched on Vancouver’s city hall. In February 1971 the provincial government assigned the designation of historic areas, thus preventing demolition of historically significant buildings. Vancouver’s Gastown and Chinatown neighborhoods were designated historic sites. But this silver lining had a cloud. Writes Eleanor Yuen in The Greater Vancouver Book: “In 1971, the municipal government crippled the growth of Chinatown by declaring it an Historical Area where all old buildings of significant value were to be preserved and new developments strictly controlled. This designation was a blessing in those years as it helped fight proposals for a freeway right across its heart. A decade later, however, the heritage classification turned into a curse in disguise and stalled growth and development in the district.” On March 4, 1971 Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, 52, married Margaret Sinclair, 22, at St. Stephen's Catholic Church in Lynn Valley, North Vancouver. Later this year they will open the 500,000-gallon whale pool at the Vancouver Public Aquarium. On April 1 the post office began a test-run of a new six-character alphanumeric postal code in Ottawa. Its use would eventually be extended to the whole country. The railway through White Rock (now called the Burlington Northern) ended its passenger service in April, 1971. A few years later a ‘fastbus’ commuter service by B.C. Hydro would link White Rock with Vancouver. The War Measures Act, imposed October 16, 1970, lapsed April 30, 1971. George Tidball opened his first Keg Restaurant in North Vancouver June 21. In 1987 he would sell his Kegs and other restaurants (76 in all) to Whitbread PLC of London, England. Vancouver mayor Tom Campbell visited the ‘Four Seasons’ site (at the entrance to Stanley Park) on June 23 and vocally sparred with young people squatting there. On July 20, a pageant at Empire Stadium marked the centennial of B.C.'s entry into Confederation. An 18-year-old lad from Dawson Creek named Roy Forbes came to Vancouver in July 1971 and began to sing professionally. He called himself Bim. He was sensational. And more than 30 years later, now singing as Roy Forbes, he still is. Parking for 850 cars opened at Pacific Centre September 27. Soviet premier Alexei Kosygin made a state visit to Vancouver October 23. (One result: a novel, Kosygin is Coming, by former Sun police reporter Vancouver’s Tom Ardies, which later became the movie Russian Roulette, starring George Segal.) Heritage Village (now Burnaby Village Museum) was opened November 19, 1971 by Governor General Roland Michener. It showed Burnaby as it might have looked in bygone days. There are costumed townsfolk, historic buildings, self-guided tours, and a beautiful old carousel. Besides its entertainment purposes, the village is a learning resource for school groups. On December 31 Province publisher Fred Auger buried a time capsule near the reception desk in the editorial department. It was to be opened on B.C.'s 200th birthday. This was when the newspaper was at 2250 Granville Street, before its move to Granville Square in 1997. Wonder what happened to that time capsule? Some 83 per cent of Richmond’s population listed English as their first language The Hyack Festival Association of New Westminster began its activities. These include the annual Hyack Festival, the Hyack Antique Car Easter Parade, the Santa Claus Parade, and the Miss New Westminster Ambassador Program. The Capilano Fish Hatchery opened. The featured species are coho, chinook and steelhead. A related web site reads, in part: “The construction of the Cleveland Dam blocked the route of coho and steelhead traveling up the Capilano River to spawn. Greater than 95 per cent of their spawning and approximately 75 per cent of their rearing habitat was lost. To mitigate this loss, the Greater Vancouver Water District constructed a concrete river weir and fish ladder. This system collected adult salmon returning to the river to spawn. They were then transported in transport tanks and deposited above the dam to continue their journey upstream. However, young salmon migrating downstream to the ocean suffered high losses, as they had to travel over the dam. Over the next decade the Capilano salmon stocks continued to decline. To address this problem, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans decided to build Capilano Hatchery to rear and release salmon below the dam. Construction began in 1969 and the three million-dollar facility was completed in 1971.” The Greater Vancouver Water District, which had been incorporated in 1926, became part of the Greater Vancouver Regional District. So did the Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District, incorporated in 1956, a successor to the Vancouver and District Joint Sewerage and Drainage Board, incorporated in 1914. Among the locally-shot films released this year were these five: (annotations by film historian Michael Walsh) Director Mike Nichols shot Carnal Knowledge here. The film starred Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen, Art Garfunkel, Ann-Margret and Rita Moreno. Michael Walsh comments: “Vancouver stars as Middle America in a boomer generation drama about guys who spend their lives chasing girls and talking about sex.” McCabe And Mrs. Miller (Director: Robert Altman) A drifter, Warren Beatty, becomes enamored of a frontier madam, Julie Christie, in director Altman's second Vancouver-made feature, a Western that he shot in a specially-built North Shore mining town. Madeleine Is . . . (Director: Sylvia Spring) Reflecting the militant, mystic 1960s, Torontonian Spring created a feminist fantasy about a runaway Quebecoise (Nicola Lipman) who finds personal fulfillment clowning around Kitsilano. John Juliani was in the cast. This was the first Vancouver-made feature film directed by a woman. The Life And Times Of Chester-Angus Ramsgood (Director: David Curnick) A love-smitten teen (Robert Matson) develops elaborate schemes to impress the ultra-Scottish parents of his would-be girlfriend (Mary-Beth McGuffin) in this Vancouver West Side farce. Jack Darcus wrote, directed and co-starred (with Susan Spencer) in Proxyhawks, in which “a coastal farm couple experience deepening sexual tensions in their relationship when the man becomes obsessed with falconry.” The Jericho Youth Hostel was created within what had been a barracks for the old Jericho air station. Construction began at UBC on the Sedgewick Undergraduate Library (architects: Rhone and Iredale), located in part beneath the Main Mall and featuring conical skylights. It will be completed in 1972. George Burrows ended his long career (it had started in 1931) supervising Vancouver's beaches and pools. A cairn in his honor is near the bathhouse at Kitsilano Beach. A bronze and steel fountain in the plaza of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, designed by Gerhard Hans Class, began operating. The fountain was a gift to the city and province from the German-Canadian community. [caption id="attachment_8678" align="alignleft" width="320" caption="The J.H. Carlisle fireboat back in 1928, a year after it was first launched. Photo by Stuart Thomson. Item # CVA 99-1710. Photo courtesy of Vancouver Archives."][/caption] The fireboat J.H. Carlisle was taken out of service by the Vancouver Fire Department. She was replaced by four 1,500-gallon-per-minute ‘Super Pumps’ stationed in the firehalls around False Creek, which by then was more easily accessible by land-based fire companies. The federal government, under Prime Minister Trudeau, announced a new policy of multiculturalism. That