https://www.reddit.com/r/skyscrapers/comments/1lj6u5w/sydney_vs_melbourne_vs_gold_coast/
Unlike Canada, Australia has quite a towering presence on its Pacific Rim side. In many ways Vancouver is still stuck in a self-imposed provincial backwater trap. No office tower within the city of Vancouver has ever been permitted to have a 40 th floor. Unlike Vancouver, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast have residential towers above 70 floors.
Mild winter Victoria, BC hasn't even been allowed to be as big as Halifax, NS. Halifax in turn, is so small when compared to Boston and Montreal. As a provincial backwater capital, Victoria is still smaller than Q. City, Winnipeg and Edmonton.
In the US, millions of people have moved to cities with mild winters. This has been going on for several generations. Thus, the urban infrastructure has tried to keep up. In Canada the opposite seems to be happening. Vancouver has been very reluctant to exist on a grand urban scale. Victoria has been reluctant to catch up to some other Canadian provincial capitals.
The Lions_Gate_Bridge (LGB) and the Johnson_Street_Bridge (JSB) are both 3 lane wonders. If it were possible, some people would like both bridges to only have 1 lane each way. Decades ago, there should have already been a parallel BRT and LRT tunnel next to the LGB. There didn't seem to be any interest in having a 2 lane bus-bridge next to the JSB.
The YVR-Canada_Line between Vancouver and Richmond should have opened with 5 car trains. Unfortunately, the 50 m station clearance can only accommodate a 2.5 car joke of a train. In contrast, the Skyline_(Honolulu) and REM train in Montreal can already run 4 car trains. The inadequate Canada_Line has still been running 2 car trains since 2009. It very difficult in backwards BC to properly plan and build big city infrastructure. Several cities around the world are able to do more, simply because they aren't affected by anything like the BC Mind Virus. (BCMV)
Ideally for some, Vancouver was always supposed to have shorter trains, shorter buildings and narrower bridges than the GTA, Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton. Think small and build on a small scale to symbolize a reluctance to build proper big city infrastructure.
Ideally, Victoria is always supposed to be on a smaller scale than Halifax, Quebec City, Winnipeg and Edmonton. Its like there is a real desire to keep it just as a provincial backwater capital.
Canada has less than half of 1% of the worlds population, despite its size.
