crosscut.com : Vancouver

Carless and carefree: Bellingham to Vancouver

Crosscut — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:24:01 PDT

I prefer road trips that don't include me as the driver. And now with the gas gods scowling down on us, even folks who would never leave their beloved vehicles at home are opting for alternative ways to roam. Plus, lots can happen when you're not behind the wheel. You can read. Listen to tunes. Eavesdrop. Take a snooze. Or see familiar sights with fresh eyes. My favorite way to travel to British Columbia is a combination of trains, buses, boats, and planes. This is the second in a series on my carless, carefree getaway to BC. Depending on your time and budget, cut and clip as necessary.

A tribute to eccentrics

Crosscut — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 04:00:01 PDT

Our garden writer shares why those who refuse to follow the herd can best teach us.

Eat and walk your way through Northwest cities

Crosscut — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 05:00:01 PDT

Our Whidbey Island correspondent shares her favorite way to explore the food and atmosphere of Portland, Vancouver, and Seattle.

All the rage

Crosscut — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:00:01 PDT

What's to blame for all the anger as cyclists, drivers, and citizens fight over their rights on the streets? Is it $4 gas? Young punks? Class warfare? Poor urban design? It's time to theorize.

Sausage Links, transit migraine edition

Crosscut — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:00:01 PDT

Ready to pay $6.85 round-trip to drive across the 520 bridge? Me neither. That's the proposed toll that would raise money to help pay for improvements to the floating fossil. But the idea of a toll begs another question, something I've been dying to get reader input about: Do you think having a toll on local bridges like 520 will sway voters to vote for the proposed light rail measure this November? Thoughts?

A building worthy of greenery

Crosscut — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 05:00:01 PDT

Vancouver's in-city oasis, VanDusen Botanical Garden, hopes to go green big-time with a $23 million visitor center that could be the region's first structure to meet the most rigid sustainability standards.

Fill it with American regular

Crosscut — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:06:01 PDT

While Fourth of July vacationers might be excited to see fireworks tonight, they won't be as enthusiastic about Washington's skyrocketing fuel prices. The Seattle Times reported on the recent 1.5-cent increase in the state's gas tax, the last of a three-year, 9.5-cent increase. So while commuters currently pay $4.35 per gallon, 55.9 cents of each gallon goes back to Uncle Sam, or George in Olympia.

But that ain't nothing compared to what's going on in British Columbia.

Sausage Links, potty-humor edition

Crosscut — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:59:01 PDT

Democratic congressional candidate Darcy Burner's home was "severely damaged" by a fire this morning. Horse's Ass has the coverage, while NorthWest Cable News has the video. ...

Sausage Links, media-bashing edition

Crosscut — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:00:01 PDT

Lefty blogger David Goldstein at Horse's Ass has been battering the local media lately. Yesterday, he unleashed on Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter Chris McGann for his coverage of Gov. Chris Gregoire's now infamous state gambling compact. Today he asks Crosscut's Ted Van Dyk to apologize to Gregoire for his own coverage of Casino-gate. ...

Music festival alert: Vancouver, B.C., is the place for jazz

Crosscut — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:00:01 PDT

One of the world's premier music festivals is going on to the north of us, and lovers of live music ought to sit up and take notice.

Hurray for mass transit, but it's no silver bullet

Cascadia Center — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:00:01 PDT

For one thing, bus and rail ridership represents only a fraction of trips now, and that's not likely to radically change soon. A Seattle think tank believes a balanced approach is called for, accepting the fact single-occupancy vehicles will play a huge role in years to come.

Seattle's Hollywood 'Head Hunter'

Crosscut — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:20:01 PDT

For Northwest history geeks, the most anticipated film event of the season is a rare chance to see a rare film, the just-restored 1914 silent, In the Land of the Head Hunters by Seattle's photographic master Edward S. Curtis. Known most for his monumental work photographing North American Indians, Curtis is mainly remembered and widely collected as a still photographer. Yet he also worked in film (including a stint for Cecil B. DeMille) during cinema's infancy. The "shadowcatcher" caught moving pictures, and his feature will be on screen again in June.

Vancouver, B.C., loses some ground as a sustainability leader

Crosscut — Sat, 24 May 2008 06:41:01 PDT

In recent years, Vancouver, B.C., has provided Seattleites with eco-friendly examples of sustainable, compact communities. As recently as the 1990s, Vancouver's walkable neighborhoods accounted for 67 percent of the population, enabling broad use of bicycles and public transportation. British Columbia also has ambitious goals for addressing climate change and recognizes the painful inconvenience of rising gas prices. The cities of Vancouver and North Vancouver are listed as having the highest percentages of compact communities. However, these numbers are slipping.

The need for cruise control

Crosscut — Tue, 13 May 2008 22:00:01 PDT

An environmentalist explains why better federal regulations are needed to police polluters among the world's fleet of cruise ships: State and local authorities can only do so much. Over six months this year, Puget Sound will see 211 big ships bearing 835,000 passengers call on Seattle.

Can eco-density be beautiful?

The Tyee (Vancouver) — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 05:00:01 PDT

Vancouver, B.C. wrestles with how to make new buildings and greater density produce better, less uniform architecture. It turns out nobody has a very clear image of what that would look like.

Genuflecting to the high rises

Crosscut — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 05:00:01 PST

Let's not get too giddy and forget to examine these supposed architectural marvels — before they're built.

A Canadian is shaking up the Northwest newspaper business

Crosscut — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 05:00:01 PST

If printed papers are dying, publisher David Black of Victoria acts like the happy guy at the funeral.

Bill Clinton's very good friend in Vancouver

Crosscut — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 12:10:01 PST

Thursday's New York Times broke a fascinating story about the connections between Bill Clinton and the dapper Vancouver mining mogul, Frank Giustra. The story, reporting how Clinton accompanied Giustra on a trip to Kazakhstan which resulted in both a uranium concession for Giustra and a $31.3 million contribution from Giustra to the William J. Clinton Foundation, capped a bad week for the ex-president, who's now drawing hostile media scrutiny once again after injecting himself into the presidential race.

Be careful where you allow high-rise condos

Crosscut — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 11:12:01 PST

The Prince of Wales, the most notorious architecture critic of our time, has gone on the attack again, and he's worth listening to all the way out here in Seattle, Vancouver, and Portland. His new target: the "free-for-all" building of highrises in places like London. London, it turns out, is undergoing a wave of high-rise apartment towers, making lots of money for developers, driving up affordability, and offering precious little public good. Here's part of what the Prince said at a keynote speech to a London seminar on development:

The Vancouver gambit for building roads and transit in Seattle

Crosscut — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:29:01 PST

When British Columbia announced its $14 billion plans for new transit early this week, it upped the stakes for competition among West Coast cities in the transit Olympics. It also injected itself in what will be a hot debate in Washington — the use of private investment to build the next generation of transit and highways.