Are the Vancouver Olympics turning into a stimulus plan?
Posted Fri, Dec 26, 6 a.m.
Smart thinking, Canadians. The Winter Games are shovel-ready for the recession.
READ MORE COMMENT NOWMost Popular
Crosscut articles of the past 10 days with the most clicks.
- Viaduct politicians reach a big moment of truth
- The Metro Bus Blues
- Meet the Pacific albus tree, harbinger of green forestry
- Seattle school closure plan, due Tuesday, still doesn't add up
- Five things that make even a Mossback happy
- Seattle Times Co. still trying to close sale of Maine papers
- 2008: Year of Hope, Year of Fear. Essay 2
- Monorails: the idea that will not die
- If you convene citizens, listen to them
- One-upping the Choppaduct
Most Commented
Crosscut articles of the past 10 days with the most reader comments.
- Monorails: the idea that will not die
(18 comments) - 2008: Year of Hope, Year of Fear, Essay 7
(17 comments) - 2008: Year of Hope, Year of Fear. Essay 2
(13 comments) - Seattle school closure plan, due Tuesday, still doesn't add up
(11 comments) - Viaduct politicians reach a big moment of truth
(9 comments) - 2008: Year of Hope, Year of Fear. Essay 5
(6 comments) - 2008: Year of Hope, Year of Fear. Essay 8
(6 comments) - Think before you cut the state auditor's budget
(6 comments) - Recession, wrecking balls, and history
(5 comments) - Seattle Times Co. still trying to close sale of Maine papers
(5 comments)
Vancouver
Crosscut most recent
A Christmas essay: a better way to help the homeless
Posted Thu, Dec 25, 9 a.m.
Vancouver faces a potential public relations embarrassment during the 2010 Olympics, owing to the city's tremendous homeless population. An architect proposes a bold solution: temporary, modular housing.
READ MORE COMMENT NOW
Can Seattle be a Slow City?
Posted Wed, Dec 24, 6 a.m.
An international movement to change the ethic of growing cities seems right for the Northwest. But we'd have to check the boom-town impulses embedded both in our growth economy and our frontier DNA.
READ MORE 14 COMMENTS
Cross-border commerce and the 2010 Olympics
Posted Tue, Nov 25, 6 a.m.
Money isn't flowing as freely as once thought, and the challenges of the border and exchange rates determine whether and how Northwest contractors and service providers will benefit from the Vancouver Games.
READ MORE COMMENT NOW
Joe the Bigfoot Hunter
Posted Mon, Nov 10, 6:46 p.m.
The campaign symbol that got away. Plus: tales of ravenous locusts, obese bears, Bigfoot's B.C. invasion, and more animal news.
READ MORE COMMENT NOW
Election day in Canada: stability time
Posted Mon, Oct 13, 10:12 p.m.
Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper will likely be returned to power, despite some gains on the left. Canadians are comfortable with government's role, which makes them shake their heads at America's cowboy capitalism and figures such as Tim Eyman. Maybe that's our political future up there.
READ MORE COMMENT NOW
Seattle: Coming back to earth
Posted Thu, Oct 9, 4 a.m.
Some good news about right-sizing the city, and saving money, too.
READ MORE 11 COMMENTS
A tribute to eccentrics
Posted Sat, Aug 23, 4 a.m.
Our garden writer shares why those who refuse to follow the herd can best teach us.
READ MORE 2 COMMENTS
Eat and walk your way through Northwest cities
Posted Wed, Aug 13, 5 a.m.
Our Whidbey Island correspondent shares her favorite way to explore the food and atmosphere of Portland, Vancouver, and Seattle.
READ MORE 6 COMMENTSAll the rage
Posted Mon, Jul 28, 4 p.m.
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.
READ MORE 14 COMMENTS
A building worthy of greenery
Posted Tue, Jul 22, 5 a.m.
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.
READ MORE 1 COMMENTS
Music festival alert: Vancouver, B.C., is the place for jazz
Posted Wed, Jun 25, midnight
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.
READ MORE COMMENT NOW
Hurray for mass transit, but it's no silver bullet
Posted Mon, Jun 16, midnight
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.
READ MORE 12 COMMENTS
The need for cruise control
Posted Tue, May 13, 10 p.m.
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.
READ MORE COMMENT NOW
Can eco-density be beautiful?
Posted Sat, Mar 29, 5 a.m.
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.
READ MORE 9 COMMENTS
Genuflecting to the high rises
Posted Thu, Feb 14, 5 a.m.
Let's not get too giddy and forget to examine these supposed architectural marvels – before they're built.
READ MORE 14 COMMENTS
A Canadian is shaking up the Northwest newspaper business
Posted Mon, Feb 4, 5 a.m.
If printed papers are dying, publisher David Black of Victoria acts like the happy guy at the funeral.
READ MORE 7 COMMENTS
How to fix the Port of Seattle: Splitsville
Posted Fri, Jan 11, 5 a.m.
The core reason for all the mismanagement is an antiquated structure, argues a former Port Commission candidate. A restructured port needs to serve a multi-county region. And we need to split up the fundamentally different businesses of seaport and airport.
READ MORE 8 COMMENTS
2007 in review: Mossback hunts down the wildest animal stories of the year
Posted Tue, Dec 25, 1 a.m.
Giant swimming rats, seducing Sasquatch, and bear-hunting at the Vancouver Olympics.
READ MORE 3 COMMENTS
Vancouver is Shangri-not
Posted Mon, Oct 22, 10 p.m.
The city that inspires Dubai and Abu Dhabi has some soul-searching to do. After the Olympics, of course.
READ MORE 7 COMMENTSOther media
Blog posts
Carless and carefree: Vancouver to Victoria on Vancouver Island
Posted Tue, Sep 23, 4 p.m. 2008
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 third in a series on my carless, carefree getaway to BC. Depending on your time and budget, cut and clip as necessary.
MORECarless and carefree: Bellingham to Vancouver
Posted Wed, Sep 3, 5:24 p.m. 2008
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.
MORESausage Links, transit migraine edition
Posted Wed, Jul 23, 3 p.m. 2008
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?
MOREFill it with American regular
Posted Fri, Jul 4, 11:06 a.m. 2008
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. MORESausage Links, potty-humor edition
Posted Tue, Jul 1, 2:59 p.m. 2008
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. ...
MORESausage Links, media-bashing edition
Posted Wed, Jun 25, noon 2008
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. ...
MORESeattle's Hollywood 'Head Hunter'
Posted Wed, May 28, 1:20 p.m. 2008
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.
MOREVancouver, B.C., loses some ground as a sustainability leader
Posted Sat, May 24, 6:41 a.m. 2008
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.
MOREBill Clinton's very good friend in Vancouver
Posted Fri, Feb 1, 12:10 p.m. 2008
Thursday's New York Times broke MORE
Be careful where you allow high-rise condos
Posted Thu, Jan 31, 11:12 a.m. 2008
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:
MORE
