Vancouver ILXors

You still on for Kool Keith?

????

I have one: I've bought a lot of used CDs, but never sold any. Which store is the best bet? I've been planning to go to Audiopile, because I live nearby, and the guy stocks a lot of the stuff I have (old Depeche Mode remix singles, eg), unlike Charlies, say.

ps: thank you v. much DB for your recs!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.kuci.org/~brianm/ile/pbn/pbn_outside_small.jpg
http://www.kuci.org/~brianm/ile/pbn/pbn_menu_small.jpg
http://www.kuci.org/~brianm/ile/pbn/pbn_threebean_small.jpg

THE PHO
THE BICH
THE N'GA
FOREVER AND EVER
AW SLIME

:(

Hello, who are ILXors in Vancouver, British Columbia? I don't live there and I'm not visiting (never been, in fact). Just curious.

Show yourselves

lol this thread
(i have thought twice in the past 8 years of moving back to vancouver and have come to my senses pretty quickly each time)

Yes that's the way to get them out of the woodwork

there are/were a couple. somemguy was looking for an apartment a year ago?

Hahaa
I mean Vancouver just ain't for me. Beautiful tho. And full of good food, healthy people, yknow.

xpost

I survived the 2010 Winter Games and all I got was this lousy harmonized sales tax.

Hello!

i have a vietnamese student named nga. the 'g' is silent.

hi. i was that guy looking for an apartment a year ago. i found one and have moved once since then and am moving this week.

i've lived here about a year. i now live in richmond, which is like vancouver except minus the goretex lulululemon wearing kitsilano aging hippie fascists and shit food and crazy fucking rents. and i can be in the city in 20 minutes if i need to be, without any driving. 可是中国人他妈的多. cheap rent and good food.

and i'm about to take a job on west 4th ave, so i'll be back in the heart of the part of the city that reallly bums me the fuck out. (parts of the City [not suburbs] i like: west hastings, chinatown, joyce-kingsway, commercial).

If there's one takeaway I have from ILX, it's that Canadians take many forms

I have only been to the casino and the Ikea in Richmond.

homie, i've been following you across the country. regina to vancouver.

anyways, come for the food...

best sushi in the fucking lower mainland at sushi hachi, crazy regional chinese food (straight authentic nose-to-tail hunan farmhouse shit, best sichuan in north america at chuan xiang ge, food stall xi'an, fujianese), fine dining at zen (greatest chinese restaurant outside asia, according to some people-- it's good but not that good) or hakkasan (no affiliation with the one in london, though), a cheap decent good place to get wasted izakaya: nanchu, decent night market (better than downtown chinatown), good viet, good korean (not as good as burnaby, obv.), lots of other stuff.

best sushi in the fucking lower mainland at sushi hachi

ORLY cuz AjiSai in uh Kits (? sorry i'm bad with geo) was fucking doppppe. I had basashi (horse neck) at a place on Robson too. Only time outside of Japan I've seen that on a menu.

outside of where, sorry?

outside of yo momma.

ah yes

fuck, you're the kawnasewr of these things, but i think i prefer hachi to ajisai.... fish is just really fresh, really well cut at hachi, with some unique and rel lesser-seen stuff. atmosphere is really chill, too, husband and wife team, not stuffy. they're open fucking weird hours, though.

hachi, never saw basashi there. the one place i have tried it is actually in richmond, though. at a stripmall place called, not very originally, tsukiji.

but, yo, japanese is only something i dabble in. i am not confident making these recommendations. if i was coming to richmond to eat, it'd be for regional chinese (burnaby is up there, too).

nice... i will def keep in mind next time. also bookmarking all your 中国菜 recs thx!

Ha! I think ILX's entire SK pop is now Lower Mainland.
I feel so schooled re food. Um, best cheeseburger is Splitz Grill on Main. I haven't even had a japadog!
I basically live in a small town, around Commercial. I go downtown to work three days/wk, and over to Main about once a month for haircut and books. I think I've been to Seattle more than I've been to the West End.

for 中餐…… i don't want to be fucking lame but you could check out my blog here: http://jiaoqu.blogspot.com/ -- which is about chinese food in the suburbs of vancouver. there are a ton of places i'd like to write about, more seriously. but at the same time, really, though... the suburbs of van are pretty solid for regional mainland chinese but, deep in my heart, i'd still say there's no great place, or any place that's really much better than the average streetside restaurant in china. so... i dunno. on that unenthusiastic note, if anyone is ever in town or is actually in town and wants to eat good chinese food, definitely get at me.

my favorite place in the world right now is probably NINE DISHES on kingsway, which is a beer and chinese bar food place run by a beijing hipster, who kills it with super cheap beer and lax enforcement of local smoking bylaws and makes fucking good food, too.

went to nine dishes last night with some ppl for a twentysomething's chinese new year dinner - that place IS fun. thanks

good place. i'm glad to see it still doing well. sort of miss it, even when i'm in china.

im going to be in vancouver in march for 3 weeks visiting my girlfriend and apart from seeing her im pretty much just stoked for the dining.

this is such a weird place to live imo (n.b. i have always lived within 15 miles of glasgow prior to moving here at the start of july):

1. i live in a neighbourhood that i would describe as beautiful, quiet, and pleasant (strathcona), and where i could never afford to buy a house in a million years, but sex workers and johns do it just outside my gate, and last night someone took a huge dump out there which i will have to clean up at some stage before my girlfriend gets back on sunday.
2. booze is so fucking expensive it makes my head spin. most expensive liquor store prices ive seen anywhere.
3. not that there's "nothing" going on, but kind of not as culturally interesting as a city of its size should be.
4. tons of great places to eat.
5. dtes totally astounded me first time i walked thru there, yet it's weirdly so much more sketchy than it is scary, i feel safer walking these streets than glasgow streets (and prob with good reason).
6. b.c. is the most beautiful place ive ever been and you can travel so little distance and be somewhere so unspoiled and beautiful.
7. im aware that it's about to rain for 5 months and im not sure how much this will colour my future opinion of the place.

1. right, it was weird to live in kitsilano, 4th and dunbar, paradise of stucco mansions and heritage homes and private schools, a concrete stairway away from a beach full of yuppie ubc biz students playing beach volleyball, and still come across dudes shooting up in my alley.

3. i think the high cost of living sort of adds to some of the cultural lameness. the more time i spend in vancouver, the more i feel like the real interesting stuff is happening/will happen in the suburbs and beyond, where rent is cheap, rather than in traditional enclaves of hipness, where developers are changing the architectural and cultural landscape with condo projects (oh look, an apartment building with a lululemon and a starbucks on the ground floor. just what vancouver needs). on property values: it's interesting to hear everyone in van saying that shit has changed and it's possibily feasible to buy there now but the bubble will never burst.

