Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Northern B.C. businesses demand Ottawa revisit immigration, work permit cuts

 https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politics/our-town-s-going-to-collapse-northern-b-c-businesses-demand-ottawa-revisit-immigration-work-permit-cuts/ar-AA1HMWuW?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=ef5c270bd1ec42fdb926f7e88ccf4566&ei=5

Prince+Rupert is in a limited growth area. In contrast, Terrace has a lot of relatively flat land around it for growth. Terrace isn't as limited as PR, so its a potential growth area.

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/natural-resource-use/land-water-use/crown-land/land-use-plans-and-objectives/skeena-region/northcoast-lrmp/map_10_visual_management_areas.pdf

https://gocampingbc.com/region/terrace-prince-rupert/

https://britishcolumbia.com/plan-your-trip/regions-and-towns/northern-bc-and-haida-gwaii/terrace/locality/Prince+Rupert/

http://www.fishbc.com/adventure/explore/north/skeena_coast.html

Despite its limited flat areas, Prince_Rupert should be a growing port for NW BC. Kitimat should also continue as a major BC port. Terrace has the biggest potential for growth and should have improved highway and rail connections between PR and Kitimat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Regional_Airport_Terrace-Kitimat

Switzerland can fit into BC about 23 times, yet BC doesn't even have the population of one CH. Canada is nowhere close to having 1% of the worlds population.  

The CN Tower

 https://www.cntower.ca/inspiring-by-day-stellar-by-night

https://www.cntower.ca/live-views

Saturday, June 28, 2025

Bridges

 


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions_Gate_Bridge

https://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/canada/6138-lions-gate-bridge.html

https://www.tranbc.ca/2019/08/29/how-the-lions-gate-bridge-counterflow-works/

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/about-here-lions-gate-bridge-cruise-ships-tourism-1.5373466


https://jf-databits.blogspot.com/search?q=LGB

https://jf-databits.blogspot.com/search?q=Vancouver

widest highways around the world

 https://www.webuildvalue.com/en/infrastructure-news/widest-highway-in-the-world.html

https://m.rediff.com/business/slide-show/slide-show-1-10-wildest-highways-in-the-world/20120831.htm

https://www.reddit.com/r/UrbanHell/comments/1jjlf3j/widest_highway_in_the_world_is_in_ontario_canada/

Toronto and Ontario Highway 401

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario_Highway_401

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/400-series_highways

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/400-series_highways#High-occupancy_vehicle_lanes

Interstate 405 (California)

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_405_(California)

https://abc7.com/traffic , https://405expresslanes.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_405_(California)#Los_Angeles_County

https://laist.com/brief/news/transportation/attention-commuters-traffic-on-the-405-freeway-could-be-slower-as-it-undergoes-upgrades

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_405_(California)#History

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/pedestrian-killed-405-freeway-transition-road-marina-del-rey/

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/overnight-405-freeway-lane-closures-begin-through-sepulveda-pass/3733554/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepulveda_Transit_Corridor

https://www.metro.net/projects/i-405-comprehensive-multimodal-corridor-plan/

https://www.discoverlosangeles.com/travel/the-guide-to-los-angeles-freeways

Interstate 405 (Washington)

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_405_(Washington)

https://www.king5.com/article/traffic/traffic-news/seattle-traffic-congestion-northbound-i-405-i-5-eastbound-i-90/281-3493a994-06c7-4697-aee5-3441dd556652

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_405_(Washington)#Tukwila_to_Bellevue

https://komonews.com/news/local/northbound-i-405-to-be-closed-in-kirkland-this-weekend-bridge-paving-construction-washington-department-of-transportation

https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/405-freeway-closes-weekend-kirkland

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_405_(Washington)#21st_century

https://wsdot.wa.gov/construction-planning/search-projects/i-405renton-bellevue-widening-and-express-toll-lanes-project

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/all-northbound-lanes-i-405-closed-between-renton-bellevue-next-week/NQLMLPYXGVFGFE2BQEGOJE6VGY/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_405_(Washington)#Transit_service

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_Line_(Sound_Transit)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stride_(bus_rapid_transit)#History

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Ontario Place parking garage

 https://www.blogto.com/real-estate-toronto/2025/06/ontario-place-parking-garage-block-toronto-waterfront/

Most of Ontario is wilderness, as is most of Canada. Most people in Canada prefer to live in the urban area, that's also the case in Australia. Of course various LARGE structures will be in urban parts of the world.

Massive U.S.-Canada bridge is just months away from opening

 https://dailyhive.com/canada/us-canada-bridge-detroit-windsor-opening

Monday, March 31, 2025

The very narrow Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver, BC

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions_Gate_Bridge

Construction startMarch 31, 1937

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions_Gate_Bridge#History

OpenedNovember 14, 1938
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Lions_Gate.jpg

https://www.th.gov.bc.ca/ATIS/lgcws/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions_Gate_Bridge#Gallery

Unfortunately in the 1930s, there just wasn't much vision and motivation to see Vancouver as becoming a bustling and thriving port city. In contrast, Sydney, NSW and SF, California already knew that they were growing major cities by the 1930s.

