any hints for parking or at the Olympics ?

[Golf Cart]

There are 3 public parking lots on Pender, west of Burrard that are half full. All of them are on the south side. The one at Bute & Pender beside Pharmasave is like a ghost town. From there its a 5 minute walk to the Flaming Tower.

[jrman]

I thought VANOC's "greening" of the Olympics was to make transit more... what was the word? AVAILABLE. Obviously this wasn't the case, and now I know why the critics are so disappointed with the performance. We saw the same thing in Calgary in '88, although there weren't as many road closures.

My dad was telling me this weekend how people visiting Vancouver, even back in the '60s, would ask, "How do you drive AROUND Vancouver? I want to get at <whatever location> from the other side." You realize the city's located on the coast, right? That's the ocean on the one side? I mean, there's a railway track running all the way up to Whistler, and what did we do? We upgraded the highway! Not that it didn't need it, but was anything done to those tracks? I suspect not.

This is why I never thought Vancouver was a good choice for hosting the Olympics: access.

There was a huge battle in the 1960's over freeway access in and around Vancouver. The city planners in the 1950's "assumed" that Vancouver would follow the same trend as US cities and have freeways running into downtown. There were multiple plans drawn up. By the time they got down to the business of trying to build them in the 1960's, alot of negative issues were coming out of the US about this system - commonly known in planning circles as the "donut effect". The main point is that people in the US cities were working downtown Mon-Fr and 9-5 - but after hours and on weekends the city was empty (imagine tumbleweeds and newspapers blowing in the wind). Inner city (the hole in the donut) crime exploded - in part due to the departure of the working class who could afford to live in the suburbs that developed as a result of the easier access. Vcr city council fought for years - but finally accepted a model that supported more people living downtown but with the frustration of poor access. Considering the vibrant city that we all know today....I think they got it right - but it all depends on what you want out of a city I guess. FYI - the Georgia Viaduct is one of the only remaining sections of what was supposed to be a freeway system linked throughout Vancouver and included a third crossing starting near Brockton Oval....it's all well documented.

[jrman]

Oh...and I've been using the Seabus / Expo Line / Canada line as well during these games (no buses yet) and service has been excellent. Even returning home after Canada v.s. Norway - walked to the Seabus and got on the first boat. Apparently there have been some long waits on the Canada Line after some of the Live Nation concerts down near David Lam park - but most people heading to the North Shore have walked to the seabus and had no trouble. I work at Seymour & Georgia and have to say I'm loving the mood downtown - it's like a cross between Saturday night and Christmas but it's every day - people are being so nice and friendly - I hope it lasts!

[Green1]

but was anything done to those tracks? I suspect not.

That's ok, your environmental nightmare of a neighbour (Alberta) is running a train service back and forth from Whistler to Vancouver during the games (why didn't VANOC think of that?)