made Canada the first country in the world to adopt multiculturalism as an official policy. (In 1997 Statistics Canada noted 68 different ethnic backgrounds of people living in the Vancouver region, including 20 Haitians as the smallest group to the English, the largest, at 257,020.) The policy also confirmed the rights of the country’s aboriginal people and the status of Canada's two official languages. It has been largely adopted as a model by many other provincial and civic governments. St. George's Greek Orthodox Church on Arbutus Street was completed, reflecting a growth in the number of people of Greek ancestry. UBC began offering the first credit courses in Women’s Studies in Canada. George F. Curtis, the first Dean of UBC’s Faculty of Law, retired. He had served since 1945. (In 1995 he will become a member of the Order of British Columbia, in 2003 will receive the Queen's Jubilee Gold Medal, and in 2005 be appointed an officer of the Order of Canada.) The Law building at UBC is named for him. An extension paid for by graduate students was added to UBC’s Graduate Student Centre (Thea Koerner House). The building serves as a social and cultural centre for students in graduate studies. The Anglican Theological College, Union College (United Church), and the Ecumenical College affiliated with UBC amalgamated to form the Vancouver School of Theology. Students at the Langara campus of Vancouver Community College, who had been pushing unsuccessfully for a crosswalk at 49th Avenue and Ontario Street, stopped traffic to paint their own crosswalk on the street. The city eventually gave in to the students’ demands, and installed two crosswalks. Barry M. Gough at UBC submitted a PhD thesis titled The Royal Navy and the Northwest Coast of North America, 1810-1914. It was turned into a book this same year by UBC Press. One review read, in part: “This is a scholar devoted to meticulous empirical research and argument; there are surely very few relevant archival documents which Gough has not seen, few sites of maritime importance which he has not visited in person.” A 169-bed extended-care unit (Evergreen House) opened at Lions Gate Hospital. Apartment & Building, published six times a year by BKN Publications, first appeared. Event, published three times a year at Douglas College, first appeared. It presented reviews, fiction and poetry. Hellenic View, a semi-monthly with text in English and Greek, first appeared. It featured news of the Greek community in B.C. and elsewhere in Canada. Supply Post, a monthly publication on the forestry industry from Ken Kenward Enterprises Ltd., first appeared. The hugely successful Vancouver Buy and Sell, published twice weekly by Buy and Sell Press, first appeared. It presented free classified advertising in tabloid form. Another great publishing success, Western Living, published 10 times a year by Telemedia West, first appeared. It was founded by Liz Bryan and her husband, photographer Jack Bryan. Today, this lifestyle magazine’s circulation in B.C. is more than 220,000. The Port of Vancouver processed 22,800 cruise passenger this year. The total would pass 170,000 in 1981, top 423,000 in 1991, reach 600,000 in 1995 and 929,976 in 2004. The 2009 figure: 897,000. [caption id="attachment_8679" align="alignleft" width="320" caption="Mayor Taylor with the Scottish soccer team in Con Jones Park (later called Callister Park), circa 1927. Photo by Stuart Thomson. Item # CVA 99-1781. Photo courtesy of Vancouver Archives."][/caption] Callister Park, bounded by Renfrew, Oxford, Kaslo and Cambridge Streets, and a centre for soccer for more than five decades across from the PNE grounds, was demolished. (The park was formerly known as Con Jones Park. It was built by Con Jones in 1912 as a playing ground for his Vancouver field lacrosse team. The name changed to Callister Park in 1942.) The 41-kilometre Baden-Powell Trail was built on the north shore by various Boy Scout and Girl Guide troops. The trail was named in honor of the scouting movement's founder. Writes Charles Montgomery: “It cuts a wandering line from Horseshoe Bay to Indian Arm, sampling all the delights of the North Shore: from Black Mountain's magnificent views of Howe Sound, through dark forests and rushing canyons all the way to the quiet waters of Deep Cove.” The Tunnel Town Curling Club, which had opened four sheets of ice in a Boundary Bay air hangar in 1958, moved to Tsawwassen. Time Line, a 16-feet-high concrete sculpture by Tom Osborne, was installed in North Vancouver’s Mahon Park. The work was commissioned to commemorate B.C.'s entry into Confederation. It’s described as “Six wall-like cement structures spaced equally on the periphery of a five-meter earth circle.” Five former Royal Winnipeg Ballet dancers launched Ballet Horizons in Vancouver. It lasted a year. Concert Box Office was founded by the late Gary Switlo and Tom Worrall. They sold tickets to rock shows. They would merge with their chief competitor, Vancouver Ticket Centre, in 1987. Ann Blades, writer and illustrator, began her career with Mary of Mile 18, based on her experiences as a teacher in the B.C. Interior. The Canadian Association of Children's Librarians would choose it as Book of the Year in 1972. Pulp Press was founded in Vancouver, says a link from the company’s web site “by a collective of university students and associates disenchanted by what they perceived to be the academic literary pretensions of Canadian literature at the time. The early seventies were a fertile and exciting period in alternative arts and literature, and life at Pulp was no exception.” Pulp would become Arsenal Pulp Press in 1982. T.W. Paterson, who has written many books on B.C. history, got them going this year with Treasure, British Columbia. The 35-member CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra, conducted by John Avison, became the first Canadian orchestra to perform in the Arctic. Artist B.C. Binning was named an officer of the Order of Canada. Walter Gage, while serving as president of UBC, was awarded the Order of Canada. Sprinter Harry Jerome was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. Vancouver’s Bob Smith, who was already presenting the jazz program Hot Air on CBC Radio, became the host of the Vancouver edition of CBC's That Midnight Jazz. He would do that until 1979. Smith was “an encyclopedia of jazz, jazz musicians and records.” Gertrude Weinrobe, the first Jewish child born in Vancouver (May 12, 1893) received the 1971 B.C. Pioneer Centennial Medal. The fondly remembered Saskatoon-born Steve Woodman, entertainer and broadcaster, moved to Vancouver, aged 44. Among his many gigs, he hosted CKWX's Steve's Place and Vancouver Variety Club telethons. He was also an original cast member of the zany radio show Dr. Bundolo’s Pandemonium Medicine Show, recorded live at UBC's student union building. “A man of 1,000 voices.” After a 1974 telethon, a car accident on black ice nearly took his life and ended his career. He died March 13, 1990. The Penthouse night club was forced to close and, apparently, that led to a rise in street prostitution. It has since reopened in what is the oldest standing striptease club in Canada. The popular CBC television series The Beachcombers began shooting on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast in 1971. Elsewhere: Starbucks opened at its first location: Seattle’s Pike Place Market. *** Chuck Davis is a Vancouver writer who has written, co-written, or edited 15 books. Most of them are on local history, and he describes his next book, The History of Metropolitan Vancouver, as the capstone of his career.