4. it's true but. the foodcarts all suck. every new place in gastown... eh. judas goat? wildebeest is worth the hype, though. sardine can is an interesting addition to the area. sad to see cafeteria close. sad to see refuel close (where i got my illfated start in the restaurant industry, went from working as a dishwasher at a taiwanese fusion fake euroclass place in richmond [starry night, beside costco, i'm sure it's still there], dropped in one day after i saw an ad on scout, got a garde manger job that made suicidal). and i feel like the amazing asian/other selection is overstated. there are, i contend, two places to eat chinese food in vancouver. one is a stall in the richmond public market and one is on an anonymous stretch of kingsway and has signs for a lunch buffet that doesn't exist and is just a great mean local that happens to serve great homestyle chinese food and also features lax enforcement of smoking bylaws. (honorable chinese mentions: bushuair in richmond, which is decorated with gold dragons and pictures of the chairman and menus only in chinese for max intimidation factor but they don't give a fuck, big chef for canto [same pricetag and kitchen talent and finesse of the big luxomaxe temples to cantonese cuisine but a bit more approachable], and bamboo grove, also in richmond #3 road, which looks divey and has an anonymous sort of name but has hardcore hk-calibre cantonese food and a great wine list [still weird to see tables of people eating three digit priced entrees at red star or wherever, drinking naked grape pinot]). good food is in the suburbs. i remember when the only good pizza in vancouver was in abbotsford r.i.p. ah beetz.

5. i lived in chinatown for a year, joined the shocktroops of gentrification. interesting to watch the creep of developers and hipsters and the entrenched social disaster meeting head on. i like walking by the bottle depot on hastings to check out what the boosters are selling, while hispanic dope dealers eyeball me.

consider abbotsford to be "in vancouver" = not a real vancouverite

anyone here like cameras? love leo's on granville

SHOOT LIKE THE PROS, SHOP LIKE THE PROS

4. have never walked past a foodcart i was even remotely interested in. actually that's a lie, there was a vij's one outside my bank once but i'd just eaten.

unfortunately i am never going to the suburbs to eat. remembering that i am from a place with a fairly small chinese community (and p much no japanese, vietnamese, cambodian, etc. community) im quite happy with eating options.

nine dishes i can do. probably will do.

im never going to the suburbs for anything tbh. going "up the hill" to mount pleasant is a journey for me.

kafka's at main & broadway = best coffeeshop in vancouver and pulp fiction is just down the street

my favourite coffee in the city is actually up the hill at fraser and kingsway: matchstick. i like pulp fiction but i usually go to the one on commercial.

Guys, there is nothing cultural going on in the suburbs. Nothing.

Also Jim, the rain in Vancouver won't seem too bad if you come from Glasgow.

Mildest winter of my god damn life.

Same in Seattle: http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-most-boring-winter-in-seattle.html

I'll be all up in you tonight

What's the best strategy for vij's? Get there when they open, basically!

(I'm here tonight through Sunday. Seeing NoMeansNo & Ford Pier at the Rickshaw on Sat)

Wish I'd known about that show before I made plans for tomorrow night.

Bryan! We gotta meet up somehow.

i spent the last few weeks in vancouver and it's great and dull as it ever was

favorite place to eat cantonese food in richmond right now:

1. big chef in richmond on alexandra road, eat street richmond, in the same complex as beijiang 北疆 the weird fake fancy xinjiang restaurant with plastic marble tabletops and gold chopsticks and oil paintings of sexy ethnic minority girls. this place is kitschy lots of frosted mirrors and garland and blinding lighting borrowed from a north van grow op. i like: the egg custard with dried seafood and preserved egg, creamy salty fishy with pungent submarines of translucent black-green, fish with bitter melon and black beans, "auntie song" fish soup (white pepper, gooey potato starch and fish broth body), steam pork with salt fish (so boring but they're good at boring cantonese staples)
2. hoi tong. across from richmond public market among the bakeries (小麦田饼 wheat garden is my favorite / cheaper than kam do across from richmond brighouse) and closet sized seafood places. this place has maybe 8 tables? same menu as places like red star or shiang garden, legit wine list, but small small small. thick soup with black eyed peas and chicken feet, pork hock with sour plums, geoduck with bitter melon and tangerine peel, taro duck.
3. bamboo grove in richmond looks grimy as fuck and i hear it used to be sort of like an early low standards hk café type place but it's like if i was directing a movie about hk heroin smugglers in richmond, there'd be a long dinner scene here. unexpected flash behind the FREE DELIVERY ON ALL ORDERS signage on the exterior, wine list heavy on expensive french reds, crisp starched waitstaff. sharkfin and crabmeat steamed eggs, taro duck, sea bass + black bean. when i have to walk to richmond public market up to the skytrain i always cut through the parking lot in the back because it's car show level assortment, ferrari california parked in the mud between quattroporte and panamera.

Mackro: you're going back south Sunday? I won't really have time this weekend, unfortunately, but I think you're back up often, right? Probably more often than I'm in Seattle. We'll figure something out one of these days. Hope that show was good in spite of it being at the Rickshaw.

Not to sound too defensive, but the common claim that vancouver lacks for cultural activities kinda misses the point of vancouver: half the city is outside on the mountains/ocean/seawall/etc, while the other half is having a quiet night in anticipation of a big hike/ski/run/etc the next day. Outdoor culture *is* culture in vancouver. It's why the biggest company in vancouver is (somewhat sadly) Lululemon. Even hipsters hike the chief.

/local rant

This was a stellar weekend. I haven't been here since 2007, but I will be back more often now.

bert OTM

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/12/31/signs-you-grew-up-in-vancouver-90s_n_6317820.html

i visited vancouver, i went to the post office and the courthouse, it was a great trip. maybe you guys should just go to the post office and the courthouse if you want 'cultural activities'

only took me 2 and a half years to get totally fed up with this city :/

ugliest dump ever.the naturally beauty is all very well and good but the majority of your view as you traverse the city is the horrendous,cheap,gross late 20 century architecture.the mountains are backdrop,the Vancouver special,the rain stained 1970s apartment building and the newly constructed high rise condo building is what you're going to be seeing close at hand.

i would trade my beautiful apartment and stable job in edmonton and snowy commute in a new car for my one room--carved up portion of the upstairs of a vanc special-- with shared bathroom and kitchen on number three road in richmond and a skytrain ride into the city and the nightbus home.

jim, sorry to hear. i love vancouver for personal reasons, i guess. i'm also interested in going to scotland one day--glasgow and edinburgh, of course.

whereabouts are you headed now?

xpost to j. - Post Office is going btw. Probably the Courthouse too.

I really like that post office building downtown for some reason.

not leaving Vancouver,we live in bc cause my retired mother in law lives in victoria,we could live anywhere in western Canada but tbh Vancouver trumps Calgary and Edmonton as a place I want to live.

