Vancouver by bike - 1974

[StylinRed]

awesome video thanks for linking it

he/she covered a lot of ground!

[Vansterdam]

looks like alot of homes by false creek by the water were just starting to be built

[Vansterdam]

i noticed commercial and 1st near the end of the video as well

wouldof been cool to see what commercial drive was like back then

[Senna4ever]

That was shot by Hans Sipma, a successful commercial photographer based in Vancouver. You'll recognize his images from Playland, BCAA & Telus (I think) ads.

Hans Sipma Photography, Vancouver BC Canada, 259 Alexander Street

He borrowed one of my cameras for one of the shots in the Playland ad campaign:

[Phil@rise]

That was cool I recognised at least 75% of those area and route from my childhood just a scant few years after that. I even remember ridin on those old busses. At the end he writes no SUV's well I saw one blazer and a couple big old wagons not any different than an suv in my books

[fliptuner]

So many cool, old cars.

[Everymans]

The seawall looked like a pain in the ass for cyclists back then. Pedestrians errywhere and cyclists going both ways. Same with the burrard street bridge. Don't know what everyones big deal is about the bike lanes.

[4444]

Originally Posted by Acuracura

Old infrastructure is just as good now as it was then. Take an old city like Paris, for example. The roads and bridges they have now are basically what they've had for the last 40 or more years. They have also had significant population growth and as a result, the city and people have adapted. Their mindset is not to build more bridges or wider roads. Instead, they accept the fact that there are too many people in one place, thus, concessions must be made. Many of them ride motorcycles and scooters. Many more own bicycles or use the public bicycle sharing system (velib). Most Parisians use the Metro as it is fast, reliable, and relatively inexpensive. Amsterdam is another city that hasn't needed to change their infrastructure, despite their population growth. They have implemented cycling into their lifestyle which moves everyone where they need to go without burning a single drop of petrol. It is not uncommon to see a business man wearing a full suit riding a bicycle to and from work because they have embraced this method of transportation as the norm. In addition to this, bicycles take up significantly less space than a car, require very little maintenance, and is less costly in terms of ownership and liability (insurance). The city hasn't needed to build more infrastructure because the existing roads and bridges are sufficient, given the people adapt to transportation methods other than cars.

Both Paris and Amsterdam are very old European cities so let's take a North American example, such as New York. The population of New York City is almost double of all of BC. Most New Yorkers don't own a vehicle, rather they rely on services like taxis or MTA. There is simply too many people and not enough space. Still, their roads and bridges have not drastically changed over the last 40 years. It hasn't had to because the people who live there have adapted, mostly by giving up on the car. Vancouver is nowhere near at capacity like NYC is, but the fact remains there is nothing wrong with our 40 year old roads and bridges. The problem lies in the lack of supporting infrastructure, mainly public transit and pedestrian/cyclist areas. A good local example is Downtown Granville Street where there is access to public transit, thriving shops, and only foot traffic is allowed. Not only is it far more pleasant and attractive, but it moves a lot more people a lot faster with less emissions. No matter what the problem is, be it the growing population or lack of infrastructure, the solution ultimately lies in the mindset of the people. At some point the people of Vancouver will realize there are too many people and not enough lanes or parking spaces for everyone to drive. Even if we did replace our current roads and bridges with ones twice as wide, we would still have a problem with congestion and gridlock. Perhaps not right away but eventually the population will catch up and surpass the car carrying capacity of the roads. Even with an excellent transit system like Hong Kong's MTR, they still face severe congestion, not on the roads but in the trains. Imagine if all those people were driving. Even a 12 lane highway wouldn't be able to accommodate that number of people in cars. Even if you do make it to work or home, where do you and the other 500 people in your building park? Even with the imperfect MTR system there are still more people getting to where they need to go more efficiently than any other method of transportation.

Great points, except our transit system is soooooo poor, given that it's basically brand new - compared to any real city (Paris, Tokyo, Seoul, London, etc) VancouvEr's transit system is a joke

And if your point is on target why are we building new useless bridges like the golden ears, or replacing the golden ears - my point here is that we need new infrastructure between north van and Vancouver, new tunnel alternative, etc. who gives a fuck about surrey to maple ridge - no one, as proven but the lacking usage numbers

I wish Paris' city planners would come here, we need it

[westopher]

1 translink tax per litre. fuuuuuuuuuuuuu.