Vancouver’s 1975 downtown transit plan

[caption id="attachment_8176" align="alignleft" width="290" caption="Transit service map circa 1975."][/caption] In 1975, the Bureau of Transit Services prepared a transit service plan for downtown Vancouver. Now that 35 years have passed, it's time to look at what actually got built. By John Calimente, re:place magazine It's always fun to look back at what previous generations were planning for our city. Some plans, like the numerous freeway proposals for the downtown core, haven't become reality. Others, like Harland Bartholomew's city plan of 1928, have made a big impact on our city even if they weren't formally adopted. The formal title of the 1975 plan was "Draft Memorandum on Transit Service Planning to Complement Downtown Peninsula Plans of the City of Vancouver." It was created by the BC Government's Bureau of Transit Services, which was under the Minister of Municipal Affairs, and it was presented to Vancouver City Council on September 23, 1975. The summary statement explains that the memorandum outlines how transit service planning fit in with the City Council's plans for the downtown peninsula. The summary is followed by 5 chapters:  'Transit in Downtown Vancouver', 'Demand', 'Route Layouts in Downtown Vancouver', 'Infrastructure and Stations', and 'Implementation. Even 35 years ago it was noted that Vancouver "...doesn't have sufficient passenger capacity to carry all those persons waiting for our buses. This means we often pass people by or crowd people on board our buses, and we are very sure that neither of these situations would be tolerated by Members of City Council as would-be transit riders." The inefficiencies of the automobile were also obvious by 1975. Among the objectives for transit was to "...remove the pressure to build more highways, parking facilities, and bridges" by enabling more people to travel over the existing street network. Automobiles were creating too much traffic, making bus service unreliable and transfers difficult. With Vancouver's transit system consisting entirely of buses, layovers downtown were a problem. The reports states that "we have problems in finding enough available curb space to park our vehicles while awaiting their return trip time." [caption id="attachment_8177" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Transit service areas circa 1975."][/caption] Downtown Activity Areas The report lists 11 "character areas" within Downtown Vancouver that were "centres of attraction and (trip) generation." Easily recognizable today are Chinatown, Gastown, Granville/Hastings retail, Robson East/Georgia East, Robson Strasse/Robson Square, West End Residential, and North Side False Creek. Yaletown had not yet become Yaletown yet, though. It was named "Eastern Slopes". Coal Harbour, lacking its waterfront portion, was called the "Golden Triangle/Financial District" and had no residential development, only offices and hotels. "Transition Area N" is now the still-evolving Downtown South, while the "Waterfront" area connected all the land along Burrard Inlet between Stanley Park and Gastown. Regional Demand With an absence of rapid transit in 1975, buses were the only means of ferrying passengers to downtown from all parts of the region. Granville and Hastings Streets were the main entrances to the downtown core. Hastings was the major conduit of bus traffic to and from the North Shore, Burnaby, Coquitlam, and New Westminster, and Surrey, with 109 buses per hour travelling along it during rush hour.  Granville was the connection to Richmond, Delta, Ladner, and Tsawwassen. Regional bus services transported about 5,500 people per hour into Downtown Vancouver from outside the city. During rush hour, 20,000 people per hour entered downtown by transit, representing 45% of the Downtown workforce. Anticipating future job growth (180,000 jobs downtown by the year 2000), rapid transit was needed. The Burrard Inlet Ferry It's hard to imagine now, but there was no water connection between the North Shore and the downtown core in 1975. While ferry service had started as far back as 1900, the last ferry to cross Burrard Inlet ran in 1958. The "Burrard Inlet Ferry" was planned to be implemented by mid-1976, with the CPR Station serving as the southern terminus. Each vessel was anticipated to have a capacity of 400 passengers, transporting 2,400 people per hour in each direction with a crossing time of eight minutes. The ferry, branded 'SeaBus', was eventually launched in June 1977, a year behind schedule. It was the first fully accessible transit service in Greater Vancouver and also the first transit service to allow bicycles on board. TransLink's fleet is now 100% accessible and cyclists have access to most transit vehicles. SeaBus carries about 17,000 people per day and recently celebrated its 100 millionth passenger. Commuter Train Consultants were studying a potential commuter train service into Granville station using the CPR mainline. What's fascinating is that they were definitely envisioning Waterfront Station as a regional hub in 1975. Referencing an earlier report, the concept was for "The Granville Waterfront Station" to accommodate "passenger service of Canadian Pacific passenger trains, the Cross-Inlet ferries, future commuter trains and light rail transit, and CityBUS, FastBUS and Town and Country BUSes." The 'CPR Commuter Train' was proposed to run on rail rights-of-way during peak hours only, from the CPR Station to Port Moody and Port Coquitlam. Intended to reduce travel times and alleviate congestion on the Barnett/Hastings corridor, initial plans called for two peak-hour trips with a total capacity of 3,000 people to be implemented by late 1976 or early 1977. Unfortunately, the plan wasn't realized until 1995, when the West Coast Express began service. (One of the key people involved in the creation of the West Coast Express was interviewed on Paul Hillsdon's website). The long delay is presumably due to the change in provincial government in December of 1975. With five trains running in morning and evening peak periods, average passenger counts had reached 10,500 per day by 2008. CPR's passenger rail service sadly ended in 1979, with Via Rail taking over the railway's passenger operations. Passengers from across Canada now disembark at Pacific Central Station. Light Rail Transit This LRT section of the plan bears the least resemblance to what actually got built in the downtown peninsula. The 1975 plan called for a light rail network to be implemented in two phases. The first phase was envisioned as a premetro, combining surface and subway routes. The plan was for the subway section to connect 'Granville Waterfront Station' with False Creek, under Cambie Street from Cordova to West Pender, then to the False Creek yards along a corridor now occupied by BC Place Stadium (see map). The line would then continue along the 'Central Park L.R.T. line', heading out to Burnaby, New Westminster, and North Surrey. Of course, rather than an at-grade system, the Expo Line SkyTrain was built above ground along the planned route in 1985. The difference in the downtown portion is that no tunneling was needed - fortuitously, the Dunsmuir tunnel became available to be used instead. Streetcar Even more exciting, for a streetcar fan at least, was the second phase, with four at-grade streetcar routes planned. The plan stated that an understanding had been reached with Mayor and Council "...that we could work out where in Downtown Vancouver there could be 'streetcar' type operation of light rail services". The accompanying map shows the proposed routes. The first line would run along Hastings St, reaching as far as North Burnaby. The second route would follow Hornby St through downtown, run across the CPR Kitsilano Trestle that used to connect downtown to Kitsilano, along the Arbutus Line, then on to Richmond and South Delta. The third route would run along Nelson St from Hornby St to Stanley Park, linking Downtown Vancouver with the West End. The fourth route would be a line connecting the waterfront areas. It would run from Stanley Park to  Carrall St, right along the water through what is now Coal Harbour and then along a portion of what is now Cordova St. From Carrall it would run through the old Expo Lands, cross the Kitsilano trestle, and on to the Planetarium. As we now know, Vancouver did eventually get a rapid transit line to Richmond, but only last year and only as far as Richmond City Hall. The waterfront route has morphed into the Downtown Streetcar Project. With the removal of the Kitsilano Trestle in 1982, routing changed from the north to the south side of False Creek. Rights of way are secured, it is only the matter of funding that keeps it from being built. In my view, Hastings Street would still see huge benefits from the restoration of streetcar service out to North Burnaby. I'm only guessing, but with all those commuters since 1986 taking SkyTrain to go to Burnaby, Surrey, and New Westminster, Hastings Street lost a huge number of potential customers. Was this a factor in the closing of Woodward's and the decline of the Downtown Eastside? I think it had to be a contributing factor, especially with the lure of the newly-opened Metrotown in Burnaby along the Expo Line. I'm curious about the proposed line along Nelson St, though. What would be the point of a routing straight through the heart of the West End, along a street with minimal commercial activity? It is definitely the most direct way to reach the West End from downtown, but why along a residential street rather than on Robson or Davie? It's a mystery to me. Maybe it was just an idea; as we can see, there is still no transit of any kind along Nelson St. Bus Downtown bus improvements were targeted for the spring of 1976 to coordinate with inauguration of ferry service to the North Shore. At the time it was thought that the bus network would not be able to handle increases in transit ridership past 1980. The only major change, again, is the proposal for buses to run along Nelson Street. Granville Waterfront Station was also supposed to serve as the downtown terminus for the bus system. This hasn't really come to pass - the nexus still seems to be in the vicinity of Robson and Granville. Cyclists? What are those? The plan does talk briefly about pedestrianization, noting that the Granville Street Mall is a "good example of the integration of transit and pedestrian facilities." The 'pedestrian streets' were envisioned to be Hastings, Granville, Robson, and for some reason, Cambie Street downtown. As for cyclists, there is not one mention in the whole report. It shows me how far we have come in 35 years that a plan like this today would invariably contain a section on cycling in the city. The plan concludes that "...there really is not much to be gained in professing support for programmes to get more people to use public transit without commitment to actions to give transit priority use of streets in Downtown Vancouver and in other urban centres in the metropolitan area." That we still haven't completed transit service planned in 1975 shows me that transit is still not a high enough priority in the region. But we are improving...slowly. ** John Calimente is the president of Rail Integrated Developments. He is a fan of great public transit + transit integrated developments + urban life lived without a car. Follow TheTransitFan on Twitter.