I'll go back to liking it in July when the skies are blue and i can sit in the park drinking.

The city planning, construction and endless discussions about real estate etc are a real drag, it is true.

When I lived there, I went to Seattle and Bellingham whenever possible.

what's in Bellingham? Dislike Seattle too,ha! like portland but it's not as convenient obv.

Bellingham's a nice little college town. I would totally live there if there were any jobs. I live in Seattle now. Way better than Vancouver and Portland, too.

jim, earnest question. what is your favourite city in the pnw?

Bellingham is chill and pretty.

xpost. I visited the pnw before i moved to vancouver and spent time in vancouver, victoria, seattle, and portland. i liked portland most.

subsequently ive only spent enough time in vancouver and victoria to really have any proper grounds to assess the cities. i actually like victoria and def feel like it could be a place to move to, but not at this stage of my life (im 30, married with no kids, if i was 40 and had a kid then it might make more sense). it's v parochial, white, small, and quiet. but i just really love being on the island, the climate is p great (it rains way less than vancouver), and its def p picturesque and charming in parts.

seattle i didn't really get much of an impression of but just have found it quite bleh and also somewhat similar to vancouver in a bad way. portland is obv smaller than those two cities, the least built up by condo development etc., and a bit easier to get to know just by walking around or whatever which may be why it struck me as the most pleasant to be in, ive also spent a couple more days there than in seattle. feel like in seattle i maybe just didnt ever go to a dece neighbourhood, was like downtown, belltown, capitol hill, around there, and like georgetown or something? yeah, didn't really make much of an impression.

been on two trips to seattle + portland, and spent like half a day in seattle due to flying through seatac airport and having forever between bus and flight. once i renew my british passport, and with my handy new canadian permanent resident card i'll be able to go back to both those places, getting out of canada for the first time in 2 years or so.

that's cool, jim.

i feel like most of my friends (they're from vancouver) really dig portland

Seattle, Vancouver and Portland are all about the same size: 580k to 610k people or so living within city limits. Seattle's metro area is almost 1.5m people larger than van and pdx, though.

oh hey yeah metro vancouver isn't much bigger than metro portland, i had always assumed that, hmm.

Metro Vancouver (22 municipalities) has a population of more than 2.5 million.

she's comparing the lower mainland/'vancouver proper' to portland, though. the wiki on it is kind of confusing/mixes things up

if you go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Vancouver

and scroll down to the table, you see that city of vancouver has a population of 603k

um thoughts on transit plebiscite?

The whole thing is a waste of time and money.
If politicians at every level are rooting for Yes, why didn't they just jack up sales tax themselves?
If politicians are convinced there is "no plan B" then maybe they could move aside and make way for some politicians with more balls/vision?

Voters have every reason to refuse Translink more money when they still, after 29 years, haven't worked out how to charge people for riding skytrain.

Yeah. Christy Clark is a fine blend of gutless and malevolent, and it's not going to pass. Voting yes anyway

shasta otm w ajisai. hachi was more convenient but i'll take the 41 to kerrisdale now.

best ramen fyi: tsukemen or cheese tonkotsu at taishoken franchise in chinatown, white miso at nanchu on alexandra in richmond, kintaro

More food talk please; seafood in particular.

octopus's garden imho

Go on...

Reasonable price and fun: Go Fish (near Granville Island)
Very cheap fish and chips: Windjammer on Commercial Dr
Expensive: uh...Joe Fortes? Feels like there are lots of higher end seafood places that I know nothing about.
Chinese: Western Lake on Victoria @ 33rd
Fresh seafood in general: Granville Island.

octopus's garden is ???overrated/overpriced and i used to avoid it but i had the tasting menu there recently and they have the freshest fish in town and creativity and FLAIR.
ajisai is my more traditional sushi choice.

those i can recommend enthusiastically

not really my thing/rarely have the opportunity or enough friends to really go but the huge cantonese high end places like kirin's richmond branch, empire seafood, red star. peninsula seafood, which is in a mall. but also bamboo grove in richmond even if they're known for maybe they're not known for anything except being in a horrible location and having a dirt parking lot full of maseratis but if you're pre-ordering a set menu, it's always heavy on seafood and always good. same with big chef, also in richmond.

more conventional, less enthusiastic but on a list of "known for seafood and i would take someone there that asked for seafood" yew seafood + raw bar, blue water, raw bar at vpr.

i never liked joe fortes.

i'll have to go to a few these places you guys are mentioning when i'm in town in august

I was being a bit facetious by mentioning Joe Fortes. The world of nice restaurants is largely unknown to me, though I have been there once.

in other news, i can't believe they're building a zipline at queen elizabeth park. i always liked the tranquility of that place.

Yeah, that's gross. It's the fault of the Parks Board, who have a majority of members in the business-friendly (aka. fascist LOL) Non-Partisans Association. It's just a tiny reminder of why we are better off with the current municipal government instead of these fuckwits.

Thanks y'all

I love queen e park, that zipline thing is dumb!

the smoke has been a real drag. sunday was just totally horrendous. wish it would rain :(

i know! i'm hoping no more major fires before august, because that's when i'll be showing the missus around town (her first time in canada, as well)

i heard it's going to rain this weekend, though?

I never trust the forecast past a day or two in the future but fuck here's hoping

Anyone know a store called H Mali on Granville st?

never heard of it!

I got rained on this morning <3

http://hiiammali.com/
HIIAMMALI
3030 Granville St

going through a rare period of quite liking Vancouver! july 4th was 3 years since I moved here. today I was very happy to see an absence of smoke in the sky and just enjoy the cloudy but clement weather and the partially obscured view of the mountains on my walk to catch the 99. and yesterday I was enjoying how great the bicycling infrastructure is, you can really get around this city without having to do too much riding on really car heavy streets. I move into a new, less divey apartment in august, and I finally got a contract of work that lasts for more than a few months.

ok no more blogging.

cool man, congrats

congrats, jim!

thanks!

awesome! it's funny how up and down my love for this place is

Yo...

The Richmond "Night" Market was a trip... it was hot af & still ridiculously light out when we were there. Had some great curry squid legs, takoyaki, fried crab balls, and one of those ridiculous potato things.

Also ended up at AjiSai based on the recs on this thread... super good value for the quality.

Alibi Room was great for a burger and a beer after the Grouse Grind... nice "hike".

did u wander around richmond at all?
glad to hear u liked ajisai!

Yeah we started in/around Steveston then went to Richmond Centre to pick up a couple things then basically walked up #3 Road to the Night Market from there.

stoked to be back with friends/family in a few days

Alibi Room is my favorite. Was there for brunch on Sunday! The owner recently opened Brassneck Brewery on Main St., over by the Whip.

the beer list is v good. best in vancouver.

Yeah good beers on tap; Driftwood and Storm Brewing made my favorite local (BC) beers!

