2010-03-21: "Go back to Africa"

On the way out of my building in Vancouver, on the edge of Yaletown, a homeless man at the corner noticed me and shouted a few incoherent things about black people. I hurried across the street to Tim Hortons, partly to get through the morning rain, partly to avoid having to listen to any more of his musings. I could vaguely feel him crossing the street in my general direction as I entered Tim's for my morning cup. And for the record, I am now an abysmal 1 for 13 on "Roll up the Rim".

I shook off the rain, and joined the back of the line. I heard the door behind me reopen, and an addle-brained voiced rang out:

"You should go back to Africa and take your American money with you!"

I don't think that I was as shocked as the 20 or so other patrons at Tim's. They all just nervously looked at the man as he retreated back outside. The restaurant fell silent for a few seconds as people looked around. The servers resumed filling orders. There was a noticeable awkwardness in line, as the people ahead of me shuffled forward in line. No one looked up.

When I went to order my coffee, my voice cracked. It wasn't until then that I realized how shaken I had been. I hadn't felt overly threatened by the man following me and his racist outburst. Maybe it was the disturbed non-response from those in the restaurant. I cannot definitively say.

In light of Sunday's March Against Racism in Vancouver (which I did not attend, nor had any interest to), this little event opened my eyes. People still do not know how to react to overt displays of racism. I don't even know how to react, so I cannot blame them.

As a black individual, I've been exposed to prejudices as long as I can remember, at least since grade school. Each instance frustrates and bewilders me. I'm as far from stereotypical as just about any black male could be. I'm often accused of being "not black enough". As a professional, I have strived to make everything about my abilities and accomplishments. The colour of my skin is only that, the colour of my skin.

As I shake off this experience and continue on with my week, the colour of my skin continues to have no other bearing on who I am nor does it limit my capability.

Viaduct Alternatives?

A few more of my scattered thoughts on the potential removal of the Downtown Vancouver Viaducts:

I remember listening to the Meggs radio interview back in 2009, and then reading a few blog posts about the Georgia & Dunsmuir viaducts. My first instincts told me that this would be a popular project for those that have been directing the City of Vancouver's transportation program for the last little bit, once they were finished with the bike lanes.

The City's proclaimed transportation hierarchy is as follows:

1. Walking
2. Cycling
3. Transit
4. Commercial Goods
5. Passenger vehicles

Removal of the viaducts would eventually drive down the number of car trips into downtown by wrecking havoc on all trips coming in from the east. But the alternate routes from the east simply could not handle the added load:

Cambie St. bridge is more of a north/south route, but does not connect well to those coming from 1st Avenue.
Quebec St. is a busy route, and impassable on any event day at BC Place or Rogers Arena (formerly GM Place).
Pender St. does not provide a good connection to East Van, as it ends prior to Clark Drive.
Hastings St. is an unsafe route due to the number of jaywalkers in the DTES.
Powell/Cordova is the last option, but the route is a single lane in either direction for stretches.

Those who use the argument that removing the viaducts would provide for additional park space and development opportunity have obviously missed a pretty big factor: Skytrain. Both Stadium/Chinatown and Main St stations are elevated stations. To realize the benefits of the removal of the viaducts, Translink would be required to put an underground connection between the two stations, which would be extremely cost prohibitive, due to the known contaminated soils in this area.


I am very curious to read the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts Study. Not sure when it will be released either.

Check this out: SFU City. SFU is hosting a forum entitled What's Up with the Viaducts? A Forum of Possibilities on April 7, 2011 at 7pm. Register here to attend.

Wanted to post a link to a blog post by Paul Hillsdon. He's been at it way longer than I have, and here are some of the options he presented in an open letter to Mayor Gregor after his election. It's completely pro-demolition, but I like how he has given much thought to the required alterations to downtown transportation.

www.glenarthur.ca

Vancouver Viaducts

Interested in the future of the downtown Vancouver viaducts? Check out this upcoming forum by City of Vancouver and SFU, which I will be attending: http://pricetags.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/viaducts-forum/

For any of you who have ever had to use the viaducts to commute, you know the importance of these routes to the free flow of traffic into and out of the downtown core to the east. City planners have long discussed taking down the viaducts, and one city councillor is actively pursuing this.