Vancouver Becomes a Transit City for 17 Days

It was a cool experiment, and perhaps North America's largest traffic trial ever. Take one auto-oriented-but-making-progress city and for 17 days remold it into a transit city. Happily, it worked beyond anyone's expectations. Now it's time to take what we've learned to improve Vancouver's transportation system. By John Calimente, re:place Magazine During the 2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver was transformed. People flooded onto the transit system, particularly the Canada, Expo, and Millennium Lines. Additional SkyTrain cars, buses, West Coast Express trains, and a Seabus were added. Lane closures in and around the downtown core dramatically curtailed traffic. And many more people were out walking and cycling than would be normal in mid-February. The Plan The simple goal was to achieve a 30% reduction in motor traffic in downtown Vancouver. This would be achieved by introducing road and parking restrictions while simultaneously increasing transit service. VANOC put in $17 million in order to fund this expanded service. Road capacity was reduced by 50% downtown and 20% for the city as a whole. The Georgia Viaduct was closed. Drivers were urged not to travel downtown between during peak times. Pressure was also taken off transit by the closure of universities and many people taking holidays during the Olympics. But no one anticipated the huge surge of visitors that ended up taking transit to the downtown core. Expo, Millennium, and Canada Lines ended up running all of their trains most of the day, a total of 48 extra cars per day. As well, 160 on-demand buses were added. The West Coast Express added a total of over 100 additional trips at midday, evenings, and weekends. Bus frequency was also increased on many routes at all hours of the day. TransLink and City of Vancouver staff were on hand to provide help on using the transit system and direct visitors to Olympic venues. The Numbers Public Transit: TransLink had expected a 20% lift in ridership, meaning about 960,000 trips daily compared to the normal average of 800,000 trips per day. Instead, ridership jumped by 31%, with an average of 1.6 million boardings per day. The results are summarized on TransLink's website. Bus ridership increased by 8% over the average weekday. Rail lines fared even better - boardings jumped by 64% over the normal weekday on the Expo/Millennium Lines, 118% on the Canada Line, 119% on the SeaBus, and 58% on the West Coast Express. Weekends saw even bigger increases, as fewer commuters means lower weekend base numbers. Saturdays on the Expo/Millennium Lines were 226% above normal and Sundays a staggering 348% above normal. The Canada Line was similar, with ridership 203% above normal on Saturdays and 224% on Sundays. The West Coast Express had many people standing on the journey to downtown, with the heaviest load nearly 3,000 passengers when the seated capacity is only 1,250. With the addition of a third SeaBus, ridership jumped 382% on Saturdays and 450% on Sundays. Single-day records were achieved on the Expo/Millennium Lines (567,000 boardings on February 20), the Canada Line (287,000 boardings on February 19), SeaBus (59,000 passengers) and the West Coast Express (2,970 passengers). The Olympic Line Streetcar saw an astounding 550,000 people take a ride on the 1.8 km line between Olympic Village station and Granville Island in its two months of operation. That's an average of about 9,000 per day. As a comparison, it took a full 12 months for the 2.1 km South Lake Union Streetcar in Seattle to reach 507,000 riders. Pedestrians and Cyclists - During the trial, the Burrard and Cambie bridges saw an average of 20,000 pedestrians and 5,000 cyclists per day. Automobiles - The reduction of car traffic into the downtown core by 30% was easily achieved. I don't think I've ever seen it so quiet in Vancouver on a weekday. Remarkably, with an average daily ridership of 1.6 million over the 17-day event, Vancouver temporarily had the third-highest transit usage in North America behind only New York and Mexico City. While this is an amazing accomplishment, it is also staggering to think that much, much larger cities in U.S. have such low transit ridership. So what does this experience tell us? 1) Metro Vancouver's transit system is amazingly efficient. The 31% jump in ridership was handled as smoothly as could be expected. Of course there were delays and waits, but considering the huge strains put on the system, there were no major failures. Expanded service also encouraged more people to ride the system. As Dale Bracewell with the City of Vancouver explained, "If we provide high-quality service, people will use it." 2) Increased transit ridership and fewer cars on the road meant that automobile drivers were happy as well. Many, many drivers told me that traffic everywhere in the city was minimal, with the exception of a few routes into the downtown core. Traffic on the Lion's Gate Bridge moved smoothly even though it was down to only two lanes. Just imagine if all those Olympic visitors had driven their cars everywhere. As Anthony Perl, professor at SFU noted, "If these people were in cars the line-ups would be never-ending." Another benefit? Better and faster bus movement. Bus drivers told me that they were constantly having to slow down, because traffic delays are built into their schedules. With reduced volumes of automobiles, buses ran extremely efficiently. 3) When people are unfamiliar with transit, they overwhelmingly chose the easiest systems to understand, which were the rail-based systems. Bus ridership was up only a few percentage points. TransLink staff at the SkyTrain stations said that many people only wanted to hear options that involved SkyTrain. The routing of buses was often seen as too complicated, or unappealing for longer distances. 4) When everyone is riding transit, it becomes more acceptable to the average person. The crowds on the SkyTrain lines didn't discourage people from riding. On the contrary, it may have actually encouraged more riders. Regardless of what people often say, we like being around other people. But people need to feel comfortable on transit, especially those that rarely take it. Since the transit system was surging with middle-class folks going to Olympic events, it became acceptable for more people to ride. And there's also the issue of safety. Many of our SkyTrain stations are absolutely dead at night. While the trains may be busy, the stations are not centres of activity. However, during the Olympics, the critical mass of people using the system also resulted in a greater feeling of safety around stations, with increased security, TransLink staffers giving directions, and simply a greater number of people around. More people riding the system actually encourage greater ridership. Honestly, there was not really that much going on in downtown Vancouver if you didn't have tickets to an event. Metro Vancouver residents were basically riding downtown to see the crowds of people milling about. 5) One group that was conspicuous by its presence: families (and extended families). I had never thought about how few families I normally see on transit. Transit in Metro Vancouver is mainly about singles and couples. Complete family groups are a relative rarity. This is one issue that TransLink needs to look at. From a cost and convenience perspective, driving a vehicle is still cheaper and easier that buying tickets for all family members. Hopefully now we'll at least see more families taking the SkyTrain when they head downtown, but the cost of a using a vehicle will have to increase dramatically before we see any appreciable increase in families on transit. There's now a group called TripEd that wants to reduce the cost of field trips taken by transit. Perhaps there could be a family pass to encourage families to take transit once in a while? 6) As Richard Campbell points out, was there any buzz at all about the Sea to Sky Highway? No, because it's almost impossible to have a shared group experience when everyone's in their separate cars. Just imagine if we had spent the $600 million in highway money on improved train service between Vancouver and Whistler. Or how about between Vancouver and Seattle? That would have been an amazing Olympic legacy. The response would have been incredible: a taste of that can be seen in the popularity of the Rocky Mountaineer, which the Alberta government booked for the duration of the Games So will we see a long-term impact as a result of the Olympic transportation plan? Signs have not been encouraging so far. The Olympic Line streetcars have already been sent back to Brussels. On March 3rd, the federal government announced that $33 million would be spent in B.C. for road improvements, but no money would go to the Olympic Line or the Evergreen Line. The Canada Line is an Olympic project that has already shown its value. But now that everyone has hopped back in their cars and life has returned to 'normal' in the region, it's up to us to let the politicians know that we want more investment in public transit. It was amazing to see what Vancouver could look like as a transit city. I'd like to see it again in the not-too-distant future. *** John Calimente is the president of Rail Integrated Developments. He is a fan of great public transit + transit integrated communities + urban life lived without a car.

The Urbanist’s Guide to Vancouver Part 4: Explorations

For the final part of the Guide, re:place looks at some of the wonderful suggestions you had for learning more about the our city. By the re:place team and re:place readers Our last installment of The Urbanist’s Guide to Vancouver looks at suggestions for exploring and learning about Vancouver. There are plenty of great resources including books and websites that feature information on the city's history, politics, news and events. Although some of these choices could have been put in earlier installments, we felt that they were important enough to stand on their own. Also, by no means is this a comprehensive list.  We're sure that there are a lot of things that can be added, so please give us more suggestions. Once again, we would like to say a huge 'thank you' to all of our readers who took the time to comment on our earlier posts or who e-mailed us their suggestions. All the information below in quotations are direct quotes from our readers. GETTING OUT & ABOUT John Atkin Tour (info) "Take a walking tour with the renowned local historian to get an amazing social, political, and the architectural history of the city. Happening for locations all around the city, this is an event that is sure not to disappoint!" The Transportation System (info) "All urbanists have an interest in it. I visited about three weeks ago and rode all of SkyTrain and the Seabus, and spent a lot of time admiring the multimodal nature of the systems there, especially at Waterfront Station and at the waterfront itself with the frequent seaplane flights." "Faresaver booklets most commonly found at MACs & Shoppers Drug Mart; don't forget a Day Pass for unlimited travel ($9)!" "If you don't have an iPhone for the Translink app, you can find the entire Translink map called "Getting Around" at the map display rack at the Shoppers Drug Mart stores, for $1.95. A PDF version of the map is also available.  This shows you exactly what all the bus routes are, where they go, and where they connect to the SkyTrain. Very useful." The Miss Guides (info) "History tour meets performance art...is there a better mix? There tours are for a limited time only so be sure to see them while you can." BOOKS Red Light Neon: A History of Vancouver's Sex Trade by Daniel Francis "Covering the history of prostitution in Vancouver, it's one of those must-reads for people who want a unique insight into a one of the city's under-discussed histories." The Greater Vancouver Book edited by Chuck Davis "Virtually everything you need to know about Vancouver and more - packaged in a dense 885 pages.  It wasn't the second most stolen book from the Vancouver Public Library for no reason." Vancouver Special by Charles Demers "On of the most recent additions on the topic of Vancouver. Funny and filled with sharp insights about the local culture and environment, it's worth picking up." Vancouver's Glory Years: Public Transit 1890-1915 by Henry Ewert "A mandatory book for all local transit geeks." Vancouver Walks: Discovering City Heritage & The Skytrain Explorer by John Atkin and Micheal Kluckner "Two books that should be on everybodies book shelves. Although the rapid transformation in and around Vancouver have made some aspects of each self-guided tour obsolete, it's the next best thing to attending a John Atkin tour." The Vancouver Stories: West Coast Fiction from Canada's Best Writers by Raincoast Books "Local Canadian talent reflecting on Vancouver through a series of short fiction stories. Need one say more?" Saltwater City: An Illustrated History of Chinese in Vancouver by Paul Yee, "A significant text about the history of Chinese people in Vancouver." Vancouver: A Visual History by Bruce MacDonald "The best cartographic timeline of Vancouver. If you're lucky you can find it at one of the local used book stores." Vancouver: A Poem by George Stanley "An overlooked gem..." City of Glass by Douglas Coupland "An iconic book on local culture.....and it recently came out with a revised edition." Vancouver : Stories of a city & Immigrants: Story of Vancouver's People by Lisa Smedman "Two simply excellent historical books on Vancouver's neighbourhoods and people." INTERNET RESOURCES & FRIENDS OF RE:PLACE The Buzzer Blog (info) "For more transit geekery, get your fix of trivia from here..." The History of Metropolitan Vancouver (info) If you think the Year in 5 Minutes has a lot of information, go take a look at Chuck Davis's website!  Although funding has put it temporarily on hiatus, it's filled with all sorts of amazing historical information and is arguable the most comprehensive chronicle of Vancouver. Past Tense (info) The blog of local historian Lani Russwurm.  Although it's not as well known as some of the other sites about Vancouver and there's a bit of time between new posts, it's a great historical resource for all of us history geeks and even includes some great videos. Beyond Robson (info) "This really doesn't need any introduction....everybody knows it and loves it."