Whistler was rad as well, topographically vast and naturally stunning. Foodwise: Creekbread pizza was very, very good. Even the touristy mid-scale Italian place in the village was surprisingly tasty.

People are so nice too! <3

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/vancouvers-housing-costs-no-problem-for-entrepreneur-living-in-a-van/article25982115/

is it just me or this article sickening/bemusing?

I know this dude's van from 5th and Columbia.

He wanted to create a shared space for the bitcoin community.

yeah, bitcoin atm attendant: i had no idea that was a job

i haven't lived in vancouver permanently in about two years but compared to other large canadian centers i've lived in... vancouver wasn't more expensive to rent in and the good transit infrastructure and walkability even in the suburbs made it less expensive. 1 room apartment in richmond #3 road across from mcdonalds -- $600 // transit pass $120 // shopping at richmond public market // walk to richmond-brighouse and take a skytrain ride into the city // gentle rain and soft coastal breezes vs. 1 bedroom apartment distant northern edge of edmonton $1160 // car note: $400 // gas: $200 // parking: $200 // shopping at suburban superstore and downtown farmers markets // 30 minute drive to work everyday // 8 months of -30. i can't afford to live downtown in either city or buy a house.

why don't they create a shared space for the bitcoin community in winnipeg or saskatoon?

a $600 dollar apartment in metro vancouver must be pretty rare. in the city $1200 is prob average for a one bedroom. though ive seen up to $1800. think in canada only toronto rent prices compare with van.

if the dude doesn't mind spending a lot of time in a vehicle he could have just stayed in white rock and commuted to van.

$600 room! shared kitchen + bathroom + richmond + found off a chinese language bulletin board
and it was two years ago. i drove by granville/number three a few weeks ago and the house was surprisingly still there.

Speaking as a social housing professional...Fuck that guy. Fuck the Globe and Mail and their trolling. Fuck articles about tiny houses or whatever.

Everyone enjoy the late night earthquake?

i thought somehow my cat jumping off the bed caused the bed to shake...

I was taking a leak and I thought it was my noisy upstairs neighbour dropping a bunch of shit off a shelf or something. My wife, who has experienced earthquakes before told me it was one and we went to hide under our kitchen table before realising it's extremely shoddily built and wouldnt protect us much and we just went to bed.

My cat was accompanying me in the bathroom and his tail got bushy and he ran around the apartment for a bit.

hey I have a question Vancouverites/anyone in the general vicinity. i feel like going out of town for a couple of nights sometime soon. probably would want to go on bus or train. don't want to travel more than 5 hours, don't want to go to Whistler, Seattle, or Victoria. Basically just looking for somewhere that isn't a dump and is interesting/pleasant to walk around and spend a short time in. any ideas would be v much appreciated.

Went to Tofino for a couple of days at the end of January. That was really nice. Stayed on Chesterman Beach.

yeah tofino sounds good, haven't really made it very far up the island yet. might have to relax my idea of how far I want to travel/add an extra night to the trip.

define dump.

there are the gulf islands, e.g., galiano, etc. not a big fan of those, but some seem to find it pleasant enough.

tofino is nice but will probably take you a good 5 hours to get there, especially without a car. speaking of which, i wouldn't recommend doing tofino without a car, because there are lots of nature sightseeing in and around and its long distances and transit is not that great.

there's harrison hot springs east of vancouver and there's always the okanagan

The main hotel in Harrison is ok but the rest of it's kinda dumpy. The area around Sechelt is nice. Not sure if there's much to do in the Okanagan this time of year if you're not skiing. Whidbey Island is nice but getting there by bus might be tough.

thanks for the ideas. im thinking maybe a gulf island.

Bellingham!

You could also check out the Sunshine Coast, which is close - there's a ferry from the north van terminal to Langdale and then public transit to Gibsons and Sechelt from there.

I've done the bus/ferry/bus from Vancouver to Tofino several times (because I have family there) and it's a long ride but once you're there you feel like you're in the middle of nowhere. I'd definitely stay for longer than a weekend because of that. It depends on where you want to stay too - as i recall, the bigger hotels/resorts on the beach have shuttle buses that will take you into town and pick you up if you're coming by bus or want to go to a restaurant, etc. There's a taxi too. And surf schools that can take you to the beaches if you want to suit up and surf!

bowen island is pretty convenient to get to (by BC ferry standards) and has some nice walks

san juans?

i ended up just going to Victoria for a few days as usual but it was good, thanks again for all the advice.

this weather eh? i got the slightest tinge of sunburn yesterday.

did you make it out to butchart gardens or hatley park

no but ive been to both within the last year. butchart gardens is pricey iirc but pretty awesome, the japanese garden espesh.

ya i love butchart gardens

probably time to post some housing related news

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-14/vancouver-tax-on-empty-homes-to-target-near-zero-rental-supply

will be intriguing to see the results. this step by the city makes a lot more sense to me than the provincial liberals (aka tories) foreign buyers' tax.

altho as the article points out determining vacant homes isn't all that easy.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-vacant-home-tax-1.3761496

Under the mayors proposal, all Vancouver homeowners will be required to declare their principal residence (or tenancy)

[...]

If audited, owners will have to prove that the home was a principal residence for the owner, a tenant or a licensee.

Proof of primary residency could include a B.C. driver's licence or BCID, a completed Home Owner Grant, a tenancy agreement or similar documentation.

If the owner is unable to prove the home was a principal residence for a minimum number of days in the previous year (to be determined by staff through consultation this fall), the tax will apply.

If a declaration is not made, legislation allows for owners to automatically be charged the empty homes tax.

i can fathom some ways around that already but it's a start

i tend to keep it quiet in my leftist social circles but i think gregor is a pretty dece mayor

i think so

Robertson said if the tax is collected on just five per cent of known empty homes, it would generate an estimated $2 million, which would go toward cost recovery and affordable housing.

This seems to be completely missing the point, which is that the vacancy rate is so abysmally low that something needs to be done to encourage people to actually rent their suites. Instead of just leave them empty until their value escalates to a point where they can cash in on their investment. Robertson makes this seem like it's just about collecting (a rather small) amount of money that will just be added to the budget of the Vancouver Housing Authority which itself has done practically nothing to deal with homelessness and the absence of housing for people with lower incomes.

Other cities have imposed a mandatory tax/charge on ALL homeowners which you then get back as an exemption when you file your property tax. I don't see them doing anything like that. Of course there's no real details yet. I'm not impressed.

if it is a 2% tax then i think it should have some effect on people leaving suites empty.

when thinking about the issues that matter to me, such as housing, it's really deflating to think that the bc libs are probably going to win again next year :/ john horgan was at my place of work today and i and a couple of colleagues walked past him in a corridor, i was the only one who recognized him, lol

We don't know what the % will be. We don't know how they are going to collect it, other than it is to be self-reported. Don't know how it's going to be administered or how much that will cost. The mayor apparently sees benefits even if 95% of vacant home-owners ignore it completely.

