Salt and Sun
I’m relaxing on the West Coast in Vancouver, where I’ll stay until next weekend. The sun has been shining; the locals seem unusually smiley. Life is always just a little more relaxed in Pacific Daylight Time. Last week I camped for four days on Savary Island, a five-mile long slice of tall trees and abundant sand in the Strait of Georgia, the ocean water which separates mainland British Columbia from Vancouver Island.
Here’s a photo of the beach where we pitched our tent, which is all white sand. Clam shells compete against rather large crabs, starfish and jellyfish for the right to wash up on shore. The water is shallow and unusually warm for the North Pacific, perfect for a salty dip. In short, these were probably four of the most relaxing days in my life. My own photos will be forthcoming.
For now, I’m back in the city, exploring the shifting curves and corners. It’s been six years since I lived here, and each time I return, it’s a little less familiar. Vancouver is such a new city, it’s still in the formative stage of determining its identity. There are broad stroke colours, but the shading is incomplete.
In my absence and to my surprise, an entire neighbourhood of urban culture has arisen on the gentle slope of Main Street. Cafés, restaurants, trendy clothing and hipster hair dot the strip, which ropes off the traditionally posh West Side of the city from the more lively East Side. In fact, judging by the recent arrival of interior design stores, the trendiness of the area has already peaked and is now rapidly heading for yuppification, Act III of the urban revival script. Yuppies or not, it’s no matter to me: there is a presence of a real live neighbourhood, where people might walk around and actually talk to each other, rather than just drive out of their highrise underground parking lots, and this, this is a good thing for a city that is a lot colder in personality than climate.
So it is six chilly Montreal winters later that Vancouver has me wondering, would I want to live here again? It’s a question I would prefer to answer in the positive. This is where I was born, and I feel like I owe something to the city, or that it owns a piece of me. So the more Main Streets I see, the merrier. I have learned to love the foot-friendly life of Montreal’s plateau, where people live in close quarters with each other and smaller neighbourhood stores and restaurants. I would love to be able to live similarly in Vancouver, but that isn’t what people aim for when they plan growth here. The development that everyone here crows about is the mess of twenty-storey glass towers that have thundered into the sky in the last ten years on the rim of downtown. It’s picturesque, and it has a certain post-modern feel to it, but as Gertrude Stein said, there’s no “there” there. Only the upper middle-class professionals can afford to live in the plentiful condos, and their lifestyle seems to be stopping for a latte in an impeccably clean coffee shop before driving to work in immaculate, silver BMWs. There is no trace of community, just quiet individuals who happen to live densely packed.
It will be a fascinating study in urban growth and politics to see what happens between now and the 2010 Winter Olympics, which is now the local measuring stick (mostly as in, “Will we measure up to our own expectations by then?”). I hope for the city’s sake, that it can take another step in its journey from small-city-out-there to the inimitable hub of ideas, art, sport and life that it ought to be.
Previously: On This Day
Subsequently: I Almost Stole the Salt and Pepper Shakers
Comments
I remember reading Jane Jacobs “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” … a great read, and she talked about how North American cities did something peculiar that European cities did not…they faced backwards … ie, there are front doors, then the house, and then usually a back yard where people have their BBQs, chill out, etc. Then think of Montreal, Balconville, with all of the terraces and stoops that we all like to sit on and look at each other. This forces us to see who our neighbours are, and often talk to them. It keeps neighbourhoods personal and safe.
I propose the problem with Vancouver is a lack of balconies. The one neighbourhood I can think of off the bat that does have them would be Commercial Drive, the only ‘hood I ever lived in that felt like, well, a ‘hood as opposed to a collection of buildings.
It’s the dilemna everyone from BC always faces…why am I not living here? When will I move back?
— Brett Gaylor | Aug. 11, 2003 — 8 PM
its interesting theory about the balconies. my sister noticed the other day that in paris, there is a dearth of balconies despite usually stunning views that most of its apartments offer. consequently, or coincidentally, then, the citys neighbourhoods seem to lack any sense of community. why is it that montreal is unusual in having this ubiquitous feature?
what i loved about vancouver was being surrounded by mountains and the ocean. there arent many cities in the world that can offer such characteristics. without the mountains, ocean, and stanley park, however, there just isnt much that i found special about the city. im not sure if even a thriving urban culture could make it much more enticing. i find myself wondering if the age of a city has perhaps much to do with its appeal, for me.
— Eric Ginestier | Aug. 12, 2003 — 11 AM
I love Vancouver. After visitng their for a few days I was ready to move from Southern California. While the community may not be as busy as Montreal, everyone seemed very friendly and polite. Can’t wait to get back for another visit.
— Greg | Aug. 12, 2003 — 7 PM
I think it depends on what you are looking for in a city. Some people, like Vancouver author Douglas Coupland, describe it as a clean slate, free from the bullshit of the old world. Vancouver can still be whatever it wants to be.
It’s funny…when I used to live in Vancouver, hardly any of my friends were actually from there. They’d all heard the call and moved west. Now, living in Montreal 6 years later, everyone is moving there from Vancouver.
— Bret | Aug. 13, 2003 — 9 AM
I’m going to have to check out Vancouver soon - my brother lives there and I’m overdue for a visit. That being said, I escaped the West Island and moved to NDG, and soon will be ensconced just off Mount-Royal Ave, for exactly the reasons you mention.
On a side note, check out James Kunstler’s books The Geography Of Nowhere and Home From Nowhere, all about the dire mess North American cities have dug for themselves in preferring clean-slate strip mall / tower developments and car-centric planning over real neighborhoods.
He has a two-part interview with Jane Jacobs on his site.
He also has a lot to say about the coming energy crisis, i.e. when our dependence on oil and natural gas is going to bite us in the butt, hard, and sooner than we realize, when it runs out.
— AJ | Aug. 16, 2003 — 10 AM