The Tyee (info) "Vancouver's most popular independent daily online magazine filled with great writers and a lot of content." Price Tags (info) "There is only one Gordon Price...and luckily we can all share his thoughts and insights." State of Vancouver (info) "Although Frances Bula's posts seem to be thinning out, her blog is still the place to go for current political news." Stephen Rees's Blog (info) The site for informed transit news and information. Matt Hern Blog (info) "Left-wing, opinionated, funny and just a great guy all-around, anything that comes from one of the co-founders of Car Free Day Vancouver is worth reading." GETTING INVOLVED The Vancouver Public Space Network (info) "The VPSN has a number of things going on at any particular point in time. From Public Art initiatives to Mapping and Wayfinding projects, you're sure to find something of interest and worth volunteering for." Think City (info) "Perhaps best known for holding the Jane's Walk events, the Think City Society is dedicated to all types of urban issues. Visit the site for finding out about the many ongoing projects they have going on, events, or simply to get their take on current news." Vancouver Historical Society (info) Run entirely by volunteers, the VHS is a key part of promoting all things historical.  From publishing books to holding all sorts of events, this wonderful organization play an important role in our city and must continue to be supported.

A Year in Five Minutes: Vancouver 1958

[caption id="attachment_7675" align="alignleft" width="290" caption="North Vancouver Ferry #5 was the last to sail in 1958. Photo by Walter Edwin Frost. Item # CVA 447-7232.1"][/caption] There were a lot of major construction projects started and completed this year, which was also BC's centennial. It was also a year of tragedy at the Second Narrows Bridge. By Chuck Davis, The History of Vancouver Photos courtesy of Vancouver Archives Second Narrows Bridge collapse The new Second Narrows Bridge collapsed June 17, 1958 during construction. Eighteen workmen and one rescue worker died and 20 more were injured. In 1995 the bridge was renamed in their and other workers' honor. It is now officially the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing. For more detail on the 1958 disaster, go to The History of Metropolitan Vancouver. BC Centennial July 13, 1958 was the 100th anniversary of the creation of the (mainland) colony of British Columbia. In honor of the centennial a 100-foot-high Kwakiutl totem pole was raised in front of Vancouver's new Maritime Museum, built as a centennial project. The museum would open to the public in June 1959. 8,000 people celebrated the birthday at a barbecue atop Burnaby Mountain. A pavilion was built there as a centennial project. The centennial was also commemorated by the beginning of construction of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, which would open in 1959. And this was the premiere of the Vancouver International Festival, a world-class performing arts showcase mixing local and international acts that would remain an annual event for the next decade. Various venues were used that first year: the Orpheum Theatre, the Georgia Auditorium, and the Hotel Vancouver Ballroom. Mungo Martin, Henry Hunt and David Martin carved a 30.5-metre-high Kwakiutl totem pole for BC’s Centennial. The original was presented to Queen Elizabeth II, and stands in England's Windsor Great Park. A replica is in Vancouver’s Hadden Park, on Ogden Avenue between Chestnut and Maple Streets, near the Maritime Museum. Main Post Office opens The present Main Post Office (architect Bill Leithead) opened March 14, 1958 at 349 West Georgia. Public Works Minister Howard Green and Postmaster-General William Hamilton jointly officiated. Hamilton arrived in a helicopter that landed on the PO’s roof heliport. The heliport was later closed: mail delivery by helicopter was too expensive. The $13 million building looks rather stolid, but in this case looks are deceptive: the joint is jumping, and it jumps 24 hours a day. More than a thousand people work in these million-plus square feet, trucks roll in and out constantly, conveyor belts (three kilometres of them) rumble, letter-sorting gizmos pluck and shuffle, processing a couple of million items a day (six million a day at Christmas). The building, more formally known as the Vancouver Mail Processing Plant, was, at the time, the largest welded steel structure in the world. Deas Island Tunnel In April of 1958 Ladner was connected to Lulu Island via the Deas Island Tunnel (which would later be re-named the George Massey Tunnel). Six sections comprising 663 metres of concrete and steel were sunk to construct the tunnel, which was opened to traffic later in the spring. The official opening was May 23, 1959. See that year (next week) for more detail. Until the tunnel, river crossings were made via the Ladner-Woodward's Landing Ferry. Within 20 years after the opening of the tunnel Delta's population would increase by 400 per cent. Ripple Rock The twin peaks of Ripple Rock, lurking just below the surface of the waters of the Seymour Narrows, had over the years caused the sinking of more than 100 ships and the loss of more than 100 lives. On April 5, 1958 Ripple Rock was blown up. See more details here. A 570-foot shaft was sunk on the mainland, and then a horizontal 2,400-foot tunnel was carved out under the channel, followed by a vertical shaft rising 300 feet through the middle of Ripple Rock. When the explosives were detonated inside the vertical shaft, it created the greatest non-nuclear explosion in history—an event that was shown live on televison across Canada and the U.S. [caption id="attachment_7677" align="alignright" width="290" caption="Cars #1224 and 1225. #1225 was the last regularly scheduled train of the interurban. Photo by Walter Edwin Frost. Item # CVA 447-1666"][/caption] Last Run of the Interurban The famed "Interurban" tramlines had their final run on the Marpole-Steveston run, the region’s last remaining route. According to Henry Ewert, author of a history of the B.C. Electric Railway, the last regularly scheduled train, car #1225, left Marpole at 12:30 AM, Friday, February 28, 1958 for Steveston. The car was full, most of the passengers (Ewert included) being railfans. The same car made the last northbound return trip, leaving Steveston at 1:00 AM with a 1:30 AM arrival at Marpole. The passengers got off and the car went to the Kitsilano carbarn (under the south approach of the Burrard Bridge) for the last time. That last ‘deadhead’ [passenger train running empty] move was made from Marpole to the Kitsilano carbarn along what we know today as the Arbutus corridor. The overhead trolley wires would be removed in 1959. Last Run of the North Van Ferry Ferry service between Vancouver and North Vancouver ended August 30, 1958 and would not resume until the start-up of the Seabus 19 years later. Detailed descriptions of the interesting years of ferry service on the inlet—so important to the history of the north shore—can be found in two books, Ferry Across the Inlet, by former master James Barr, and the informal Echoes of the Ferries, by J. Rodger Burnes. North Vancouver Ferry No. 5, built in False Creek in 1941 as the last car ferry for the North Vancouver Ferry system, became the Seven Seas Restaurant. (By the time the fondly-recalled ferry service ended more than 112 million passengers had been carried.) The Crab The Crab, one of the city’s most recognizable—and most photographed—sculptures, was erected at the Vancouver Museum (now the Museum of Vancouver). It is a fountain sculpture and is made of many separate parts in the shape of a crab. “The 22-foot-high, stainless steel sculpture,” wrote Elizabeth Godley in The Greater Vancouver Book, “was designed by George Norris.” The sculpture cost $20,000 and the fountain infrastructure cost $24,000. $27,000 for the sculpture was raised through luncheons and fashion shows and a $20,000 grant was received from the Centennial Committee. There is a nice symbolism to the sculpture: the crab in Haida legend protected the harbor. Also in 1958 David Jones Greenlees was born in Richmond at 1:01 a.m. on January 1. To mark the event the city named Greenlees Street in 1959. On January 9 J.V. Clyne was named chairman of MacMillan Bloedel, the giant forestry company. Clyne had earlier resigned as a judge on the B.C. Supreme Court. The Sun reported January 16 that Boyd Haskell, 43-year-old Simpsons-Sears executive (he was the General Manager of the Burnaby store) had been named President of the Greater Vancouver Tourist Association. “The association will spend $3,500 this year on a survey and analysis of its entire activities and workings.” On March 21 the Province reported that Haskell had asked the City of Vancouver to increase its grant to $75,000 from $40,000. And a November 6 Province said: “Tourist inquiries up 71 per cent this year . . .” On January 28 Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, visited Vancouver briefly en route to New Zealand and Australia. In January lots in the first subdivision at Lions Bay went on sale, and the first home there would be started by Charles and Mary Coltart in the spring. Writes Max Wyman, “They needed a special permit to transport building materials over the unfinished highway. Situated on the waterfront, the house was a cathedral-ceiling, modernist structure of cedar and glass that set the tone for much of the later architecture in the village.” In February, after