They don't seem to have done much work around this.

they don't expect 95% to ignore it though:

Under the mayors proposal, all Vancouver homeowners will be required to declare their principal residence (or tenancy)

my main criticism would be that this should've been done a long time ago

His calculation of $2,000,000 doesn't make sense if it's 2% anyway. They say there's approx 10,000 vacant (it's actually way higher but let's forget that for now). Say 500 empty condo owners confess and the average value of a condo is $500,000. Then for the city to make $2million the tax would be 0.8% - $4,000/year. That's not particularly prohibitive when the condo is increasing in value by 10% a year.

Under the mayors proposal, all Vancouver homeowners will be required to declare their principal residence (or tenancy)

This doesn't mean anything. All rental units in the city are not the homeowners principal residence. The city does not keep a registry of renters, or of rental properties. So what is this supposed to achieve?

Sorry, I see on the CBC article I was reading is says "if audited" you basically have to produce docs proving someone lives there. Again, I have no faith in them actually having the power to enforce this. The Airbnb situation demonstrates they are unable to enforce city bylaws, even when investigated or audited. A neighbouring property here has had three notices telling it to immediately cease short-term rentals but still they continue. This was the result of dozens of neighbour calls and the fire dept declaring it unsafe. To date the city has never busted anyone for Airbnb, yet the easiest way they could return thousands of former-rental suites to the market would be to do a few high-profile busts, set up a snitch-line and have the mayor go to the media to remind everyone it's against city bylaws. They do it for a hosepipe ban, why not for short-term rentals?

just reading kathy tomlinson's ama and i think we're on the right path (https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/52y9iv/i_am_kathy_tomlinson_the_globe_and_mail_reporter/)

it's a slow process (sounding like gillis right now) on account of our own politicians but one that everyone needs to be vocal about until the end goal is met

i think a lot of this is symbolic and signalling to foreign homebuyers that vancouverites will not accept this, and it seems to be working, but i agree that more regulation is required and better options exist

Average rent for one bedroom is now $2090 in Vancouver.

http://globalnews.ca/news/3609431/new-record-2090-a-month-is-average-cost-of-one-bedroom-rental-in-vancouver/

I imagine this will result in many people jumping ship to Kelowna, Kamloops or other places where rent is less insane. I'm lucky to live in a place that isn't expensive (been here six years) but no way in hell is Van worth that much per month.

yeah my wife and i pay $1215 in mount pleasant for a one-bedroom with parking space and feel lucky. i was walking by a neighboring, more rundown, apartment building yesterday, and they had a smaller suite than ours available for $1500.

if we ever get renovicted we're out of here. probably to at least as expensive toronto, but i will begrudge the expense a little less to live in more of a metropolis tbh

Ah yeah that's a good arrangement, Jim. Do you know or does anyone know what kinds of political action or movements have been set up to counter renovictions, etc.?

there seems to be an incipient group! i have been thinking of joining/getting involved with but haven't looked into it yet

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/launch-vancouver-tenants-union-1.4092386

this demand of theirs seems key to me:

"The union's goals include advocating for rental control that is tied to units, meaning rents wouldn't increase when people leave."

Thanks for the link Jim, definitely interested in that movement.

That part is key and rarely followed - I know for a fact that other people in my building pay far more rent than me and as soon as I leave, my rent will be higher than theirs.

the apartment building we lived in before the one we live in now is directly next door. it is a real dump. anyway we were paying $975 or something when we moved there 4 and a bit years ago. since we left I've noticed that our old suite (which is in the front of the building) has been vacated since by the tenants that came after us.

i checked craigslist both then, and also when we were moving out to see how much they were going to charge.

the rent went like this: us - $1000 (when we left), next tenants $1200, next tenants $1500. the place had black mould and mice.

I have been to a few Tenants Union meetings and know a few of the principles, who are mostly DTES activists. That is a good and bad thing about it. Good, because they are very passionate and know their stuff but bad because they focus on DTES problems which are different from elsewhere. Anyway, it's a new thing so not sure how it will go. Made a lot of progress in the three months it's been going for. They got invited to city hall like 2 weeks after the first big public meeting (which they declined lol).

Best thing right now would be to write to the new housing minister Selina Robinson and your local NDP MLA telling them to change the Residential Tenancy Act to restore security of tenure as per Declaration of Human Rights imo. ie. no no-fault evictions - renovictions, short-term leases, saying your daughter needs the suite and so on. It's the ease of displacing people that is a big part of this.

thanks for the info, everything. i think i will get involved/contact ndp pols

BTW Selina Robinson is a wonderful person who I briefly worked with at a big non-profit right before she was elected first time. She is a total dynamo and basically puts everyone else to shame with her energy and intelligence. I could list of the stuff i know about her but to summarize, there's probably no-one else in the province who I'd rather to see in that job. I only hope she can get stuff done and isn't hindered by something political.

https://www.straight.com/news/948346/anti-racism-rally-planned-vancouver-protest-opponents-muslims-and-immigration

come get punched by sons of odin with me this saturday

i am down

ok i've only lived here a week and granted it is mid-August but, this city is real nice imo... at least second best city in canada

welcome flopson :)

thx Ross :)

hello flopson :)

hi jim :)

went to nine dishes (new location in richmond near bridgeport skytrain station). they've put the price of tsingtao up to $3.50 from $2 and the premises is a completely different vibe to the old hole in the wall on kingsway - kind of looks like a cross between an earls and a nightclub, with a huge chandelier dangling from the ceiling - but it's still great.

also have been getting outdoors more lately (yesterday was amazing weather), going to the north shore and exploring creeks and going to whytecliff park and seeing some seals. trying my best to stave off hating vancouver as the winter descends upon us.

fwiw i'm still lovin' vancouver

have u been to Chef Hung Taiwanese Beef Noodle in aberdeen centre? the only place i've eaten in richmond so far but it's soooo good

I've heard good things about that place but i don't eat meat and I've been told that, somewhat unsurprisingly, id be SOL if i tried to eat there. I'm going to try and get out to the burbs more often for food tho for sure.

oh ya don't go, in that case

green party wants to ban foreign real estate ownership

http://theprovince.com/news/bc-politics/mike-smyth-ban-foreign-real-estate-purchases-weaver-says

gregor's not running for mayor in october

Not surprising. What a terrible failure this last decade has been for Vancouver. Who knows what's next but more of this is not what's needed.

id imagine, especially if vision don't field a strong candidate, it will be NPA sadly

i.e. vision without the antiperspirant and disinterested in cycling infrastructure

Can't see NPA finding more than three or four candidates that anyone would vote for. I think council will resemble the school board - three Greens, two or three from each of NPA and Vision and one or two independents. Which would be perfectly healthy and better than now. I know for sure Jean Swanson is running as an independent and she's a shoo-in. Adriane Carr for Mayor.

