Chinatown changes incoming. And are the Stanley Park bike lanes here to stay?

Good morning!

I had an entire creative email introduction ready this morning. Then I visited Chinatown BBQ in Chinatown yesterday afternoon.

If you like chicken, pork or any other meat, go visit. The server recommends lunch or arriving before 6 pm, otherwise they might be sold out. The lychee black tea will not disappoint, and you can buy it at Ten Ren nearby.

But I digress.

Today’s newsletter has a breakdown on city hall council meeting, bike lane survival, surgery time for the Canucks and what different prices will get you in Kitsilano.

Onwards!

— Geoff Sharpe

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Weather Report

Wednesday: 8 🌡️ 0 | 🌧

Thursday: 6 🌡️ 2 | 🌤

Friday: 6 🌡️ 3 | 🌤🌧

VANCOUVER NUMBERS

0: The number of future Vancouver Folk Festivals after it was announced they’re cancelling the 2023 event and closing up the organization.

CITY HALL

A big day at city hall as Chinatown revitalization policy passes

What happened: City council passed a slate of funding proposals to help revitalize Chinatown, dubbed the “Uplifting Chinatown Action Plan.” It was established as part of a council motion to direct staff to create a strategy to “deliver a strategy to protect Chinatown.”

The program includes a safewalk program, increased cleaning, 24-7 access to a public washroom and $50,000 for graffiti abatement in Chinatown, among other things. The full list can be found here.

• We broke down all the major parts of the plan in Monday's edition.

What’s next: Pending budget approval, the city said the actions will be delivered as early as spring 2023.

Do not pass go, do not collect $7,500 in arts funding

As reported by Justin McElroy, a grant of $7,500 for Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) was not approved by council.

Background: The city ended a contract with VANDU back in November which funded a block stewardship program in East Hastings, according to CBC. The city said VANDU did not fulfill their part of the contract, while VANDU claimed they did. An independent report from SFU is expected to be completed this year.

QUOTE

“All I can say is that Bruce is our coach right now” — Canucks president Jim Rutherford giving a not-so-big endorsement of Canuck head coach Bruce Budreau as rumours swirl around his future. [TSN]

HOUSING

Is the Stanley Park bike lane here to stay?

In the words of Victor Frankenstein, it lives (maybe)!

What’s happening: Some parts of Stanley Park’s bike lane could be continued, even after the new ABC-dominated council voted to return the road to the pre-pandemic setup of only road lanes, according to CTV.

The Parks Board, dominated by ABC commissioners, voted along with the sole Green member, to instruct staff to “consider recommendations for site-specific modification.”

• Background: In 2020, Park Drive in Stanley Park was restructured from a two-lane road to become a one-lane road and one-way bike lane. It was done to encourage people to stay healthy outdoors during the worst parts of COVID.

Not so fast: ABC commissioners Scott Jensen and Jaspreet Virdi both confirmed the roads are still returning to their original state with no separated bike lanes. Virdi noted, “some sections need to be repurposed to address safety concerns that have become apparent.”

Urbanized editor Kenneth Chan suggested one area the bike lane could remain is Brockton Point.

• As noted in the CTV story, commissioner Digby speculated part of the reasoning was the cost of the bike lane removal which is pegged at between $375,000 to $425,000.

Additional context: CBC reporter Justin McElroy dug into the motion, saying nothing may change in the interim, and it’s more accurate to say they’ve “opened the door” for a solution. In fact, the initial reporting likely caused much confusion.

In other words:

DREAM HOME

Your dream Kitsilano home

Every week we feature different pricing for neighbhourhood in Vancouver. This week we’re featuring oceanfront Kitsilano.

Under $500,000

This is the cheapest home in Kitsilano. That’s not my opinion, that’s the opening line of the apartment description. It has one bedroom, though it’s with those annoying sliding doors. A space of 449 square feet has never looked so small.

$1,000,000

Close to the beach? Check. Two bedrooms? Check. A bedroom with a door? The single floor unit has everything you could want, except for a massive mortgage. It clocks in at just under $1 million.

Unaffordable

For this price, you’d expect at least an entire home. This is Vancouver, so of course, you’d be wrong. This half duplex is nice enough, with two bedrooms, a private deck and a single-car garage. It’s the things you’d normally expect with a home, just, maybe, not at this price. See how much it’ll set you back.