[FerrariEnzo]

Originally Posted by tiger_handheld

anyone know what route the person is taking. all i could muster up was second narrows.

the road that leads to the hastings race track.. not sure if it was open back in the 70's.... it was during the late 80's...
takes second narrows and exit to the lower road, suppose to be used for big rigs coz theres a big hill climb, kinda like in new west...

man, marine drive in N. Van looks sooo diff back then.. ahh.. the good old lions gate bridge...

memories... i missed the 80's... so simple and just fun..

[Gridlock]

Terminal Ave looked cool near the end, with no skytrain going down the middle.

[yray]

Originally Posted by 4444

Great points, except our transit system is soooooo poor, given that it's basically brand new - compared to any real city (Paris, Tokyo, Seoul, London, etc) VancouvEr's transit system is a joke

And if your point is on target why are we building new useless bridges like the golden ears, or replacing the golden ears - my point here is that we need new infrastructure between north van and Vancouver, new tunnel alternative, etc. who gives a fuck about surrey to maple ridge - no one, as proven but the lacking usage numbers
I wish Paris' city planners would come here, we need it

:ruserious: You're the type of people that's planning translink. hurrr current stats show no increase in people using traffic derrrr even though I can see a hundred highrises being built in city central. So let's plunk our dollars on ridiculous shit like the whatever card that doesn't need three years to implement then improve on places where IDGAF.

So you want Haussman style planning in Paris? Okay, then destroy all the buildings you see in Vancouver, adopt huge avenues built for horse carriages, adopt the same facade building with height restricts. Oh wait, look at Cambie... it's a reflection of Haussman. If you ever drove in Paris, it's a fucking pain in the ass as the whole city was built for horses, not cars. Try driving down the champd'elysses and getting out of the arc d'triumph. Oh wait you can't... because ten streets end at the roundabout at arc d triumph. The only thing that works is the Metro/RER, but it looks so out of place as they just forced it into the city.

There is no basic plan for city/transit planning. Each city needs a specific plan for themselves, kinda like a tailored suit. There needs to be better education that planning isn't for a each city but as a whole region as a whole. Metro needs to stop playing prejudices and realize that planning should be equalized across each city. Fucking Translink stopped doing South of the Fraser Studies in 2008, the stats we are using are basically from 2008.

[Meowjin]

height restrictions is the death of this city.

They are fighting density which would probably be better for the economy than sprawl.

[Senna4ever]

Originally Posted by yray

If you ever drove in Paris, it's a fucking pain in the ass as the whole city was built for horses, not cars.

...and Panzers.

[4444]

Originally Posted by yray

:ruserious: You're the type of people that's planning translink. hurrr current stats show no increase in people using traffic derrrr even though I can see a hundred highrises being built in city central. So let's plunk our dollars on ridiculous shit like the whatever card that doesn't need three years to implement then improve on places where IDGAF.

So you want Haussman style planning in Paris? Okay, then destroy all the buildings you see in Vancouver, adopt huge avenues built for horse carriages, adopt the same facade building with height restricts. Oh wait, look at Cambie... it's a reflection of Haussman. If you ever drove in Paris, it's a fucking pain in the ass as the whole city was built for horses, not cars. Try driving down the champd'elysses and getting out of the arc d'triumph. Oh wait you can't... because ten streets end at the roundabout at arc d triumph. The only thing that works is the Metro/RER, but it looks so out of place as they just forced it into the city.

There is no basic plan for city/transit planning. Each city needs a specific plan for themselves, kinda like a tailored suit. There needs to be better education that planning isn't for a each city but as a whole region as a whole. Metro needs to stop playing prejudices and realize that planning should be equalized across each city. Fucking Translink stopped doing South of the Fraser Studies in 2008, the stats we are using are basically from 2008.

I have no idea what you said, sounds like drivel to me, but not the point

My reference to major cities was with respect to their transit systems, never did I mention the road system in these cities as others were touting the quality of our transit system

Our roads here are a joke, as proven by the crawl along the 99 this morning - an absolute joke, we're a tiny hick town of 2 mil ppl, with few improvements over the last 40 years. Our city planners are a joke, either give us mass transit up the arse or tear down along Granville and oak and build motorways a la the states - doing neither is a joke, we do neither, we half arse both

[SumAznGuy]

So just for shits and giggles, I tried to map out his route on google maps but it is quite difficult since there are some road changes since 1974.