i really don't see more greens than NPA or Vision

Well it just happened with the school board. Wouldn't be surprised to see Janet Frazer move from school board to council. And then they have Pete Fry and Cleta Brown who are both popular candidates. And Adriane Carr, the most popular councilor of all, who could quite easily win mayor right now.

school board trustees were voted for at the by-election which had a dismally low turnout.

jean swanson got more votes than pete fry in that same by-election, he's hardly the most robust candidate.

really don't imagine greens will gain any extra seats on the council to be honest.

if, similarly to the by-election, there is vision, a copesque independent like jean swanson - maybe actually just Jean Swanson - one city morons, some weed buffoons, and greens then the "progressive" vote will be split to hell again

Doesn't matter though because we get 9 votes and they all count. What is needed is some co-operation between Greens, independents, One City and COPE to not swamp the progressive side with too many candidates. Like, we only need 9 or 10 candidates in total from that side. Let Vision and NPA split the right wing. COPE are notorious for fucking this up but they are so weak now they may be sensible for a change.

Vision Vancouver have closed their offices and have no employees anymore. They'll blow their war-chest on this last election, scrape a few candidates and that'll be it for them.

but adrianne carr is actually bad and hates the poor, is the thing

i'm praying for libby davies to run

but adrianne carr is actually bad and hates the poor, is the thing
Aye but compared to the disingenuous mendacity of her peers she's like fucking Gandhi

Seeing this gif on the top 77 tracks thread

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/MarriedCooperativeGalapagossealion-size_restricted.gif

and then watching the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2hlQkVJZhE

was a surreal experience because almost all the locations are within a few blocks of where I worked for nine years (the border between downtown and gastown) or in a neighbourhood close to my home where I wander once or twice a week (Steveston, Richmond). I'm pretty sure I saw them filming the scene in the gif, but I had no idea what it was at the time.

Anyone know these locations?:

https://i.imgur.com/vc1O8cL.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/mnC2Wzz.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/zRystG7.jpg

first one is white rock pier. that is a lot of van in that video.

haven't seen that music video yet but looking forward to it

couldn't care less about the song

there is a kpop music video i'll post later that was filmed basically at every single place i walked by like every other day

i think i had recently moved to los angeles so i got so nostalgic i ended up liking the song

also i think i've only been to white rock once in my entire life

i had a really uncharacteristically easy vancouver housing search a couple weeks back. decided to start looking. looked at craigslist. emailed the guy who wrote the ad for the only place that allows cats, was in a neighborhood i would live in (literally a block from where i currently live), and was in my price range that was on craigslist. viewed it the next day. was told i had it 2 days later.

oh and on the vancouver on film news i was watching riverdale the other day and recognized archie's house as being in strathcona

that's nice jim

uncool conservative opinion: i like vancouver weather

You grow to love the mouldy city

Believe it or not I actually miss the rain

But i do stay a chunk of my time in a city with completely different weather

i don't love the rain but i love the clothing the temperature range permits. wearing a sweater and light jacket in january!

white rock fucking rules and crescent beach is dope

Saw Archie smoking a cig on Alberni today. That was fun.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/investigations/real-estate-money-laundering-and-drugs/article38004840/

feeling hopeful, like people have woken up to the cesspit that this city and province are.

so obviously the the NPA will win the next election ;_;

ha

that'll be the day

I'm almost a perfect jonah when it comes to politics, especially the last 4/5 years

our next mayor: http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/former-vancouver-mp-wai-young-looks-set-to-run-for-mayor

Meh. Rookies. Either Libby Davies or Adriane Carr would crush any NPA or Vision candidate. Both are weighing options. If both ran it could be more competitive though.

I would be so pumped to volunteer for Libby

I would sadly predict the left-green split will be enough to give the NPA the victory, like in the city council special election

That was totally different. One vote for one candidate. Progressive candIdates got twice as many votes as vision and NPA combined. This year Lefties and greens will vote for a slate of independent/left/green candidates - in greater numbers than the centre right can muster.

Also Vision is not left-green. They are centre right same as NPA.

And Libby is a distinct possibility right now.

libby will be our next mayor fellas

u heard it here first

:)

I'm a total optimist when it comes to elections. And always wrong.

the jean swanson-pete fry was the split I meant, they were 2nd and 3rd right? and the vote for mayor is popular vote. I doubt NPA could get a majority on council (even tho the at-large council system does lead to ridiculous and undemocratic majorities) but the split could def be enough for the npa to win the mayoral seat. anyway I am praying you are both right.

Libby and Adriane Carr won't both stand. Libby the best for mayor and Carr likes being a councillor (says so every chance she gets).

The party thing may be somewhat diminished because of new funding rules. Better chance for independents and smaller parties. COPE could be the spoilers by running a decent candidate for mayor or a big squad of hopefuls for council (seems unlikely though - I don't think they have anyone particularly electable).

Gossip I've heard: Swanson's team want to run at least one more candidate. Swanson herself is not 100% in, for a personal reason. Libby's being subjected to a campaign to get her to stand (I got asked to email her so this is in some way true). CUPE is going to endorse One City.

COPE or CUPE? I doubt Cope would run a mayor against Libby, she's the perfect unity candidate. Really hope you are right about Carr, I think a lot of dummies would vote for a Green mayor candidate, and this year feels like their best opportunity to actually win. I wonder what will happen to Vision, they seem totally depleted.

I really wish our elections used proportional representation. I also wish that about BC and Canada, but here most of all.

CUPE (the largest union I believe) will endorse One City. Probably because they are going to run a candidate or two connected to the union.

COPE I got no good info about, except they look very weak.

Blah I'm a CUPE member and shop steward, not too enthused if we get behind One City, far too Vision adjacent for me

my gf and i are starting our apartment hunt to move in together in earnest and i might be continuing my insanely lucky navigation of the vancouver housing market, tonight we are looking at a 1 bedroom in mount pleasant (like 6 blocks from the area I've lived in the last 5 years) off main for $900 a month (everything included) that is not listed anywhere online. i have every appendage crossed and slept awfully last night because if this all works out it will really be fucking life changing, was expecting to be spending minimum of $1500.

good luck jim and jim's gf!!!

good as heck luck

Jim My apartment is vacant. 1500

xps. thanks guys!

thanks ross for the offer but I'm putting all my hopes into this place until they are dashed

totally endorse ilx0rs being each others landlords, if it means all disputes and repair notifications take place on one rolling thread

haha

Free slurpee day in van!

