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A long, hard struggle to make Olympics’ benefits permanent

March 3rd, 2010 · 20 Comments

I know a lot of people are already in the dumps, with the party gone and nothing but litter, fencing, and the return of bad weather around. Hate to add to it, but here’s my story on how it’s going to be a long haul to ensure that all those things we loved about the […]

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Luxury condos sell like hotcakes during Olympics

March 1st, 2010 · 12 Comments

Somehow I don’t think this piece of news, sent out over the news-release wires this morning, is going to make most people feel that great about the Games. Their worst nightmare, actually. Vancouver real estate developer strikes gold $46.76 million sold during Olympics: $31.8 million to Olympic visitors With the 2010 Winter Olympic Games now […]

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Final Olympics night snapshot

February 28th, 2010 · 7 Comments

I missed the game (too much tension), following its progress by the screaming around me.I felt like I had to get out afterwards, because it was all just too much like an unreal Disney movie to me. Really, could old Walt himself have dreamed up anything better? Sports mega-event comes to (in global terms) relatively […]

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What can Vancouver really learn from the Olympics?

February 26th, 2010 · 49 Comments

There’s a lot of post-op Olympics delirium floating in the air these days, with everyone drunk on the successes and the street parties and the sight of people choosing to come downtown every day dressed in Canadian flag capes. And now, like summer-camp attendees who’ve had a really great week, we’re promising all kinds of […]

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Are we preparing to be cranky again? NY Times thinks so

February 24th, 2010 · 18 Comments

Okay, some international media coverage appears that reflects a little more some of the real preoccupations of a significant number of people here. But I don’t get why even the NY Times can’t get some basic things right. The taxpayers are not carrying $1 billion in debt for the village, at least not the way […]

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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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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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