seven years of negotiations, 110 owner-drivers of Yellow, Star and Checker Cabs bought the 85-car Yellow Cabs Co. Ltd. Gordon Farrell, president of B.C. Telephone Co for 30 years, stepped down March 12, 1958 and was succeeded by Cyrus H. McLean. [caption id="attachment_7678" align="alignleft" width="290" caption="John Diefenbaker, in 1943. Photo by Jack Lindsay. Item # CVA 1184-735"][/caption] Prime Minister John Diefenbaker spoke March 13 to 8,500 people at the Forum. A disturbance broke out when Sons of Freedom Doukhobor women in the audience protested their treatment by the federal government by disrobing. The Sun reported that Tom Hood, “boss of Vancouver Shipyards,” said the famed RCMP schooner St. Roch is “good for another 200 years.” On April 19, 1958 professional baseball tickets were sold on Sunday for the first time in Vancouver, at Capilano Stadium. On April 28 the Supreme Court of Canada would uphold B.C.'s approval of a Vancouver City Charter bylaw amendment permitting Sunday sports. Newspapers called it the end of the biggest public issue of the decade. The P&O liner Chusan arrived on May 28, 1958. One observer noted it was an historic event, re-establishing passenger vessel links with the Orient which had lapsed for almost 20 years with the last voyages of the great CPR Empress liners. “1958,” Gary Bannerman, (author of, among other books, Cruise Ships: The Inside Story) tells us, “was the year P&O made Vancouver a regular port of call. Their first ship that year was actually SS Himalaya. Panoceanic passenger ship visits back then were fairly rare, each one greeted by the fire boat and brass bands on the pier.” On July 1 Premier W.A.C. Bennett announced that B.C. would establish its own ferry service between Vancouver Island and the mainland. The move was prompted by labor strife in both the Black Ball and Canadian Pacific ferry systems. Princess Margaret visited July 23. While here she opened the reconstructed Fort Langley. Terry Fox was born in Winnipeg July 28, 1958. He was born Terrance Stanley Fox, came with the family when they moved to Port Coquitlam in 1966. Also on July 28 jazz giant Jack Teagarden recorded an album at the Orpheum Theatre. Its title: Muskrat Ramble. On August 4 the Oscar Peterson trio (Oscar Peterson, piano; Ray Brown, bass and Herb Ellis, guitar) played a gig at the Orpheum Theatre. The concert was recorded, but the album would not be released until 2003. The Parks Board closed Vancouver beaches August 13 because of pollution. On August 18 CKNW 1320 moved to 980 on the dial, the same day CKLG 1070 switched to 730. On September 9, 1958 an exaltation of archbishops and bishops pitched in to put the finishing touches on the brand new St. Mark’s College on the UBC campus. Operated by the Basilian Fathers, St. Mark’s was the first Roman Catholic college of university level in Vancouver. “It will provide living accommodation for 50 UBC students,” the Province reported, “and will be the centre for the university’s 1,300 Roman Catholics.” The college, designed by architect Peter Thornton, was blessed by the Most Rev. Giovanni Panico, apostolic delegate to Canada. The Province reported September 10 that: “Proposals for developing Tsawwassen Beach as the mainland terminus of the projected new Vancouver Island-Lower Mainland ferry service have been forwarded to the provincial government.” Also developed would be “a boat harbor and public beach. Site is on the Gulf of Georgia, about four miles (6.4 km) north of Point Roberts.” The paper also said that Swartz Bay was one favored Vancouver Island base, and only one mile longer than a rival suggested route from Point Roberts. The Surrey Centennial Museum opened October 5, 1958. W.E. Ireland, Provincial Archivist, was there with his wife, a descendant of Eric Anderson, a Surrey pioneer whose log cabin is now a part of the museum. The Hula Hoop craze hit Vancouver in October of 1958. The Upper Levels Highway to the Horseshoe Bay ferries was completed in 1958. The Buchanan Building—officially opened by Premier W.A.C. Bennett—became the new home of the liberal arts at UBC. Built at a cost of $2 million, the facility accommodates almost 8,000 students and 650 regular faculty members representing 19 departments and four schools. Most lectures in the Faculty of Arts are held here. A striking example of contemporary west coast architecture, the building took 16 months to construct. The name honored the late Dean of Arts and Sciences, Daniel Buchanan, who died in 1950. Tim Cummings, the last Indian resident of Stanley Park, died. In a poll taken on the North Shore, people in all three municipalities overwhelmingly supported building a new hospital. Lions Gate Hospital would open April 22, 1961. Shaughnessy Golf Course negotiated with the Department of Indian Affairs a long-term lease for part of the Musqueam Indian Reserve. The natives protested the terms when they learned of them, and in 1985 a Supreme Court of Canada decision would uphold a $10 million award to the band because the department had not acted in the best interests of the natives. In 1958 a treehouse built by gently eccentric deaf twins Peter (1872-1949) and David Brown (1872-1958) on their heavily-treed property in Surrey was demolished. A replacement of a quite different (more formal) design was installed. The twins, who had lived in the treehouse for years, planted many different kinds of trees on their property . . . more different trees, in fact, than anywhere else in BC! They left 59 acres to Surrey, which turned the property into the charming Redwood Park. Minnekhada Lodge in Coquitlam, built as a country retreat and hunting lodge by Eric W. Hamber, was acquired by Col. Clarence Wallace, a former Lt.-Gov. It is now managed by GVRD Parks. Canadian Pacific Airlines became a jet airline, when it bought turboprop Bristol Britannias. The largest roller coaster in Canada was built at the PNE grounds. The Playland Wooden coaster has eight two-person cars that reach a top speed of 45 mph (72 k/ph) during the 90-second ride. Empress of Scotland, which had started in life in 1930 as Empress of Japan and was renamed in 1939 when she became a troop ship, had another name change when CP Ships, which had reclaimed her after the war, sold her in 1957 to Hamburg Atlantik Linie. She was put into service in 1958 as Hanseatic, but after fire damage in New York on September 7, 1966 would be scrapped. Brighouse race track in Richmond was sold for development. A statue of King George VI was carved by Sir Charles Wheeler. It was a gift of P.A. Woodward to the Vancouver Branch of the War Amputations of Canada, who presented it to UBC. Originally located at the War Memorial Gymnasium, the statue stands now by the Woodward Biomedical Library. A second casting of the work stands near Buckingham Palace in London. Other sculptures placed at UBC this year include Hanging sculpture, by Gerhard Class, at the Buchanan Building, and Asiatic Head , by Otto Fischer-Credo, near the Frederic Wood Theatre. Pioneer Laundry, established in 1890, merged with Nelson Laundries. The Windmill Herald: Western Edition, a publication with news and views of Netherlands and overseas Dutch-speakers, began publishing (in Dutch and English). Fred Steiner sold his Toronto radio store and moved to Vancouver. He opened a shop here this year, and called it A&B Sound. Why the name A&B? A&A was taken. True story. Lucky Lager Breweries was acquired by Labatt's, and Molson's bought out the American-owned Sick's brewery and became a major player in B.C. with a plant at the south end of Burrard Bridge. The Tunnel Town Curling Club opened four sheets of ice in a Boundary Bay air hangar. James Lovick & Co. had become the largest advertising agency in Canada by 1958, with additional offices in Edmonton, London, Ont., Halifax, New York and San Francisco. It built its own headquarters at 1178 West Pender Street. Professor Elod Macskasy, who had come to Vancouver from Hungary in 1956, won the Canadian Open Chess Championship. Macskasy, born in 1919, taught mathematics at UBC for more than 30 years, and was B.C.'s top chess player for most of that time. The Centennial Museum, along with the Maritime Museum, became city departments under control of a Civic Museum Board. The former is known today as the Museum of Vancouver. Dick Diespecker, radio announcer and writer, moved to San Francisco to join a public relations firm. He was an influential radio personality here. In 1948 Diespecker won a Columbus Award for a three-part radio documentary Destination Palestine. He wrote more than 400 radio plays for CBC, BBC and the South African Broadcasting Corp. He was a columnist with the Vancouver Star, News-Herald and Victoria Colonist. Alexander Campbell Des Brisay, about 70, became chief justice of the B.C. Court of Appeal, the province’s senior court. Buda Hosmer Brown (née Jenkins) was elected the Social Credit MLA for Vancouver Point Grey. She was born June 10, 1894 in Bellingham, Washington The book New Westminster, the Royal City, a history by Barry Mather and Margaret McDonald, was published. The West Vancouver Recreation Centre opened at 780 22nd Street. Howie White, at a June, 2008 launch of Jean Barman’s book British Columbia: Spirit of the People says that 1958 marked a watershed in BC publishing. *** Chuck Davis is a Vancouver writer who has written, co-written, or edited 15 books. Most of them are on local history, and he describes his next book, The History of Metropolitan Vancouver, as the capstone of his career.

