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Our fling with the Olympics’ bad boy almost over — whew!

February 24th, 2010 · 4 Comments

I think I speak for all of us when I say: It’s been a blast, but we need some sleep plus a couple of days where the most exciting thing that happens is getting a free shampoo sample in with the mail. Although I know some of my harsher critics (as opposed to my quiet […]

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Granville businesses want more street closures

February 24th, 2010 · 5 Comments

I had such great response to my previous post (thanks all urban planners out there, Lance, Michael and others) on the success of the Granville Mall during the Olympics that I wrote a story for the Globe too on it, which you can read here. As you’ll see in the story, downtown businesses, the mayor […]

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A squeaker on whether Olympic village condos will sell for enough to save us from debt

February 22nd, 2010 · 15 Comments

Oh, surely with all these wonderful pictures of Vancouver being beamed around the world 24/7, we can rest assured that those Olympic village condos will sell for top prices and ensure that the Malek brothers/Millennium Developments will pay back all the money the city loaned them. Don’t be celebrating too quickly. Even the city’s chief […]

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Granville Street reborn as the No. 1 party spot

February 22nd, 2010 · 30 Comments

One of the many interesting phenomena that have emerged during the Games (which is actually turning into a giant social experiment in our city) is the way the massive crowds are redefining public space in Vancouver. They’re congregating in places no one quite expected and voting with their feet on what space they think is […]

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Downtown Eastside: Home of secret Games fans

February 22nd, 2010 · 3 Comments

This story was in Saturday’s Globe but for some reason isn’t on the website, so I’m posting it here, rather than linking it for now. 2010 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved. Free tickets are nice, but neighbourhood hopes attention will lead to increased funding from province Rick Russell and Bill Lucas normally wouldn’t spend […]

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Transit ridership doubles in early days of Games

February 18th, 2010 · 33 Comments

TransLink officials have been hoping that the Games would let them show off what they could do with a healthy budget and a million riders. That hope is being realized. The system is actually hitting 1.5 million riders — almost double the normal 800,000. (My Globe story here.) I know (thanks to gmgw) that not […]

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British press doesn’t like our Olympics, thinks we’re mean? Take this

February 18th, 2010 · 28 Comments

Most of the flag-bedecked partiers here don’t have a clue that we’re being trashed in the international media and, even if they did, they probably wouldn’t care. But it’s a big topic among the inner circle of Olympics diehards, reporters and news junkies. I got invited to give a local perspective on the Games and […]

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Cities prepare to turn staff over to Olympics-related work

August 11th, 2009 · 40 Comments

Get ready for it. By the time everyone gets back to work in September in Vancouver and Whistler city halls, it’s essentially going to be all Olympics all the time. As part of that, those two cities, along with others that have venues, like Richmond, have also been identifying who among their staff is going […]

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The debate over Vancouver’s 2010 bylaws

July 22nd, 2009 · 48 Comments

In another ring of the Vancouver city hall circus these days, the city’s proposed bylaw changes to noise, graffiti and other bylaws is generating all kinds of heat and light. Here’s just one small sample of the exchanges going on. —–Original Message—– From: Michael Healey Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 10:39 AM To: Anton, Suzanne; […]

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Reports on secret Olympic-village decisions now up on website

June 19th, 2009 · 5 Comments

The city has just posted four reports related to past decisions on Southeast False Creek and the Olympic village. I wasn’t able to spot much new that hasn’t already been reported at some length. Two of the reports were on Jeff Lee’s blog last fall. But I welcome comments from those who have a finer […]

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