I think that it’s important that all options are fully investigated, and other opinions are expressed… imagine the speed with which the City of Vancouver brought in the Hornby bike lanes and the backyard chicken coups. The viaducts could be dropped just as quickly, without any communication of the impact on Vancouverites, and without consultation with those who live, work or travel downtown.

I’ll be posting more comments here in the next few days. Feel free to spread the word to others who live/work downtown.


My twitter: www.twitter.com/glenkarthur

Election Hangover

It feels like forever since my last post. But I've simply got post-election hangover. I'm just trying to get some of the partisan lines out of my system, and back to reality. Salut Mr Dion.

Also having some fun watching American politics play out over the last little while. Thank God I don't have CNN, or else I would be vomiting from my incessant watching of it. Simply put, Mr. Obama is going to win. A "victory" for race relations, as some would say, but I think it's purely farcical to claim the point. If it's a victory, it still means that race matters. Which should be the final goal.

Trying to find the comments I read somewhere about even Obama being further to the right on most issues than the current Conservative party. Very funny, but it does reveal the historical shift that occurred over the last half-century in both countries.

Anyway, when I get back to posting regularly, it'll be a little bit more on my recent move to Vancouver, and the job I have started at Peter Kiewit Sons Co.
Who knows where the Canadian dollar will have been by then.

Moving to Vancouver

"So many fail because they don't get started - they don't go. They don't overcome inertia. They don't begin." - W. Clement Stone

Sadly, today marks my last day as a permanent resident of Ontario. Tomorrow morning I will complete the most momentous change in my short life as I board a plane to Vancouver to start my career with Kiewit. Although this stems directly from another momentous change (making the switch from Chem. Eng to Civil), this definitely dwarfs all other decisions that I have made.

I don't want to dwell too much on my reasoning, as they are too many; most are personal and a few are professional. What I do want to highlight is the gratitude that I have for the many people, most of whom I call friends, that have influenced me, hung out with me, and guided me along the way. Having spent the weekend in Kingston for Queen's Homecoming, I got to see many of my Civil'08, Queen's and SMC friends. There are so many people that I know I will be staying in contact with. I used to think that I had very few close friends, but the bonds that we have cultivated and the resulting outpouring of emotion this weekend has proven otherwise.

I will truly miss Mississauga, Kingston, and the Greater Toronto area. They will always be home. And I expect to be back permanently, be it sooner or later.

I'm moving to a land of Carbon Taxes

It's official, I am moving to British Columbia.
First things first... I'm going to try to get rid of that silly carbon tax.

To make a long story short, I accepted a job in Vancouver which starts in October. More later.

Vancouver! Part 2

This whole time I'm staying at Jenn's apartment downtown, very close to Stanley Park. (Thanks Jenn!) The property situation here is similar, again, to Toronto's. A spate of new condos going up downtown, but more aesthetically pleasing ones, unlike the bland and unoriginal ones that keep on springing up along the rail yard in Toronto.



Thursday I walked down to Chinatown, and specifically to the Chinese Gardens. What a beautiful spot, and the guided tour was very valuable. Funny story #1: He looked, acted, and sounded like Radey Barrack. When I get the film developed, I'll post the pictures. Which leads into Funny story #2: I'm using an oldschool nondigital camera. Mainly because we (being my family) can't seem to buy decent cameras that won't break. I also explored the final two areas in the downtown core, Gastown (the "historic" district) and the West End where Jenn lives, including the Denman, Davies and English Bay areas. On Friday, I had a blast from the past for late-lunch/early-dinner with Henry, whom I havn't seen since elementary school. Exactly a decade ago!



Now Friday Night. What a crazy crazy time. It seemed like everyone was in for the weekend, and staying in Jenn's studio apartment. Tori, who was in Civil with me and will be working for Kiewit with Jenn and Cody, was staying the night with her friend. Kevin, also from Civil, was in from Victoria where he just started working. Cody also came across from West Van with his friend Josh. We started out at the Davie's street party, where they had blocked off the street for 2 huge beer tents. Once those closed down, the gents headed off to Caprice, a club on Granville, to finish off the night.