Then, by the 1960s and 70s, when Montreal and Toronto really started to grow up, Vancouver became immersed into the BC backwater mentality. By the 1960s or 70s, there should have been 3 lane tunnel to provide a proper counterflow to the inadequate 3 lane LGB. 

Georgia_Street is seven lanes wide near the entrance to Stanley_Park and the 5 blocks leading towards the park.

Had Vancouver waited until the 1990s, not only a 7, but 8 lane tunnel should have been built under the park and near the bridge. Such a tunnel not only could have provided 3 lanes each way, but a bus lane each way as well in the 8 lane structure. Unfortunately, that never happened, nor did a rail link happen.

Indeed, several decades ago the SkyTrain should have been extended to West_Vancouver. There never even seemed to be a plan to extend the SkyTrain-Canada_Line segment to North_Vancouver either. 

There has been multigenerational resistance to have a proper comprehensive transportation plan between Downtown_Vancouver and the North_Shore. There also seems to be a lack of vision or interest to link the Horseshoe_Bay_ferry_terminal to YVR and also a link to the Tsawwassen_ferry_terminal

Sunday, February 9, 2025

Calgary man prefers laid-back Alberta life over Toronto

 https://dailyhive.com/calgary/calgary-man-move-alberta-toronto

Toronto is a big city on a lakeshore like Chicago is. Calgary just doesn't have a sprawling suburban situation like those urban areas have. Calgary can get colder than Denver during the winter and almost as hot as Dallas during the summer.

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

A Toronto building with horrible reputation is facing even more issues

 https://dailyhive.com/toronto/toronto-condo-building-issues-dundas-square-gardens

A reasonable effort should always be made to maintain a decent living standard in new and older buildings.

Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Urban Tech Data

https://worldpopulationreview.com/world-city-rankings/largest-metro-areas-in-the-world

https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/bigcities.htm

https://www.sciencefocus.com/planet-earth/in-pictures-the-largest-cities-in-the-world

https://www.statista.com/statistics/912263/population-of-urban-agglomerations-worldwide/

https://zenodo.org/records/10458207


 https://jf-databits.blogspot.com/search?q=UTD

Urban Legends

Urban_legends are part of the urban fabric.

 https://www.britannica.com/topic/urban-legend

https://www.vice.com/en/article/we-hired-a-ghost-hunter-to-find-out-how-haunted-our-new-office-really-is/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_urban_legends

https://www.vcc.ca/about/college-information/news/article/venture-out-into-vancouvers-most-haunted-around-vcc.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_train

https://www.timeout.com/usa/things-to-do/haunted-ghost-trains


https://jf-databits.blogspot.com/search?q=urban+legends

Haunted places in Paris

 https://listverse.com/2023/04/04/10-haunted-places-in-paris/

https://www.offbeatfrance.com/most-haunted-places-in-paris.html

https://www.welcome2france.com/blog-article-3188-dare-to-explore-these-7-haunted-places-in-paris.html


https://jf-databits.blogspot.com/search?q=Paris

https://jf-databits.blogspot.com/search?q=urban+legends

The Urban Tech Intersection

https://jf-databits.blogspot.com/2024/09/urban-legends.html

 https://jf-databits.blogspot.com/search?q=UTI

Wednesday, July 3, 2024

Tuesday, July 2, 2024

Paris hotels struggle with low demand as Olympics approach

 https://www.euronews.com/2024/07/02/paris-hotels-struggle-with-low-demand-as-olympics-approach

While it's nice to have a lot of extra rooms than not. However, low demand isn't a good sign.

Thursday, April 4, 2024

37 vs. 73

37 vs. 73 is the difference between a stump and a tower.

In Vancouver, BC, no office building is permitted to have a 40th floor, let alone 50 or 60. There is a 37 story RBC and more recently, the Stack-office-tower. In contrast, Seattle has a 76 story office tower.