Streetcars returning to North America

With new low-floor and catenary-free models at the forefront of a revolution in streetcar technology, the time is ripe for streetcars to make a full-fledged comeback in North America. A conversation with Steve Hall, General Manager of Bombardier's Vancouver office. By John Calimente, re:place Magazine Streetcars and interurbans were ubiquitous in North America prior to World War II. At their peak, Canadian cities were stitched together by about 3,600 km of track. In the U.S., 71,000 km of track connected their towns and cities together. That's the equivalent of track stretching 10 times the distance from Vancouver to St. John's. According to Bombardier's Steve Hall, there were over 60,000 streetcars running in North America, and every city with over 5,000 people had a streetcar system. Vancouver's streetcars ran for 65 years, from 1890 until 1955, after which they were replaced by trolley buses. Our city has been fortunate to keep its quiet and non-polluting trolley buses - it is now the only Canadian city still running them. Diesel buses may have eventually replaced streetcars in most other cities in North America, but they have never captured the imagination of the general public. A great post on The Infrastructurist lists their 36 reasons streetcars are better than buses. What I like about most about modern streetcars is the smoothness of the ride. One is not constantly jostled back and forth and side to side moving in and out of traffic and stopping for other vehicles like on a bus. Vancouver's Olympic Line, the demonstration line running between Granville Island and the Olympic Village, is proof of this. It almost feels like one is gliding across the ground - see this video for an example. This superior ride is one reason for the popularity of commuter rail; it is a calm environment in which one can do work or simply relax. Bombardier's Steve Hall grew up around streetcars. His father was a streetcar operator for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), driving the old Peter Witt cars which featured coal stoves on board. Hall worked for the TTC as well, eventually moving on to the Urban Transit Development Corporation (UTDC), a crown corporation in Ontario that developed the SkyTrain technology used in the Lower Mainland. Hall moved to Vancouver to head up operations and maintenance for the construction of SkyTrain, and stayed on to manage Bombardier's Western Canada office after the company bought up UTDC in 1991. Hall is bullish on the prospects for more streetcar lines here. "North America is emerging now, and that's part of the reason for the demonstration line we're running in Vancouver. We're tracking 40 streetcar projects in North American cities that are either in the planning or start-up phase. So we see this as a huge phase coming in the business." Cities such as Phoenix and Minneapolis are among the many cities that have added light rail systems in the past few years, but streetcars are different in that they share rights-of-way with cars. Portland, Oregon kicked off the streetcar revival on the West Coast with the opening of the Portland Streetcar in 2001. This was followed by the Tacoma Link Line in Tacoma, Washington in 2003 and the South Lake Union streetcar in Seattle in 2007. Other streetcar systems in the planning stages will benefit from a December announcement by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood that made $130 million available for urban streetcar projects. In Canada, Vancouver has been running its Olympic Line demonstration line since January 21st of this year. Montreal is considering bringing back the streetcar on a route between the old city and the central business district, and Toronto recently concluded a huge $1.2 billion order with Bombardier for 204 new low-floor cars. "We're very excited about that order" says Hall. "It will be in production in Thunder Bay for many years, and that opens up all kinds of potential with cars in production in North America." And the timing couldn't be better. Recent technological innovations are making streetcars an even easier fit for North American cities. Bombardier is now producing the first 100% low floor streetcars in Europe, with the Vancouver currently the only place to ride one in North America. "This is the very first time that there's been a conventional axel wheel set on a low-floor streetcar", says Hall. "It didn't really take off until we were able to do this without a special bogie design." Another innovation coming soon is catenary-free operation, with power coming not from an overhead power supply, but by induction of power from the roadside. Called PRIMOVE, as Hall explains "There's no actual contact between the streetcar and the power source - it's a derivation of the SkyTrain motor technology. Since there's no contact, there's no wear or maintenance on the street side either. And there's no power out there on the street so there's no risk. " PRIMOVE should prove especially popular where cities do not want overhead catenary blocking views, such as the old European town centres. In Europe "ridership is booming", says Hall. "You can tell by the number of projects going on and the volume of cars being ordered. There have been 30 light rail or streetcar projects completed or started in Europe in the last 10 years, and Bombardier has been selling large orders of cars to cities like Berlin." Streetcars have been more appealing for European cities due to their traditionally dense urban cores. "The urban structure has driven it", says Hall, "high density living is just a part of who they are." Until very recently, North American cities were becoming ever more dispersed, which created low density areas unsuited for running streetcars. "It's the way we live, the way we work, and the dependence on the automobile," says Hall. But that is changing as well. "Now we're saying that maybe that wasn't the ideal for the world we're going to be living in. So we're in the process of making that transition to higher density neighbourhoods. We're fortunate that we live in Vancouver, which is a prime example of movement back into that kind of living." The trend in North America so far has been for city governments to lead the way in developing streetcar systems. Hall notes that "Transit authorities are responsible for a very wide area, so they have to make decisions based on where they can make the most impact. Cities are looking at it from a different perspective - the development perspective. And how do they want to shape the downtown core? And it turns out that streetcar systems are a very effective tool to do that. They have a significant impact on development." The federal government is helping as well with increased funding for public transit. "What we're seeing in Canada is a level of federal government investment in transit that we haven't seen in the last 30 years", says Hall. "Especially since about 2005, it's been a complete change. I think even now there's proportionally greater investment in Canada than there is in the U.S." As to whether streetcars are the best technology for all cities, Hall puts that debate to rest. "I don't think the technology fights are helpful. I don't think that's where the debate should be. Rather than technology, people need to be asking themselves 'How do you want to live? What do you want your city to be?' Get the vision - get people united on that. The technology decisions will work themselves out." ** John Calimente is the president of Rail Integrated Developments and a member of the Transit Museum Society. He is a fan of great public transit + transit integrated communities + urban life lived without a car.

Are gas stations becoming an endangered species?

This piece investigates the phenomenon of  closing and abandoned gas stations over the past decade, and asks whether this is part of a larger trend. By John Calimente, re:place magazine If you want to buy gas in Vancouver's downtown core, there are now only two gas stations to choose from.  And across the city the story is the same: fewer stations every year. Why have so many gas stations in Vancouver been closing? And is this part of a larger societal trend? As someone who doesn't own a vehicle, I normally don't give much thought to the city's gas stations. But a couple of recent events got me thinking about their shrinking numbers. The first was the closure of the Shell station at the corner of Denman and Pendrell. Now here is a prime location if I ever saw one - smack dab in the middle of the West End, home to over 40,000 people, bigger than most B.C. towns. And checking VanMap, the City of Vancouver's handy online data map, I found that there were at least 26,000 cars passing right in front of this station every day. So it was a surprise to walk by in September and see the station all boarded up. Then a couple of weeks later I was walking in the West End when a car pulled up beside me to ask directions to the nearest gas station. This was the first time this has ever happened to me in Vancouver. It seemed more like something that would occur on a rural road out in the wilds of the Fraser Valley. But after thinking a bit I realized that the only two gas stations left in the downtown core were the Chevron station at the corner of W. Georgia and Bidwell, and the Esso station at the corner of Davie and Burrard. A quick Google Maps search came up with 72 gas stations in Vancouver, of which 45 are on the East Side, 25 on the West Side, and 2 downtown. But how many have closed down in recent decades? . . . . . . . . . . This site referencing a UBC student's survey of gas stations found that there were a staggering 248 gas stations abandoned between 1970 and 1998. That's a minimum 78% drop (not counting stations abandoned in the last 11 years) in the number of gas stations in Vancouver. For Canada as a whole, the National Retail Petroleum Site Census found that the number of stations has dropped from 20,000 in 1989 to about 12,700 at the end of last year, an average decline of 2% per year. And B.C. has the second lowest number of stations per capita, after Ontario. Why do they continue to close? After conducting an a search on the North American market, it seems there are five factors at play:

• A highly competitive market - This article from a Pennsylvania site and others note that just selling gasoline is no longer profitable. When there were more retail gas stations, each selling much less gasoline per station than today, they had to charge more per litre to cover their costs. The markup on gasoline at a typical urban station currently averages only about $0.05 per litre. Stations "..live and die by their inside sales", meaning convenience store sales as well as car washes. Chevron Canada's website spells it out clearly: While the potential average income for gasoline stand owners is estimated at $45,000 per year, it jumps to $80,000 per year with the addition of a convenience store, and more than $100,000 per year with a fast food shop like White Spot Triple O's.
• Due to rising distribution costs after the 1973 oil embargo, oil companies shifted their sales strategy from multiple smaller stations to fewer stations selling more gasoline per station, enabled by self-service and pay at the pump technology. According to the book 'The Gas Station in America', while the minimum sales for stations in the early 1980s was about 200,000 litres per month, by 1990 this had jumped to 570,000 litres per month.
• Tighter environmental regulations which mandate replacing aging tanks and environmental remediation after 20 years of service.
• An overall decrease in gasoline consumption, according to the Sightline Institute, due to increasing transit ridership (woohoo!), higher fuel efficiency, decreased travel per vehicle, as well as people choosing more pedestrian-friendly neighbourhoods. In B.C., the weekly consumption per person has fallen from about 30 litres per capita in 1980 to a 20 litres per capita in 2006, a drop of 27%. And as shown in the graph below, B.C. drivers use about 10 fewer litres per week than drivers in the Pacific Northwest states. And while B.C. added about 1.5 million people between 1980 and 2007, total yearly highway gasoline consumption has only increased by 5% in that time.

• Increasing land prices: the lot occupied by the recently closed Shell station on Denman St. is valued at over $3.7 million, according to VanMap. The highest and best use for sites like this is more likely to be retail, residential, or a combination of the two.

I have to say that as a pedestrian and transit user I am very pleased with this trend in urban areas. Gas stations are dead zones for pedestrians and are difficult to walk past due to the frequent comings and goings of vehicles. The stations usually occupy prime corner lots on busy streets that with a different type of use could become community gathering places rather than simply fuelling stations.  And the environmental and social costs cannot be ignored; Few city dwellers would live next to a gas station if given the choice. I'm curious to see how the reduced number of stations will affect competition in the long term, and in turn, gasoline prices in the city. Will fewer stations mean higher gasoline prices? Or will competition be just as fierce amongst the remaining stations? Luckily I'll be on the sidelines in either case. *** John Calimente is the president of Rail Integrated Developments

Pedestrians need their share of the road

[caption id="attachment_5331" align="alignleft" width="290" caption="The needs of pedestrians need to be considered along with cyclists."][/caption] By Jayalath (Jay) Ameresekere Photos by Leszek Apouchtine Planners and Engineers have, in the past, tended to be more concerned with the ease and comfort of the motorist to the detriment of other road users. This trend seems to have changed over the years and today we find greater attention being paid to non- motorized transport, mainly the bicycle. Bicycle lanes have become almost an integral part of road planning and it is easy to understand how this came into being. Cycling as a mode of transport is backed by environmentalists as it does not ‘pollute’ in the way a motorcar does, by physicians as it is a very beneficial physical exercise and by cycling enthusiasts. It has even been transformed into an international competitive sport. In the city of Vancouver, I have observed numerous signs displaying figures of a motor car and a bicycle with the caption “Share the road”. While this kind of sharing is to be commended, I was intrigued by the omission of the pedestrian from this sign; after all, the pedestrian is the first user of the road, having been a road user even before the wheel was invented. I had pondered over this for some time and was nudged into expressing my opinion when I read an article in The State of Vancouver titled Vancouver needs a pedestrian advocate says SFU professor. The contents referred to an interview with Prof. Anthony Perl, Director of the Urban Studies program at SFU in which he points out that space is being made available for bicycle lanes to the detriment of pedestrians as it is their space which is being taken to make room for bicycles. He adds further that it is not cyclists but walkers who are the fastest-growing share of transportation modes in the city. Prof. Perl’s remarks that Vancouver needs a pedestrian advocate sparked responses which were published in the same journal. One of those who responded mentions that pedestrians have ‘No lobby, no Council Advisory Committee and no champion who is involved”. Another says “There have been a number of people who have played that role (pedestrian advocate) over the years and have consistently met with apathy and sometimes, even hostility from the people who run Vancouver, both in and outside City Hall”. The same person mentions Bev Ballantyne who had headed a movement called “Putting Pedestrians First” which had persevered for some years but had been ineffective. Having written a dissertation on pedestrians for my Master’s Degree in Australia some years ago, I could not resist making some observations on the subject. As far as the use of the road is concerned, pedestrians are (or should be) on an equal footing with other road users be they motorists or cyclists or any others. They should I believe therefore, receive the same consideration and attention as other users when plans are formulated and implemented. [caption id="attachment_5329" align="alignright" width="290" caption="As part of the Burrard Bridge bike lane trial, pedestrians can only use one side of the bridge."][/caption] Walking is the fundamental mode of travel and the pedestrian is the original user of the road and whatever other mode of travel is used, a part of the journey will inevitably be made on foot. As Herbert Levinson points out “Each trip by car, bus or train begins and ends as a pedestrian.” Streets were first used by pedestrians and were originally winding pathways or “pedestrian-ways.” As Lewis Mumford, the well known urban planner has stated, when people began to ride and use animal drawn carriages, the street had to be straightened and widened. Those who rode became separated from those who walked - the rich from the poor. Very often a distinction is made between pedestrians and traffic where the former means those who walk and the latter, vehicles. But in some developing countries (e.g. Sri Lanka) pedestrians are traffic and it has been legalized by inclusion in the Motor Traffic Act. In fact the terms “pedestrian traffic” and “vehicular traffic” are commonly used. From the foregoing it would appear that in the same way that endangered species are protected in their habitat pedestrians should be looked after and protected; besides, they are human beings. While it is admitted that part of the solution is to have pedestrian representation that could make an impact on decision makers, other courses of action also need to be pursued. Emphasizing that pedestrians are sharers of the road along with motorists and cyclists, may help in changing the thinking or the “psyche” of planners so that the hostility that those who championed pedestrians experienced earlier, might be eliminated. In re:place in March of this year, Ian Macphee (Is Vancouver ready for pedestrian priority streets?) quotes the success of pedestrian priority streets in Brighton, England and in Copenhagen and discusses the introduction of similar streets in Vancouver. In these streets, pedestrian -vehicle interaction is not regulated and the carriageway (roadway) is shared by all road users. Besides, as indicated by its name, on these streets primary consideration is given to the pedestrian. Apart from its effectiveness as a more harmonious relationship among the different road users, it helps to focus on the pedestrian. It has also been found that these measures have helped reduce accidents. Another strategy would be to close streets to vehicular traffic on Sundays and allow pedestrians to use them. The Vancouver Sun of 30th May 2009 , reports that there would be road closures in summer to encourage commercial activity on selected streets. These closures have been planned for long periods and are to be made more attractive by running stalls and mini shops so that pedestrians would gather in larger numbers. This idea also has its opponents. Earlier this month, the CBC has reported that the popular road closures on Commercial Drive have been cancelled due to complaints from local businesses. While there is no guarantee that any of these measures will improve the “plight” of the pedestrian in the planning process, they may help in changing the thinking of City planners to consider the importance of planning for the pedestrian as considerately as they plan for other road users. *** Jayalath (Jay) Ameresekere got his Master of Town Planning (MTP) from the University of New South Wales, Australia and a Graduate Diploma in Transport Engineering from the same University. He worked as Director Planning and later as Consultant to the Ministry of Transport and Highways in Sri Lanka. Writing short stories is his hobby.

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