$2000 for a 1br by broadway/cambie

I’m a nice landlord

I call bs on that landlord renting a 1br for $900

Nowhere near market avg

i know multiple people who have normal 1 bedrooms in 60s walk-ups for around $1k, usually older landlords who don't care enough to renovate/renovict. obviously when they die their children will probably screw you, but good for a few years at least.

i would never pay $2000* for a 1 bedroom in Vancouver

*am well aware that this will be the going price in like 5 years or so

Those 1br apts were rented out like 3 years ago

Not the case anymore

Avg is a solid $1500 for a 1br now

For a $900 one i would really ask about pests, old building with leaks, thin walls, pipe issues, and generally shady neighbours, who are drawn to those low prices

Fyi i live just west of mt pleasant

I've been in the building before it's fine

One weird thing growing up in the area is mt pleasant now magically includes parts that are way east than where the border was when i was a kid

I blame the olympics

cambie to clark, 2nd to 16th seems kind of arbitrary in some ways but i guess it makes some sense in my head

actually id rephrase that. cambie and 2nd make sense to me completely, the other two seem kind of arbitrary

Ya that’s what i mean

Cambie is the border of mt pleasant traditionally, that’s never really been up to huge debate, I’ve heard people argue main but not really

I’m talking about where mt pleasant ends on the east end of it, it’s been expanding ever since the olympics

wow my definition of mt pleasant was always nothing east of fraser, and going up to king ed, but wikipedia tells me I am wrong.

anywhere I live is mt pleasant, is how I see it

Otm

I never considered anything east of king ed to be mt pleasant and it wld end somewhere around 20th ave

But this was when there were prostitutes galore on broadway/fraser

Poor hookers got prices out :(

Jim otm. My rent is cheap but my building is old and neglected. Kids are definitely waiting to knock the sucker down

All the renovated suites here are 1500 tho and te existing suites go up 2.5% per annum. My buddy pays like 750

So?

I fucked up the address so it was a totally different building than the one I thought but it's fine and we're moving there August 1st.

Congrats!

yay! nice one

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-13/vancouver-continent-s-least-affordable-city-has-a-wage-problem

plus thanks

the only way to win the game of vancouver renting is to not play. or just get really lucky!

Depends on what industry you’re in but ya most wages in Vancouver are low compared to the states. US wages are ridiculously high though. Compared to the EU, Canada does okay

Once you get into mgmt/biz side of things though you see a nice bump

My good friend makes 6 figures here and i always tell her to move stateside where she can make like 170k but she likes it here too much

Only reason to ever move to Vancouver btw — bc you like the landscape/outdoorsy vibe

It’s why I’m back here permanently tho I’ll probably end up back in the states in 3-4 ish years

It’s nice to come chill here for a while then go live in the hustle and bustle stateside back and forth though

jim you’re paying less than i pay for a ROOM ... kudos, but also... fuck u

wtg jim!

I lowkey want to move to vancouver. Only downside would be distance from my folks

ah just do it. where do u live now? edmonton? i see my dad like 3 days a year, it’s fine. mom visits

think simon is in toronto?

distance from folks isn't great, i lived no more than 10-12 miles away from my parents in the glasgow area until i was 27, then i moved here. i visit once a year, i Skype regularly. it's not awful

I'm in TO yeah, so I'm used to stupid rents

like I'm paying 1160 for a mid-sized basement and that's pretty good for TO

vancouver stoners - village is giving away 25 dollar gift cards provided you have the ad from the latest pride specific issue of the straight. also will give you an extra coupon for a friend...

Are there any bars/recurring events like this in Vancouver...

-non-deafening music of the ambient/minimal/experimental/whatever variety
-no TVs unless showing some artsy fartsy stuff
-possible to just listen/zone out without rambunctious yahoos in your face/space, maybe even possible to read/write
-decent beer or whisk(e)y a bonus

I've been to places like this elsewhere in the world and would like to find something similar here but maybe I expect too much of this town. Granted I don't go to a lot of bars because I don't find many worthwhile.

the lido is most of those things, most of the time

I say non-deafening music but I don't mean background music

Thanks - been past it many times but never gone in. Will give it a try

Lido yeah

lido has shows on in the evening reasonably often, will tend to be v quiet during the day and has a nice wee patio

also my local so if you see a tall, dark haired scottish man with facial moles say hi

anyone looking for a roommate? like october 1st?

Anyone ready to weigh in on the municipal election. Election ballots are like ILM artist-specific polls this year. I have my favourites, how about you?

Everyone who wants to be mayor is a cretin, is that right?

that sounds correct to me...I like what I've seen of Sylvester's platform but I think I will probably end up voting Kennedy Stewart bcz he has the best chance of winning. I am excited about Jean Swanson and the COPE crew and hope they all make it in, I think my city council ballot will be just COPE and One City. Who the hell knows what will actually happen, it's all early and it feels like nobody is paying much attention. Hope Stewart is running a real campaign.

I am enjoying the right wing cannibalizing itself: https://www.straight.com/news/1140976/vancouver-mayoral-candidate-wai-youngs-party-calls-independent-police-investigation

All three right wing candidates represent a significant constituency, and there aren't that many right wing voters to start with...but maybe the NPA machine can still do its thing when no other party is left standing.

welcome to vancouver

https://vimeo.com/293166136

flopson is a vancouvpuglian?

damn this flappy bird/flopson dichotomy

flopson is a fairly recent vancouverite, last year or something? montreal before if my ilx.xls is not incorrect.

i can't vote as I'm not a citizen but i like some of the one city stuff like land value tax, and kennedy stewart seems like a decent shout for mayor, although i fear he'll be gregoresque in office. god help us if ken sim wins mind you so better the devil you know if he does end up being a status quo type mayor

one of the one city candidates works in my office and seems nice and cool also

i lucked out on housing again, sorry to brag, place i was in that was ultra cheap was too damp once fall began, managed to get into mixed income housing, brand new unit, mountain view. very delighted

ya i live in vancouver now

anyone know of any good housing opportunities or rent, I got renovicted essentially.

love these copesters: https://www.straight.com/news/1150371/long-read-how-jean-swanson-derrick-okeefe-and-anne-roberts-plan-upend-vancouvers

i would never pay $2000* for a 1 bedroom in Vancouver

*am well aware that this will be the going price in like 5 years or so

― ( ͡☉ ͜ʖ ͡☉) (jim in vancouver), Wednesday, July 11, 2018 3:11 PM (three months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

https://www.narcity.com/ca/bc/vancouver/news/good-luck-out-there-vancouvers-average-cost-of-a-one-bedroom-rental-just-hit-dollar2050

only four and a half years off

was in Vancouver this evening, saw the Dude Chilling Park sign has been vandalised, left in disgust

That's not the average rent. Not even remotely close. There's not a single rent included in the calculation. What that is is the average asking price for a bunch of vacant suites. There are an unusual amount of expensive suites right now - a glut practically. sAnd very few cheap ones. But brand new one bedrooms right downtown are renting for under 2 grand. Older ones more like $1600. East of Commercial or South of Main it's easy to find one bedrooms for under $1500 and most people pay less. Way less.