37 - Why is this number everywhere? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6iQrh2TK98

There are various buildings with 73 stories, but they vary in their heights. 

https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/30-hudson-yards/13325 73 stories.

https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/1-corporate-avenue/9591 73 stories.

https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/the-address-boulevard/14606 73

https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/qingdao-hai-tian-center/15639 73

https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/the-center/343 73

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_structures_in_Japan 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokohama_Landmark_Tower 73 stories above ground in total. https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/landmark-tower/547

https://web.archive.org/web/20131203014920/http://skyscrapercenter.com/yokohama/landmark-tower/

https://www.yokohama-landmark.jp/skygarden 

https://www.yokohamastation.com/yokohama-landmark-tower/

https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/first-canadian-place/543 72

https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/q1-tower/399 78


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_South_Korea

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Taiwan


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings#Tallest_buildings_in_the_world

https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/buildings

Monday, April 1, 2024

The Four corners (Canada)

 "It came into being with the creation of Nunavut on April 1, 1999." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_corners_(Canada)

Sunday, December 17, 2023

Transit, Bike and Pedestrian Bridges

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/worlds-best-pedestrian-bridges

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bridges_in_Perth,_Western_Australia#Pedestrian_bridges

https://structurae.net/en/structures/bridges/bicycle-and-pedestrian-bridges

https://www.arch2o.com/10-amazing-bridges-passageways-bikes/

Unlike Vancouver, BC, several cities are able to build transit, bike or pedestrian bridges without having to take away any lanes from the existing narrow bridges.

https://www.hellotravel.com/stories/most-amazing-pedestrian-bridges-around-the-world

https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/incredible-suspension-bridges-around-the-world


https://the-data-intersection.blogspot.com/search?q=Bicycle+and+Pedestrian+Bridges

Some Perth Area Bridges

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan_River_(Western_Australia)#Bridges How could so much infrastructure have been constructed? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bridges_in_Perth,_Western_Australia

Well, WA is very far away from the restrictive backwater BC mentality.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrows_Bridge_(Perth) 5 lanes each way and 2 train tracks.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Narrows_Bridge_from_QV.1.jpg This scale of eneneering simply isn't allwed in Vancouver, BC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canning_Bridge#Current_structure:_1939

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Canning_Bridge_2006_SMC.jpg A nice 6 lane bridge that hasnt been Vancoverized.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windan_Bridge Another fine 6 lane bridge.

There is a plan to only have two 6 lane bridges within the city limits of Vancouver. While the stubborn city refuses to build bus and HOV bridges, even though that would dramatically improve transit.

Unlike the WA approach, the backwater BC way is to funnel everything into a series of chokepoints. Its the epitome of bottelneck absurdity. https://twitter.com/DriveBC/status/1595492088057335808/photo/1 A 3 lane wonder, or a total blunder? Why have a new structure for bus & HOV lanes & especially a harbor train crossing, when you can just have an inept 3 lane bridge?

Whether you are visiting from Perth, WA or Seattle, WA, nothing can prepare you for Vancouverization. Even if you are visiting from LA, you will notice that the mountains are smaller. Its as if they have been watered down, just like Greater Vancouver in general has.

Perth, WA and Seattle, WA

It's always interesting to see what Perth and Seattle are allowed to do, simply because they aren't bound by any BC type restrictions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perth#Transport , https://developmentwa.com.au/projects/redevelopment/new-northbridge/overview , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Farmer_Freeway#2013_tunnel_expansion

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle#Transportation , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Route_99_tunnel

Of course Vancouver, BC would never allow anything like the Northbridge_Tunnel or the 99_tunnel to run under the downtown and connect to the North_Shore

https://twitter.com/DriveBC/status/1585381176919076864/photo/1 7L funneled into 3 lanes, a classic bottleneck. Even though an express bus tunnel with a provision for 2 train tracks would immensely improve this transportation corridor, it's not allowed. That's because Vancouver refuses to take a big city approach. Indeed, the Vancouver mentality is to emulate a provincial backwater mentality for as long as possible.

https://twitter.com/DriveBC/status/1595492088057335808/photo/1 LGB 3L

https://twitter.com/DriveBC/status/1736073321178153417?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet 2L


https://thedigitallabyrinth.blogspot.com/search?q=Australia

Tuesday, November 7, 2023

UTi

The UTi blog is still all about referencing and exploring urban issues.

https://jf-databits.blogspot.com/search?q=UTI

Saturday, July 22, 2023

5

Friday, July 21, 2023

Thursday, July 20, 2023

Sunday, July 16, 2023

1

Wednesday, July 5, 2023

8

Tuesday, July 4, 2023

3

3

3

Friday, June 30, 2023

Growing Australia's smaller cities to better manage population growth

 https://www.ahuri.edu.au/sites/default/files/documents/2022-08/AHURI-Final-Report-386-Growing-Australias-smaller-cities-to-better-manage-population-growth.pdf

Whether its a city of 100K or a million people, or even if its just between 1000 and 10,000 inhabitants, a vast urban area can be added. However, not in the old-style of typical urban sprawl. Efficient trains and roads can be built right from the start. High and medium density housing and commercial places can be better coordinated.

9

9

The Most Evil Building in Europe?

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uln3oINe6Kc

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolae_Ceau%C8%99escu#Systematization:_demolition_and_reconstruction

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Republic_of_Romania#Persecution,_the_labour_camp_system_and_anti-communist_resistance

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romania#Communism

1