Progress With a Price
I was driving north across the Granville Street Bridge the other day.
I looked at the landscape, so radically changed in recent years by the blooming of a hundred concrete towers.
I still love Vancouver and am still happy and grateful to live here.
But I don't like much of what I see.
No doubt, this is all very good for the economy.
But it is ugly and I don't like it.
6 comments:
All of the new buildings on the Concord Pacific lands have an ugly sameness due to the concrete and green tinted floor to ceiling glass.
The West End is so much more attractive.
Yes indeed. Where have the mountains gone? Seems many of them are now exclusively for "private" views.
I love Vancouver, sort of, but definitely not for the architecture -- love the ocean and the mountains and some of the old neighbourhoods. However, it's not particularly friendly here and there are many, many haves and too many have nots. Robson Street of today is the new Vancouver -- I prefer the Robson Street (remember Robsonstrasse?), and Granville Street (I remember when it was actually a vibrant street) for that matter, of old. Perhaps I'm an old grump but the new "world class" (ha!) Van. is not really for me.
I look at Vancouver's West End as a donut. Large around the outside and empty in the middle. How our civic politicians in league with developers have let the construction of highest buildings be closest to the waterfront, while the center decays is a blight and travesty on our city. It is all about the money and who gets the gold. What a sick way to run a city but then it has always been thus. Hastings and Main was once the civic heart of the city until the money grubbers took over and moved the money and folks West and sorry to say it is still going on.
"But it is ugly and I don't like it". I was bored the other evening and "googled" Vancouver Penthouses. I looked at the "neighbourhood scenes" from the various decks and windows in the Ads. I felt sad that people could call these enviorments "home". I live on a small Gulf Island. Here one can see and feel "home". However, to each their own!
I rented a studio apartment in a new condo building on Victoria's Inner Harbour last month. I was there for 2 weeks working on a book.
The apartment was maybe 600 square feet and very nicely done, but it was a prison and it sells for half a million dollars.
Nuts...
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