Vancouver will host the Winter Olympic games together with Whistler in 2010, the city won the bidding process in July 2003, 3.5 years ago. There has been opposition to the games all along but as we get closer to the games, the opponents are getting more vocal. Earlier this week, on the 12th, an Olympic clock was unveiled at the Art Gallery to start the countdown to the games 3 years away. A group of anti-poverty activists armed with eggs and rocks covered with paper mache stormed the event and caused quite a commotion.
The city is clearly divided to people who are in favour and who oppose the games. I have to say I'm in the middle, actually I'm a bit skeptical. Vancouver has this weird world class city syndrome, the city has been ranked one of the most livable cities in the world for years and it is indeed a great city to live in but it somehow lacks the self-confidence. An opening of a Tiffany's store a few months ago was a world class city event, according to the media.
Many seem to believe that these games will shoot Vancouver into the world map but these are winter games so the viewing audience will be limited. That combined to the tricky winter weather of the coast, Vancouver might be gaining some negative publicity. This winter has been excellent snow-wise but we've had less favourable conditions in previous years. ...and there's always the chance that it will rain the whole duration of the games, wouldn't that be great publicity (albeit very close to the real winter conditions in the city). I'm sure the rain and the limited coverage throughout the world won't make Vancouver a top travel destination in an instant (some seem to believe that the games will do just that).
Bumper stickers like "Healthcare over olympics" are quite common. The total cost of the games won't be known until long after the games. The organizers are facing criticism daily when it comes to the cost of the games and they keep on telling us that they are on budget. However, there are growing concerns that the security budget is totally underestimated and as the venue construction gets underway, the construction costs are flying through the roof. Just as a side note; Montreal paid off its Olympic debt at the end of last year from the 1976 Summer Games, 30 years later.
The city of Vancouver and the province of British Columbia will face tough times in the next 3 years. On the provincial level healthcare critics will bring up the Olympics and the cost the of the games every time there are cuts or the service levels don't meet the standards. The same thing will happen to any other publicly funded services. The city of Vancouver has to face the big problems: homelessness and affordable housing. There is a huge shortage of affordable housing in Vancouver and the situation is getting worse constantly when single occupancy hotels (low income housing) and rental buildings are being torn down and luxurious condominium towers with starting prices at 500.000 dollars are being built on those lots.
Vancouver having the mildest climate in Canada and being a port city just add to the huge problem that is being showcased in the downtown eastside. There you will find the poorest postal code in the whole country and it is just a few blocks away from the glitzy Yaletown. Homelessness, substance abuse, especially drug addiction, mental problems, prostitution are clearly present and during the 5.5 years I have lived here, seems like the problems there have become bigger and more serious. Seems like no enough has been done to try to solve the problems. The city mayor Sam Sullivan was elected in November, 2005 and he has already been strongly critized for not having accomplished much in that problem area of the city.
In the years we have lived here, it is easy to notice that in our opinion the city is less livable; less clean, less safe, the traffic congestion is becoming unbearable, we don't feel comfortable buying an apartment as the prices have gone up a lot and are still going up. The local attitude to all these problems seems to be nonchalant but when there was an article in "The Economist" about downtown eastside and its problems, there was all of a sudden a huge uproar in the city and in the media. I think we need more of that: someone digging the dirt and waking up the city to face its problems. It will be interesting to see what will happen in the next 3 years, if the city will be squeky clean for the Olympics. They can't just put the homeless in a train and make them disappear for the two weeks, or can they? Is 3 years enough time to solve the issues or are we too late already?
The city sure has its share of problems and we wouldn't live here if there wasn't more to it. The setting and location of the city is just amazing. In the city there are plenty of parks and the seawall and you don't have to drive far to get to the closest ski runs or hiking trails, it doesn't take much effort to be outdoorsy in Vancouver. I will definitely miss the mountains when I move away from here. The mild climate and the local mountains make it possible to to all sorts of activities, basically you can go skiing, sailing, mountain biking and golfing on the same day in the winter time (Jari would say no to this as you would be stuck in traffic half the day but let's just say it's possible).
The city is clearly divided to people who are in favour and who oppose the games. I have to say I'm in the middle, actually I'm a bit skeptical. Vancouver has this weird world class city syndrome, the city has been ranked one of the most livable cities in the world for years and it is indeed a great city to live in but it somehow lacks the self-confidence. An opening of a Tiffany's store a few months ago was a world class city event, according to the media.
Many seem to believe that these games will shoot Vancouver into the world map but these are winter games so the viewing audience will be limited. That combined to the tricky winter weather of the coast, Vancouver might be gaining some negative publicity. This winter has been excellent snow-wise but we've had less favourable conditions in previous years. ...and there's always the chance that it will rain the whole duration of the games, wouldn't that be great publicity (albeit very close to the real winter conditions in the city). I'm sure the rain and the limited coverage throughout the world won't make Vancouver a top travel destination in an instant (some seem to believe that the games will do just that).
Bumper stickers like "Healthcare over olympics" are quite common. The total cost of the games won't be known until long after the games. The organizers are facing criticism daily when it comes to the cost of the games and they keep on telling us that they are on budget. However, there are growing concerns that the security budget is totally underestimated and as the venue construction gets underway, the construction costs are flying through the roof. Just as a side note; Montreal paid off its Olympic debt at the end of last year from the 1976 Summer Games, 30 years later.
The city of Vancouver and the province of British Columbia will face tough times in the next 3 years. On the provincial level healthcare critics will bring up the Olympics and the cost the of the games every time there are cuts or the service levels don't meet the standards. The same thing will happen to any other publicly funded services. The city of Vancouver has to face the big problems: homelessness and affordable housing. There is a huge shortage of affordable housing in Vancouver and the situation is getting worse constantly when single occupancy hotels (low income housing) and rental buildings are being torn down and luxurious condominium towers with starting prices at 500.000 dollars are being built on those lots.
Vancouver having the mildest climate in Canada and being a port city just add to the huge problem that is being showcased in the downtown eastside. There you will find the poorest postal code in the whole country and it is just a few blocks away from the glitzy Yaletown. Homelessness, substance abuse, especially drug addiction, mental problems, prostitution are clearly present and during the 5.5 years I have lived here, seems like the problems there have become bigger and more serious. Seems like no enough has been done to try to solve the problems. The city mayor Sam Sullivan was elected in November, 2005 and he has already been strongly critized for not having accomplished much in that problem area of the city.
In the years we have lived here, it is easy to notice that in our opinion the city is less livable; less clean, less safe, the traffic congestion is becoming unbearable, we don't feel comfortable buying an apartment as the prices have gone up a lot and are still going up. The local attitude to all these problems seems to be nonchalant but when there was an article in "The Economist" about downtown eastside and its problems, there was all of a sudden a huge uproar in the city and in the media. I think we need more of that: someone digging the dirt and waking up the city to face its problems. It will be interesting to see what will happen in the next 3 years, if the city will be squeky clean for the Olympics. They can't just put the homeless in a train and make them disappear for the two weeks, or can they? Is 3 years enough time to solve the issues or are we too late already?
The city sure has its share of problems and we wouldn't live here if there wasn't more to it. The setting and location of the city is just amazing. In the city there are plenty of parks and the seawall and you don't have to drive far to get to the closest ski runs or hiking trails, it doesn't take much effort to be outdoorsy in Vancouver. I will definitely miss the mountains when I move away from here. The mild climate and the local mountains make it possible to to all sorts of activities, basically you can go skiing, sailing, mountain biking and golfing on the same day in the winter time (Jari would say no to this as you would be stuck in traffic half the day but let's just say it's possible).
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