QUICK HITS

🤢 Think your landlord is bad? A Vancouver lawyer shared how her landlord refused to fix problems in her building, resulting in feces and urine all over her floor. [Vancouverisawesome]

💔 It will cost $50,000 to repair the Vancouver Olympic cauldron after it was smashed in October. The repairs were easy but the special glass made the repairs more expensive. [Daily Hive]

🥤 Does the $0.25 cent fee on disposable cups in Vancouver reduce trash volumes? It’s unclear! [Vancouver Sun]

🏢 A new 15-storey mixed-use building is being proposed in Fraser and Kingsway. It would be the largest in the area. [Urbanized]

❄️ You aren’t imagining it. There’s much less snow this year on local mountains. [CityNews]

🚓 According to Vancouver Police Department, there were 204 hate-motivated incidents towards Asian and East Asian people since March 2020 when the pandemic began. [Vancouverisawesome]

SPORTS

Is it operation time for the Canucks?

What happened: Canucks president Jim Rutherford said things are not going well for the Canucks. No kidding.

• In a wide ranging media availability, he described the problems after he joined in 2021 as requiring “major surgery,” according to TSN.

Breaking it down: Rutherford blamed bad contracts the team signed as part of the issue, and is unsure if Bo Horvat will sign with the team. Buying out underperforming contracts may also be on the table.

• The latest injury setback and surgery for Tanner Pearson prompted Rutherford to meet with the team’s medical staff and launch an investigation.

Bye-bye Budreau? Rumors are flying that head coach Bruce Budreau may not be around much longer. Rutherford admitted he had spoken “to parties outside of the team about the club's head coaching role” according to TSN.

NEIGHBOURHOOD NEWS

Famous Chinatown restaurant New Town said it may be too little too late to stay in the community as graffiti and vandalism has grown. [CityNews]

Here’s a lovely profile of Kitsilano Barbers, which happens to be one of the oldest barber shops in the city, having opened in 1946. [Global]

New bar It’s Okay, described as a unpretentious throwback spot, opened in East Vancouver on 2481 E Hastings St. [Vancouverisawesome]

Wildlight Kitchen + Bar, which celebrates west coast cooking, is set to open soon in West Point Grey. [Dished]

Pacific Spirit Regional Park in Point Grey has been named one of the best places to run in Canada. Also topping the list was, you guessed it, Stanley Park. [Running Magazine]

A man was discovered dead on Tuesday morning on the Downtown Eastside. Police are investigating and there is no info on the cause of death. [CTV]

MEME OF THE WEEK

If we’re doing memes, you know we have to feature seabusmemes. The Fat Tug-loving account released a not so sly joke about Translink. It especially hit home for me after waiting 20 minutes to catch a bus on Main.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• Can Dine Out Vancouver be improved? Our food editor Jamie believes so.

• Be on the lookout for this piece of art from local artist Joe Average. It was stolen from PAL Vancouver’s facility. [Daily Hive]

• City council wants to hear from you about your priorities for the city’s spending in 2023. Take the survey, review the draft budget or leave a comment.

• There’s a new exhibit in Chinatown that explores Chinese-Canadian teens and youth over 100 years ago. [CBC]

• Reddit users are asking what was peak Vancouver. It’s a lot of throwbacks, including reminiscing about Benny’s Bagels, when Granville Island Brewing was good (ha!), and when $0.99 pizza was everywhere. [Reddit]

• Translink’s newest transit police officer is Norquay, a Golden Retriever-Labrador mix, who will help with transit employees’ mental health. [CityNews]

• A GoFundMe has been set up for Gino Odjick’s family, to help pay for his family’s trip to Maniwaki, Quebec to be buried. [CityNews]

GAME TIME

Congrats to Dan Webster, Freya, Irmgard Koloska, Cam Pierce, Melanie Smith, Tyler, John and Sandra Spagnuolo who all guessed the correct answer to Monday’s quiz. The answer to what city has Amtrak restarted service to from Vancouver was Portland.

Today’s VancouverGuesser is a popular spot. Can you name this business? Here’s a hint. They serve food with a hole.