It’s cheaper in the areas where people don’t want to live. Look at the apartments around metrotown or any hub and prices go up again

I’ve lived in a few different cities and they’re all like that

People renting below 1500 have been at there place at least a year — again, this is normal and what happens in most major NA cities

The $2k rent fee is market price for current listings, and it is the median of all data, it says so on padmapper’s site

I paid 1050, 2000 is absolutely insane for rent

with the poverty line wage being roughly 21 dollars, it would take a miracle for a lot of people to survive in a 2 K rent, unless they had a partner or good job

The $2k rent fee is market price for current listings, and it is the median of all data, it says so on padmapper’s site

― F# A# (∞), Wednesday, October 17, 2018 7:29 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

online prices also skew high. if you are in any east/south van neighborhood and see an "apartment available" sign a one bedroom is more likely to be in the 1200-1500 range tbh. they may be "areas people don't want to live in" but they're also areas that most people in the lower mainland live in

(i.e. non-central, non-skytrain adjacent, non-rich residential neighbourhoods)

I, voted

I have no idea how this election is gonna turn out, but I have a feeling that Sylvester or Sim pulling a surprise win isn't an impossibility. Maybe it's just my own little bubble, but I've seen a ton of love for Sylvester recently

It's your bubble I think

Looks like Kennedy Stewart is the new mayor

But Greens and NPA dominate council

sylvester ran a much better campaign than stewart (or sim) I think. These results could have been worse.

heads up it's a canadaland podcast but by now it's painful how obvious money laundering is in this city

http://www.canadalandshow.com/podcast/how-vancouver-became-a-money-laundering-paradise/

hey guys, let's get rid of first past the post

or not, whatever

Fuuuck.

it's such bullshit

the Boston Pizza on West Broadway has a magician - who is also a Langley based realtor - called R0d Bo$$ (google-proofing) who works 6pm-8pm Sundays. He comes to your table and does a number of tricks, including one where he appears to poke a hole in one of your party's sleeve with his finger as well as a coin and bottle trick and a bunch of card stuff. It's very weird.

this was my first time in a Boston Pizza. Probably the last time

lolll that's a good call probably

i have a conspiracy theory about the b-line

Lay it on me

*listens*

ok so you know how sometimes the doors won't shut if someone's standing too close to the doors, like in that little zone delineated by the yellow box, and it goes dingdingding over and over as it attempts to shut? and then the bus driver comes in on the intercom and says 'i can't start the bus until the door closes, folks' and all the passengers stare hatefully at the poor souls packed into the yellow zone desperately trying to squeeze out of its boundaries?

so the busdriver is totally FULL of SHIT!! they have a button they can push that will force the doors to close. now many (most?) will admirably push this button on a really crammed bus during rush hours. but there's a twisted minority who love pitting their passengers against each other, who get some sadistic gratification from the sad dejected faces of people who are forced to step off the bus as the collective ire of the other passengers grows too great to bear

i figured this out because i get on incredibly crammed b-lines going west at main every morning, and am almost always myself well within the yellow zone, and MOST of the time doors shut no problem. but today i was unfortunate to have as driver that most smug and hateful fuck (maybe you know him, the one who sings 'if you're happy and you know it' at the end of the line, and speaks in this faux-cheerful tone nearly continuously on the intercom, announcing stops and thanking everyone for riding) and the bus wasn't even that full, like 70% capacity tops, and he made a huge deal at every other stop of shaming people for being close to the door. it's a huge scam

this probably applies to buses more generally. also, idk about the broadway skytrain but they seriously need to increase capacity on the 99 in the mornings. such a stressful way to start the day

yeah i think you might be right there, i do know that bus driver.

i never had to get the westward 99 in the mornings but i did used to get the one going east from main every day for years and while it was pretty busy i would always see the westward one going by and think "thank the lord I'm not on that"

Would love to see a short documentary about the board of Translink trying to travel from Burquitlam to UBC during rush hour.

when i went to UBC in the early 00s the 99 was already hell, must be such a nightmare now

im a master at getting a seat

does anyone remember this little ditty, that seems like a tim and eric thing, about the 99?

https://youtu.be/SBRoW0XAG4A

went walking round the seawall like a dang tourist yesterday, was a marvelous day for it.

otoh i want it to be summer already

I walk the whole seawall almost every weekend. Always worth it.

Fucken nice out

Don’t jinx it

we’re like the only province not enveloped in smoke

the dispensary at main and hastings sells grams for $5

it's not good weed but still, $5

makes u wonder why he didn't go with 'vancouver jim'

lol wrong thread

thx for the tip jim. i've actually been looking for a dispensary that sells mids, all the weed here is way too strong

it’s a funny problem to have...but i have had it

xp. stuff i got yesterday so dry and crappy, but nice mellow sativa high when i vaped some watching the office last night

Christian Marclay's "The Clock" starts at the Polygon Gallery in North Van on July 5. The gallery will be open 24 hours on five occasions during the summer.

https://thepolygon.ca/exhibition/the-clock/

about to spend a week! inside! vancouver! v stoked

good time to be here, weather has been v nice of late - and for you it will be less humid and hot, which I'm sure is welcome

honestly I'm considering a move out here just for the climate

come for the climate, stay for the inevitable catastrophic cascadia subduction zone quake

shh, just pretending that will never happen and making no emergency preparedness measures.

xp. if you don't mind rain then id recommend the climate

rain slaps

vancouver in the fall when you're broke isn't much fun

The Lido has reopened thank the stars.

Hadn't realized it was closed but I live in strathcona now so am hardly up in that specific bit of mount pleasant.

Met my wife there.

It was one of the places I feared would not survive. Now they take credit cards and the bar staff are waiters. Otherwise it's the same. Black Sabbath, Os Mutantes, Teenage Fanclub, $4.50 pints from 4-6.

<3 lido. thought it opened a while ago?

Met my wife there.

― here comes the hotstamper (jim in vancouver), Monday, October 19, 2020 10:22 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

ultimate tinder date spot lol

i live like 2 blocks from there now but moving to a pretty lame hood (near vgh/99 heather stop) far from it on november 1st

the frenchies fire is sad, destroyed a few homes, took out dandelion records

WHAT WENT DOWN TODAY, a thread

— Pulpfiction Socially Distanced Books (@pfbvan) October 22, 2020

That really sucks. Dandelion is a record store I visit regularly but rarely find anything, but the owners were really nice people, they are very into music and it was cool shop. Relieved the other stores on the block are relatively unscathed.

I haven't gone record shopping in years but i have a very fond memory of discovering Dandelion with a friend when I was like 15 and being so amazed by all the cool records they had there... sad to hear about what happened

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-jeff-amp-laura-at-dandelion-records-amp-emporium