The Contrarian visited Vancouver recently and was briefly reminded how provincial Seattle seems compared to its neighbor up north. Borders and boundaries are always a good thing. Urban grids here in the downtown are steeped with blocks that are full of individual structures with FAR's and du/acre(unit density per acre) that would make any NIMBY explode! In Seattle, entire blocks are built as one structure(one yard), purporting their "mixed uses"; whereas in Vancouver they're unabashed about letting other stakeholders owning a piece of the block. The photo above of the Main Library by architect Moshe Safdie looms like Roman ruins in the dark winter rain feeling very much like an urban place.
The event of the evening was U-2 at BC Place. A good show, although I can remember when the smoke and light shows didn't compete with the music quite so much.
