Saturday, September 13, 2025

Inside New York City’s Forgotten Borough

Staten Island is often called New York City’s forgotten borough https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSI0FMLsBRs

Friday, July 25, 2025

1

Monday, July 21, 2025

Could New building shadowing policies kill many downtown Vancouver projects?

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/downtown-vancouver-building-shadowing-solar-access-policies-development-impact

Of course, because Vancouver has been trapped under a multigenerational thwarting agenda. Almost any excuse has been used to hold the scale of the city back. 

3 octagonal shaped office towers opened in 1977. 25_Martin_Place, formerly MLC in Sydney with 67 floors above ground. Nauru_House in Melbourne with 52 levels above ground. Then there is the Scotia_Tower or stump in Vancouver, with the windows only reaching up to the 34th floor. 138 m or 452 ft. The 35th and 36th floors have no windows. https://www.skydb.net/building/134544260/scotia-tower-vancouver , https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/scotia-tower/4396

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Scotia_Tower_Vancouver_2015.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Mlc_center_syd.jpg 
Height
Roof228 m (748 ft)
Technical details
Floor count67
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/25_Martin_Place#Design_and_construction
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/MLC_Centre_in_Sydney.jpg 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Nauru_House_AON.jpg 
Completed1977
Height
Antenna spire190 m (620 ft)
Roof183 m (600 ft)
Technical details
Floor count52
Floor area50,500 m2 (544,000 sq ft)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Rotor_One_Helicopter_Flying_over_Melbourne_City_CBD.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Vancouver_Skyline_and_Mountains.jpg 

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

 Unfortunately, the BC part of Canada mostly has narrow, inadequate bridges. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions_Gate_Bridge The 3 lane joke that was never augmented with a bus and HOV tunnel. Especially, a train tunnel, because that actually might improve transportation efficiency.

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 and bridges around the world

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

No matter how wide a highway or bridge can be, unless there is space allocated for train, bus and HOVs, it just becomes another congested roadway.

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/


https://www.pattullobridgereplacement.ca A 4 lane joke that should have opened with 6 lanes. There is no provision for a no lower deck to accomodate a future LRT line or tram-train. No provision for 2 rapid bus lanes or HOV lanes. 

https://www.infrastructurebc.com/project/pattullo-bridge-replacement-project/

https://www.aecon.com/our-expertise/our-projects/current/pattullo-bridge-replacement

https://www.surrey.ca/services-payments/parking-streets-transportation/roads-in-surrey/pattullo-bridge-replacement-project 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/pattullo-bridge-replacement-project-1.7565793 Speed, efficiency and quality just aren't part of the backwards BC mentality. 


The LGB is one of the worlds worst bottlenecks or traffic chokepoints. An inadequate 3 lane bridge with no train and bus tunnel to help relieve the congestion.

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 


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

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.

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

South Florida sees dozens of luxury high-rise buildings start to sink

 https://nypost.com/2024/12/18/real-estate/south-florida-sees-dozens-of-luxury-high-rise-buildings-start-to-sink 

https://amerisafemoving.com/florida-vs-california-where-should-you-live-and-why

Of course California-and-Florida are known for nice year round warm weather, unlike Canada.


Why film movies and TV productions in Canada? Perhaps the most obvious reason is the currency exchange rate. However, most of Canada can easily have cold and crappy weather for half of the year. Yet, that doesn't seem to be that much of a problem.

Why your favorite movies fake their locations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGk-rH_zcPE  

Vancouver Never Plays Itself https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojm74VGsZBU

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 

https://jf-databits.blogspot.com/search?q=Urban+Tech+Data

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)