Saturday & Sunday saw another burst of activity, once I got over the hangover. Breakfast at O'Doul's, the Wine Bar/Jazz Club, a downtown stroll with Kevin, another visit to Surrey, and then to White Rock, then a trip over to Cody's in West Van filled up Saturday. Sunday was the parade, then Stanley Park, the Vancouver Aquarium, then pub hopping to complete the night.

Vancouver! Part 1

Travel Blog: Day # I've Lost Count

Ok, so I haven't updated in ages.... Basically since I got to Vancouver over a week ago. Here goes a long update of everything that I've been upto.

Well, before I get to any details... Man, I love Vancouver. Soooo many reasons. I've thought about it for a while, and it boils down to the fact that it's a vastly diverse Canadian metropolis that isn't Toronto. It's not that I don't like TO, I love it, it's my favourite place on earth (next to Sydney). But I've gotten used to Toronto, and have been taking its many jewels for granted. There are so many events and neighbourhoods in Toronto that I simply ignore, or dont take the effort to go and experience. In a "new" city such as Vancouver, I'm inclined to go out and discover each and every neighbourhood, experience each and every festival or parade (yes I even did gay pride events).

I flew into Vancouver on Monday the 28th, and took public transit downtown. As is the case in Toronto, the Airport is nowhere near the downtown core. And there is no direct link either. I had to take 2 different buses to get to the core of the city. Unlike Toronto, Vancouver won their Olympic bid, and had serious impetus to extend the LRT system to the airport. We'll see how long it takes Toronto to do the same.

The next afternoon was spent discovering a few of the neighbourhoods around the downtown core with Cody, namely Granville Island (think markets and artisans) and Yaletown (condos and yuppies!). That night we met back up with my host Jenn and her friends for a birthday dinner at a Malaysian restaurant, before the girls headed off to a pole dancing class. Scandalous.

Wednesday was spent mostly in Surrey, visiting some family, meeting up with some "old" cousins, and meeting a "new" one. New as in I didn't know about her. She's 19, not a baby. I'm not huge on extended family, so I haven't really gone out of my way to discover the close to a hundred cousins that I have. Side note: My cousin Sabrina is what I call a "high performance vehicle." This girl is on a full ride at Stanford, doing track, and I went to her training session. Crazy stuff.

That night was the HSBC Festival of something or another at English Bay... Huge fireworks show and competition between Canada, the US, and China I believe. It was like the Benson & Hedges show that Toronto used to have. And might still have. Someone let me know if Toronto still has it.

Travel Blog: Day 6

July 28

Flying out to Vancouver today (I was terribly confused on that point until yesterday... yikes).

Went to Taste of Edmonton yesterday in downtown Edmonton, and thoroughly enjoyed the public square, the food, the atmosphere, the whole cultural feeling of it all.  Even though Toronto has the Taste of the Danforth, I've never made the effort to actually go out to it.  It is events like this that make me remember that the Canadian Identity really is that great mosaic that they talk about in elementary school, instead of the "anything not-American" identity that some people like to push on us (*cough* the lib party... ignore that).  

When I get back to the Toronto area, I'll definitely be going to more events in and around the city.  Festival City has definitely shown me a good time, but I'm sure that the GTA has just as many, if not more, opportunities for cultural exploration, and just plain fun in the sun.

Travelling

In yet another attempt to delay the official beginning of my "adult" life, I'll be travelling to the West Coast of this beautiful country. Even though I've had plenty of time to try and figure out what I want to do at this juncture of my life, being at home hasn't proved to be the best location to do great thinking. So I'm headed away to see some sights and do some thrills, do some "communing with nature" (thats total BS, but I'll be seeing some nature sights), and spending more of the money that really isn't mine.

Here's my itinerary:

July 23: YYZ - YEG
I'll be flying into Edmonton, and visiting Holly, Colleen & Will. They're all friends from First Year (Sci 07!) and I'll be going to the IRL race (where Paul Tracy will be making his "debut"!).

July 28: YEG - YVR
Flying into Vancouver, visiting Jenn, Cody, my cousins over the week and long weekend.

Aug 5: Ferry to Vancouver Island
I'll be traipsing across Van. Isle for about 2 weeks, hitting up Nanaimo, Victoria, and hopefully Tofino/Ucluelet. I'm also going to make a mini trip into the states to Anacourtes. This will be the most relaxing part of the trip.

And then on Aug 18 I fly home.